Hank Smith:                      00:00:00             Coming up in this episode on followHIM.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:00:08             We are talking about something that’s very personal. We’re talking about something that is very applicable in our lives because we have entered the same covenants and we have access to the same blessings, including a birthright.

Hank Smith:                      00:00:32             Hello, my friends. Welcome to another episode of followHIM. My name is Hank Smith. I’m your host. And can we find such a co-host as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is? There is none so discreet and wise as John Bytheway. John, did you love that introduction?

John Bytheway:               00:00:55             Yes. I thought you were gonna say I had a coat of many colors, but that would be my wife. She has coats of many different colors.

Hank Smith:                      00:01:02             Yes. I know that of Kim. John, that is Genesis 41. Pharaoh is talking about Joseph of Egypt. John, I don’t know how you felt about recording today, but I know my heart, like, leaped and then my whole soul became just comforted because I love this man so much, and we’ve been friends for so long, and you’ve been friends with him even longer. Dr. Brad Wilcox is back on followHIM.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:01:32             Who is not discreet at all.

Hank Smith:                      00:01:35              Can we find such a one as this? You both fit this category. Brad, welcome back.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:01:42             Hey, it’s so great to be with you. I just have been watching all the good you’ve been doing, and it’s remarkable to see this podcast blossoming, reaching more and more and more people. I love it.

Hank Smith:                      00:01:56             Some people see us as a bit of a trio, and I love to be included in that. However, John, you’ve known Brad since the 1900s. I haven’t. Tell me about Brad in the 1900s.

John Bytheway:               00:02:05             That’s right. My first year as an EFY counselor, anciently, we called it EFY, was in 1984. Brad came to speak in-

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:02:18             1985.

John Bytheway:               00:02:19             1985, the very next year. And I remember watching him going, “Wow, who is this guy?” I found out-

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:02:27             He’s not very discreet.

John Bytheway:               00:02:31             He was walking down discreet, but he wasn’t discreet. Dad jokes, they’re starting already.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:02:39              I think everybody who was listening is now tuned out.

Hank Smith:                      00:02:42             Yes. This is gonna be the whole time, I promise. Before we get too far into this, John, tell me what you think of Joseph of Egypt. You know how I feel. I think it may be the greatest story ever told.

John Bytheway:               00:02:57             I love it, and the more you study it, the more you see types and shadows of Christ, and you see how Joseph’s going to save the whole rest of the house of Israel, and you go, “Oh, and in the latter days, what’s our job? Go gather Israel.” Learning more about ourselves when we learn about Joseph and what he was supposed to do. The things he went through are kind of tough.

Hank Smith:                      00:03:20             Oh man. I call him an unconquerable spirit. Speaking of unconquerable spirits, Brad, what are you thinking about today? What do you wanna do?

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:03:29             I want to focus on Joseph, but I think we can’t do that without backing up a little bit. I wanna go back a few chapters, and let’s talk about the context in which Joseph lived. Let’s talk about his family. Let’s talk about the covenant. Then, I think we’re gonna be able to understand why he is able to deal with adversity, why he is able to be guided and inspired by God, why he’s able to flee temptation, and how he can help Egypt prepare for hardship. We can see why he can stand as a type of Christ, because we have a little background. So, are you game? Can we go backwards first before we go forward?

Hank Smith:                      00:04:18             Brad, I love it. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I said we need to have Brad on the show for this part of the lesson. I was hoping that you would do this. Now, Brad, I know you’re ready to go, but John, there may be … I don’t know who. There may be someone who’s a brand new member of the church, who’s just started listening to our show, and they don’t know who Brad is. So, do you have a bit of a bio?

John Bytheway:               00:04:41             I do, yes. Brad is a professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture at BYU. He received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education and actually taught sixth grade in the Provo School District. Wouldn’t it be fun to have Brad as your sixth grade teacher?

Hank Smith:                      00:04:56             Oh, man.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:04:58             I sure had a lot of fun.

John Bytheway:               00:04:59             Oh, I imagine. He returned got a master’s degree in teaching and learning and a PhD at the University of Wyoming. He joined the faculty at BYU, spent many years in teacher education, and then moved to ancient scripture in 2016. Hank, a lot of people might know Brad from the great talk he gave at BYU. Everybody can find it on speeches called His Grace is Sufficient. He also wrote The Continuous Atonement and the Continuous Conversion, and just a great follow-up to that book. Brad grew up in Provo, but he spent his childhood years in Ethiopia, served a mission in Chile and later served as a mission president in Chile Santiago East Mission. He and his family also lived in New Zealand and Spain where he directed study abroad programs for BYU. He served as a member of the Sunday School General Board, and most recently as the first counselor in the Young Men General Presidency. He and his wife, Deb, you have four children and 10 grandchildren, right, Brad?

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:06:04             Yeah. Lots of fun.

John Bytheway:               00:06:06             Brad, you’ve been released from the young men general presidency. What have they got you doing now?

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:06:11             I always tell people that callings come and go, but covenants never change. If you’re living your covenants, you’re always gonna be busy doing something. I am still having the opportunity to be out with the youth, which I love. I’m still having the opportunity to teach young adults, which I love. I’m still having the opportunity to help build the kingdom, and that’s what I love.

