=7. The Ordination of Men to the Ministry=, as sanctioned by scriptural precedent, and established by direct revelation of God's will, is to be effected through the gift of prophecy, and by the imposition of hands by those who are in authority. By prophecy is meant the right to receive, and the power to interpret, manifestations of the Divine will. That the laying on of hands is usual as a part of the ceremony is seen in several of the instances already cited; nevertheless the scriptures record numerous ordinations to the offices of the priesthood, with no specific statement concerning the imposition of hands, nor indeed any other details of the ceremony. Such instances do not warrant the conclusion that the laying on of hands was not actually performed; and indeed in the light of modern revelation it is clear that the imposition of hands was a usual accompaniment of ordination, as it was also a part of the ceremony of confirming blessings,[556] and of bestowing the Holy Ghost.[557] [556] Gen. xlviii, 14-19. Compare II Kings v, 11; Matt. viii, 15; Mark vi, 5; xvi, 15-18. [557] See Lecture viii, pp. 162-174. =8.= Thus, the priesthood descended from Adam to Noah, under the hands of the fathers;[558] Enos was ordained by the hand of Adam; and the same was true of Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah. Lamech was ordained under the hand of Seth; Noah received his authority from the hand of Methuselah. And so may the priesthood be traced, bestowed as the spirit of prophecy directed by the hand of one upon another, till the time of Moses. Melchizedek, who conferred this authority upon Abraham, received his own through the direct lineage of his fathers, from Noah. Esaias, a contemporary of Abraham, received his ordination under the hand of God. Through the hand of Esaias, the authority passed to Gad, thence by the same means to Jeremy, Elihu, Caleb, and Jethro, the priest of Midian, under whose hand Moses was ordained.[559] Joshua the son of Nun was set apart as directed of God, through the imposition of hands by Moses.[560] [558] Doc. and Cov. cvii, 40-52. [559] Doc. and Cov. lxxxiv, 6-14. [560] Numb. xxvii, 18; Deut. xxxiv, 9.