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Question: Why did Jesus call Twelve Apostles?
Question: Why did Jesus call Twelve Apostles?
"The number twelve is a symbol for priesthood, including its power and right to govern. . . . The number twelve appears over and over again in relation to priesthood holders, the temple, the covenant people who have received the necessary priesthood ordinances, and the celestial kingdom. Hence there are twelve tribes, twelve stones on the breastplate of the high priest, twelve foundations and gates into the heavenly city, twelve priesthood-holding patriarchs from Seth to Noah, and another twelve from Shem to Jacob."[1]
When Moses led the Israelites, there were twelve princes, one representing each tribe (see Numbers 1:44; 17:6). Later, "Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel" (1 Kings 4:7). When the Israelites returned from Babylonian captivity, twelve chief priests were set apart from the rest (see Ezra 8:24). When Jesus Christ came to preach the gospel (see Matthew 4:17), "he had called unto him his twelve disciples . . . [and] these twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, . . . Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:1, 5, 6). Later, Jesus gave to these disciples (called Apostles) the keys of the kingdom that had been given to Peter as the chief Apostle (see Matthew 16:18–19; 18:18) and declared that they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel (see Matthew 19:28).
Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also has twelve Apostles who hold the keys of the kingdom, just as the Apostles did in Christ's day (see Doctrine and Covenants 112:30–32; 124:128). These Apostles serve under the direction of the First Presidency of the Church to "build up the church, and regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:33).[2] Thus, in the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency is the symbol of priesthood power and the right to direct the Lord's work on the Earth.
Notes
- ↑ Alonzo L. Gaskill, The Lost Language of Symbolism: An Essential Guide for Recognizing and Interpreting Symbols of the Gospel (Deseret Book, 2012), 134–135.
- ↑ The First Presidency is a quorum of three presidents after the pattern of "a quorum of three presidents were anciently, who were ordained after the order of Melchizedek, and were righteous and holy men" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:29). Peter, James, and John served as a First Presidency when they led the Church in their day. See Doctrine and Covenants 27:13; 128:20; Joseph Smith–History 1:72; "When Peter, and James, and John went up into the mount with the Savior, Moses and Elias were there; and the keys of the msyteries of the kingdom were conferred upon them, Peter being at the head.—It is written in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that after he (Jesus) ascended into heaven, he gave commandemtns, thro' the Holy Ghost, unto the apostles whom he had chosen, that is, to Peter, James and John, they forming the first presidency of the church of Christ, after the meridian of time" ("Letter No. 9," Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, 1:10 (July 1835), 145).