Hank Smith:                      00:06:36             I remember once I accidentally posed a question to my friend, who’s a stake president, I said, “Hey, what are you now that you’re not stake president?” And he said, “Happy.” I was like, “Hey, that’s not what I meant. That’s not what I meant.” Let’s jump into the Come, Follow Me manual, because I wanna give Brad all the time to walk us through the House of Israel and through this story. The title of the lesson this week is The Lord was with Joseph. We know that God blesses people who trust him and keep his commandments, but sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. Sometimes the person who trusts God is abused and abandoned by family members. Sometimes the person who bravely refuses to violate the law of chastity gets falsely accused anyway. When things like this happen to us, we might be tempted to become angry with God.

                                           00:07:26             We might wonder, “What’s the point of trying to do the right thing if it only seems to make life harder?” Joseph, the son of Jacob, could have wondered that. At times, this faithful man prospered. At other times, it seemed that the more faithful he was, the more hardship he faced. But Joseph never left the Lord, and the Lord never left Joseph. That doesn’t mean the Lord prevented bad things from happening to Joseph, but through it all, the Lord was with him. Hmm, beautiful. All right, Brad, how far back do we need to go in order to really grasp this story?

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:08:02             I wanna go clear back to chapter 25 of Genesis. We’ve just completed the part where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac is willing to be sacrificed. Some people say, “What’s the difference between consecration and sacrifice?” When we sacrifice, we’re putting ourselves in the place of Abraham. When we live the law of consecration, we’re putting ourselves in the place of Isaac. We’re giving our all. That’s now what’s happened, and then Isaac is led to his wife. In 25, we find out at the very end of 24, it says, “And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her.” Then in the introduction to 25, it says, “Rebekah conceives and Jacob and Esau, twins, struggle in her womb. The Lord reveals their destiny to Rebekah.” Over to 23, verse 23, it says, “And the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb.” Skip down to the bottom of the verse, and it says, “And the elder shall serve the younger.” So the Lord is revealing to her that the youngest born is the one that’s actually going to be the one who has the birthright.

                                           00:09:33             25, the first they called Esau and after that came his brother and his name was called Jacob. Now, go over to the end of 25, and in verse 29, we read, “And Jacob made pottage.” Pottage is anything that you can make in a pot. Think chili, think stew, think chicken noodle soup, anything that can be made in a pot. And Esau came in from the field and was faint, and Esau said to Jacob, “Feed me, I pray.” And Jacob said, “Sell me this day thy birthright.” Now, I have been in Israel and I have been with tour guides who are from the Muslim faith. I have been with tour guides who are from the Jewish faith, and I have been with tour guides who are from a Christian faith. All three times that I’ve been with those tour guides, they all say Jacob tricked Esau, that Jacob tricked him.

                                           00:10:35             He got him when he was hungry, and then he threw this out there that Jacob was really the one who swindled his brother out of the birthright. But if we read right here in the scriptures, we see that that’s not the case. It’s Esau who says, look at verse 32, “What profit shall this birthright do to me? ” And then in verse 33, he sold his birthright to Jacob. And then in 34, Jacob gives him bread and pottage. Then the very end of that verse, Esau despised his birthright. It’s not that Jacob’s tricking him, it’s that Jacob values the birthright. He values the blessing, and Esau doesn’t. We could go so far as to say Jacob values a covenant relationship with God. Esau doesn’t. So we don’t have to feel bad for Esau. We have to remember that he chose not to value something that Jacob chose to value.

Hank Smith:                      00:11:43             Brad, I was looking at this same verse in the contemporary English version of the Bible. Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew. When Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the firstborn.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:12:03             Exactly what we’re talking about. Now, if we look up birthright in the Bible Dictionary, it will say go to firstborn. If we read under firstborn, then it tells us that the birthright doesn’t mean that Esau doesn’t get anything. The birthright simply means that Jacob now gets a double portion, an extra portion. So if we go back to the Old Testament, we have a dad and we have a mom. They have number one son, they have number two son, they have two daughters, and they have the baby son. If that’s our family in the Old Testament and dad dies, I mean, he’s wealthy, he’s loaded, and he dies, who gets the money. Now, if we think of it in today’s world, people would say, “Well, the mom does.” If we go back to the Old Testament world, who gets the money? Then everybody’s gonna say, “The number one son.” But that’s not the case.

                                           00:12:58             If dad has three sons, then his estate is divided into four equal parts. Baby gets his share and he’s out of here. He’s gonna go make his way in the world. Then the number two son gets his share, and he is gonna go make his way in the world. But the number one son, the son with the birthright, gets two shares. But notice, he’s not going anywhere, because with the extra portion comes added responsibility. He has to care for his mother. He has to care for his sisters, provide them dowries so that they can be properly married. And even after he marries and has a family himself, he will stay to the end of his days to govern the affairs of his father’s kingdom. Now, let’s think about that in Joseph’s life. Joseph ends up with the birthright. Does he care for his brothers and sisters?

                                           00:13:51             Oh yeah, he saves their lives. Does he govern the affairs of his father’s kingdom? Yes, and all of Egypt at the same time. He fulfills his birthright. Well, what does that mean for us? Today, we’re not talking about Old Testament gender roles, and we’re not talking about birth order in earthly families. We’re talking about God’s family, and we’re talking about the blessings that are ours as we choose to enter the covenant. As we enter the same covenant that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob entered, then we become heirs to the same blessings. And one of those blessings is the birthright. So we have a birthright? We certainly do. We have an extra portion temporally and spiritually. My goodness, there’s not anybody who’s listening to this podcast who can’t say, “I have received temporal blessings, and I have received spiritual blessings.” Now, with those blessings, it’s not too much for God to ask us to do something extra, do something more, because he’s already given us so much more.

