D&C 121-123 Quotes and Notes

Much of the background to this section is related in the previous discussion surrounding the events in D&C 115-120, events surrounding the details of the Mormon War of 1838.^[1]Leland Gentry and Todd Compton, Fire and Sword: A History of the Latterday-Saints in Northern Missouri, 1836-1839, Greg Kofford Books, 2010.; Stephen LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in … Continue reading I am sharing some of Kenneth Alford, Craig Manscill,^[2]Kenneth Alford and Craig Manscill, Hyrum Smith’s Liberty Jail Letters, as found in Foundations of the Restoration: Fulfillment of the Covenant Promises, Deseret Book and RSC, 2016, p. 189-206. Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig Ostler’s material^[3]Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 943-944. here for brevity:

On 27 October 1838, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued his infamous extermination order. Writing to General John B. Clark, commander of the state militia, he said, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good. Their outrages are beyond all description.”^[4]Smith, History of the Church, 3:175. Three days later a mob under the leadership of Colonel William O. Jennings, who had not yet received the governor’s order, attacked a little settlement of Saints at Haun’s Mill, killing seventeen and severely wounding others. At the same time, the mob-militia, about two thousand strong, under the command of Samuel D. Lucas, arrived near Far West as its citizens made preparations for its defense.

On Wednesday, 31 October, the Prophet was informed by Colonel Hinkle, a fellow Saint, that the officers of the militia wished to have a conference with him and several of the leaders of the Church. “I immediately complied with the request,” wrote the Prophet, “and in company with Elders Sidney Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt, Colonel Wight and George W. Robinson, went into the camp of the militia. But judge of my surprise, when, instead of being treated with that respect which is due from one citizen to another, we were taken as prisoners of war, and treated with the utmost contempt. The officers would not converse with us, and the soldiers, almost to a man, insulted us as much as they felt disposed, breathing out threats against me and my companions. I cannot begin to tell the scene which I there witnessed. The loud cries and yells of more than one thousand voices, which rent the air and could be heard for miles, and the horrid and blasphemous threats and curses which were poured upon us in torrents, were enough to appall the stoutest heart. In the evening we had to lie down on the cold ground, surrounded by a strong guard, who were only kept back by the power of God from depriving us of life. We petitioned the officers to know why we were thus treated, but they utterly refused to give us any answer, or to converse with us. . . .

“[The next day] Brothers Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were brought prisoners into camp. The officers of the militia held a court martial, and sentenced us to be shot, on Friday morning, on the public square of Far West as a warning to the ‘Mormons.'”^[5]Smith, History of the Church, 3:188-90.

The lives of the Prophet and his companions were spared when General Alexander Doniphan courageously refused to carry out the illegal and immoral order.^[6]McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, 943-944. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, and other leaders were betrayed at Far West into the hands of Major General Samuel D. Lucas and the Missouri militia on 31 October 1838.^[7]Alford and Manscill, p. 189-190. It is insightful to note that both Lilburn W. Boggs and Samuel D. Lucas were residents of Jackson County, Missouri, and had figured prominently in the 1833 expulsion … Continue reading Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were captured later that day while attempting to flee to Iowa. In Richmond, Missouri, on 29 November 1838, Austin A. King, a fifth judicial circuit judge, signed the court order charging six prisoners with “treason against the state of Missouri.”^[8]Judge King had determined the outcome before the hearing. “If a Cohort of angels were to come down and declare we were clear Donaphan said it would all be the same for he King had determined from … Continue reading The six men were Joseph Smith, who would turn thirty-four years old in three weeks; Sidney Rigdon, forty-five; Hyrum Smith, thirty-eight; Alexander McRae, thirty-one, the youngest member of the group; Lyman Wight, forty-two; and Caleb Baldwin, forty-seven, who was the oldest.

