Alma 13:7-9 includes multiple statements about God’s existence concerning beginnings and ends. The verses include references to his foreknowledge and Priesthood’s reality. In my previous post, I discussed Kathleen Flakes response to understanding no beginnings and no ends. This post looks at all of the verses with this reference and LDS commentary around this phrase.

The Scriptures on beginnings

Alma 13:7-9 states;

This high Priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things— Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high Priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end— Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.

The other references to ‘beginning’ include.

• D&C 78:16 - ‘under the counsel and direction of the Holy One, who is without beginning of days or end of life.’
• D&C 84:17 - ‘Which priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years.’
• Hebrews 7:1-3 - ‘For this Melchisedec … Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.’
• Revelations 21:6 - ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end’
• Revelation 22:13 - ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.’
• Moses 6:67 - ‘And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.’
• Moses 1:3 - ‘Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?’

Moses 1:3 pulls my previous post and this post together with the use of the word endless. God did not describe himself as timeless but endless. When we explain that God is without beginning of days or end of years, this does not need to mean timeless.

Then what could ‘without beginning of days or end of years’ mean?

1. Maybe that God can’t exist without ‘days’ or that days started when God started. God’s existence was the beginning of ‘time’ in that He began to order the universe. That which has no beginning went from pure unordered intelligence that had the freedom to exist but no freedom to control its existence to matter that could organize and progress. In an instant, God organized, and progression to greater organization began - time is progression. (John 1:1-5)

2. Maybe that God the Father, God the Son, and the Priesthood did not start with the first day of this earth and that they will always be in relationship with this earth for every year of eternity. The statement has nothing to do with existence beyond this earth (D&C 93:7-8, Genesis 1:1).

3. This first choice of love is the freedom to act and organize others into this relationship’s safety. It is called Priesthood. It always existed but was unknown until He discovered it. It was unproven until Christ’s co-equal understanding with the Father. With their relationship, the days of progression begin. Both are the instigators of the beginning of days, and both are with all organization such that we all can be with and like them without the end of years. (D&C 93:21-31)

Conclusion

After reading these verses and the quotes below, I see God’s power in how he organizes. I see God’s authority given to His children so that we can organize. I appreciated Kathleen Flake’s commentary on what the Priesthood is as she references D&C 107:3.

And relationship, and relationship right. So what we call Priesthood, but what is the real name of the Priesthood? Section 107, verse 3 ‘the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God.’ Order it is an order! It is not a thing. It is a way of ordering people so that they may partake of the divine nature.

God and the Priesthood are without beginning of days and end of years. These references may only refer to the beginning of our earth, but they may refer to the Godhead’s, and our, connection to the Priesthood which is Endless. The Priesthood is an ‘Order after the Son of God’ which is defined as relationship. Our relationship to the divine has the promise of originating with Them and perpetuating without end of years around them,

I will end with Adam Miller’s words about time, relationship, and God;

Rather than being untouched by time, it seems to me that Christ is divine because he has a particular way of handling time. He handles time with care. … Many traditional Christian creeds … deny that God can be moved or affected or troubled by time. … This is a brittle kind of omnipotence … It’s a kind of omnipotence that isn’t strong enough to be vulnerable to other people and their decisions. It’s a kind of omnipotence that isn’t strong enough to shelter agency and bear its consequences. … If we confess that God is all powerful, then traditional ideas about his omnipotence don’t go far enough. They limit that power. They allow for God to have only one kind of power, the power to act. But they deny him what Enoch’s vision reveals: that God also possesses the power to be acted upon.

Apostolic commentary on beginnings

The following quotes highlight a fairly inclusive set of references to ‘without beginning’ and provide us a greater depth of understanding about how that phrase can be applied to all inteligent beings.

Joseph Smith

Without attempting to describe this mysterious connection, and the laws that govern the body and the spirit of man, their relationship to each other, and the design of God in relation to the human body and spirit, I would just remark, that the spirits of men are eternal, that they are governed by the same Priesthood that Abraham, Melchizedek, and the Apostles were: that they are organized according to that Priesthood which is everlasting, “without beginning of days or end of years,"—that they all move in their respective spheres, and are governed by the law of God; that when they appear upon the earth they are in a probationary state, and are preparing, if righteous, for a future and greater glory; that the spirits of good men cannot interfere with the wicked beyond their prescribed bounds, for Michael, the Archangel, dared not bring a railing accusation against the devil, but said, “The Lord rebuke thee, Satan.” Joseph Smith, TPJS 208

The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the Gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam’s authority. Joseph Smith, TPJS 157

The elements are eternal. That which has a beginning will surely have an end; take a ring, it is without beginning or end—cut it for a beginning place and at the same time you have an ending place. A key: Every principle proceeding from God is eternal and any principle which is not eternal is of the devil. The sun has no beginning or end; the rays which proceed from himself have no bounds, consequently are eternal. So it is with God. If the soul of man had a beginning it will surely have an end. In the translation “without form and void” it should be read, empty and desolate. The word created should be formed, or organized. Joseph Smith, TPJS 181