                                           00:15:05             So he asks us to care for our brothers and sisters. Why do I have to pay humanitarian aid? Why do I have to pay fast offerings? Why on earth do I have to go on a mission to care for my brothers and sisters? Why do I have to have a calling? Why do I have to stand up in front of people and go like this and nobody even looks at you? To govern the affairs of my father’s estate. God can ask more of us because he’s given more to us. As I said in General Conference when I spoke on this topic, does that mean that we are better than others? No. It simply means that God expects us to help others be better because we have already entered a covenant relationship with him. Now, let’s go to chapter 28 and let’s see this covenant relationship in Jacob’s life.

                                           00:16:02             It says in the introduction, he blesses Jacob and his seed with the blessings of Abraham. The same covenant that Abraham had entered, that Isaac had entered. Now, Jacob is going to enter this same covenant relationship. Jacob sees a vision of a ladder reaching up into heaven. Let’s go to 10 and we’ll start there. Hank, do you have that in front of you? Do you mind reading for us?

Hank Smith:                      00:16:27             And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took up the stones of that place and put them for his pillows.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:16:41             Not a very comfortable pillow. But do you realize that the stone that English monarchs have sat on for years when they are crowned is called the stone of scone or the stone of destiny. It’s kept in Edinburgh. They bring it to Westminster Abbey when there is a coronation. So if you’ve watched a coronation, you have seen a queen or a king be crowned while sitting on a wooden chair that has the stone beneath them. The legend is that this was the very stone that Jacob slept on. They’re claiming authority from a stone, much like many people in the world claim authority from the Bible, but the Bible can’t give authority. A stone can’t give authority. But isn’t it interesting that they’re claiming authority based on a stone that a prophet slept on? How blessed we are because of the restoration, because we understand that we actually have the same authority, the same covenants that were had by Jacob, that we’re not dependent on a stone to be able to have a claim to that authority.

                                           00:18:03             Look at the covenants now that Jacob is entering. 12, and he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of God ascended and descending, ascending and descending on it. Now, in our language today, we probably wouldn’t see a ladder going up to heaven, but we could see a covenant path. He is entering the covenant path. And as he does, look at 13, “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac.” And then he promises the same blessings of the covenant to Jacob. Look at land, promised land. What we could see eternally as the celestial kingdom. Look at 14, he promises seed or posterity, which we could see eternally as an eternal family. Then he says, all the families of the earth will be blessed, and how will they be blessed through the priesthood keys that are given? Priesthood, posterity, promised land.

                                           00:19:24             These are the blessings that were given to Abraham, blessings given to Isaac as they entered a covenant relationship, and now these are the blessings that are being given to Jacob, and they are the blessings that we all can have as we enter the same covenant relationship that they are entering. Look at 15, “I am with thee.” What was the title of this lesson, Hank?

Hank Smith:                      00:19:53             The Lord was with him.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:19:55             Yes. He’s telling Jacob, “I am with thee. I will not leave thee.” This is a relationship. A covenant isn’t a contract where we have a landlord and a renter, and if the renter doesn’t pay rent, the landlord kicks him out. It’s not a contract. It’s a relationship. I am with thee. I will not leave thee because we are now in a covenant relationship with each other. And it says 16 and Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place.” If the Lord is in this place, could we call it a temple?

                                           00:20:37             Well, that’s what they do. Look at 17. This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Then look at 19, and he called the name of that place Bethel. Beth, of course, means house of. Bethlehem means house of bread. So Bethel means house of Elohim. This is a temple where they’re making covenants. If God will be with me, Jacob vows a vow. If God will be with me and will keep me in the way that I go, then I will have his arraignment to put on. Do we receive special clothing as we make an oath and covenant with God? Do we receive a garment? Do we receive the robes of the priesthood? Yes, we certainly, certainly do.

Hank Smith:                      00:21:43             Brad, according to Jewish rabbis, this spot is Mount Moriah. It’s the very place where his father was about to be sacrificed by his grandfather and the same place where the temple was eventually built.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:21:57             This is a sacred place. We’ll cover one more thing before we start going into the house of Israel. Genesis 32:24. It says, And Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him or an angel with him until the breaking of the day.

John Bytheway:               00:22:18             Brad, I love this footnote here, footnote 24A, takes you to Enos. I love how Enos starts. Enos has one book in the Book of Mormon, and he says, “Let me tell you of the wrestle that I had before I obtained a remission of my sins.” He didn’t wrestle with anybody. He wrestled with himself. Of all the things he wants to tell us about, here’s how I obtained a remission of my sins, and he described it as a wrestle.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:22:44             See, he’s not saying here he’s wrestling with an angel. He’s wrestling with himself before God, before an angel like Enos. Look at the bottom of 36. “I will not let thee go except thou bless me. ” Wait, he already has received blessings. He received a promised land, he received posterity, he received the priesthood keys. What other blessings are there? You mean we only make a covenant once? No, we make a covenant more than once. If a covenant is a contract, maybe you’d only need to sign it once. But if a covenant is a relationship, then you’re going to renew that relationship. Now, Jacob is going into a deeper relationship. When we are ready to go into a deeper relationship with God, we enter the temple to make more covenants and we receive a new name. Now watch what happens to Jacob. And he said unto him, “What is thy name?” And he said, Jacob 28, and he said, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel.” Israel is his name now that he is making additional covenants. What did President Nelson teach us that Israel means?