Hyrum later testified that he heard the judge say “that there was no law for us, nor for the Mormons, in the state of Missouri; that he had sworn to see them exterminated, and to see the Governor’s order executed to the very letter, and that he would do so.”^[9]Alford and Manscill. Statement of Hyrum Smith, July 1, 1843, History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843], 1615, JSP. The detainees were bound over to Sheriff Samuel Hadley for transport to Liberty Jail. Prior to being taken to jail, they were handcuffed and chained together. During the course of his work, the blacksmith informed the prisoners that “the judge [had] stated his intention to keep us in jail until all the Mormons were driven out of the state.”^[10]History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843], 1615, JSP. With the exception of Sidney Rigdon, who was freed on 5 February 1839, the detainees would be incarcerated the entire winter—from 1 December 1838 until 6 April 1839—in the unheated jail.^[11]Clark V. Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 1992), 680–81. On 1 July 1843, Sidney Rigdon … Continue reading

While the story of Liberty Jail has been told and retold from the perspective of Joseph Smith, the experience of the other incarcerated men provides additional insight. Caleb Baldwin, who was the most senior of the group, struggled physically and emotionally in the dungeon level of Liberty Jail. The inspiring words that came to Joseph as he dictated his letter provided comfort and counsel to Baldwin, the 47-year-old father of 10 who longed to be with his family during his four-month confinement.^[12]Justin R. Bray, Revelations in Context, D&C 121, 122, 123. See also, Revelations in Context: The Stories Behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, published by the Church of Jesus Christ … Continue reading

Isolated from Church headquarters, the jailed Church leadership was rendered unable to lead the Church out of Missouri. Communication with the outside world was limited to letters and visitors. As Liberty is forty miles from Far West, it was possible for family, friends, and Church leaders to call on the prisoners. All of the men except Hyrum received visits from their wives during December.^[13]History of the Reorganized Church,2:309. Mary Fielding Smith had recently given birth to a son, Joseph F. Smith on November 13, 1838, and her health remained poor for many weeks. They were visited in January over twenty times, with all of the wives visiting at least once. During one of those visits, Hyrum blessed his newborn son, Joseph Fielding Smith.^[14]History of the Reorganized Church,2:315. While Alford and Manscill cite this reference in the History of the Reorganized Church as the source, no mention of said blessing is made on this page. … Continue reading

Jail visitors decreased during February and March as an increasing number of Church and family members fled Missouri for the safety of Illinois.

Hyrum later commented, “We endeavored to find out for what cause [we were to be thrust into jail], but all that we could learn was [that it was] because we were Mormons.”[9] Life in the jail was difficult; Hyrum further reported that “poison was administered to us three or four times, the effect it had upon our systems was, that it vomited us almost to death, and then we would lay in a torpid stupid state, not even caring or wishing for life.” He also said, “We were also subjected to the necessity of eating human flesh for the space of 5 days or go without food, except a little coffee or a little corn bread—the latter I chose in preference to the former. We none of us partook of the flesh except Lyman Wight.”^[15]History, 1838-1856, volume D-1 (1 August 1842- 1 July 1843), The Joseph Smith Papers.

The judge ordered that they be bound over for further trial and placed in the jail at Liberty, Missouri. Here it was that they were incarcerated in the dungeon on the bottom floor in miserable circumstances for the next four months. During this time word reached the prisoners of the atrocities committed against the Saints in Far West and other places.

During this period the Prophet communicated with the Saints by letter. Excerpts from one of those letters, dated 25 March 1839, constitute what we know today as sections 121, 122, and 123, and were first included in the Doctrine and Covenants in the 1876 edition. You can read the March 25, 1839 letter by Joseph Smith here and see (included portions of the letter are highlighted) how portions of the letter were used to construct the text of the D&C 121-123.

“To the Church of Latter-day Saints at Quincy, Illinois, and Scattered Abroad, and to Bishop Partridge in Particular.

“Your humble servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., prisoner for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the Saints, taken and held by the power of mobocracy, under the exterminating reign of his excellency, the governor, Lilburn W. Boggs, in company with his fellow prisoners and beloved brethren, Caleb Baldwin, Lyman Wight, Hyrum Smith, and Alexander McRae, send unto you all greeting. . . .

