The Pre-Existence.—Abraham had been shown in vision the spirits of the pre-existent human race, waiting for an earth to be made, that they might come upon it and pass through a mortal probation. Here they were to obtain bodies, thus becoming "souls,"[[13]] capable of eternal increase and progression. Also, they were to be tested as to their willingness to do all that the Lord might require of them.
First and Second Estates.—They who "kept their first estate," manifesting fidelity in the pre-mortal life while "walking by sight," were to be "added upon"—that is to say, given bodies of flesh and blood, with opportunities for education and development. They who kept "their second estate," continuing loyal during their life on earth, where men are required to "walk by faith," with knowledge of the past temporarily obscured, would be glorified eternally.[[14]] All were "good," but some better than others; and all were to be "added upon," yet not all alike. Some were more deserving, some nobler and greater than others; and because of their superior merit and larger capacity, they were to be made "rulers" over the rest. Abraham was one of these.
Sowing and Reaping.—Here is exemplified the great principle enunciated by St. Paul: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."[[15]] Rewards and punishments are not all deferred until the final judgment at the end of the world. There is a judgment passed upon the spirits of men before they tabernacle in mortality. Satan and his dupes, failing to keep their first estate, were denied bodies,[[16]] while all the rest, rewarded for keeping their first estate, were given bodies, with the promise of a glorious resurrection after death. Thus, in a general way, punishment and reward were both meted out before this life began.
A question put to the Savior by his disciples: "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"[[17]]—throws out a hint in the same direction. This is not to say, however, that all who suffer in the flesh have merited their sad fate. There are exceptions to the rule. The Savior's case is one of them; and righteous Job's another. Speaking generally, however, man's conduct in one life conditions him in the life that follows.
Original Excellence.—What had given to Abraham his superior standing in the Heavens? Had he always been noble and great? Was it an original or an acquired excellence, or both? That there is such a thing as original superiority, with varying degrees of intelligence among spirits, is plainly taught in the Book of Abraham;[[18]] and that all intelligence is capable of improvement, needs no assertion.
"I Know Abraham."—When God said of Abraham: "I know him,"[[19]] it is hardly probable that He was referring merely to a knowledge of him in the present life. The founder of the Hebrew nation must have been one of the foreknown and predestined, mentioned by Paul[[20]] and by Alma[[21]]—must have been among those "called and prepared from the foundation of the world, on account of their exceeding faith and good works." It was "according to the foreknowledge of God;" but that foreknowledge, that divine prescience, was based upon experience, and had history as well as prophecy for a foundation. Such characters as Abraham were cast for their parts in life's drama long before the curtain rose on the first act of the play.
A Spirit Israel.—There was a House of Israel in heaven before there was a Hebrew Nation on earth. Else what does Moses mean when he tells how the Most High, in "the days of old," in "the years of many generations," "separated the sons of Adam" and "set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel?"[[22]] He must have had in mind, not a temporal Israel, unborn at the early period indicated, but a spirit Israel, according to whose numbers, known in heaven before they had taken bodies on earth, the boundaries of "the people" were determined.
Privileges and Requirements.—It was intended that this chosen nation should have "room to dwell." It was of the utmost consequence that a people upon whom rested so weighty a responsibility should be well placed, with every facility for the accomplishment of the sacred mission unto which they had been called. They were the oracles of God, the custodians and dispensers of heavenly wisdom. Upon them devolved the high duty of keeping alive on earthly altars the fires of Divine Truth. They were not to bow down to idols, as did the heathen nations around them, but worship the true God, the invisible Jehovah, walking by faith where others, less worthy, walked by sight, demanding to see before they would believe. They were forbidden to intermarry with other nations, lest they might worship the gods of those nations, practice their vices, and corrupt the noble lineage through which was to come the Savior of the World. The Lamb of God had to be "without blemish," and that he was so, physically and in every way, was partly due, no doubt, to the choice ancestry and parentage provided for him.
Gem and Setting.—Jesus of Nazareth, a descendant in the flesh of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, fulfilled the divine promise made to those patriarchs, that in their Seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. But in contemplating the central fact of the Savior's personal ministry, we must not overlook the related facts that went before or followed after. The gem has its setting. Christ redeemed mankind, "treading the wine press alone;" but the House of Israel prepared the way for his coming, and carried on the work that he began. This is especially true of the prophets who foretold his advent, and of the apostles who preached the Gospel to Jew and Gentile. There is only one Savior, but He has "many brethren," and they are preeminently "the salt of the earth," the preserving or saving element among men.
Princes and Servants.—If the name Israel means "prince of God" when applied to Jacob, may it not mean "princes of God" when applied to his posterity? He was promised that kings should come out of his loins. And have they not come?—princes and priests and kings, the nobility of Heaven, though not always known and appreciated on earth. The Greatest among them was not recognized even by "His own." The wise Solomon was never wiser than when he said: "I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth."[[23]] The mighty Prince of Peace, the glorious King of Heaven, walked unknown and unhonored by his own servants in the dust of his own footstool.