The Eternal Order of the Son
Melchizedek · the eternal order
The Holy Order is not an institutional rank but the eternal priesthood after the Order of the Son of God, prepared before the foundation of the world. Melchizedek stands as the master mortal type of the King-Priest who returns men to the presence of God.
If the priesthood you hold was ordained before this earth existed, what does that change about why you carry it?
- 1An Order Older Than the Earth7 min
Most lessons treat priesthood as authority handed down a chain of offices. The plaintext goes deeper: this is the Holy Order of God, "established from the beginning and prepared before the foundation of the world" — older than the earth itself. Alma teaches that high priests were "called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God," on account of "exceeding faith and good works" Alma 13:3. The order is "without beginning of days or end of years" Alma 13:9 — eternal in pattern, not institutional. Notice the name: "after the order of the Son of God" D&C 107:3. It is the Son's own order, given that men "might teach the children of God how to return unto His presence."
- 2Melchizedek the King-Priest7 min
Melchizedek is the fullest pre-meridian expression of this order. He took a wicked people and brought them to peace, reigning as both king and priest — and crucially, he "reigned under his father" Alma 13:18. That is the Father-Son pattern stamped onto the priesthood itself. The records call him a token: "even thou, Melchizedek, art a token of Him that cometh. As thou art now in Salem, so shall He stand in Jerusalem" Melchizedek 2:24. King-and-Priest, divided under the Law of Moses between David's house and Aaron's, are reunited in Christ — and in the glorified Holy Order in Zion. Salem itself was translated, carried from the earth, as testimony that this order holds the power of exaltation.
- 3The Keys That Open the Father6 min
What does the order actually do? It holds "the key of the knowledge of God" D&C 84:19. In its ordinances "the power of godliness is manifest" — and "without the ordinances thereof... no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live" D&C 84:21-22. This is the legal administration that seals on earth and heaven and mediates the New and Everlasting Covenant. The receiver is bound by an oath: he that receives the Father's servants receives Him, and through that chain receives the Father and all the Father hath. The order exists for one end — return to the presence of God.
- 1Alma 13:9
“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.”
Teaching noteAnchor the eternal nature of the order here — "without beginning of days or end of years" describes a pattern, not a man-made office. Ask the class what changes if priesthood predates institutions. - 2D&C 84:21-22
“And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.”
Teaching noteThis names the purpose of the higher order: to bring men into the Father's presence. Press the plain reading — the ordinances are the appointed means to see God. - 3Melchizedek 2:24
“Now I declare unto thee a hidden thing: even thou, Melchizedek, art a token of Him that cometh. As thou art now in Salem, so shall He stand in Jerusalem. As thou breakest bread and pourest wine, so shall He break His body and pour His blood.”
Teaching noteUse this to show Melchizedek as a type of Christ — the bread and wine of Salem foreshadow the sacrament. The King-Priest points beyond himself to Jehovah in the flesh.
Another way to look at this: read the order through the Father-Son pattern that repeats at every tier. Melchizedek "reigned under his father"; the Son acts under the Father (Jehovah); and the order names El Elyon, the Most High, as the God Melchizedek served — the Father of the Father. The priesthood is not just authority but a living genealogy of sons standing under fathers, all the way up.
- 1What specific phrases in Alma 13 and D&C 84 tell you this priesthood existed before mortality?
- 2Why does it matter that Melchizedek reigned 'under his father' — what does that reveal about how the Son's order operates?
- 3Where in your own covenant walk are you using the priesthood to bring someone back toward the presence of God, rather than merely to administer a program?
This week, study Alma 13 and D&C 84:19-22 side by side and write down what the ordinances are actually for. Then ask in prayer to the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, how to honor the order you bear as a means of returning to His presence.
- ▸D&C 107:1-4 — Names the higher priesthood as the Holy Order after the Son of God, renamed Melchizedek out of reverence.
- ▸D&C 84:33-39 — The oath and covenant: receiving the Father's servants is the chain that leads to receiving the Father and all He hath.
- ▸Genesis 14:18 (JST) / Hebrews 7:1-3 — Melchizedek as king of Salem and priest of the Most High, without beginning of days — the scriptural seed of the eternal order.
- ▸Alma 13:14-19 — Melchizedek as the master mortal type who brought a wicked people to peace and reigned under his father.
- ▸The Book of Melchisedec I, ch. 7-8 — The Salem record on the order established before the foundation of the world and restored among a covenant people.
Prepared by ABEL, SEER's Restoration-scholar research assistant. Generate your own lesson on any topic or Come, Follow Me week — free to start.