” . . . Inasmuch as we know that the most of you are well acquainted with the wrongs and the high- handed injustice and cruelty that are practiced upon us; whereas we have been taken prisoners charged falsely with every kind of evil, and . . . a strong guard, who continually watch day and night as indefatigable as the devil does in tempting and laying snares for the people of God.

“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we are the more ready and willing to lay claim to your fellowship and love. For our circumstances are calculated to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of everything, and we think that yours are also, and that nothing therefore can separate us from the love of God and fellowship one with another; and that every species of wickedness and cruelty practiced upon us will only tend to bind our hearts together and seal them together in love. We have no need to say to you that we are held in bonds without cause, neither is it needful that you say unto us, We are driven from our homes and smitten without cause. We mutually understand that if the inhabitants of the state of Missouri had let the Saints alone, and had been as desirable of peace as they were, there would have been nothing but peace and quietude in the state unto this day; we should not have been in this hell, surrounded with demons (if not those who are damned, they are those who shall be damned) and where we are compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a scene of blasphemy, and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every description.

“And again the cries of orphans and widows would not have ascended up to God against them. Nor would innocent blood have stained the soil of Missouri. But oh! the unrelenting hand! The inhumanity and murderous disposition of this people! It shocks all nature; it beggars and defies all description; it is a tale of woe; a lamentable tale; yea a sorrowful tale; too much to tell; too much for contemplation; too much for human beings; it cannot be found among the heathens; it cannot be found among the nations where kings and tyrants are enthroned; it cannot be found among the savages of the wilderness; yea, and I think it cannot be found among the wild and ferocious beasts of the forest—that a man should be mangled for sport! women be robbed of all that they have— their last morsel for subsistence, and then be violated to gratify the hellish desires of the mob, and finally left to perish with their helpless offspring clinging around their necks. . . .

“They practice these things upon the Saints, who have done them no wrong, who are innocent and virtuous; who loved the Lord their God, and were willing to forsake all things for Christ’s sake. These things are awful to relate, but they are verily true. It must needs be that offenses come, but woe unto them by whom they come.”^[16]Smith, History of the Church, 3:289-91.

D&C 121-123 As a message about how to cope with challenges, trials, and pain

• 1. “My Son” – D&C 121.7

The Lord knows you, is aware of you in your struggles. Isaiah 49 addresses this question.

He Will Never Desert Us

No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, He will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character…He will stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we only trust in our God and keep His commandments.^[17]George Q. Cannon, Collected Discourses, 2:185.

Under this idea, Bryce shared the story of the yellow cup. You can read that excerpt from Elizabeth’s Smart’s book My Story here.

• 2. “Thine adversity… shall be but a small moment” – D&C 121.7
• 3. “If thou endure it well” – D&C 121.8

Mosiah 10 is an illustration of not enduring challenges well.

• 4. “Thy friends do not contend against thee” – D&C 121.10

Do Not Suffer in Solitude

I love that! Just sharing a similar experience can help. It’s true! That sharing is one of the reasons talk therapy can be such a critical part of a successful treatment regimen for depression. Those who courageously share their feelings with a counselor, a friend, or a trusted adviser, such as the young institute officer did with Brother Millet, are able to expose one of the lies circling through their thought processes. It’s a lie the adversary loves and certainly hopes we will buy into: that each of us must suffer in solitude. The authentic connection you make when you share your story, and feel it resonate with another’s, shatters this lie, bringing hope, comfort, and confirmation that your suffering is real and you are not alone.^[18]Jane Clayson Johnson, Silent Souls Weeping, Chapter 2.

“Friendship, I have said, is born at the moment when one man says to another ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .’ ”^[19]C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves.

