Dear Gramps,

I recently received my patriarchal blessing and in it, it is written that I have the blessings from Abraham and Jacob. What does that mean? Yes, what are the blessings from Abraham and Jacob?

Parker, from chile

Dear Parker,

The blessings that were given by the Lord to Abraham, and through him to his posterity through Isaac and Jacob are marvelous and far reaching. We read in Abraham 3:22-23,

Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

That was one of the blessings promised to Abraham. Further, we learn from Genesis 22:15-18,

And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

The great promise that in the seed of Abraham shall all the nations of the earth be blessed is being realized in our day. Your patriarchal blessing very likely tells you that you are of one of the houses of Israel, very likely of the House of Ephraim, and as such would be of Abraham’s seed and an heir to the blessings that the Lord promised to him. However, although you are an heir, the endowment of that heirship, or the realization of the promised blessings, depends entirely upon your faithfulness. If you live according to the covenants of the gospel, devoting and dedicating yourself to the Lord and to his service, you will be among the chosen of all mankind, and your blessings will be among the greatest that God has offered to his children.

-Gramps