Luke 10- The Seventy

 

The Lord called seventy others, to assist the Apostles in the work.  The Lord gives the seventy charge to preach his gospel.  He tells them to go out two by two to all of the cities he himself would go.  I thought that was the Lords way of saying, do what I would do.  That’s a big responsibility.  He warns them that they will be few, even though the harvest is great and that they will be lambs among wolves.  If they understood this statement, I imagine it would have been scary for them.  The Lord then gives them instruction on how they would preach.  They are not to go house to house, nor take any items with them.  He tells them how to deal with those who receive them and those who do not.  He told them to heal the sick where those are who receive them.  The Lord explains that their voice will be his voice and that they will have power over the serpents and scorpions and that the enemy will not hurt them.

The fact that Christ called, commissioned and sent the seventy forth to help spread the gospel, is a testament to me that the Lord has an organization set forth for spreading his gospel and keeping his sheep.  As our Article of Faith #6 states, we still believe in that organization.  That is why we have quorums of the seventy today.  The seventy then and now have great responsibility given to them.

Our scriptures testify of the Lords organized church and calling of the quorums of the seventy. The seventy were called and ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood.  They are general authorities in the church and are given apostolic authority, but not ordained as apostles.  In modern day scripture the duties of the Seventy are set forth.  They are special witnesses of Christ.  They act under the direction of the Apostles.  They build up the kingdom and are considered traveling elders.