• 5. “Thou art not yet as Job” – D&C 121.10

• 6. God allows them agency – D&C 121.13-23

The Price We Pay for Agency

Some of the ponderable problems, the unanswered questions, the seeming injustices and discrepancies and uncertainties…which we often have a difficult time in reconciling, will find answer and solution and satisfaction if we are patient and prayerful and willing to wait. Part of them are the price we pay for our free agency. We pay a great price for free agency in this world, but it is worth the price we pay. So long as men have their free agency, there will be temporary injustices and discrepancies and some seemingly inexplicable things, which ultimately in our Father’s own time and purpose will be reconciled and made right.^[20]Richard L. Evans, Improvement Era, Jun. 1952, 435.

• 7. God rewards those who suffer – D&C 121.26-32

Heaven Works Backwards

[You] cannot in your present state understand eternity…But you can get some likeness of it if you say that both good and evil, when they are full grown, become retrospective…All this earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved…All their life on earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell. That is what mortals misunderstand. The say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it,” not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say “Let me but have this and I’ll take the consequences”: little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man’s past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man’s past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why, at the end of all things…the Blessed will say, “We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven,” and the Lost, “We were always in Hell.” And both will speak truly.^[21]C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, Ch. 9, 67-68.

• 8. “All these things shall give thee experience” – D&C 122.7
• 9. “The Son of Man hath descended below them all” – D&C 122.8
• 10. “Hold on thy way… for their bounds are set” – D&C 122.9

Transferred to Other Fields of Labor

And may I say for the consolation of those who mourn, and for the comfort and guidance of all of us, that no righteous man is ever taken before his time. In the case of faithful Saints, they are simply transferred to other fields of labor.^[22]Joseph Fielding Smith at the funeral of Richard L. Evans, Ensign, Dec. 1971, 10.

D&C 121.1-6

McConkie and Ostler write:

121:1-6 These verses, which constitute a prayer, do not reflect a faith that is wavering, but rather a soul wearied with concern for the suffering of the innocent. The Prophet wrote with a heart sickened “with grief, because of the sufferings of the poor and much injured Saints. And we need not say to you that the floodgates of our hearts were lifted and our eyes were a fountain of tears” (Smith, History of the Church, 3:293).

D&C 121.1 The pavilion that covereth thy hiding place.

A pavilion symbolizes the heavenly tabernacle or temple where the Most High dwells. The “thick clouds” which surround this holy residence signify the glory of God. God’s pavilion is hidden from the eyes of mortal man (Psalm 18:11; 27:5; D&C 121:1, 4). Reference to the Lord’s “hiding place” is not intended to suggest that God is an absentee landlord but rather that his presence is hidden from the wicked (D&C 101:89).

D&C 121.4 The dark and benighted dominion of Sheol. 

Sheol שְׁאוֹל is a Hebrew rendering of the English word hell.^[23]Brown-Driver-Briggs gives the following regarding Sheol: שְׁאוֺל, שְׁאֹל noun feminine Psalm 86:13 (apparently masculine Job 26:6 compare Isaiah 14:9… others compare שׁעל, … Continue readingIt represents the kingdom of the devil and those who follow him.^[24]I would add to their comment that this is not always the case (see footnote above). In this context, however, this description is accurate.

Letters from his fellow brethren in the priesthood, his wife, and his brother

D&C 121.7-10 As Joseph was in a horrible circumstance, letters from his wife Emma, Bishop Edward Partridge, and Don Carlos (his brother) encouraged the Prophet and prompted these verses.^[25]On 5 March, Bishop Edward Partridge wrote a letter from Quincy, Illinois, to the “Beloved Brethren” in Liberty Jail providing details of the Church in Illinois. Partridge explained that he wrote … Continue reading The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote that one token of friendship can work so that “all enmity, malice, and hatred, and past differences, misunderstandings and mismanagements are slain victorious at the feet of hope; and when the heart is sufficiently contrite, then the voice of inspiration steals along and whispers, My son, peace be to thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment . . . “^[26]History of the Church, 3:293.