John Bytheway:               00:24:07             The Bible Dictionary has one who prevails with God and let God prevail.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:24:14             Yep. And right here in verse 28, it says, “Power with God and with men and hast prevailed.” We see there’s meaning in this name. So the house of Israel is simply the family or posterity of Jacob. Are there people on the earth at this point who have descended from Noah, but not from Jacob? Yes, of course. Many. Are there people who have descended from Abraham who have not descended from Jacob? Many. We now realize that the house of Israel does not include all of mankind. These are the ones that will be tasked with the job of taking the blessings to all mankind. These are the ones who will be tasked with the responsibility of bringing all of God’s children home to him. When I spoke in General Conference on this theme, I said, “So does that mean that we’re chosen? Yes. But not chosen to rule and reign, chosen to serve.” I said, Does that mean that we are loved? Yes.

                                           00:25:36             But more important, it means that we are trusted. God trusts the house of Israel to be the workers who will then extend God’s blessings to all of his children. Look at 30. Has he entered into greater covenants? Yes. Jacob said, “For I have seen God face to face.” Let’s talk house of Israel. Now we’re at a point where we can start with Jacob. I am an elementary school teacher and I’m gonna hold up some signs here so that people can stick with me. Jacob, righteous man, we’re in Genesis 29. He wanted the covenant. He wanted the birthright. He lived the covenant. He lived the birthright. And he wanted to marry a girl named Rachel. Now, Rachel was someone he worked for seven years to be able to marry her. And by the time it was time for her to be married, then her older sister, Leah, was not married.

                                           00:26:46             It was inappropriate for an older sister to marry after a younger sister. So Jacob marries Rachel first, and then he marries Leah. What? My students in my classes say, “Brother Wilcox, that sounds like polygamy. And I say, No, it doesn’t sound like polygamy. It is polygamy. And it’s right in the Bible. Some of them say, Brother Wilcox, I’m struggling with my testimony because I found out Joseph Smith was a polygamist. And I say, How come you’re not struggling with your testimony because Jacob was a polygamist? It’s right in the Bible. Oh, so am I saying that everybody’s gonna have to live this way? No. God has never asked this of all of his children, but he has asked it of some when he is trying to have a posterity that can bless all of his children. Why did we have to live polygamy at the beginning of the church?

                                           00:27:47             I don’t know all the reasons, but I know a good one, to get me here. How many listening to this podcast are on this earth because somebody lived polygamy? Those of you who don’t have your hands up, maybe you’re not going back far enough. We all are here because someone was willing to live this law when it was asked of them.

Hank Smith:                      00:28:13             Occasionally, when we’re doing this similar thing in my class, I’ll say, “Abraham and S-” and they’ll say, Sarah, and I’ll say, Isaac, and they’ll say, Rebekah, and I’ll say, Jacob, and they’ll say Rachel, and then I’ll just sit there. And, what? I’m like, Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah? And it’s almost like we don’t wanna talk about these people who are our family. This is our family. This is our story. We don’t just throw these three women. Well, they’re not really in our history. Well, then you’re losing how many of the tribes, Brad? I think 10?

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:28:46             Yeah.

Hank Smith:                      00:28:47             10 of the 12 tribes of Jacob, of Israel.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:28:50             Yeah. That’s a wonderful point. Leah then starts having children. She has Reuben, number one son, she has Simeon, number two son, she has Levi, number three son, and she has Judah, number four son. Now about now, Rachel’s like freaking out. She’s like, Whoa, Leah is filling the whole primary. Like the whole primary belongs to my sister. I wanna have children too. She says, Will you, Jacob, marry my handmaiden Bilhah and will you have children to me? This is in Genesis 30 through her. So, Jacob marries Bilhah. She becomes his third wife, his first concubine. Whoa, concubines. I thought those were wicked and evil. Well, they are in the Book of Mormon when King Noah takes them without authority, but a concubine is secondary wife. In this case, a wife who’s given rather than taken. In this case, a wife who is from a lower social status.

                                           00:29:59             This is her handmaiden. Now, do we have a precedent for a wife giving a handmaiden to have children? Yes, right with Abraham and Hagar. We have precedent with Abraham and Sarah. Then Abraham marries, according to the Doctrine and Covenants, marries Hagar. And she has a child to Sarah. We’ve got the precedent there. Bilhah has two sons. She has Dan, number five, and Naphtali. Number six. Well, then about then, Leah says, this is a great idea. Get another woman to have your children. Oh, I love that idea. She says, will you please take my handmaiden Zilpah? And will you have children to me through her? So Jacob marries Zilpah. She becomes his fourth wife, his second concubine. And she has son number seven, Gad, and son number eight, Asher. Now you think it’s gotta be Rachel’s turn. It’s just gotta be Rachel’s turn. Well, it’s not.

                                           00:31:17             Leah kicks in again. And she has son number nine, Isaachar. Now, who is his grandpa?

