Sacrificing the Firstborn

The fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin is told as following:

There was once a miller who was poor, but he had one beautiful daughter. It happened one day that he came to speak with the king, and, to give himself consequence, he told him that he had a daughter who could spin gold out of straw. The king said to the miller: “That is an art that pleases me well; if thy daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to my castle to-morrow, that I may put her to the proof.”

When the girl was brought to him, he led her into a room that was quite full of straw, and gave her a wheel and spindle, and said: “Now set to work, and if by the early morning thou hast not spun this straw to gold thou shalt die.” And he shut the door himself, and left her there alone. And so the poor miller’s daughter was left there sitting, and could not think what to do for her life: she had no notion how to set to work to spin gold from straw, and her distress grew so great that she began to weep. Then all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, who said: “Good evening, miller’s daughter; why are you crying?”

“Oh!” answered the girl, “I have got to spin gold out of straw, and I don’t understand the business.” Then the little man said: “What will you give me if I spin it for you?” – “My necklace,” said the girl. The little man took the necklace, seated himself before the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round and the bobbin was full; then he took up another, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round, and that was full; and so he went on till the morning, when all the straw had been spun, and all the bobbins were full of gold.

At sunrise came the king, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and very much rejoiced, for he was very avaricious. He had the miller’s daughter taken into another room filled with straw, much bigger than the last, and told her that as she valued her life she must spin it all in one night. The girl did not know what to do, so she began to cry, and then the door opened, and the little man appeared and said: “What will you give me if I spin all this straw into gold?”

“The ring from my finger,” answered the girl. So the little man took the ring, and began again to send the wheel whirring round, and by the next morning all the straw was spun into glistening gold. The king was rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but as he could never have enough of gold, he had the miller’s daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said: “This, too, must be spun in one night, and if you accomplish it you shall be my wife.” For he thought: “Although she is but a miller’s daughter, I am not likely to find any one richer in the whole world.” As soon as the girl was left alone, the little man appeared for the third time and said: “What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time?” – “I have nothing left to give,” answered the girl. “Then you must promise me the first child you have after you are queen,” said the little man. “But who knows whether that will happen?” thought the girl; but as she did not know what else to do in her necessity, she promised the little man what he desired, upon which he began to spin, until all the straw was gold. And when in the morning the king came and found all done according to his wish, he caused the wedding to be held at once, and the miller’s pretty daughter became a queen.

In a year’s time she brought a fine child into the world, and thought no more of the little man; but one day he came suddenly into her room, and said: “Now give me what you promised me.” The queen was terrified greatly, and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom if he would only leave the child; but the little man said: “No, I would rather have something living than all the treasures of the world.” Then the queen began to lament and to weep, so that the little man had pity upon her. “I will give you three days,” said he, “and if at the end of that time you cannot tell my name, you must give up the child to me.”

Then the queen spent the whole night in thinking over all the names that she had ever heard, and sent a messenger through the land to ask far and wide for all the names that could be found. And when the little man came next day, (beginning with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar) she repeated all she knew, and went through the whole list, but after each the little man said: “That is not my name.” The second day the queen sent to inquire of all the neighbours what the servants were called, and told the little man all the most unusual and singular names, saying: “Perhaps you are called Roast-ribs, or Sheepshanks, or Spindleshanks?” But he answered nothing but: “That is not my name.”

The third day the messenger came back again, and said: “I have not been able to find one single new name; but as I passed through the woods I came to a high hill, and near it was a little house, and before the house burned a fire, and round the fire danced a comical little man, and he hopped on one leg and cried:

“Today do I bake,
tomorrow I brew,
The day after that the queen’s child comes in;
And oh! I am glad that nobody knew
That the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!”

You cannot think how pleased the queen was to hear that name, and soon afterwards, when the little man walked in and said: “Now, Mrs. Queen, what is my name?” she said at first “Are you called Jack?” – “No,” answered he. “Are you called Harry?” she asked again. “No,” answered he. And then she said”: “Then perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?”

“The devil told you that! the devil told you that!” cried the little man, and in his anger he stamped with his right foot so hard that it went into the ground above his knee; then he seized his left foot with both his hands in such a fury that he split in two, and there was an end of him. (Public Domain, Authored by the Brothers Grimm, See grimmstories.com)

Perhaps you remember this fairy tale being told or read to you as a child, but have you thought of the moral lessons or implications of the story? It seems there are many. There is a king, obsessed with obtaining wealth, that the only value a poor woman has in his eyes is the ability to increase his wealth. Otherwise he’s willing to kill her. On the other hand, Rumpelstiltskin shows up in the time of the Miller’s Daughter’s distress as if to say, “I hear you, what is it you want?”. The Miller’s daughter, simply wants to keep living, so the non-altruistic little man helps her as long as there is something to benefit him. He keeps coming back, until the final time, there is something he really wants. Something living. Her Firstborn.