D&C 121.9 Friends

Those that were incarcerated in Liberty Jail received with the utmost appreciation the words of friends in letters. Joseph and his companions wrote, “Those who have not been enclosed in the walls of prison without cause or provocation, can have little idea how sweet the voice of a friend is; one token of friendship from any source whatever awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling.”^[27]Smith, History of the Church, 3:293.

D&C 121.16 Lift up the heel against mine anointed

“To lift up the heel against” is a biblical expression that describes unfeeling violence against someone (see Psalm 41:9). It is used in the Bible to characterize the enmity of Judas and Satan toward Jesus Christ, the anointed Messiah (see John 13:18; Genesis 3:15). In this verse, however, the pronouns they and them indicate that “mine anointed” is meant to be plural and, therefore, refers to all the Saints who have received sacred anointings, rather than only to the Savior or the Prophet.^[28]Garrett and Robinson, Commentary, volume 4.

D&C 121.28 Whether there be one God or many gods

This statement should not be understood as a pronouncement of doctrine or a revelation in itself but rather as an example of the kind of question that will be answered to our satisfaction when the proper time comes. Some have suggested that this reference was fulfilled in the King Follett Discourse; however, because the exact text of that discourse is far from certain, because it remains uncanonized, and because it certainly does not answer all our questions on this topic, the King Follett Discourse more likely represents an intermediate allusion to the questions that will one day be answered with complete clarity.^[29]Garrett and Robinson, Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, volume 4.

McConkie and Ostler^[30]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 951-952. give this commentary:

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote from Liberty Jail: “It has been the plan of the devil to hamper me and distress me from the beginning, to keep me from explaining myself to them [the Saints]; and I never have had opportunity to give them the plan that God has revealed to me.”^[31]History of the Church, 3:286. These doctrines were clarified for the Saints in some degree through the translation of the book of Abraham. Although the Saints had purchased the papyri containing writings of Abraham in 1835, it was not until 1842 that the Prophet’s translation was published in the Times and Seasons. It was not until the latter months of his life that the Prophet Joseph Smith revealed the endowment administered in holy temples and unfolded the doctrine of the plurality of gods by preaching in plainness to the Saints in Nauvoo…

The crowning truths of the Restoration are those truths that deal with the nature of God. From the First Vision in the spring of 1820 to his last public discourse on 18 June 1844, Joseph Smith enhanced the Saints understanding of the God of heaven. That there are more Gods than one we learned in the First Vision, where the Father and the Son stood separate and distinct as exalted men. That we can become as God was affirmed in Joseph’s final public remarks as he challenged the Saints to “hold out to the end, and we shall be resurrected and become like Gods, and reign in celestial kingdoms, principalities, and eternal dominions.”^[32]Smith, History of the Church, 6:500.

“I will preach on the plurality of Gods,” he said on 16 June 1844. “I have selected this text for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years.

“I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods. If this is in accordance with the New Testament, lo and behold! we have three Gods anyhow, and they are plural; and who can contradict it?

“Our text says, ‘And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.’ The Apostles have discovered that there were Gods above, for Paul says God was the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. My object was to preach the scriptures, and preach the doctrine they contain, there being a God above, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am bold to declare I have taught all the strong doctrines publicly, and always teach stronger doctrines in public than in private.

“John was one of the men, and apostles declare they were made kings and priests unto God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It reads just so in the Revelation. Hence, the doctrine of a plurality of Gods is as prominent in the Bible as any other doctrine. It is all over the face of the Bible. It stands beyond the power of controversy. A wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.

“Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many. I want to set it forth in a plain and simple manner; but to us there is but one God— that is pertaining to us; and he is in all and through all. But if Joseph Smith says there are Gods many and Lords many, they cry, ‘Away with him! Crucify him! crucify him!’

