THE EXCOMMUNICATION OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS BELIEVERS, Part 1 of Chapter 12

THE EXCOMMUNICATION OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS BELIEVERS, Part 1 of Chapter 12 of The Church and The Priesthood 

Pages 196 to 214

When Jacob gathered his 12 sons together to give them their patriarchal blessings, he prophesied what would happen to their descendants down to the last days. In the blessing for Judah and his tribe, he declared, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (the Savior) come; . . . (Gen. 49:10)

To Moses was given the task of giving the Priesthood (sceptre) and its higher laws, but the people did not qualify. So Moses established a church with the Aaronic Priesthood and its lesser laws. The Jews (descendants of Judah) maintained both the Priesthood, its principles, ordinances and church down to the time that the Savior (Shiloh) came to earth.

Jesus was born and raised in this church and soon became a full-fledged Rabbi with all their rights and privileges of teaching the Gospel. Jesus, however, was blessed with such wisdom and understanding that even at age 12 He confounded the wisest of the Pharisees on Priesthood issues.

When He began to teach the laws of the higher Priesthood, he was rejected and “cast out” of the synagogues. This story of Christ’s rejection is told in the King James version of the Bible, but it is told better in some of the other versions.