D&C 94-97 Quotes and Notes

D&C 94 Historical background

May 6- August 6 1833

In December 1832 (see D&C 88:119) and again in March 1833 (see D&C 90:7–9), the Saints in Ohio were commanded to build a temple at Kirtland. On 23 March 1833, a conference of Church leaders met in the schoolroom above the Whitney store to arrange for the purchase of land for future Church buildings, and on 4 May 1833, another conference appointed Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter, and Reynolds Cahoon as a building committee for the Church in Ohio.

Smith, Carter, and Cahoon were to raise funds for the construction of Church properties in Kirtland. After May 4, Joseph Smith received the revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants 94, in which the Lord revealed that Kirtland was to be “the city of the stake of Zion.”[1]D&C 94.1. See also: Smith, History of the Church, 1:343–46. Doctrine and Covenants 94 does not focus on the construction of the Kirtland Temple. Rather, it gives instructions for two additional Church buildings, a Church administration building and a printing office[2]D&C 94.3, 10., to be located south of the proposed temple site.

A letter from the First Presidency to Edward Partridge and the Saints in Zion clarifies the range of the building projects envisioned. “Having here given you two revelations [D&C 97 and 98], we accompany them with the following explanations: the revelation [D&C 94] respecting the two houses to be built in Kirtland in addition to the one we are now building [the Kirtland Temple]—one for the presidency and the other for the printing—is also binding upon you. That is, you at Zion have to build two houses as well as the one of which we have sent the pattern [the temple in Independence] and mentioned in the first revelation above written [D&C 97]. You are also, in addition to this one [that is, the temple], to build two others—one for the presidency and one for the printing.”[3]Joseph Smith to “Beloved Brethren,” 6 Aug. 1833, Church Archives; spelling, punctuation, and grammar standardized; see the full text in Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1226; … Continue reading Nevertheless, work on these additional two Church buildings, the administration building and the printing office, both in Kirtland and in Missouri, was not to begin until the Lord gave further specific commandments concerning them (D&C 94.16).

According to Robinson and Garrett, There is currently no evidence that such further commandments were ever given, and these two supporting structures were never built. In response to the practical needs of the Church in Kirtland, the following year a smaller structure was built west of the temple which eventually housed both the School of the Elders and the printing office and also provided offices for Church leaders.[4]Garrett and Robinson, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, volume 3. See also: Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 196–97.

Doctrine and Covenants 94 further reveals that as “the city of the stake of Zion,” Kirtland would be a planned community of Saints, with the temple serving as the center point. The rest of the city would be laid out by lots north, south, east, and west of the temple. The two lots immediately south of the temple would be for the proposed Church administration building and printing office. Three other lots were to be reserved for the members of the building committee in return for their faithful service.

Doctrine and Covenants 94 cannot be dated with complete certainty. Joseph Smith’s account states that he received this revelation on 6 May 1833; on the same day, he also received Doctrine and Covenants 93.[5]Smith, History of the Church, 1:346. However, the oldest copy of section 94 appears in the letter which the First Presidency sent to the Saints in Zion on 6 August 1833. The language of this letter can be understood to imply that section 94 was received along with section 97 on 2 August 1833. In addition, the Kirtland Revelation Book specifically dates Doctrine and Covenants 94 to 2 August.[6]Kirtland Revelation Book, 64. Nevertheless, it is likely that 6 May 1833 is the correct date. In addition to the Prophet’s statement in History of the Church, it should be noted that the 6 August letter to Zion does not specifically assign a date to section 94, only to section 97. From the full text of this letter, it is likely that section 97, the commandment to build a temple in Missouri, was received on 2 August. Section 94, left undated in the letter, was added to section 97 to make it clear that two structures in addition to the temple were to be built and that the dimensions of these structures would be revealed later. Doctrine and Covenants 98, received 6 August, the same day the Prophet’s letter was sent, was then added to address rumors of trouble brewing in Missouri.[7]Garrett and Robinson, volume 3.

D&C 94.1 A Commandment

The commandment given in Doctrine and Covenants 94 was not for the Saints to build a city as a stake in Zion. Rather it was to “commence . . . preparing a beginning and foundation” for such a city. It is likely that the tentative nature of the language here reflects the knowledge that the settlement at Kirtland would not be permanent. For example, in D&C 64.21 we read the following:

I will not that my servant Frederick G. Williams should sell his farm, for I, the Lord, will to retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years, in the which I will not overthrow the wicked, that thereby I may save some.

The foundations obediently laid by the Saints in Kirtland are still there in eastern Ohio to this day, but one interpretation of this revelation is that it was only necessary for Joseph and the Saints of his day to make a beginning. We can infer this from the reading in section 64.21. At the time section 94 was received, about 100-150 Saints were living in the Kirtland area.[8]See Milton V. Backman and Richard O. Cowan, Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, Deseret Book, 2010, p. 85; Elwin Clark Robison, First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and … Continue reading

By seeing the makeup of the Saints in the area at this time, we see that the command to construct these buildings fell upon a group of Saints making up a population smaller than an average ward today in the 21st century.

Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter – D&C 94.14-15

These three men had been appointed as the building committee for the Church in Ohio by a conference of high priests held on 4 May 1833, two days before the probable date of Doctrine and Covenants 94. While the Lord directed that these three should receive city lots, the responsibility and burden of constructing homes on these lots was to rest upon the individuals themselves. However, the following year, in April 1834, the united order at Kirtland was temporarily dissolved and reorganized.[9]On April 10, 1834, members of the United Firm in Kirtland decided to dissolve the organization and a few weeks later the United Firm ceased to function. The Kirtland high council, formed in … Continue reading As a result, the lands mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 94 were distributed differently than was directed here. As a result of “covetousness” in the Church (D&C 104:4), the instructions of section 104 superseded all previous revelations concerning the disposition of properties and funds in Kirtland (see D&C 104:4, 11–16).