“Mankind verily say that the scriptures are with them. Search the scriptures, for they testify of things that these apostates would gravely pronounce blasphemy. Paul, if Joseph Smith is a blasphemer, you are. I say there are Gods many and Lords many, but to us only one, and we are to be in subjection to that one, and no man can limit the bounds or the eternal existence of eternal time. Hath he beheld the eternal world, and is he authorized to say that there is only one God? He makes himself a fool if he thinks or says so, and there is an end of his career or progress in knowledge. He cannot obtain all knowledge, for he has sealed up the gate to it.”^[33]Smith, History of the Church, 6:474-75.

D&C 121.29 All thrones and dominions, principalities, and powers

I see this verse as another extension of some of the things that the author of Ephesians and Colossians was working with. Principalities, powers, and dominions are things that the early Christians understood to be heavenly powers.^[34]Colossians 1.16 reads as follows: ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ … Continue reading In ancient Judaism there were also hierarchies of heavenly powers: God, angels, and archangels to name just a few. If we dig a little deeper, we see in early Israelite tradition that there were Elohim, or gods, plural, going back as far as the Priestly text of Genesis 1. The gods speaking to Adam and Eve are in the plural, “Let us make man in our image” וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַֽעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ Literally: “And he said, Elohim, let us make (na-asheh) Adam in our image” (Genesis 1.26).

Some early Christians discussed these orders of heavenly powers. One such Christian to do this was Pseudo-Dionysus the Areopagite.^[35]See: The Celestial Hierarchies of Dionysus the Areopagite. In chapter 6 he relates the following: Theology has given to the Celestial Beings nine interpretative names, and among these our … Continue reading

He was a 5th century theologian and mystic. His work, Pseudo-Dionysus,  was named for Dionysus the Areopagite, the first century follower of Paul the Apostle. His neo-Platonic mystical works were deeply influential on medieval Christianity., including The Celestial Hierarchy, a work which sets out an angelology of hierarchal triads, each one closer to the divine nature in its purpose and what it communicates to lower levels. This hierarchy is described at some length in chapters 6-9 of his work. Selections from his work can be read here.

McConkie and Ostler give this commentary on D&C 121.29

Those that will receive thrones and principalities have entered into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and it has been sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise.^[36]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 952, From this they are connecting this idea that these powers and titles will be given to the Saints. Could this not be connected with the early Christian thinking of hierarchies of angelic powers beyond the heavens? Are not angels beings that once lived or will live upon the earth? Are not angels messengers that God trusts to deliver his message of salvation? What greater way to qualify as such a being than by being the messenger of salvation while in mortality?^[37]Garrett and Robinson seem to come to the same conclusion when they say: These terms are used in the New Testament to indicate spiritual powers, usually understood as different ranks or types of … Continue reading

The Council of the Gods – D&C 121.32

“The Eternal God of all other gods” is our Eternal Father, meaning the father of our spirits. The psalmist declared, “Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalm 82:6). When we assembled in council with our Eternal Father, we sat in the council of the Gods; all who assembled there were of the family of the gods. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained, “In the beginning the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.”^[38]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349.

There are hints of these ideas scattered throughout the text of the Bible. A quick example of this is the text of Deuteronomy 32. There is quite a bit going on in Deuteronomy 32, perhaps more than meets the eye when it is first read. First of all, it is worth noting that this text has a few variations and for good reason. Here are three versions of this text:

Dead Sea Scrolls: “When Elyon gave the nations as an inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God (bene elohim). For Yahweh’s portion was his people; Jacob was the lot of his inheritance”.

Septuagint (LXX): “When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God (aggelón theou). And his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of his inheritance”.

Masoretic Text (MT): “When Elyon gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel (bene yisrael). For Yahweh’s portion was his people, Jacob was the lot of his inheritance”.

