The Holy Order of God—Introduction

Recently, I’ve been taking some deep dives into long passages of scripture. It’s funny how studying scripture is kind of like taking a hike through the mountains. There’s a lot of variety to it—the ups and downs, the ability to take in the general scenery as you walk and the ability to slow down and pay attention to the otherwise unnoticeable details of things around you, the opportunity you have to let thoughts swirl around in your head and the opportunity you have to let God take your breath away by leading you to high places and lookout points.

One of the places where I have been focusing my study time is the book of Alma. There are recurring themes and phrases that Alma uses, and it has been nice to step away from the jumping around in scripture that often characterizes my study time to just settle into that book for an extended period of time. Very much a “yin” energy, and that has been very nice.

One of the phrases that pops up throughout the book of Alma is “the holy order of God,” and it isn’t found in many other places—not that exact phrase, anyway. It gets a mention in the book of Ether, and it is also found once in the Doctrine and Covenants:

Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe? 

A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn. (D&C 77)

Alma gives us some amazing insights into this “order,” and I’ll say from the start that I won’t cover all of them. There is a lot of extra credit when it comes to this subject, and I hope that a short series of blogposts, as both a teaser and a primer, entices people to study and meditate upon the subject further.