These two houses are not to be built until I give you a commandment – D&C 94.16

The administration building and the printing office were not to be built in Kirtland until the Lord gave further instructions concerning them. Since building the Kirtland Temple exhausted both the Saints and their resources in Ohio and mob action drove the Saints from Jackson County in Missouri, these two auxiliary “houses” were never constructed, although a smaller structure was built for Church offices, the printing office, and the Elders’ School in Kirtland.[10]See: Lisa Olsen Tait and Brent Rogers, “A House for our God,” Revelations in Context. “Revelation, 2 August 1833–B [D&C 94],” 2–3; see also Doctrine and Covenants 94:3–12. … Continue reading

D&C 95 Concerning the ‘building of mine house.’ (D&C 95.3)

Historical Background

June 1833

The following from Garrett and Robinson is useful to provide historical background to D&C 95:

During his first mission to Missouri in the summer of 1831, barely a year after organizing the Church, Joseph Smith had received revelation from the Lord concerning a temple to be built in the town of Independence in Jackson County, Missouri (see D&C 57:3). A site for this temple was dedicated 3 August 1831, during that journey.[11]See D&C 57. However, more than a year later no progress had been made toward construction of this temple in Zion. Then, on 27 December 1832, in the revelation known as the Olive Leaf, the Lord further instructed Joseph and the Saints in Ohio that they were also to build a “house of God” at Kirtland (D&C 88:119). Thus, there were to be two temples—one in Independence, Missouri, and one in Kirtland, Ohio. But again, during the winter of 1833, little progress was made toward building either of these two sacred structures.

In March 1833, Levi Hancock wrote in his journal that the Saints in Kirtland “had no place to worship in. Jared Carter went around with a subscription paper [that is, a pledge sheet for promised donations] to get signers. I signed for two dollars. He made up a little over thirty [dollars] and presented it to Joseph. The Lord would not accept it and gave a command to build a Temple.”[12]Levi Hancock Journal, as cited in Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1222; spelling, punctuation, and grammar standardized; compare D&C 90:7–9, given 8 Mar. 1833.

On 23 March 1833, a conference of high priests and elders met in the schoolroom above the Whitney store in Kirtland to discuss purchasing land for the proposed temple and other Church buildings. It was decided that Ezra Thayre and Joseph Coe should be appointed agents for the Church in purchasing the farms of Peter French, Elijah Smith, and Isaac Morley.[13]See Smith, History of the Church, 1:335. These purchases, together with property belonging to F. G. Williams, eventually provided land for the Kirtland Temple and associated Church holdings. Then, on 4 May 1833, another conference of high priests met at Kirtland to take “into consideration the necessity of building a school house,” as the Saints had been commanded the previous December (see D&C 88:119) and again in March (see D&C 90:7–9).[14]Smith, History of the Church, 1:342–43; Kirtland Council Minute Book, Church Archives. At this conference Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter, and Reynolds Cahoon were appointed to act as a building committee for the Church. They were to raise funds and also to supervise construction of the temple and other Church buildings. It should be remembered that in all these proceedings and in the associated revelations, the term schoolhouse or school actually referred to the temple, or at least to that part of the temple that would be used for the School of the Prophets.

Still, the Saints did not seem to catch the vision of the Kirtland Temple. At a conference held in early June 1833 to consider constructing the temple, Lucy Mack Smith reported: “Some thought that it would be better to build a frame house. Others said that a frame house was too costly, and the majority concluded upon putting up a log house and made their calculations about what they could do towards building it.” To these suggestions Joseph responded, “And shall we, brethren, build a house for our God of logs? No, I have a better plan than that. I have the plan of the house of the Lord, given by himself. You will see by this the difference between our calculations and his idea of things.” Joseph’s mother then wrote that Joseph “then gave them the full plan of the house of the Lord at Kirtland.”[15]Proctor and Proctor, eds., Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, 321, 322.

According to contemporary accounts, the First Presidency had already been shown the plan of the Kirtland Temple in a remarkable vision received on 3 or 4 June 1833.[16]See: The Kirtland Temple Seen in Vision. See also: Robison, First Mormon Temple, 8.

Truman O. Angell, an early convert to the Church, recorded in his journal: “About this time Frederick G. Williams, one of President Smith’s counselors, came into the Temple when the following dialogue took place in my presence:

“Carpenter Rolph said, ‘Doctor [Williams], what do you think of the house?’ [Williams] answered, ‘It looks to me like the pattern precisely.’ He then related the following: ‘Joseph [Smith] received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors, Williams and Rigdon, and come before the Lord, and He would show them the plan or model of the house to be built. We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the building appeared within viewing distance, I being the first to discover it. Then we all viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us, and the makeup of the Hall seemed to coincide with that I there saw to a minutiae.'”[17]Truman O. Angell Journal, as cited in Robison, First Mormon Temple, 8.

Orson Pratt 1811-1881

Orson Pratt also confirmed the visionary origins of the Kirtland Temple’s design. In a discourse given in 1871, Elder Pratt declared, “When the Lord commanded this people to build a house in the land of Kirtland, he gave them the pattern by vision from heaven, and commanded them to build that house according to that pattern and order; to have the architecture, not in accordance with architecture devised by men, but to have everything constructed in that house according to the heavenly pattern that he by his voice had inspired to his servants.”[18]Journal of Discourses 14:273.

With only one hundred to one hundred fifty Saints in Kirtland to fund construction of the temple and the other Church properties commanded in Doctrine and Covenants 94, it is understandable that they would originally make rather modest plans for the house of God. However, once the plans of the Lord had been revealed to the First Presidency, and with the divine rebuke contained in section 95 (see vv. 1–6, 12) ringing in their ears, the Saints commenced work in earnest. On 23 July 1833, the cornerstones of the Kirtland Temple were finally laid.

Even though the Saints knew that their stay in Kirtland was only temporary (D&C 64:21), there were several reasons why a temple would be needed there. Among other things, the Prophet, the First Presidency, and the headquarters of the Church would remain in Kirtland for several years to come. A sacred temple would be necessary in order for additional priesthood keys and instruction to be transmitted to the Prophet Joseph and his associates. Once those keys had been received, a temple would also be necessary for performing some of the ordinances associated with them. Without these further keys, instructions, and ordinances, it would not be possible to organize and train a quorum of Twelve Apostles (see D&C 95:4), and the Church would be hindered or eventually even stopped in its progress. Moreover, without the benefit of a holy temple, individual members could not receive the fulfillment of certain promises made to them in earlier revelations (for example, D&C 76:116–18; 88:68; 93:19–20; see also 97:16).

According to Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 95 was received on 1 June 1833.[19]See Smith, History of the Church, 1:350–52. On that date, the building committee of Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter issued another subscription, or pledge sheet, exhorting the Saints to sacrifice for construction of the temple in order that the elders “may gather themselves together, and prepare all things, and call a solemn assembly [see D&C 88:70, 117 and Commentary], and treasure up words of wisdom.”[20]HC, 1:349.

D&C 95.3 The great commandment

In their difficult financial circumstances, the Saints had collectively ignored the commandment to build a temple in Kirtland (see D&C 88:119; 90:7–9). At the very least, they had also underestimated, as some Saints still do today, the importance of the temple for their future well-being and their eternal progress.[21]Garrett and Robinson, volume 3.