John Bytheway:               00:31:26             Isaac.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:31:27             Isaac. He’s named after his grandfather. How many listeners have been named after grandparents? Well, that’s what’s happening here. See, this whole family, this has the texture of reality, not the texture of fiction and fantasy. All right, here we go. Then she has son number 10, Zebulon, and then she has the only daughter who’s mentioned. And that is Dinah. Finally, now, it is Rachel’s turn. And Rachel now has her two sons. Joseph, number 11, and Benjamin. This is in Genesis 35. There you have the 12 sons, the 12 tribes of Israel, but we’re not done. That’s where we end when we’re teaching Primary. That’s where we end when we are writing Broadway musicals. But it gets a little more complex than this. Remember, it has the texture of reality. It’s complex. The first thing we need to realize is that we don’t worry too much about the number 12. How many men are in the quorum of the 12?

John Bytheway:               00:32:44             More than 12.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:32:46             More than 12. When one passes away, do we call it the quorum of the 11? No. Don’t worry too much about the number. You’re gonna find out there’s 14 tribes that patriarchs can use when they’re giving patriarchal blessings. And as you read the Old Testament, you’ll find out there’s half tribes beyond that. Let’s go now to the complexity. The first thing we need to understand is that Levi is not a traditional tribe. He has a posterity, but he doesn’t have a land of inheritance because Levi is the priesthood. Have you ever heard of the Levitical priesthood? When Moses was taking the Israelites out of Egypt, he found out it was a lot harder to get Egypt out of the Israelites.

                                           00:33:35             A lot harder. They needed a preparatory law, a preparatory priesthood, and the Levites were the ones chosen to administer that priesthood and to take care of the priesthood responsibilities like the sacrifices. We have Levi that’s not a traditional tribe. No land of inheritance. Then, where does the other tribe come from? Who has the birthright? Now, you’re gonna understand why I’ve backed way up. Who has the birthright? We would say, Well, the oldest son was Reuben. Reuben has the birthright. What is the birthright according to the Bible Dictionary? A double portion, an extra portion. We could say that instead of one tribe, Reuben would have two tribes, but Reuben also has something else. Reuben has a morality problem with one of his father’s wives. Ooh. Bilhah. I know. It’s worse than TV. It’s worse than some soap opera. But they repent. Bilhah repents. Reuben repents. Reuben retains his tribe, but he loses the birthright.

                                           00:34:56             You mean a birthright can be lost? Yes. This extra blessing, these extra responsibilities can be passed to another when we don’t choose to live the covenant that we have entered. Reuben loses the birthright, and it’s passed not to Simeon, which would be the case if Jacob only had one wife. But because he has multiple wives, then the birthright is passed to the firstborn of the second full wife, and that is Joseph. Go, go, go, Joseph, da, da, da, da, da. Come on now, Joseph. Na, na, na, na, na. That’s Joseph. He has the birthright. He has the extra portion. Now, remember the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors. Remember the story. Why do the storybooks say he got the coat? ‘Cause he was daddy’s little favorite. But remember that President Nelson, when he was a young apostle in 1988, John, this was back when we were just starting to work with EFY.

                                           00:36:14             In 1988, that young apostle blew my mind. He came to a devotional, and it was called Thanks for the Covenant. You can find it at speeches.byu.edu. And he said, Joseph didn’t get the coat because he was daddy’s little favorite. He got the coat because it was a symbol of his extra portion, a symbol of his birthright. Now, you wanna get even more interesting. Hugh Nibley used to tell his classes that the coat could not have just been a coat that we think of as something over clothing. The coat could have been coat as in coats of skins, as in something we wear under clothing, as in a garment. Yeah, but a colored garment? Well, when you wash yours with your reds, then you also have a coat of many colors. But you only do that once, and then you learn your lesson. What did Hugh Nibley say was meant by many colors?

                                           00:37:30             He said it this way. A coat of many markings. Do we wear a coat of many markings that remind us of our covenant, that remind us of our birthright? Oh, yes. We do. We do. Joseph has the birthright. And if a birthright is an extra portion, then instead of one tribe, how many tribes does Joseph have? Two. And he has two sons. He marries Asenath, and then he has Manasseh, who is born first. We’re in Genesis 48. He has Ephraim who is born second, Genesis 48. Then grandpa, Jacob, adopts these boys. They’re no longer grandsons. They’re gonna be on equal footing with the other tribal leaders. He adopts them, and he adopts them in a different order. He adopts Ephraim first, and then he adopts Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh. There you have the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph is not a traditional tribe. He’s represented by Ephraim and Manasseh.

                                           00:38:59             Levi is not a traditional tribe. The two tribes that take the place of Joseph and Levi are Ephraim and Manasseh. If we go to 1 Chronicles 5:1 , we read that the birthright was given to the sons, plural, of Joseph. The sons of Joseph. Ephraim and Manasseh are both holders of the birthright blessings and the birthright responsibilities. Now, let’s do what you can’t do in any other church. Let’s do what you can’t do in any other religion. How many who are listening are from Ephraim?

