In an important 1894 conference discourse, Pres. Wilford Woodruff taught members of the Church that the Lord had revealed the temple ordinances in our day through the prophet Joseph Smith gradually “line upon line, precept upon precept” and that we had “not gotten through with revelation.” According to Pres. Woodruff, although Brigham Young accomplished all that God required of is hands, he did not receive all the revelations that belong to the work; neither did John Taylor, nor had Wilford as prophet. “There will be no end to this work, until it is perfected.” (Jennifer Ann Mackley, Wilford Woodruff’s Witness: The Development of Temple Doctrine, Seattle, WA: High Desert Publishing, 2014, 289-290.)
The prophet Joseph expressed well the delight that the Lord has in revealing added knowledge to his children:
“How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.” (D&C 121:33)
Wendy and I are treasuring the new temple endowment films, that were introduced in the last several years. While no wording has changed, it seems to us that the new dramatizations confirm or even add sacred insights and understandings about such things as the nature and power of God’s love, good marital relations and roles, the strength and importance of women in bringing about God’s purposes, the over-riding significance of Christ’s atonement, making decisions through inspiration, and counteracting the many faces and forms of satanic influence.
We are experiencing these insights with a sense of God’s love and generosity to us.
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