Ground Broken for Kirtland Temple

June 5.—George A. Smith hauled the first load of stone for the Temple, and Hyrum Smith and Reynolds Cahoon commenced digging the trench for the walls of the Lord’s house, and finished the same with their own hands.[22]History of The Church, Volume 1 by Joseph Smith, Jr. Page 353.

D&C 95.4 My strange act

The work of the Lord often seems strange, puzzling, or even foolish when judged from the perspective of human wisdom and worldly leadership (see D&C 101:92–95; 1 Corinthians 2:5–8, 14). In Isaiah 28:21 the Lord refers to both his immediate and his long-term intentions as “strange” as judged by the worldly leaders of Judah in that day (see Isaiah 28:15–21). From our modern perspective, both the Restoration and the Second Coming would be examples of the strange works of the Lord.[23]Garrett and Robinson, volume 3, section 95.

This passage comes from Isaiah 28:

For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act (Isaiah 28.21).

Mount Perazim refers to David’s routing of the Philistines as found in 2 Samuel 5.20-21, and the reference to the valley of Gibeon refers to the slaughter of the Amorites by the Israelite forces and God’s hail as described in Joshua 10.5-11. The author of Joshua 10 stresses that the hail that destroyed the Amorite forces was more destructive than that of the Israelite swords (see verse 11).

Isaiah 28 deals with the following themes or concepts:

  1. The drunkards of Ephraim (the northern kingdom of Israel, soon to be dismantled in 721 BCE by Assyria) are reprimanded. The Lord states that all of their tables are “full of vomit and filthiness” (Isaiah 28.8).
  2. The Lord then chastens the “scornful men” that “rule this people which is in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 28.14). These individuals have made a “covenant with death” and are in an agreement with hell (verse 14). This is a possible allusion to the covenant Judah made with Egypt militarily as they turned to Egypt for support.
  3. Because of this, the Lord will “lay in Zion” a “foundation stone, a tried stone, (eben bohan) a precious corner stone (pinnat yiqrat), a sure foundation (musad mussad)” (Isaiah 28.16). I see this as a reference to many things: Christ, the sure foundation, the tried and perfect corner stone (see Helaman 5.12, Ps. 71.3, Matt 7.24-27). It can also refer to the rock of revelation, the stone, the foundation stone in the in Holy of Holies, our approaching towards God to receive light and truth.[24]This stone is found in many sources. For example, According to tradition, this is the Even Shetiya the foundation or stone of creation.  The Zohar states “The world was not created … Continue readingThis stone is also connected with the temple and the holy of holies. Because of corrupt leadership amongst those that were the guardians of the tradition of the temple, God will place a stone among them, a reference to an established restoration that is sure, like unto a sure foundation (see D&C 1).

    4. God promises in Isaiah 28.17 to lay judgement and righteousness to the line and the plummet. This is a building and a temple metaphor that is continued from the reference to the precious corner stone of Isaiah 28.16. The plummet is a weight attached to a string used to determine the verticality of a line.[25]Some Masons refer to the connection of the plumb line to the square as follows: To the operative masons, the level and plumb were intertwined, and together they formed a square. Brethren, the plumb … Continue readingThis could be an allusion to the coming destruction by Assyria.

    5. The covenant with death that evil leaders have made will be disannulled (Isaiah 28.18), and a desolating scourge will come upon these leader (this could be a reference to the destruction in 721 BCE of Israel’s core leadership, and perhaps an allusion to the 586 BCE destruction of the temple in Jerusalem as well).

    6. The bed[26]הַמַּצָּע is a hapax legomenon, a word that only appears once in the text. The Greek speaking Jews translated Isaiah 28.20 as follows: στενοχωρούμενοι οὐ δυνάμεθα … Continue reading(הַמַּצָּע) that is too short and a covering that will not cover is mentioned (Isaiah 28.20).[27]This could be a motif relating to the New Year festival, as many of the themes in Isaiah 28 seem to line up with other aspects of the New Year festival in the ancient world. From the chastening of … Continue reading

    7. The Lord promises to do his work, his “strange work… his strange act” (Isaiah 28.21).

    8. Sowing, planting, and harvesting imagery is given (Isaiah 28.23-29).

    Isaiah 28.21 is translated in various ways. A few of these translations read as follows:

    For ADONAI will arise, as at Mount P’ratzim, and storm with rage, as in the Giv’on Valley; so he can do his deed, his strange deed, and perform his task, his alien task. (The Complete Jewish Bible)

    For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed–strange is his deed! and to work his work–alien is his work! (English Standard Version)

    For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Pera’zim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; to do his deed–strange is his deed! and to work his work–alien is his work! (Revised Standard Version)

    The key to this verse may be the word nakriyah (נָכְרִיָּה), translated as “strange.” This word is a form of nakree (נָכְרִי), a word that means “foreign” or “alien,” and is used in a variety of degrees and applications in the Old Testament (foreign, non-relative, adulterous, different, wonderful):—alien, foreigner, outlandish, strange(-r, woman).

    So for my interpretation of the use of this idea in Isaiah 28.21 and in D&C 95.4, I am going to take the approach that the temple is foreign or strange to those Saints living in and around Kirtland in 1833. They do not know what the Lord has in store for them in regards to the temple, and the ideas, motifs, beliefs, and rituals of the temple are so lost to us today, and the celebrations that were had in and around the temple are so lost to us as to become something of a foreign world to us. Even today, when I attend an endowment session for the first time with an individual, it is not unheard of to hear them speak of how foreign the ideas presented in the endowment were to them. Perhaps we can do more to familiarize Latter-day Saints with the themes, ideas, and language of the temple, much of which is encoded in so many of our scriptural texts.

    As to the 8 ideas that I have outlined in Isaiah 28, let us see them again in brief:

    1. The drunkards of Ephraim are reproved.
    2. The leaders of Jerusalem are no better.
    3. A sure, tried stone will be established to fix this problem.
    4. A plummet and line are established for justice.
    5. A desolating scourge upon false leaders will come.
    6. A bed that is too short and a covering that do not cover are mentioned.
    7. The Lord will perform his strange act.
    8. Sowing and harvesting are described.

