Prophets Talk to God Face to Face

Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; JST John 1:19; JST Exodus 33:20; John 6:46; D&C 67:11-12; Institute Student Manual: Exodus 33:19-23, “Is It Possible for Anyone to See the Face of God and Live?” 

In these verses there can be some confusion as to whether man can see God's face or not. Exodus 33:20 says that no man can look upon God and live, whereas D&C states that no man has seen God except when "quickened by the Spirit of God." Joseph Smith also translated a lot of the Bible verses that lead to the assumption that man cannot see God, because we know that Moses did in fact see God face to face (Exodus 33:11). The Bible cannot have God contradict Himself, for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The translation for Exodus 33:20 was corrected by Joseph Smith to read that no sinful man can enter into the presence of God without looking on His face and dying. We know that Joseph Smith saw God's face and was commanded to organize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He looked upon God's face and lived! So surely Moses saw the face of God in person and still lived, proving that he was worthy of beholding His face at that time. 

Preparing to Meet the Lord

Exodus 19:3-6, 10-11

The Lord wanted the children of Israel to become a "holy nation." In order to achieve that goal, the Lord commanded them to obey His words and keep His covenants. The blessing that was promised to them if they could accomplish those commandments was that the "Lord [would] come down in the sight of all the people."

This applies to us because if we are to be worthy to be in the presence of God, we need to be obeying His commandments and keeping the covenants we've made with Him. We too can become a "holy nation" by our actions. We need to remember the blessings that God gives us and to be grateful for His mercy and grace in order to become that holy nation and to see God again.

Marriage in the Covenant

Genesis 24:1-4
Abraham had the concern that Isaac would marry a Canaanite woman, someone who is born out of the covenant, or not a member of the church. He wanted to make sure that Isaac took to wife a righteous woman who would obey and honor the covenants she made with God so that their family could be blessed.

Deuteronomy 7:1-4; 1 Corinthians 11:11; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Institute Student Manual
The consequences of marrying outside the covenant are that you won't have your children be raised in righteousness, you won't have the blessing of being sealed in the temple with your spouse and children, which means you won't have the highest degree of the priesthood blessing enabling you to live in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. It's also harder to obey God's commandments when you have an unbelieving spouse. These are still concerns today because there are people who don't marry members of the church, or those who don't honor their covenants they've made with God. They aren't able to pay tithing, accept positions in the church, and be a faithful member of the church because their spouse is bringing them down.

Genesis 24:15-67
Character traits that Rebekah had that would be desirable in a wife or husband are:

• Beautiful (verse 16)
• Kind (verse 18)
• Hard working (verse 19-20)
• Generous (verse 25)
• Obedient and Faithful (verse 58)
• Respectful (verse 65)
• Comforting (verse 67)

Genesis 27:46; 28:1-4
The concerns that Isaac and Rebekah had for Jacob were marrying outside of the covenant. They didn't want to lose him through marriage to a non-member and they wanted to ensure that he would receive all the blessings that God promised him if he would be faithful and marry righteously.

Genesis 29:1-30
In order to marry Rachel, Jacob was willing to work a total of 14 years for Laban, her father. Marrying into the covenant was really important to Jacob, and it's important to me as well. I married a worthy priesthood holder in the temple so that I could be together with my family forever. If I hadn't married within the covenant, I wouldn't be sealed to my husband or baby girl and our kids wouldn't grow up knowing the gospel truths due to a husband who wouldn't be a member. In order to keep the blessings of being sealed to my family forever, I need to keep the covenants I've made with God and be righteous and obedient, as well as teach my children in righteousness.

Who Was Melchizidek?

JST; Genesis 14:18-20; Alma 13:14-19; D&C 84:14, 107:1-4

Melchizedek was one of God's greatest priests and his name is used to identify the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God so that we don't use God's name in vain repetition when referring to the priesthood of God. Melchizedek was so exalted and in such a high position in the people's eyes, as well as God's, that he "stood as a prototype of the Son of God himself." (Student Manual)

He was called the prince of peace because of his diligence in preaching repentance to the people. The scriptures say that "there were many before him, and also there were many afterwards, but none were greater." How incredible was the example of Melchizedek! He "stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire." That's how righteous he was.

Because he was a man, he wasn't perfect like the Savior, however he still stood as a prototype to the Savior. I think that this is an example of how we can all be in our lives here on the earth today. We can strive to be like Melchizedek who was so righteous, but still an imperfect man who also needed the Atonement to be saved. This is probably the most righteous you can get without being the Savior yourself.