An Examination into and an Elucidation of the Great Principle of the Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

by John Taylor

CHAPTER X.

Noah—His Sacrifice—God's Covenant with Him—Melchizedek—His Priesthood—Its Powers—Instances thereof Recorded in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon and in Latter-days—All Power of the Priesthood the Result of Faith in Christ and Impossible without the Atonement—The Power of the Priesthood the Power of God—The Glory of God in the Immortality of Man—Christ the Word, the Creator.

After the waters of the flood had subsided, we are told, Noah and his family came forth out of the ark:

"And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease."—Gen., viii, 20-22.

The details of this act are given us somewhat differently in the inspired translation: it is there written:

"And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar; and gave thanks unto the Lord, and rejoiced in his heart. And the Lord spake unto Noah, and he blessed him. And Noah smelt a sweet savour, and he said in his heart, I will call on the name of the Lord, that he will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; and that he will not smite any more every thing living, as he hath done, while the earth remaineth; and that seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night may not cease with man."

Thus, we discover that the first act after the destruction of the world by a flood was a recognition of the great expiatory principle of the atonement, which was to be made by the Only Begotten Son of God, as revealed by the angel to Adam. And as God recognized Adam's and Abel's offerings, so He also recognized that of Noah: and as a result, the Patriarch obtained great promises, in which the people of all ages, then to come, would be interested. For "God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I will establish my covenant with you, which I made unto your father Enoch, concerning your seed after you. And it shall come to pass, that every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, and of the cattle, and of the beast of the earth that is with you, which shall go out of the ark, shall not altogether perish: neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, which I made unto Enoch, concerning the remnants of your posterity. And God made a covenant with Noah, and said, This shall be the token of the covenant I make between me and you, and for every living creature with you, for perpetual generations, I will set my bow in the cloud; and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which I have made between me and you, for every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch, which I have caught up unto myself. And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy; and the general assembly of the Church of the First-born shall come down out of heaven and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch. And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will establish my covenant unto thee, which I have made between me and thee, for every living creature of all flesh that shall be upon the earth."—Inspired Translation, Gen., ix, 15-24.

We will now turn to Melchizedek, of whom it is written in King James' translation:

"And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."—Gen., xiv, 18-20.

This passage is given with greater completeness in the inspired translation, where it appears as follows: "And Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he brake bread and blessed it; and he blessed the wine, he being the priest of the Most High God; and he gave to Abram, and he blessed him, and said, Blessed Abram, thou art a man of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and of earth; and blessed is the name of the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And Abram gave him tithes of all he had taken."