    One interpretation of these themes is that this is the establishment of a true order of rule: a true priest and king (a tried and sure stone) will be established. False rulers who oppress are thrown out, described as the bed and covering that do not work. Instead, the seeds, which are threshed on the sacred stone, the threshing floor which is the holy of holies, are described. The seeds represent fertility and the keeping of the covenant of life at the veil that God makes with those that follow him. These individuals are tried, they are put to the plummet and the line, they are “true and faithful,” and in them, in their individual lives God will perform his “strange act” by giving them his name (John 17.8: “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them”; John 17.6: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world…”)

    D&C 95.8 I design to endow those whom I have chosen

    Originally from the Greek verb ἐνδύω enduo, meaning “to be clothed,”[28]Luke 24.49 reads as follows: καὶ ἰδού, ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός μου ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς· ὑμεῖς δὲ καθίσατε ἐν … Continue reading the word endow has come in modern English to describe bestowing a gift of great proportions. If one sends a relatively small amount of money to an institution of higher learning, that is a gift; but if one sends millions of dollars, that is an endowment.

    God intended to give his Saints certain gifts of staggering proportions when they gathered in Ohio (see D&C 6:13). Part of this endowment would “clothe” the Saints with power from the celestial worlds, including first the fulness of the keys of priesthood power generally, and later personal power in the priesthood individually. Between January and May of 1836 before, during, and after the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the Saints in Ohio also received a tremendous outpouring of the Pentecostal gifts of the Spirit (see Acts 2:1–21).

    Many of the brethren had been ordained to the priesthood but not all of them were at that time worthy to receive the ordinances that would be made available in the Kirtland Temple. In Doctrine and Covenants 105:33–35, the Lord would instruct the Prophet that the time had come for those who had been ordained, and who were also judged worthy, to receive an endowment of power in the Kirtland Temple. The Far West Record for 23 June 1834 lists those high priests chosen to receive the blessings of the Kirtland Temple. It is important to remember that the complete endowment as we know it today was not revealed to the Saints in the Kirtland Temple. Those who were chosen at that time received only preparatory ordinances. The full endowment would eventually be revealed to the Saints in the Nauvoo Temple a decade later.[29]Garrett and Robinson, volume 3.

    D&C 95.14. Let the house be built

    Kirtland Temple blueprints- Library of Congress, HABS OHIO,43-KIRT,1-. Source: The Association of Religion Data Archives.

    An excellent analysis of the Kirtland Temple can presently be found in Elwin Clark Robison’s, First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple.

    D& 95.16. Lower part . . . for your sacrament offering

    The ground floor of the Kirtland Temple was to serve as a common meetinghouse for the Kirtland Saints much like a ward or branch meetinghouse of today.

    D&C 95.17 Higher part . . . for the school of mine apostles

    The upper floors of the building were to be specifically dedicated for the more sacred purposes associated with training and preparation of the apostles and other Church leaders for other purposes associated today with temple work.

    D&C 96 A Disposal of certain lands… known as the French farm (Introduction)

    Historical Background

    4 June 1833

    Garrett and Robinson give insightful background to this section: On 23 March 1833, a conference of high priests was held at Kirtland in the School of the Prophets, which met above Newel K. Whitney’s store. This conference decided that the Church should purchase several pieces of property in Kirtland upon which a temple and Church administration buildings could be constructed. The largest of the desired parcels of land was known as the Peter French farm, and Mr. French agreed to sell his 103 acres to the Church for five thousand dollars.[30]See: The Joseph Smith Papers. See also: “French Farm,” in Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, 399. However, it was then necessary to send the brethren of the school out into the world to preach and to raise money for the proposed purchases.[31]See Zebedee Coltrin Journal, as cited in Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 198–99; see also D&C 95:10. Negotiations were soon concluded for acquisition of all the necessary properties, though all the funds needed to meet this obligation would not be raised for some time to come. On 4 May 1833, another council of high priests appointed Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter, and Reynolds Cahoon to serve as a committee to oversee construction of the proposed Church buildings on the newly acquired property.

    After this 4 May meeting, some disagreement remained among the brethren over exactly who should ultimately be in charge of Church-owned properties (D&C 95:10, “contentions arose in the school of the prophets”). For this reason, yet another meeting of high priests was held on 4 June 1833, this time in Joseph’s translating room adjacent to the schoolroom above Newel K. Whitney’s store. This council, failing to agree among themselves, inquired as to how the Lord wanted matters handled, and the Lord’s answer was given at that time in the revelation now designated as Doctrine and Covenants 96.[32]History of the Church, 1:352–53.This revelation also provided the Church with an example for future similar questions by explaining the principles involved in the matter and by reemphasizing that the bishop was the Lord’s steward in the administration of temporal things, particularly in the disposition and use of Church property (D&C 72:9–23). Although there was not yet an office of Presiding Bishop over the whole Church, Newel K. Whitney was the Lord’s bishop in Kirtland, and he was therefore to have charge of the Lord’s properties there (see vv. 2–3).

    The oldest known copy of Doctrine and Covenants 96 is found in the Kirtland Revelation Book and was recorded there in the handwriting of Orson Hyde. It was copied sometime before August 1834.[33]Garrett and Robinson. See also: Kirtland Revelation Book, 60–61; Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1244.

    D&C 96.1 This stake that I have set for the strength of Zion

    In this scriptural imagery Zion is likened to a tent with stakes as its support. If the stakes are driven securely into the ground the stake will be secure. The expression comes from Isaiah, who wrote, “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes[34]יָתֵד yated, pin, nail, stake. From an unused root meaning to pin through or fast. thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken” (Isaiah 33:20). And again the ancient prophet wrote, “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes” (Isaiah 54:2).[35]McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 697-698.

    Responding to the misuse of this imagery among the Saints, Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “Isaiah speaks of Zion as a tent, or tabernacle, having in mind the Tabernacle which was built and carried in the wilderness in the days of Moses, and the cords are the binding cables and extend from the tent, or tabernacle, to the stakes which are fastened in the ground. Now the Lord revealed that Zion was to be built and surrounding her would be the stakes helping to bind and keep her in place. This figure of speech has almost been lost through the intervening years, but it retains its significance, or beauty. To speak of Zion, the New Jerusalem, or even that section where the city will be built, as a stake of Zion, is a sad mistake. Zion is the tent, the stakes of Zion are the binding pegs that support her. Zion, therefore, cannot be a stake, it would be as improper to call a tent a stake as to apply this term to Zion.”[36]Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:321-22.

    D&C 96.2 Newel K. Whitney

    Newel K. Whitney was the bishop in Kirtland and as such would have responsibility there similar to that of Edward Partridge, who was the bishop of the Church in Independence, Missouri. They were the only two bishops in the Church at that time and functioned in their respective stakes much as the presiding bishop would today.