                                           00:39:51             How many are from Manasseh? Hmm. Interesting. Ephraim and Manasseh gathered first in the final last days because they have the birthright. They are now responsible for gathering all the other tribes of Israel. Now, if you go to 49 of Genesis and you look at the introduction to the chapter, you see the words temporal and spiritual. If we link those up to the order in which the sons were adopted, then we see that Ephraim becomes the temporal kingdom builders, and Manasseh becomes the spiritual kingdom builders. Ephraim and Manasseh, working together to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ, gathering the other tribes of Israel so that when Christ comes, there’s an additional layer of organization. Well, so what if you’re from Zebulon? So what if you’re from Naphtali? So what if you’re from Judah? So what if you’re from Benjamin? What does that mean?

                                           00:41:09             Well, right now, all the tribes will work together to help Ephraim and Manassah prepare for the Second Coming. Isaiah says that when Jesus comes, the government shall be upon his shoulders. Well, if it’s on his shoulders, then it’s also on our shoulders. We will have the organization of the church and the world will be governed spiritually by Jesus Christ. President Oaks says, that’s where the tribes may come in. He calls the tribes the government of God. Jesus, when he comes, he’s not gonna have a president. There’s not gonna be a Congress or a Senate. There’s not gonna be prime minister or a parliament or kings or queens or princes or princesses. He will run the world. Will we live in our tribes? No. Family is the organization of heaven. We will live in families, but can families have different responsibilities? They do now. Your dad’s in the bishopric, your mom’s in the Primary President, your sister’s in the presidency of the oldest young women class, and your brother is the first counselor in the teacher’s quorum presidency.

                                           00:42:29             We have different responsibilities, but we still live as families. How can family members be from different tribes? President Oaks has taught that when the patriarch puts his hands on your head, he’s not giving you a DNA test. At this point, after all the generations and all the intermarrying between tribes and outside of Israel, we’re all mudbloods in Harry Potter language. We’re not pure blood anything. So when the patriarch is putting his hands on your head, he is by inspiration from the Holy Ghost, he is declaring what President Nelson said is your linkage to the past and your linkage to the future. Not just your linkage to the past, the tribe through which you will receive your blessings, but the tribe through which you will bless others. Now, we have hints. Moses’ blessings of the tribes. We have hints. Jacob blesses the tribes. And those give hints as to what the tribes may one day be responsible for, but we don’t know until Jesus Christ comes again.

                                           00:43:49             We have to have an organization in place. Now, do you understand why when I had the opportunity to speak to the youth of the church, I said, Don’t sell your birthright for a mess of pottage. Think of Reuben. Don’t trade everything for nothing. Don’t let the world change you when you were born to change the world. We needed that background. John and Hank, I’m sorry I’ve taken us on a little diversion from Joseph, but we needed that background to understand why Joseph makes the choices he makes and why he does what he does. This gives us that background. Suddenly, we realize we’re not just learning a story that they can teach in vacation Bible school. We’re not just learning a Broadway musical. We are talking about something that’s very personal. We’re talking about something that is very applicable in our lives because we have entered the same covenants and we have access to the same blessings, including a birthright.

John Bytheway:               00:45:20             Brad, this reminds me of some of the material you covered. You wrote a little book called Born to Change the World.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:45:27             Yes.

John Bytheway:               00:45:28             Also, Brad, you wrote one called Your Patriarchal Blessing. I don’t know about both of you, but how often do you get questions from somebody that it is from Dan or from Asher? What am I supposed to do? ‘Cause they’re looking way back to this little brief, tiny fractional account of a blessing that Jacob gave or Moses mentioned or something. Not looking at their own patriarchal blessings. So I’m glad you covered that. I loved that President Nelson told the missionaries, Go find those who are willing to let God prevail. I thought that was such a great description. Who is the house of Israel? They are those who are willing to let God prevail.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:46:09             We’re not just looking for a bloodline. We are looking for anybody who’s willing to come in. Remember, Esau had a bloodline, but he didn’t want it. We’re looking for anybody who’s willing to enter this covenant relationship with God, to let God prevail and be willing to be part of the workers who are going to be able to take the blessings of Abraham to all of God’s children on both sides of the veil.

Hank Smith:                      00:46:44             Brad, what you just did, you’ve done a few times in different firesides.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:46:49             I’ve been teaching it ever since President Nelson spoke to us in that 1988. I have been on fire about teaching the House of Israel.

Hank Smith:                      00:46:58             Quite a few times. I give a similar fireside and people will come up after and say, “You really should get to know Brad Wilcox,” because he gives a very similar- And I was like, “Oh, okay. Well, thank you. I will see if I can go down the hall at BYU and get to know him.” Brad, if I remember right, it was a big audience last year at BYU’s Women’s Conference. You were able to do this talk and it was quite a scene because you had a special guest. Tell us all about it.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:47:30             Well, it was so funny because I had been invited to speak on this and they wanted me to talk about the House of Israel and the Covenant. I thought, “Oh, it’d be so cool if I could get that coat there, that coat of many colors.” So I called Donny, who’s a friend from high school days. I said, “Donny, could I borrow the coat to show at women’s conference?” He said, “Absolutely not. ” He says, “I would never let that coat out of my sight.” He says, “But I’ll come.” I said-

Hank Smith:                      00:47:59             I’ll wear it.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:48:00             “Wait, you have, like, a Las Vegas show you’re doing. How could you break away?” And he says, “Actually, that night, I’m on a break. I am not doing a show that night.” He says, “I’ll just come with you. ” So I called the people who were running women’s conference and said, “Would it be all right if Donny Osmond came wearing the coat of many colors and they said, “Only if he sings.”

