Secrets Beyond the Veil

Oftentimes when we discus the plan of salvation and the grand council in heaven we mention it briefly then continue on. However, what we fail to recognize is how significant this council is on a daily basis.

The Grand council in Heaven was not a one and done event. It did not just happen once and then everything was peachy king. Rather instead it is something that happens daily. Heaven is very organized and very orderly. Looking at how God runs his kingdom here on the earth reveals much about how it is organized and run in the celestial realm.

First off, it is not an idle place. There is much going on and every angel has assignments, stewardship, and opportunities for growth and development. The Lord has his legions organized very orderly. The spirits yet unborn and those who have already gone through this life are each given stewardship and ministering assignments for their siblings currently in this temporary realm of darkness--where a veil of remembrance is placed over each spirit preventing us from seeing or remembering all aspects of life outside the veil. The Lord allows this veil to become thin when have sufficiently sought him and prepared ourselves to be in that holy place. Currently our temporal bodies of dust are not holy enough to be back in that sphere. It is only through diligent and carefully preparation that we are permitted to have our bodies changed to behold visitations from the celestial realm, or carried away in the spirit to those realms, otherwise our frames would quake and cause us to fall to the ground with our souls on fire from the quickening power of the spirit if we are not prepared (See Moses, Elijah, Mary, Peter, James, John, Mahonri Moriancumer, Alma the Younger, King Lamoni, Lamoni's wife, Lamoni's father, and Joseph Smith for examples of prepared and unprepared individuals).

Continuing, those spirits who were especially obedient to each commandment given, the Lord entrusted them with greater responsibility and leadership. These leaders received counsel and direction from leaders above them all the way up to the 12 the Lord had called to preside over his affairs in the celestial realms. When it came time for those leaders to come to the earth, is it any wonder that they were called at a young age to be leaders once again on the earth (See Samuel, Daniel, David, Mormon, Moroni, Joseph Smith and others). Our faithfulness and diligent to the commandments in the celestial realms allowed us to be born under the circumstances we were born into on this earth.

Now concerning our interaction with the heavens: We pray to God, the Father. Now whether those prayers that are uttered ascend straight to him or whether they are relayed via the priesthood order he has set up, I do not know. Yet, I believe that although God knows and hears are prayers directly, to me it makes sense that those angels who have stewardship over us here have the responsibility to relay those messages to the leaders over them who relay them higher up all the way to God, who then gives instruction how to go about answering the said prayer back down through the priesthood chain of command. This way each prayer is answered by God, but through his servants. As the answer comes all the way down to the angel nearest to the veil, that angel will then proceed to either give us an answer spirit to spirit through the power of the Holy Ghost (who's stewardship deals directly with all those spirits in this temporary world). Now that answer may come via a still small voice to our mind and heart giving us an answer to our prayer, it may come via the voice of one of the Lord's anointed servants in a formal or informal setting, it may come by way of a friend, family member, or even via a complete stranger. Whoever is most intune to the whisperings of the spirit is given assignment to speak and share those messages with others or to the specific individual that needs to hear them. The Lord uses many resources and avenues to answer our prayers. Thus ours is the responsibility to be prepared to listen to and head the answer when it comes, whatever way it comes.

Jumping back to the celestial realms lets discuss a few more things, you may have wondered about. The first is Satan's role in the plan and how it is he is able to tempt and try us, yet that he cannot tempt us or try us above our ability to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). This thought goes back to the council in heaven and draws the conclusion that heavenly councils occur on a frequent basis and that Satan is allowed to attend to a portion of that council meeting. This thought comes from Job 1:6-12:

6 ¶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord."

This dialouge between Satan and the Lord helps me better understand what Paul was talking about in his letter to the Corinthians. Satan can't tempt us beyond our ability to bear because God won't allow him. Satan is constantly trying to barter our souls with God. Now God knows what we can handle and bear at one time and only allows Satan to tempt us to that level. Satan does not cross his bounds for he cannot, God will not allow him to do so. So after Satan meets with the Lord, the Lord then continues his council meeting with his leaders and instructs them to warn his children of impending danger both physical and spiritual. This warning comes to us directly through the spirit from the Lord, and often by a second source through one of his chosen servants and sometimes even directly with this verbiage "Satan desires to have thee," or "Repent or you will be destroyed" (Meaning that if we don't, a destroying angel will end our life, or Satan's minions are allowed to cause destruction, since the wicked usually destroy themselves--as at that point they have given themselves to Satan and are all his followers, thus he has control over them and they heed him). Ours is the freedom to choose how we will act, and whether we will heed the warning and choose light, or whether we will succumb to the darkness of the Evil One. Our agency is not obstructed in any manner, yet Satan tempting us is not a one and done thing either else we would cease to grow, for there is no growth in the comfort zone. Challenges and obstacles arise as we are ready to face them. When the Lord sees it fit for us to be stretched and grow to our next level in holiness or darkness (depending on what we choose) he has this council or conversation with Satan just as he did with Job.

This makes total sense to me and helps unravel the mystery of nitty gritties of the Plan of Salvation and how Satan is very much a part of this Plan. If none had fallen from the presence of God, then there would be none to tempt us and the Plan of Salvation would be void. According to Father Lehi, if there was not opposition to light there would be no way for us to choose good and grow, for there would not be a choice. The law of agency is one that supersedes God and goes all the way back to bare intelligences. Light and Darkness are elements of the universe that have existed and always will exist. There are laws of the universe that even God has to obey or else he would cease to be God. Obedience to divine law invites greater light to cling unto us (or differently stated, as we obey divine law we associate and connect ourselves with greater light). Disobedience to divine law distances us from light and causes darkness to be our ally. Adam would never have fallen and left the garden if Satan had not tempted him. There was no other way out of the garden once Adam was placed therein. Falling was part of the plan. It had to happen. Adam wasn't forced to fall, but in a way he was because there was no other way to leave the garden, it was not in the plan, but he had to come to that conclusion and choose to follow Satan (This is a concept that still sits uneasy with me, and is hard to come to terms with, the fact that God left Adam with only one way out and that there was no other way. Maybe more revelation about this topic will come later down the road that clarifies this better). Satan was part of the plan. Satan may have chosen to rebel in that first grand council, but when he did only a portion of his power was striped from him. He possessed power and priesthoods while Adam was in the Garden, and he still does today, because God allows it to be so so that Satan can play his role in the Plan (This power will be removed once the plan is completed in it's entirety and Satan will cast into the darkness). Satan was allowed to tempt Adam, for God allowed him to do so, for Adam had got to the point where he was ready to grow and stretch. Sometimes we have to fall before we can grow or climb higher. Falling and failing is part of the Plan. In a way it could be said that this is a plan of falling, a plan of mistakes and failures, a plan of temptations, sorrows, pains, and remorse, otherwise we could never fully appreciate the Heavenly realms beyond this life and the beauties therein.

Hopefully these thoughts shed some light on the heavenly realms, the order established there, how prayers ascend heavenwards (How they actually work I don't know, but that is a mystery to be solved when I am ready to receive it) and are answered, the councils in heaven, and Satan's role in our progression and how it is that he can tempt us and the degree to which he is allowed to tempt us.