    D&C 96.6 My servant John Johnson

    Prior to this revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, had lived with John and his wife, Elsa, on their farm in Hiram, Ohio. It was on this farm that the leading elders of the Church met in conference and determined to publish a selection of the revelations which had been received, known as the Book of Commandments (D&C 67). It was there that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received the visions of the three degrees of glory while engaged in the translation of the Bible (D&C 76) and were later tarred and feathered.[37]McConkie and Ostler, p. 699.

    D&C 96.9 He shall seek… to take away incumberances that are upon the house

     At this time, as indicated in the introduction, the Church had negotiated the purchase of a farm from Peter French, which included a house or inn. The Lord commanded John Johnson to supply funds to help pay the debt the United Firm incurred in the purchase of the farm.

    This simple passage in the Doctrine and Covenants had a profound influence in the life of John Johnson and the history of the Church. John gave liberally of his means for the building of the kingdom and eventually sold his home and farm in Hiram, Ohio, as part of honoring the covenant he had made as a member of the order. His offerings were combined with the money of the order and used to pay the mortgage on the Peter French farm. It was upon a portion of this land that the Kirtland Temple was built. This temple and the resulting blessings, namely the preparatory endowment ordinances (washings and anointings), many great spiritual manifestations, and the long awaited restoration of priesthood keys held by Moses, Elias, and Elijah were made possible due, in part, to this one man’s offering.[38]McConkie and Ostler, p. 699-700. See also Craig Ostler, “The Laws of Consecration, Stewardship and Tithing,” as found in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine and Covenants, Deseret Book, 2004.

    D&C 97 A house should be built unto me in the land of Zion (D&C 97.10)

    Historical Background

    2 August, 1833

    By the time Doctrine and Covenants 97 was received, the Church had had a presence in Independence, Missouri, for about two years. While little more than one hundred Saints remained behind in Kirtland, the number of Latter-day Saints in Independence and the surrounding country rose from zero to around one thousand members, or about 25 percent of the total population, in that same period of time.[39]Milton Backman, Heavens Resound, p. 140, 163. These rapidly rising numbers and the public designation of Independence as “the city of Zion” (D&C 57:2) and a gathering place for an ever-increasing number of Saints (see D&C 57:1) caused great alarm among the non–Latter-day Saint population there. Fearing to become eventually a religious, political, or economic minority in a Latter-day Saint majority, the original settlers of Jackson County banded together in a “secret combination” with the stated intention of driving the Mormons from their society “peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.” Hundreds of these earlier settlers of Jackson County, including judges, constables, and justices of the peace, signed a document stating the mob’s illegal agenda for the expulsion of the Saints and setting 20 July 1833 as the day for the mob to gather to achieve that end.[40]History of the Church, 1:372–76.

    On 20 July, leaders of the mob delivered their demands to Church leaders in Independence, who were caught somewhat off guard. When the Saints understandably refused to leave the county immediately, the mob, variously estimated at three hundred to five hundred men, descended upon the Latter-day Saint printing office and destroyed the press, together with most copies of the 1833 Book of Commandments, which was then being printed.[41]Times and Seasons 1 (18 Dec. 1839): 18; John Whitmer described the mob as consisting of “the whole County,” Early Latter-day Saint History, 93. Some copies of the printed text were bravely rescued by two teenaged sisters.[42]See Backman and Cowan, Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, 3.The mob also demolished the brick home of W. W. Phelps, in which the press was located. They then ransacked the Gilbert and Whitney store and tarred and feathered Bishop Edward Partridge and Charles Allen. Temporary peace was restored on 23 July when several leading Church members, under threat of violence from the mob, signed an agreement to leave Jackson County by 1 January 1834. In the meantime, the Saints in Missouri sent word to Joseph Smith in Kirtland requesting his aid and instructions. Oliver Cowdery, the special messenger, left Missouri on 25 or 26 July 1833.[43]History of the Church, 1:395. (Oliver signed the agreement with the mob on 23 July and left Missouri two or three days thereafter).

    It is possible that Joseph Smith learned of anti-Mormon feelings in Missouri from a now-lost letter from Oliver Cowdery dated 9 July 1833. Receipt of such a letter is mentioned by Joseph in his 6 August letter to Missouri. Yet Joseph makes no allusion in that letter to persecutions in Missouri. While there had been anti-Mormon feelings in Jackson County for some time, the immediate catalyst for mob action there had been an article in the July issue of The Evening and the Morning Star entitled “Free People of Color,” which was distorted by non-Mormons who claimed falsely that the Saints were “tampering with [their] slaves.”[44]Smith, History of the Church, 1:375; for the article “Free People of Color,” see Smith, History of the Church, 1:378. When the Saints in Missouri realized what the reaction to the article had been, they immediately published an “extra” edition of the Star, dated 16 July, to set the record straight. But this is a full week after Oliver’s 9 July letter to Joseph, so Oliver may not have known the true mood of his non-LDS neighbors on 9 July. Even if Oliver had written about trouble brewing in Missouri, it was humanly impossible for Joseph Smith to have known about the mob activities of 20–23 July by 2 August when Doctrine and Covenants 97 was received, or even by 6 August, when Doctrine and Covenants 98 was received and sections 94, 97, and 98 were sent to Missouri. Joseph first learned of these events when Oliver arrived in Kirtland from Missouri sometime in mid-August (the Painesville Telegraph stated in its 16 August edition that Oliver had just arrived in Kirtland). Nevertheless, Doctrine and Covenants 97 and 98 already contained exactly the divine counsel and instructions the Missouri Saints were seeking in their perilous circumstances. In other words, the answers were sent to Missouri before the questions were received in Kirtland. If the body of the Saints were to remain in Missouri, it was critical that they should receive, hear, and obey these revelations.[45]Garrett and Robinson, volume 3, emphasis added.

    D&C 97.7 The ax is laid at the root of the tree

    The quotation here corresponds most closely with the language of Alma from the Book of Mormon (see Alma 5:52) but also closely parallels Matthew 3:10 and Luke 3:9. In the Book of Mormon, this warning is given to the people of Alma who were about to experience the great Lamanite wars. In the New Testament, it was delivered to the Jews who would soon be devastated by their failed First Revolt against Rome. The same warning is now addressed here specifically to the faltering Saints in Missouri, for whom persecutions had already begun but for whom deliverance was still possible if they would only repent.