John Bytheway:               00:48:26             How wonderful.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:48:27             And so he did. But it was so fun. I actually got Donny’s family, his grandkids, to come up and hold these little cards that I was holding up. They came out dressed in Old Testament clothing and they stood there and they were the little family. And then I said, “Oh, you know what would really be cool is if we actually had the guy that played Joseph on the Broadway show and in the movie, and it would be so cool if we had the guy who actually wore the coat.” I said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we had Donny Osmond here and then Donny came out and everybody was screaming and clapping and Donny came out showing the coat and, and it was really something. He helped me teach and he testified. He talked about, John, his own patriarchal blessing. He did a beautiful job of talking about how the coat is a symbol of covenant and how the coat is a symbol of birthright. I mean, it was beautiful. And then he sang, he sang, he sang Amazing Grace, and he sang, do my coat, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. Everybody was just loving it, loving it, loving it. That was a lot of fun. Donny Osmond, the person that people picture when they’re thinking of Joseph, he was right there, he was right there, and it was just wonderful.

Hank Smith:                      00:49:56             How beautiful is that?

John Bytheway:               00:49:58             I tried out for that part. Soon as I said, “I look handsome, I look smart.” I mean, right there, they cut off the audition. You’re just not right for this part at all.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:50:10             You’re not a walking work of art.

John Bytheway:               00:50:12             Exactly. I wanted to give a shout out to Donny because it was 30 years ago. I lived in the river bottoms in Provo in a little condo and I had the nerve to go knock on his door and he sang happy birthday to my sister Sally at the piano. When I showed that to my sister, she about lost it. So as good and as nice as a person as you hope he is, he is.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:50:40             He and his wife, Debbie, are a powerful team. They have a wonderful family, and it was so fun to have them up there on the stage, and nobody quite knew exactly who they were at first. Couple people started catching on, but then when Donny walked out, everybody just went crazy.

Hank Smith:                      00:50:58             That’s so great.

John Bytheway:               00:50:59             So great.

Hank Smith:                      00:51:01             Those of you watching on YouTube, we’ll put some pictures up over the video feed here. I don’t know if Brother or Sister Osmond listen to the show, but someone who knows them, tell them thank you for being part of our show today.

John Bytheway:               00:51:14             Yeah. And a special cameo.

Hank Smith:                      00:51:16             Yeah, especially yeah. Well, come on the show. That’s an invitation. Come on the show.

John Bytheway:               00:51:20             You’re always welcome.

Hank Smith:                      00:51:22             John, we never do a commercial on followHIM, but we’re talking about women’s conference and both of you know that I will be thrown out of my family if I don’t mention that Women’s Conference is having its 50th anniversary this year. I’m really excited for that. President Camille Johnson is speaking. Sister Tamara W. Runia is speaking. Elder Bednar is speaking. Sister Dew is speaking. Of course, many, many other speakers are coming and my sister, Jennefer, who runs that show will keep me in the family now that I’ve, I’ve told everybody.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:52:00             Well, it’s an incredible experience. It’s totally worth it.

John Bytheway:               00:52:04             I wanna throw something in, because as we’ve just outlined this backstory, I wanna fast forward it to the future and read something from one of my favorite writers and speakers, and I’ll read it in my most interesting voice, although I won’t be able to do it as well as he does. Listen to this storytelling. “In my imagination, I see Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah asking the Savior how and when he would fulfill the promise made to their family. I see them reminding him that he had promised priesthood, posterity, and promised lands”, which you told us about, Brad. “I picture them waiting eagerly, pacing back and forth until the Savior calls them over with a gesture toward the earth.” This is beautiful writing. “He shows them a young boy, a humble farmer walking into a grove of trees in upstate New York and saying something like, I’m starting right now with him. Then with the sweep of his hand towards an innumerable host of spirits he had held back for this very moment, you, me, our parents and grandparents, our children and grandchildren, the Savior must have added something like, and they are my grand finale. If I were to ask a typical primary age child why they came to Earth, I imagine I’d hear things like to get a body or to be tested, to have a family, to become like Heavenly Father, which are all age appropriate answers.

                                           00:53:32             But listen to how Elder David A. Bednar answered that question”, I’m still quoting one of my favorite authors. “He said, We were foreordained in the premortal existence and born into mortality to fulfill the covenant and promise God made to Abraham. That is who we are, and that is why we are here today and always.” That’s the end of the quote from Elder Bednar, now back to my, one of my favorite speakers. “Now, please listen to me. You will always feel something missing from your life if you are not helping to gather Israel, and you will find your most profound and purest joys when you are fully engaged in his work with your loved ones. Why? Deep down, your spirit knows why you came here.”

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:54:15             John, I know the doc. I know the doc. It was given to Ensign College by our very own Hank Smith.

John Bytheway:               00:54:23             By Hank Smith. How do you find that Hank go to Ensign.edu?

Hank Smith:                      00:54:27             Go to Ensign College’s YouTube page and they’ll have it.

John Bytheway:               00:54:31             What was the title of it, Hank?

Hank Smith:                      00:54:32             The Righteousness Of Your Redeemer.

