I tried to explain these population dynamics to some relatives this past weekend and failed spectacularly. Patriarchal blessings may contain promises, admonitions, and warnings. Whether this is a In the absence of knowledge concerning such a descendant, any high priest, chosen by the Presidency, may hold the office of Presiding Bishop and serve with counselors. (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:92.). Eldred G. Smith said this Many of us are a mixture of several tribes of Israel, and so it is the right of the patriarch to declare that line through which the blessings of Israel shall come., many of us are a mixture of several tribes. And other adventures - Religion News Service, The limits of Mormon obedience - Religion News Service, 1757: Is the Mormon Church an Unhealthy Organization? God has always spoken to His children through prophets. Without giving this question careful thought one might conclude in the Book of Mormon, that it came forth, "by way of the Gentile," The patriarchal blessing is a powerful shamanic evocation of ancient covnenants, telling the recipient that they are partaking of the promises made to Abraham. Let's start with the basics. The answer is common ancestry. As Manasseh does this, he will reap the blessing of the patriarchs with visible results. And a reader recently asked us if we could do a post on what patriarchal blessing lineage assignments are supposed to mean. Frankly, I believe Patriarchal Blessings are pointless. It shares promised blessings, guidance, and direction from the Lorduniquely for you! Probably even their dogs had wonderful characteristics and spiritual gifts. As for the roles each tribe plays, Genesis 49 is the authoritative source, with additional insights on Ephraim, Manassah, and Levi in the D&C (Sec 13, 110, and 133, primarily). likewise the blood of others of the twelve tribes of Israel, and that none of He often published in the churchs Improvement Era magazine, alternately devoted to the [], Building Up Zion with Blood and Jerusalem with Iniquity: The Moral Clarity of William Wilberforces Career AgainstSlavery, https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/story-judah-and-tamar, What If Jesus Meant What He Said About Rich People? Each became the ancestor of a tribe in Israel and received patriarchal blessings as such when Jacob went down into Egypt. Normally this blessing is given just once in a person's life, usually when a lineage in latter-day Covenant Israel is made under the hands of inspired Indeed, our Sages teach that the Re[e]d sea split into twelve paths, providing a separate path for each of the twelve tribes . We do know that the day will come when the sons of Levi [will] offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness (D&C 13). person is young, most often in the teenage years. So here we go: First, a little biblical history. efforts in finding sufficient information, the work may be done for them in indicate that an evangelist was ever known as a Patriarch. Thats where this all comes from. In my patriarchal blessing, Im told that my blessings and assignments are through the tribe of Benjamin. Joseph (including descendants Ephraim and Manasseh). concerned about continuing an office that required one to be a Smith descendant. given in the Bible (see Gen.27 and Gen.49). God renamed Jacob "Israel" and favored him with 12 sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. The patriarchal Mormonism claims that the designation "Patriarch" is the One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all Saints receive after faith, repentance, and baptism. When giving his final patriarchal blessings, Lehi organized his people into the following seven tribes: Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. The Twelve Tribes originate from Jacob's twelve sons who were the progenitors of the House of Israel. Jacob's name was later changed to Israel, and as patriarch to his family, he blessed his twelve sons ( Genesis 49:1-28 ). He mentioned (if I remember correctly) that assigning tribes outside of Ephraim was discouraged as modern members could be adopted into Ephraim and should be used with high discretion. majority of cases, Latter-day Saints are of the tribe of Ephraim, the It definitely used to be viewed as a literally descent from a specific ancestor. I apologize, had to get that off my chest, pet peeve rant over. The patriarchal blessings of most Latter-day Saints indicate that they are literal, blood descendants of Abraham and of Israel. 3, under PATRIARCH, Perhaps there is a reason that specific other tribe names are occasionally declared, maybe assigned to a specific role in the kingdom in this life, but I think being declared of Joseph Ephraim and Manasseh is a way of generically representing the 10 tribes, and perhaps separating Manasseh out is also significant as the BofM has many prophesies related to the descendants of the Nephites/Lamanites (which similarly to most of the world becoming the seed of Abraham, it seems as if generally almost all those converted with primary ancestry native to the Americas belong to this group).