    Trees can’t move; they can’t run away or hide from the woodsman’s ax. Their only defense against being cut down for firewood lies in producing valuable fruit. Many of the Missouri Saints had moved there contrary to the instructions of the Prophet.[46]See D&C 58.44. The Lord was not willing for most members of the Church to go to Zion yet, nor for many years to come (compare D&C 51:17, “as for years”; D&C 64:21, “space of five … Continue reading

    Some were arrogant or otherwise foolish in their dealings with the original settlers of Jackson County, and too few were committed to living the law of consecration as they had been commanded. Now the fire was upon them. Those who produced no fruit would be cut down and burned, but Zion might still be established if the Saints would as a body repent and keep the Lord’s commandments.[47]Garrett and Robinson, volume 3.

    Like the pattern which I have given you – D&C 97.10

    The instructions sent to Zion indicate that the temple to be built at this time in Independence, Missouri, was identical in style to the temple in Kirtland, Ohio, except that the dimensions were larger.[48]Roberts, Comprehensive History, 1:359.

    By the tithing of my people – D&C 97.11

    This … reference to tithing in the revelations of the Restoration does not carry the same meaning we have given that principle in our day. This revelation was given while the Church was living the law of consecration and thus is being used in the broad and general sense of giving liberally, of sacrificing without counting the cost. The law of tithing as it is presently practiced among the Saints was revealed in 1838 after the Saints had been driven out of Zion and were no longer practicing the law of consecration as it applied to the stewardship of lands.[49]McConkie and Ostler, p. 466. See also: A Brief History of Tithing.

    For the salvation of Zion – D&C 97.12

    Because the Saints in Zion had not lived worthily of the Lord’s blessing, they were unable to build the temple in Jackson County as they had been commanded. Rather than redeem Zion according to the ancient promises, they were driven from it.[50]McConkie and Ostler, p. 703-704.

    Bruce R. McConkie said: “Time and time again the early saints in this dispensation were offered the precious privilege of building up Zion, of establishing the New Jerusalem, and of crowning that Holy City with the temple of temples. But always the promises were conditional. Always the divine provisos set forth the need for faith, obedience, righteousness, and complete conformity to the high, holy, and heavenly law. Sad to say, the Lord’s people failed to gain the promised blessing. Obeying only in part, they received only a partial reward. Failing to live the fulness of the divine law, they were denied an inheritance in the Holy City in the days of their mortal probation.

    “It was with the Latter-day Saints as it had been with their ancestors in the days of Moses. The Lord Jehovah offered ancient Israel the fulness of his eternal gospel; by the mouth of Moses and others of the prophets, he pled with his people to sanctify themselves and receive the fulness of his glory while in the wilderness and again after they entered their promised Canaan. A few in Israel gained wondrous gifts and powers, but the generality of the people, obeying only in part, rose no higher in spiritual stature than provided for in the lesser law. And yet in that law, always and everlastingly, there was a call to higher things. The very law itself was a schoolmaster to prepare the people for the fulness of the gospel.

    “And so it has been among us. Though the newly called saints of the nineteenth century failed to build their promised Zion, yet they retained the glorious gospel, with all its hopes and promises. They were left in that state which now exists among us. What we now have is a schoolmaster to prepare us for that which is yet to be. We are now seeking to build Zion in our hearts by faith and personal righteousness as we prepare for the day when we will have power to build the city whence the law will go forth when He rules whose right it is”[51]Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness to the Articles of Faith, 610-11.

    All the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God – D&C 97.16

    The author of Psalm 24 (a temple text) inquired, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?” (Psalm 24:3). His response: “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face” (Psalm 24:4-6). After recounting the visions received by prophets of past ages, Joseph Smith taught, “And, fellow sojourners upon earth, it is your privilege to purify yourselves and come up to the same glory, and see for yourselves, and know for yourselves.” [52]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 13. The promise is given to the pure in heart that enter the house of the Lord that they shall see him. Those entering the temple with a pure heart have been baptized and have so lived as to receive a remission of sins. They have had hands laid upon their heads and been commanded to receive the Holy Ghost and have responded to that command. Thus they have been baptized by fire as the dross of sin has been purged from their souls. In the temple they have been washed and anointed and properly clothed so that they might stand in the presence of the Holy One, which becomes their privilege as they prepare themselves for it.[53]McConkie and Ostler, p. 704-705.

    Zion shall escape (the scourge) if she observes to do all (these) things – D&C 97.18-28

    Joseph Smith Nov. 27 1832 letter to W.W. Phelps. Source: The Joseph Smith Papers

    A few months previous to receiving this revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith had written to William W. Phelps[54]The text of the Prophet’s letter to William W. Phelps is found in History of the Church 1:22, p. 316. See also: The Joseph Smith Papers.concerning the Saints in Missouri: “The Lord will have a place whence His word will go forth, in these last days, in purity; for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved of in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people; for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear His voice, must expect to feel His wrath. Let me say unto you, seek to purify yourselves, and also the inhabitants of Zion, lest the Lord’s anger be kindled to fierceness.

    “Repent, repent, is the voice of God to Zion; and strange as it may appear, yet it is true, mankind will persist in self- justification until all their iniquity is exposed, and their character past being redeemed, and that which is treasured up in their hearts be exposed to the gaze of mankind. I say to you (and what I say to you I say to all), hear the warning voice of God, lest Zion fall, and the Lord swear in His wrath the inhabitants of Zion shall not enter into His rest.

    “The brethren in Kirtland pray for you unceasingly, for, knowing the terrors of the Lord, they greatly fear for you. . . . Our hearts are greatly grieved at the spirit which is breathed both in your letter and that of Brother Gilbert’s, the very spirit which is wasting the strength of Zion like a pestilence; and if it is not detected and driven from you, it will ripen Zion for the threatened judgments of God. Remember God sees the secret springs of human action, and knows the hearts of all living.”[55]The Joseph Smith Papers, letter to W.W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832. See also: Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 18-19.

    Zion shall escape if – D&C 97.25

    God’s designs always honor the agency of his children. Although the Lord foreordained that Zion in all her beauty should fill the earth, he has not predestined such to be the course for any particular set of people. The early Saints were given a choice; they could participate in the building up of Zion in her glory or suffer affliction, pestilence, plague, and the sword. The determining factor was obedience to all of God’s commands, for the Lord “cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31). The inhabitants of geographical Zion cannot be accepted simply because of the location of their earthly dwelling place. They must live the laws of Zion. Satan had stirred up the hearts of the citizens of Jackson County in anger against the Saints. Apparently, there was a window of opportunity still available to the Saints in which the Lord could turn away the wrath of their enemies. It required immediate and complete obedience to the laws and covenants the Lord had given them. We may never know before the Lord comes and reveals all things what the history of Zion might have been had the Saints hearkened to the Lord’s Spirit and word at this time.[56]McConkie and Ostler, p. 706.