John Bytheway:               00:54:35             I wanna connect some Josephs here. Go to 2 Nephi 3. 2 Nephi 2, Lehi talks to Jacob. 2 Nephi 3, Lehi talks to Joseph about a prophecy of Joseph of Egypt. And then he mentions a latter day Joseph who will be named after the name of his father. That’s four Josephs so far in this chapter. That Joseph, that, as you so beautifully put it, Hank, the Savior with a wave of his hand directs our attention to this grove of trees where Joseph walks in and connects these Josephs all together. What a big story we’re talking about today.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:55:14             Yeah. We need the big picture so that we can truly appreciate the things we cover now as we talk about Joseph, who is hated by his brothers. His brothers are envious of him. He gets sold as a slave. He gets beaten up and put in a pit. We also see that they take an animal and kill the animal to put blood on his garment, on his coat that they take to his father who then grieves his death. This is a horrendous experience, but without the big picture, you almost feel like the older brothers are justified because Joseph has been nothing but a braggart. Oh, all of you are gonna bow to me. I had a dream and I’m special and you’re not. See, if we look at it without the big picture, then we can side with the brothers. If we see the big picture, then we realize that Joseph is actually a type of Jesus Christ, that his brothers are wrong to be working against him.

                                           00:56:28             Then he goes into all kinds of struggles and trials. Talk about adversity. I mean, he faces adversity. He goes and then he’s a slave and he’s sold and he ends up being with Potiphar and he ends up making a name for himself in Potiphar’s house. And because he is handsome, because he is strong, then Potiphar’s wife starts trying to put her hooks into him. Look at what he’s going through. Can we say he’s blessed? Well, it depends on how you define a blessing. Blessing is anything that draws us closer to God. Then in a way he is being very blessed. Remember, the key isn’t just that he was loved by God. He was trusted by God. And look at how he proves himself trustworthy.

Hank Smith:                      00:57:34             Brad, you said something earlier that I just loved and I hadn’t thought about. You said Joseph is able to make these incredible decisions, overcome these temptations, survive trials because he knew who he was. That’s why we did that whole story. That was something I was thinking about when I gave that devotional John talked about, was if you know who you are and why you came here, decisions, trials, temptations, they change for you.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              00:58:03             Absolutely. I mean, think about him. There was nobody in the house when Potiphar’s wife made her advances. And he could have said, “Well, nobody will know.” The reason he was able to be obedient, even when nobody was watching. I mean, anybody can do the right thing when the bishop’s right there staring at you or when your mom and dad are right there, but he was able to, even in private, make righteous decisions because he did know who he was. He knew the covenant he’d entered. He knew the responsibilities that were his. He felt that sense of mission and he felt empowered because of this covenant relationship. He had access to the power he needed. He was able to be trustworthy, not just loved, but trusted to do the right thing.

John Bytheway:               00:59:01             I think it was in 2022 when President Nelson said these three identities and made the young single adults in attendance repeat them back. I’m a child of God. I’m a child of the covenant, which is what we’re talking about today, and I’m a disciple of Christ. There may be times when you’re thinking, I’m not good at overcoming temptation. Well, maybe you’re not. You know who’s really good at it? Jesus is. You are bound on a covenant with him. And he’s really good at it. He’s saying to Joseph, What’s the title of our lesson? I will be with you. The Lord was with Joseph. And what do we say at the sacrament table? What do we hear? Always have his Spirit to be with them. That’s why I’m so glad, Brad, you emphasized, this is a relationship. This is different. As you just said, Brad, you have access to the Lord’s power. Together, what’s our theme this year? Walk with him. And with me, you can do stuff and you have access to his power. Understanding of child of the covenant, that’s what President Nelson was talking about.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              01:00:10             This bigger perspective helps us. This chapter where we’re talking about Potiphar’s wife, I mean, this has been the basis of many a chastity talk. Many a talk on standards, many a talk on living worthily. Yes, this could become a chastity talk, but as we’re looking at the bigger picture, we have to understand that living the law of chastity is about much more than the dos and don’ts of sexual relationships. We’re actually learning through the law of chastity the attributes of Christ and the attributes of God. Cleanliness is only one of God’s attributes. There are so many other attributes that we need to be developing. The law of chastity can actually teach us those attributes. Attributes like charity, attributes like self-denial, attributes like postponed gratification, attributes like being willing to sacrifice something good for something better. Being willing to be loyal, being willing to be trustworthy. Those are the things when we covenant in the temple to live the law of chastity, we’re talking about becoming more like God.

                                           01:01:36             We’re talking about being able to have an eternal family. It’s the attributes of God that allow us to trust him. As we develop those attributes, he can trust us. And I think that that’s the bigger picture that we need to keep in mind when we’re looking at Joseph making a choice.

Hank Smith:                      01:02:01             Brad, I like where you’re going with this. You could turn this into a law of chastity lesson, which would be very appropriate. However, this isn’t just about making good choices. This is about knowing where you fit in, in God’s plan. You are in the house of Israel. You have been chosen by God to bless the entire earth.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              01:02:28             You are a child of the covenant. You are youth of the noble birthright.

Hank Smith:                      01:02:35             Coming up in part two.

Dr. Brad Wilcox:              01:02:37             Elder Holland was overseeing the work in Chile. We got to spend part of our mission working directly with him. And it was amazing to watch how he dealt with some really serious problems. One time he came and he spoke to our mission. He did a little Q&A. I’ll never forget when one of the missionaries…