The temple should never change, but it has changed

 Temple shouldn't ever change  

“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed.” August 2001 Ensign lds.org  

  

“Now the purpose in Himself in the winding up scene of the last dispensation is that all things pertaining to that dispensation should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding dispensations…. He set the ordinances to be the same forever and ever and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal them.” The Prophet Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol.4, p. 208 (https://ia800609.us.archive.org/20/items/HistoryOfTheChurchOfJesusChristOfLatter-daySaints1902-Volume4/history_of_the_church_vol_4.pdf) as quoted in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith” Chapter 8 pg. 107, lds.org  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/36481_eng.pdf?lang=eng   

  

The great mistake made down through the ages by teachers of Christianity, is that they have supposed they could place their own private interpretation upon scriptures, allow their own personal convenience to become a controlling factor, and change the basis of Christian law and practice to suit themselves. This is apostacy. The Gospel can not possibly be changed…. the saving principles must ever be the same. They can never change…. the Gospel must always be the same in all of its parts…. no one can change the Gospel… if they attempt to do so, they only set up a man-made system which is not the Gospel, but is merely a reflection of their own views…. if we substitute ‘any other Gospel,’ there is no salvation in it…. the Lord and His Gospel remain the same–always.” Editorial Page, Church News, June 5, 1965 google.com  

  

“No jot, iota, or tittle of the temple rites is otherwise than uplifting and sanctifying. In every detail the endowment ceremony contributes to covenants of morality of life, consecration of person to high ideals, devotion to truth, patriotism to nation, and allegiance to God.” Apostle James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord, 1912, p. 100 archive.org as quoted in Feb 1995 Ensign article “Endowed with Covenants and Blessings” lds.org  

  

It was the design of the councils of heaven before the world was, that the principles and laws of the priesthood should be predicated upon the gathering of the people in every age of the world. Jesus did everything to gather the people, and they would not be gathered, and He therefore poured out curses upon them. Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles… If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 308 archive.org  

  

“…those who administer the sacrament will kneel when asking the blessing. It is not that this form is absolutely essential to the acceptance of this ordinance by the Lord; but it is in accordance with the word of the Lord which was given for our guidance; and where it is possible to follow the written word, in the spirit in which it is given, it is always better to do so. Indeed, by doing so we will avoid a serious wrong, that might eventually grow out of a disregard for the rules that the Lord has established, for it might lead to a changing, to some extent, of the ordinances of the house of God. It is necessary that we should pay proper attention and care to carrying out the purposes of the Lord in the manner which He has already revealed. And this may be extended to other matters of our religion. One of the charges brought against the children of Israel, and mentioned by the prophets in the latter times, was that ‘they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.’ That is really the complaint against the world today, and it is not meet that we should indulge in any such things.” 18 Sept 1893, The Prophet Joseph F.Smith, Milennial Star google.com  

  

“The Prophet Isaiah saw the period of time when the earth should reel to and fro like a drunken man; and he saw that glorious day when the Lord of Hosts shall be about to reign in Zion and Jerusalem. And among other things he saw in vision was that the earth became defiled under the inhabitants thereof; “because,” says the Prophet, “they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” Plainly showing that they were to be a corrupt, people; a people who, for instance, would change the ordinance of baptism, from immersion to sprinkling or pouring, or doing it away altogether, and in the same manner changing the various ordinances of the Gospel from the original form in which the Lord revealed them. He says, through the mouth of His Prophet, that the people who should be guilty of this great wickedness should be visited with fire.” The Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, p.11-12 archive.org  

  

“…the endowments have never changed, as I understand it; it has been so testified, and that Joseph Smith Jr., himself was the founder of the endowments.” Senator Reed Smoot, Reed Smoot Case, vol. 3, p. 185 archive.org  

You can read what the temple endowment was like prior to 1990 here

You can read here how it changed again in 2019

You can watch this video and see Jeffery Holland confirm that the penalties in the 1990 version of the endowment were in fact real, after he lied about it.

Why would God reveal one version of the endowment with penalties to Joseph Smith but then 150+ years later when it was really weird to have penalties God removes them? How can God be unchanging but change on something so fundamental? And if he didn't ever care about the penalties then why reveal the ceremony with them in the first place?