    Print 🖨 PDF 📄

    References

    References
    ↑1 D&C 94.1. See also: Smith, History of the Church, 1:343–46.
    ↑2 D&C 94.3, 10.
    ↑3 Joseph Smith to “Beloved Brethren,” 6 Aug. 1833, Church Archives; spelling, punctuation, and grammar standardized; see the full text in Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1226; Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.196.
    ↑4 Garrett and Robinson, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, volume 3. See also: Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 196–97.
    ↑5 Smith, History of the Church, 1:346.
    ↑6 Kirtland Revelation Book, 64.
    ↑7, ↑21, ↑29, ↑47 Garrett and Robinson, volume 3.
    ↑8 See Milton V. Backman and Richard O. Cowan, Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, Deseret Book, 2010, p. 85; Elwin Clark Robison, First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple, Brigham Young University Press, 1997, p. 28.
    ↑9 On April 10, 1834, members of the United Firm in Kirtland decided to dissolve the organization and a few weeks later the United Firm ceased to function. The Kirtland high council, formed in February 1834, assumed the role of governing the Church’s mercantile and publishing efforts. See: Matthew C. Godfrey, “Newel K. Whitney and the United Firm: D&C 70, 78, 82, 92, 96, 104,” in Matthew McBride and James Goldberg, eds., Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016), 142–47.
    ↑10 See: Lisa Olsen Tait and Brent Rogers, “A House for our God,” Revelations in Context. “Revelation, 2 August 1833–B [D&C 94],” 2–3; see also Doctrine and Covenants 94:3–12. The two buildings were never built, since all of the Church’s resources were required to construct the temple.
    ↑11 See D&C 57.
    ↑12 Levi Hancock Journal, as cited in Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1222; spelling, punctuation, and grammar standardized; compare D&C 90:7–9, given 8 Mar. 1833.
    ↑13 See Smith, History of the Church, 1:335.
    ↑14 Smith, History of the Church, 1:342–43; Kirtland Council Minute Book, Church Archives.
    ↑15 Proctor and Proctor, eds., Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, 321, 322.
    ↑16 See: The Kirtland Temple Seen in Vision. See also: Robison, First Mormon Temple, 8.
    ↑17 Truman O. Angell Journal, as cited in Robison, First Mormon Temple, 8.
    ↑18 Journal of Discourses 14:273.
    ↑19 See Smith, History of the Church, 1:350–52.
    ↑20 HC, 1:349.
    ↑22 History of The Church, Volume 1 by Joseph Smith, Jr. Page 353.
    ↑23 Garrett and Robinson, volume 3, section 95.
    ↑24 This stone is found in many sources. For example, According to tradition, this is the Even Shetiya the foundation or stone of creation.  The Zohar states “The world was not created until God took a stone called Even haShetiya and threw it into the depths where it was fixed from above till below, and from it the world expanded. It is the centre point of the world and on this spot stood the Holy of Holies” (Vayechi 1:231).  The Talmud also considers this Even HaShetiya to be the rock from which the world was created, itself being the first part of the Earth to come into existence (Tractate Yoma 54b – note the connection to the sacred embrace).  The Talmud goes on to claim that this rock is also where God gathered the earth that was formed into Adam, and that Adam, Cain, Abel, Noah and King David were to offer sacrifices to God.  It is traditionally the rock upon which Abraham bound and sacrificed his son Isaac, and is considered by Muslim tradition to be the rock upon which the Prophet Mohammed’s horse’s hoof trod as he leapt towards the heavens.   This was therefore to become the third holiest site for Islam, and is now housed in the Dome of the Rock.  This was also the original direction Jews and Muslims prayed until the Muslims later faced Mecca.

    During the First Temple period, this was the rock upon which the Ark of the Covenant was placed within the holy of holies(Zohar Vayechi 1:231; Midrash Tanchuma AchareiCh.3; Maimonides, Beit HaBechirah 4:1). During the Second Temple period when the Ark of the Covenant was not present, the stone was used by the High Priest who offered up the incense and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on it during the Yom Kippur service.

    The Roman-Era Midrash Tanchuma sums up the centrality of and holiness of this site in Judaism:

    As the navel is set in the centre of the human body,
    so is the land of Israel the navel of the world…
    situated in the centre of the world,
    and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel,
    and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem,
    and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary,
    and the ark in the centre of the holy place,
    and the Foundation Stone before the holy place,
    because from it the world was founded [Midrash Tanchuma, Kedoshim Ch.10.]

    ↑25 Some Masons refer to the connection of the plumb line to the square as follows: To the operative masons, the level and plumb were intertwined, and together they formed a square. Brethren, the plumb rule is an instrument used in architecture by which a building is raised in a perpendicular direction; and it is figurative of an upright and true course of life. It typifies care against any deviation from the Masonic upright line of conduct! If you apply the square to the level, you get the PLUMB — the living perpendicular esteemed by all true craftsmen, and the emblem of growth and immortality. It is a truly magnificent jewel, an indispensible working tool; and when applied to the work with its fellows, the square and the level, it opens the doorway of that middle chamber in those immortal mansions, whence all goodness emanates.

    The best logician is our God,

    Whom the conclusion never fails;

    He speaks – it is; He wills — it stands;

    He blows — it falls; He breathes — it lives;

    His words are true .– e’en without proof,

    His counsel rules without command,

    Therefore can none foresee his end –

    Unless on God is built his hope.

    And if we here below would learn

    By Compass, Needles Square and Plumb,

    We never must o’erlook the mete

    Wherewith our God hath measur’d us.

    Poem: by J.V.A. Andreae, a German and printed in 1623.

    Translated into English by:- F.F. Schnitger and G.W. Speth. See: Freemason information, “The Plumb Rule.” Accessed 8.1.2021.

