Fascinating history of how we got the Pearl of Great Price as canonical scripture. It was published as articles in church newspapers and in England many of those were collected as a book for members (mainly traveling to America) which members in America didn’t have as a book. The original book included more than what was canonized including a poem called “O Say what is Truth” which wasn’t included in the canonized version but was set to music for the hymnbook.
God taught Abraham about order through astronomy because the Egyptians, where he would be traveling, were very interested in astronomy. (This confirms Savannah’s inclination to teach family history to the potential investigator who is interested in family history but not really interested in doctrine.)
“We will prove then herewith” – I just realized that we could substitute the word “refine” for the word “prove” God can know that the ore contains gold but refining removes the impurities and makes the gold into a useful state. It’s not so much a question of “if we will do” but “how we will respond” to all things which the Lord will command.
Abraham 3:25 (mind blown today with these insights)
After class I shared the insight this way with Savannah: Where Abraham 3:25 says “we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” I realized that we could substitute the word “refine” for the word “prove.” Think of the Intelligences like ore containing precious metal. God can know that the ore contains gold but refining removes the impurities and brings the gold into a useful state. It’s not so much a question of “if we will do” but “how we will respond” to all things which the Lord will command. Do we respond like gold, meaning the refining process turns us from gold ore to gold or do we respond like silver where the silver ore turns to silver. In either case God will use gold where gold is best suited and silver where silver is best suited but without the refining neither is for for much use. Any chunk of ore can contain any combination of metals and the refining process makes all of the metals available for use while removing the impurities.
I like the insight of Brother McKinney that the Lord teaches His children through a cycle of humbling and ennobling them — helping them see their smallness relative to eternity and their preeminence among His various priorities and creations.
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