Did the Miller’s daughter make this deal under duress? Or perhaps she made the deal not thinking the dues would ever have to be paid. Either way, payment eventually came due. It was time to sacrifice her Firstborn, and she didn’t want to follow through on her end of the bargain.

For some reason, the little man was willing to waive the debt so long as she told him his presumably secret name. She eventually found out his name due to one of her servants spotting him in the woods reciting his own name during some ritual. When confronted by the little man the last time, she spoke his name, and he was enraged. He insisted that it had to have been the devil that told her. The name in which he was so protective of, was the devil the only one in which he had divulged it to? His rage led to his undoing.

Most stories told present a protagonist that we want to root for. That we want to relate to in hopes that we can be a hero in our own story and triumph over evil and other trials. With how this  fairy tale is told, we might perceive the Miller’s daughter as the protagonist. She is faced with a seemingly impossible situation and by the end she comes out as the victor.

Let’s examine each character’s behavior. The Miller himself started the story with a lie in hopes to boost his own status or standard of living. Certainly the intention of his boasting wasn’t that he would end up sacrificing his daughter to the King’s ultimatum of her spinning straw into gold or die.

The King exudes greed at the prospect of perpetual wealth – so much so that he is willing to murder a woman if she cannot provide him with the wealth he seeks. Ironically, he too doesn’t realize the price of his greed and ultimatum is the sacrifice of his Firstborn.

Rumpelstiltskin sees a woman faced with an insurmountable task that he indeed can help with, but not without a price, or something beneficial to him in return. He also is willing to take a firstborn and let others sacrifice to suit his selfish desires.

The Miller’s Daughter, the perceived protagonist – the one we would like to relate to because she is the victor right? She was faced with the impossible task of doing something she was unable to do, or die. By dealing with Rumpelstiltskin she sacrificed her honor by claiming his actions and abilities as her own. This led to more demands, and more sacrifice of honor on her part until the price was her firstborn. When she promised Rumpelstiltskin her firstborn, since she was without honor in her previous actions, was her intention all along to not follow through on her deal with Rumpelstiltskin?

The whole story starts with a lie that snowballs into each individual attempting to capitalize on their own greedy pursuits. One lesson to be learned is as the scriptures teach that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23, KJV). When one sins, there is a price to pay. Perhaps the individuals in the story don’t realize there is a price for each of their transgressions, but they all seem to circumvent paying the price. Interestingly and ironically enough in this story the one individual that has to pay the price is the firstborn. An innocent child that has done nothing wrong has to pay the price for others that have done wrong.

My intent is not to assign each individual in the story a parallel to other individuals or entities in our present day, but to have one think introspectively. Don’t we all find ourselves at some point behaving like the Miller, his daughter, the king, or Rumpelstiltskin? Are we ever overcome with greed, envy, or dishonesty?

Mankind’s imperfect nature and being prone to sin makes it impossible for us to have both reconciliation and justice on our own. In the Book of Mormon Alma taught his son:

“And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also” (Alma 42:15).

Jesus Christ the firstborn of the Father is the sacrifice made to reconcile the injustices and sin in this world. This is reiterated in perhaps the most famous Bible passage:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17, KJV)

The all-knowing God, provided a way despite our mistakes and imperfections to be reconciled to him through his innocent, sinless Firstborn.

Not long after I had arrived in the last area of my LDS Mission my missionary companion and I attended a ward/congregation activity. I was new enough to the area I really hadn’t become acquainted with too many people in the ward yet. Activities like these were opportunity to do so. At one point some older lady, certainly wiser and more experienced than a couple of 20-year-olds walked into the church. My companion started nudging me, and afterward saying, “Watch out for this lady, shes crazy. In Sunday School, she once said that the Church of the Firstborn and our church are two different things!”. When you’re a missionary out selling your church as the one and only true church of Jesus Christ, saying that it is the only path to salvation – certainly being a member of the church declaring in Sunday School that the Church of the Firstborn and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are different things comes off crazy to you. Perhaps then, my response to my companion was even more astonishing. “She’s right, they are two different things”, I said. His response was more of a “Huh?”, but I don’t recall elaborating any further to him.

Most missionaries are discouraged from seeking deeper parts of the gospel, and more encouraged to focus on the basics to teach converts to be baptized into the church. I can’t really blame him for not understanding the distinction. In fact, most members of the church probably do not realize there is a distinction when encountering “Church of the Firstborn” in scripture.

In Mormon Scripture almost all references to the Church of the Firstborn are found in the Doctrine and Covenants – scripture or revelation revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The only reference outside of the Doctrine and Covenants, by name at least is the sole reference that can be found in mainstream Christianity scripture:

“To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23, KJV).

