Here is DS on the topic of Raphael and the other 3 "Great Angels":
"Now, I want to take another detour into parsing things in a way that you might not have considered before and for this I want to go to Doctrine and Covenants section 128 and look at verse 21. This is Joseph’s letter to the church that got canonized. He talks about all the stuff that has gone on in the process of getting the restoration fully established through him back upon the earth. He mentions in this letter these things had happened:
"And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!" [So the voice of God has been there throughout all of this. As Joseph presided and as the Church rolled forth.] "And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel,”[“El” being the name of God] “and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!"
I want to remind you that Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael are known to us by other names and roles while they were mortal. As those who have come, though they were part of the El, or in the plural form, the Eloheim, they came into mortality and they served here among us. They came and they ministered here. Michael descended, and he came to the earth and he was known as the man Adam in mortality. Gabriel came to the earth and he was known in mortality as the man Noah. There is a big debate over the identical to the Raphael. I will tell you what I think and you can take it or leave it. Raphael is the name that was given to the man who in mortality we know as Enoch.
Now there are four angels who preside over the four corners of the earth. Joseph surely knew that. Joseph’s letter mentions the names of three of the four. But he leaves the fourth one out. And I find the absence of the fourth one rather extraordinary. Now the fourth one's name is Uriel, also one of the Eloheim. There are certainly some who believe the reason for omitting his name from the letter was because Joseph Smith was Uriel. I do not subscribe to that belief.
Although there are those who will absolutely cry heresy, and throw dirt on their hair, and tear their clothes because they are scholars, and they are bona fide, and they know I'm talking out of my hat—but I'd remind you that Joseph talked out of his hat too. That fourth and missing, unmentioned angel, Uriel, in mortality was known to us as John, the one who was beloved of the Lord.
These are the four great angels at the four corners of the earth. Adam is the one in the East, the angel who is considered the one who presides over and has control of the air. Which is apt because onto Adam was given the breath of life in the beginning. Raphael is in the South, and he is associated with the power of fire, which is apt because of his fiery ascent with his people into heaven. Gabriel is the angel in the West who has the power over water, which is apt because in mortality, he survived through the Flood. And Uriel, though not mentioned, is the one who in the North has the power over the earth, which is apt because he remains upon the earth and he is the guardian at one gate with Elijah at the other end. But you can take and leave all that as you will. I find the mention here in this letter by Joseph, of these individuals and these powers, and these four, three of whom are named, the fourth of whom, potentially is unnamed, to be interesting. Though he does mention “divers angels for Michael or Adam down to the present time.” Orem, p. 31-32
Thursday, September 4, 2014
MORE ON THE FOUR ANGELS
Here is more on the four angels from the previous posts:
Interesting opinion by Mr. Snuffer.
ReplyDeleteWooHoo 1,000,000!!!
ReplyDeleteI think DS offers some fascinating conclusions that I'll need to ponder and pray about. It does line up somewhat with other material I have searched on this topic over the years. I find his style of presentation and word choice quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing, very fascinating, it makes alot of sense.
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