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What does the law of consecration actually mean — and what does it have to do with building Zion? In this episode, released on President Russell M. Nelson's 101st birthday, host Tia Smith takes a deep, temple-centered look at the highest law we covenant to keep, and shows how it points straight to the gathering of Israel.
Tia begins with President Nelson's Enoch-like counsel to respond to hostility with compassion and to focus on building Zion, then walks through the doctrine: consecration isn't only about material things someday — it's a celestial law we covenant to now, in the temple, to dedicate our time, talents, and everything the Lord has given us to building up His kingdom. Drawing on the ancient priesthood ordinances of Exodus 29 — the washing, clothing, anointing, the "ram of consecration," and the wave and heave offerings — she uncovers a striking meaning: the Hebrew word for consecrate literally means "to fill the hand." In our day, she suggests, we fill our hands with our ancestors' names as we worship in the temple, lifting them up as a heave offering so they, too, can be drawn to the Savior.
From there, Tia connects it all to Zion: how Enoch's people were called Zion because they were of one heart and one mind, how the law of consecration is the great celestial order of heaven, and how becoming a Zion people means becoming one — with each other, with our ancestors, and with the resurrected and translated beings already doing this work. Because, as she puts it, no temples, no Zion; no Zion, no Second Coming.
Q: Do Latter-day Saints have to live the law of consecration now?
A: We covenant to keep it now, in the temple endowment — it's the highest law we covenant to. While members aren't currently asked to live a full United Order of material things, we can begin living it now by dedicating our time, talents, and service to building God's kingdom, including through temple and family history work.
Q: What's the difference between sacrifice and consecration?
A: As Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, to sacrifice is to give something up for something more valuable; to consecrate is to put it to use in the Lord's service rather than leaving it "consumed upon the altar." Consecration dedicates our gifts to His purposes.
Q: What does "consecrate" mean in Hebrew?
A: The Old Testament word for consecrate carries the sense of "filling the hand." In ancient Israel the priest's hands were filled with the offering; Tia draws the parallel that, as priests and priestesses today, our hands are filled with our ancestors' names as we do their temple work.
Q: How is the law of consecration connected to building Zion?
A: Zion is a people of one heart and one mind who live the higher laws. Consecrating ourselves — especially by lifting others to the Savior through temple work — is how we become the kind of unified, sanctified people Zion requires, in cooperation with those on both sides of the veil.
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CITATIONS:
Brigham Young, JOD 12:2
LDS Living, How do I obey my temple covenant to live the law of consecration?”, Steven C. Harper, July 14, 2023
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Our Heartfelt All”, April 2022
Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Topics and Questions
Consecrate, Law of Consecration Guide to the Scriptures
Doctrine and Covenants 78:3–6, D&C 38:7
D&C Seminary Manual, Lesson 206
Bruce R. McConkie, “Obedience, Consecration, and Sacrifice”, April 1975
Priests- Bible Dictionary
EXODUS 29: 1-9, 19-22, 26-27, 42-44
Brad’s LDS THOUGHT, “The Ram of Consecration and Filling the Hand,” May 11, 2014
Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833, p. [2], The Joseph Smith Papers.
Heave Offering: Merriam Webster, Bible Hub
3 Nephi 28:14-15, Moses 7: 18-19, 46, 69, Obadiah 1:21
Brigham Young, JD 6: 342
Jeff O’Driscoll, “Zion, Zion, Zion: Keys to Understanding Ether 13,” in The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi Through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1995)
John Taylor, “Knowledge Received, Etc.”, JD 17:172
John Taylor, “Destruction of the Wicked”, JD 17:204
Interpreter Foundation, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Matthew L. Bowen, Book of Moses Essays #20: The Teachings of Enoch — “By the Blood Ye Are Sanctified” (Moses 6:60)
Jeffrey R Holland's invitation to Utah YSA Conference, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLYs0yRs6mh/
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