Sections in the Doctrine and Covenants that reference this term include: 76, 78, 88, 93, and 107. Lets examine a few of these references:

Doctrine and Covenants 76: 50, 54:

“And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just–

…

They are they who are the church of the Firstborn“

For the sake of brevity, yes, there are verses in between the first reference and last referenced in this section. These verses offer attributes of the individuals in reference to the first mentioned verse(verse 50) of which verse 54 also applies that these individuals are members of the church of the Firstborn.

Doctrine and Covenants 76:94:

“They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace“

Doctrine and Covenants 88:3-5:

“Wherefore, I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John.

This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom;

Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son“

Note this above passage of revelation specifically states that the other comforter is the promise which Jesus Christ himself gives to an individual that they will receive eternal life.

Doctrine and Covenants 93:21-22:

“And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn;

And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn.“

All above referenced scriptures are in agreement as to what constitutes membership in the church of the firstborn. To be admitted into the church of the Firstborn, you must be granted entrance by Jesus Christ himself. The biblical scripture in Hebrews 12:23 puts it more simply as individuals who are “written in heaven”.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be the same organization or church as the Church of the Firstborn. Membership in the LDS church is granted through the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, while the scriptures declare admittance to the church of the Firstborn requires a personal visitation from Jesus Christ.

Lets bring this all back together. How many times have we created our own little justifications brought about by our small earthly perception? The Miller’s daughter sacrificed a part of her honor by having Rumpelstiltskin do a task for her which she later passed off as her own doing. She felt justified, because she compensated Rumpelstiltskin the first 2 times, so why did it matter? It matters because of her little justifications, she felt even more justified in promising her firstborn to Rumpelstiltskin with no intention of following through on her promise. The small justifications eventually evolved into something with much larger consequences.

Years ago when I still actively attended the LDS church, and paid my tithing to it, a story broke of the church committing fraud with funds through Ensign Peak Advisors. Tithing funds intended to further the church’s perceived mission of operations throughout the world as a non-profit organization had at times been used to bail out for-profit entities owned by the church as well as to dabble in the stock market. Not long after the story broke, I received a message from one of my friends(also a member of the church) about it. He expressed his doubts about how the church was behaving considering the sacrifices made by members to donate tithing. My duty as an active LDS member was to quell his doubts by providing justification for the church. My response was, “God has commanded us to pay tithing, so I see it as my duty to pay tithing to the church. If the church leaders misuse church funds to do wrong, I know that I have obeyed a commandment to pay tithing, and God will not hold me accountable, but rather hold the church leaders accountable for misuse of church funds if they have done so.” He didn’t argue with my response. He seemingly accepted it. But notice how my justification ignores the fact that I’m complicit in wrong doing? That if wrong is happening, it doesn’t matter to me if I assign guilt to someone else?

Having a greater perspective and seeing the other side of things now, I often recognize similar justifications from members of the LDS church as the subsequent years shed light on the wrongdoings of top church leaders. We get caught up in seeking to justify being complicit of wrongdoings of those top leaders we support. We scapegoat ourselves for a worldly organization that we belong to without realizing as I previously stated that these small justifications lead us to greater wrongdoing. In the process of this, we end up sacrificing the firstborn in vain. We become as the professors of religion that Jesus Christ condemned in saying:

“they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof” (Joseph Smith History 1:19)

When we profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ, but then we are caught in sin seeking to justify ourselves in dishonesty rather than his grace we are no better than the Miller, The King, The Miller’s daughter, or Rumpelstiltskin. We expect the innocent baby to cover our mistakes, but we don’t seek to protect him or his good name, but rather sacrifice him in hopes we’ll be good in the end. In doing so don’t we also sacrifice any chance at joining the real Church of the Firstborn?

It’s interesting that in the end of the fairy tale, that declaring the name of a mischievous individual was the perceived deliverance from past mistakes. But was it deliverance? Rumpelstiltskin died in self destruction. With that his magic died. What was to happen once the Miller’s daughters means of creating gold for the king was gone? It still cost an individual their life, and conflict still existed in the end.

The name Rumpelstiltskin also teaches us a valuable lesson. It is a variation of something in German superstition. The concept of “Rumpelstiltskin” is that of a ghost haunting your home. It bothers and torments those living within the home. It isn’t until the demands of the ghost are met that they will stop tormenting you.

The organizations and religions of this world that have your allegiance will always make demands of you. Some demands may cross your boundaries of personally held beliefs and convictions where to receive deliverance will take you into spaces of dishonesty and justification for relief from these demands. But who is to say the ghost will never come back for more?

Remember, that God gave his Son as a sacrifice freely. All he asks is that you believe in him, love him, and love your neighbor (John 3:16, Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus Christ has paid the price. Seek to please him – not the world which uses his name in vain. The church you should seek is his church, The Church of the Firstborn.