    ↑26 הַמַּצָּע is a hapax legomenon, a word that only appears once in the text. The Greek speaking Jews translated Isaiah 28.20 as follows: στενοχωρούμενοι οὐ δυνάμεθα μάχεσθαι αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀσθενοῦμεν τοῦ ἡμᾶς συναχθῆναι. Being cornered, we have no power to fight, and we are too weak to gather together collectively and rally ourselves. (my translation). It seems that the Greek translation would have seen this verse as coming from the perspective of Isaiah’s enemies.
    ↑27 This could be a motif relating to the New Year festival, as many of the themes in Isaiah 28 seem to line up with other aspects of the New Year festival in the ancient world. From the chastening of the leadership and challenge to live according to justice, to the symbol of the tried and sure stone in Zion, to the harvesting symbols, all of which have a connection to the festival. The connection of the bed that is too short in verse 20 could be a parody of this symbol of the bed chamber where the king and queen were ritually married in the New Year festival in Mesopotamia. In the marriage of Dummuzi and Inanna, the bed chamber where they consummated their marriage was said to drip with honey (Andrew Cohen, Death Rituals, Ideology, and the Development of Early Mesopotamian Kingship, p. 134). According to Cohen, the “core practice of the festival was the symbolic marriage between the king, representing Dummuzi, and Inanna… the purpose of the marriage of Inanna and the king is to properly regulate relations between people, and between people and the gods… to authorize the king to act as a bridge between the human and divine realms.” (See also J.S. Cooper, “Sacred Marriage and Popular Cult in Early Mesopotamia,” in Official Cult and Popular Religion in the Ancient Near East, ed. E. Matsushima, Heidelbert, 1993, p. 90.) Frankfort writes, “The renewal of nature in the spring was conceived as the marriage of the mother-goddess with the liberated god. Their union took place in nature but also in their temples- residences erected by their orders in the cities of man. The change in nature and the temple ritual both constituted divine union, and we may think of them as two parallel, inseperable, and equivalent events.” (Henri Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods: A Study of Ancient Near Eastern Religion as the Integration of Society and Nature (Oriental Institute Essays), The University of Chicago Press, 1978, p. 295).

    Frankfort presents a poem associated with this motif of the marriage of the king and the queen as part of the New Year festival:

    To guard the life-breath of all lands. ….

    To perform the rites correctly on the day the moon is invisible,

    Has on New Year’s day, the day of observances,

    A couch been set up for my lady.

    Grass andplants …. cedar they purify there,

    Put it for my queen on that couch.

    On its …. the blanket is arranged for her,

    A blanket delighting the heart, to make the bed good.’ (Frankfort, p. 296) For a breakdown of the Akitu Festival, celebrating the marriage of Marduk and the days in which events took place, see Frankfort, pages 317-318. Frankfort places the marriage of Marduk to day 10 of the 12 day celebration, after his return from the banquet (page 331). He further explains, “the consummation of the marriage of god and goddess set off the flow of generative force which sustained nature in the year to come-that the completion of this particular event insured a prosperous ‘destiny’ for the year” (p. 412).

    ↑28 Luke 24.49 reads as follows: καὶ ἰδού, ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός μου ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς· ὑμεῖς δὲ καθίσατε ἐν τῇ πόλει Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἕως οὗ ἐνδύσησθε δύναμιν ἐξ ὕψους. And see! I send the promised announcement of my Father upon you all. And you all are to set up a place in the city of Jerusalem until you will be endowed with dumanin (power/skill/strength/might/force/authority/influence) out of the summit/from beyond the summit/the height. (my translation). Here Jesus informs his apostles that they will be clothed with his authority, ἐνδύσησθε δύναμιν ἐξ ὕψους- from the very height of heaven, Jesus will clothe them with authority, strength, and skill. Power: dumamin. ἕως + subjunctive ἐνδύσησθε (2PPlural subjunctive of ἐνδύω) relates to things pertaining to an uncertain event in the future: “stay here until you are endowed with power.”
    ↑30 See: The Joseph Smith Papers. See also: “French Farm,” in Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, 399.
    ↑31 See Zebedee Coltrin Journal, as cited in Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 198–99; see also D&C 95:10.
    ↑32 History of the Church, 1:352–53.
    ↑33 Garrett and Robinson. See also: Kirtland Revelation Book, 60–61; Woodford, “Historical Development,” 2:1244.
    ↑34 יָתֵד yated, pin, nail, stake. From an unused root meaning to pin through or fast.
    ↑35 McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 697-698.
    ↑36 Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:321-22.
    ↑37 McConkie and Ostler, p. 699.
    ↑38 McConkie and Ostler, p. 699-700. See also Craig Ostler, “The Laws of Consecration, Stewardship and Tithing,” as found in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine and Covenants, Deseret Book, 2004.
    ↑39 Milton Backman, Heavens Resound, p. 140, 163.
    ↑40 History of the Church, 1:372–76.
    ↑41 Times and Seasons 1 (18 Dec. 1839): 18; John Whitmer described the mob as consisting of “the whole County,” Early Latter-day Saint History, 93.
    ↑42 See Backman and Cowan, Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, 3.
    ↑43 History of the Church, 1:395.
    ↑44 Smith, History of the Church, 1:375; for the article “Free People of Color,” see Smith, History of the Church, 1:378.
    ↑45 Garrett and Robinson, volume 3, emphasis added.
    ↑46 See D&C 58.44. The Lord was not willing for most members of the Church to go to Zion yet, nor for many years to come (compare D&C 51:17, “as for years”; D&C 64:21, “space of five years”). It would actually not be until seven years later, in 1838, that most of the Ohio Saints were called to Missouri. The Lord desired that Zion be built up slowly (see v. 56), that the land be purchased by contributions from the Ohio Saints (see v. 49), that missionary work be done in Missouri (see v. 48) and in all the world (see v. 64), that the Prophet remain in Kirtland (see v. 58), and that other preparations be made over a period of years.

    Unfortunately, overeager and disobedient Saints refused to follow the Lord’s plan for gradual, economically sensible, and spiritually consecrated settlement in Missouri but went there on their own, unbidden and unprepared, and expecting the bishop in Zion to provide them with an inheritance. The financial and logistical strain on the resources of the Saints in Independence eventually proved too great, while too many of these incoming Saints were too greedy, too inexperienced, too self-willed, or too disobedient to help in establishing Zion. Since they did not live according to the covenant that was made when the land was dedicated, in barely more than two years the Lord allowed the Saints to be driven off the land (additional reasons are given in D&C 101:7–8; 103:3–4; 105:11, 17). See: Garrett and Robinson, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, volume 2.

    ↑48 Roberts, Comprehensive History, 1:359.
    ↑49 McConkie and Ostler, p. 466. See also: A Brief History of Tithing.
    ↑50 McConkie and Ostler, p. 703-704.
    ↑51 Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness to the Articles of Faith, 610-11.
    ↑52 Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 13.
    ↑53 McConkie and Ostler, p. 704-705.
    ↑54 The text of the Prophet’s letter to William W. Phelps is found in History of the Church 1:22, p. 316. See also: The Joseph Smith Papers.
    ↑55 The Joseph Smith Papers, letter to W.W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832. See also: Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 18-19.
    ↑56 McConkie and Ostler, p. 706.

Comments are closed.