How does it read in the Hebrew? It does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says “God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam’s spirit, and so became a living body.” The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal [co-eternal], with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season: their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth. I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven. Joseph Smith, TPJS 353

John Taylor

The Melchizedek Priesthood, we are told by Paul, is without beginning of days or end of years. Heb. 7:1-3 Alma 13:7,9 D&C 84:17 He speaks of Melchizedek as a man, “Without father, without mother, without descent.” Heb. 7:3 Now, he would be a very singular man, according to our idea of things, without father or mother, without beginning of days or end of years, but it was the Priesthood of which he spake in contradistinction to the Priesthood of Aaron. Heb. 7:3 (JST) He was then among the Jews. The Jews believed in the Aaronic Priesthood; but they knew very little or nothing about the Melchizedek priesthood, and a man to be a priest of Aaron must be a literal descendant of Aaron, D&C 68:18 D&C 107:16 and of the tribe of Levi, and he must be able to prove his lineage from the records. D&C 68:20-21 But in contradistinction to this Priesthood there was the Priesthood of Melchizedek, hence we come to account for some of these things of which I have been speaking. JD 21:55 John Taylor

George Q Cannon

To return again to Melchizedek. We find here that Paul in speaking about him says that he was “King of peace.” Heb. 7:2 And he goes on to say, as we have it translated, that he was, “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life,” Heb. 7:3 and the whole Christian world have gone astray over this expression of Paul, not being able to understand it, thinking that that which I read in your hearing referred to Melchizedek himself, when in reality it was the Priesthood he bore. Heb. 7:3 (JST) It was after the power of an endless life. John 1:18 (JST) Heb. 7:16 It had no beginning; no end. It is eternal as our Father and God, and it extends into the eternities to come, and it is as endless as eternity is endless, and as our God is endless: D&C 19:4 Moses 1:3 Moses 7:35 for it is the power and authority by which our Father and God sits upon His throne and wields the power He does throughout the innumerable worlds over which He exercises dominion. It is the power and authority by which the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has attained unto that which has been promised unto Him, and by which He has become the Savior and the Redeemer of the world. JD 26:241 George Q Cannon

Charles W. Penrose

Now, this authority which has been sent down from God out of heaven, is similar in its nature to that exercised by men about whom we read in the Bible. We read about one in the patriarchal ages called Melchizedek, who held this Priesthood. Abraham went and paid his tithing to him after he came back from overcoming those kings that he con-[p. 305b]quered. Melchizedek, we are told, was the Prince of Salem, and he was a Priest of the Most High God. Gen. 14:18-20 Heb. 7:1-4 And after many generations had passed away, Jesus of Nazareth came upon the earth and claimed to have that same Priesthood. He was called to be a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, Heb. 3:1 Heb. 5:5-6 that is, He had the same kind of Priesthood that Melchizedek had. We read a little about this Melchizedek, in the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, and about the Priesthood he held. Some people in reading this confound the Priesthood or authority which Melchizedek had with the man himself. They read it that he was “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.” Heb. 7:3 That is a curious kind of man, is it not? Some people say that that meant Jesus himself. Alma 13:9 But that could not apply to Jesus, for his descent is given in the Bible. Matt. 1:1-17 Luke 3:23-38 He had a reputed father, Joseph, and a real mother, Mary; and His Father in heaven was His real Father; for we are told that He was the first begotten in the spirit Rom. 8:29 and the only begotten John 1:14 in the flesh. This, then, did not apply to Jesus, nor did it apply to any other man; it applied to the Priesthood or authority which Melchizedek held. The Priesthood of Aaron or Levi, came by descent; it came to a man because he belonged to a certain lineage; D&C 84:18 but this Melchizedek Priesthood did not come by lineage; it came to all upon whom God pleased to bestow it. Heb. 7:3 (JST) Jesus was called to be a Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, Heb. 5:5-6 Heb. 7:17,21 who was the Prince of Salem, a Priest of the Most High God. Gen. 14:18 Heb. 7:1 Moses had this same Priesthood. He received it from Jethro. Ex. 3:1 D&C 84:6 There was another Priesthood in the days of Moses and Aaron, the Levitical, Heb. 7:11 D&C 107:1 which de-[p. 306a]scended in a certain lineage from father to son. D&C 84:18 But when Jesus came on the earth, He received the Melchizedek Priesthood, and that He might receive it in its fullness, Moses and Elias appeared to Him upon the mount of transfiguration. Matt. 17:1-3 Jesus conferred that same Priesthood upon the Apostles. “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” John 20:21 The same authority that Jesus had, He conferred upon His Apostles, Luke 8:1 (JST) John 15:16 and they conferred it upon others, 1 Tim. 4:14 as they were led by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, John 14:26 which Christ sent to them after His departure. John 16:7 JD 24:302 Charles W Penrose

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