Mark Smith, in his book The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, works to illustrate that the Semitic peoples of the times that the Old Testament books were written believed in a pantheon of gods, a concept which is foreign to modern readers. In this pantheon, El and his consort Asherah occupied the first tier, commanding or governing a multitude of gods in a hierarchy of four tiers of divine beings. The second tier was inhabited by the children of El and his consort and were called the “sons of god.” A third tier comprising of craftsmen or artisan deities is found underneath and subservient to the sons of god (but poorly represented in Ugaritic texts and not well attested in the Hebrew Bible). Smith cites Kothar-wa-Hasis as an example of a third level deity in the Ugaritic pantheon. Kothar is a maker of gadgets and weapons for Baal.^[39]Kothar reminds me of kind of the character Alfred in Batman. I cannot read of Kothar-wa-Hasis without thinking of the gadgets that Nephi receives from the heavens while on his exodus out of Jerusalem … Continue reading The fourth tier of divine beings act as messengers for God, servants to the gods who occupy the first three tiers.^[40]Mark Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 45-46. 

Later redactors of Old Testament texts were uncomfortable with the polytheistic nature of earlier Hebrew texts. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is a text which emphasizes the idea that a council of divine beings existed, with tiers or rankings of these divine beings. As Smith asserts:

The traditional Hebrew text (Masoretic Text, or MT) perhaps reflects a discomfort with this polytheistic theology of Israel, for it shows not “divine sons” (bene elohim), as in the Greek and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but “sons of Israel” (bene yisrael). Emanuel Tov labels the MT text here an “anti-polytheistic alteration.”^[41]Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 2011, p. 269. Tov regards the change of bene Elohim, “divine beings,” in Psalm 29:1 to mispehot ammim, … Continue reading The texts of the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls show Israelite polytheism which focuses on the central importance of Yahweh for Israel within the larger scheme of the world; yet this larger scheme provides a place for the other gods of the other nations in the world.

Moreover, even if this text is mute about the god who presides over the divine assembly, it does maintain a place for such a god who is not Yahweh. Of course, later tradition could identify the figure of Elyon with Yahweh, just as many scholars have done. However, the title of Elyon (“Most High”) seems to denote the figure of El, presider par excellence not only at Ugarit but also in Psalm 82.^[42]The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, p. 48-49.

The author of Psalm 82 deposes the older theology, as Israel’s deity is called to assume a new role as judge of all the world. Yet at the same time, Psalm 82, like Deuteronomy 32:8-9, preserves the outlines of the older theology it is rejecting. From the perspective of this older theology, Yahweh did not belong to the top tier of the pantheon. Instead, in early Israel the god of Israel apparently belonged to the second tier of the pantheon; he was not a presider god, but one of his sons. Accordingly, what is at work is not a loss of the second tier of a pantheon headed by Yahweh. Instead, the collapse of the first and second tiers in the early Israelite pantheon likely was caused by an identification of El, the head of this pantheon, with Yahweh, a member of the second tier…

This development would have taken place by the eighth century, since Asherah, having been the consort of El, would have become Yahweh’s consort only if these two gods were identified by this time. Indeed, it is evident from texts such as Isaiah’s vision of Yahweh surrounded by the Seraphim (Isaiah 6), and especially the prophetic vision of the divine council scene in 1 Kings 22:19 that Yahweh assumed the position of presider by this time. Indeed, prior to the eighth century such a “world theology” suited the historical circumstances in Israel very well. In the world order there were many nations, and each had its own patron god. This worldview was cast as the divine patrimonial household in Deuteronomy 32: each god held his own inheritance, and the whole was headed by the patriarchal god. Other gods in their nations represented no threat to Israel and its patron god as long as they were not imported into Israel. As long as other gods did not affect worship of Yahweh in Israel, they could be tolerated as the gods of other peoples and nations. This state of affairs perhaps began to change in the eighth century when the neo-Assyrian empire presented a new world order. Only after this alteration of the world scene did Israel require a different “world theology” that not only advance Yahweh to the top but eventually eliminated the second tier altogether insofar as it treated all other gods as either non-entities or expressions of Yahweh’s power.^[43]Ibid.

Outside of Deuteronomy 32 the tone is a bit more vague. While Israel is prohibited from worshipping the other gods, the prohibition is against the mode of their worship, not the deities themselves. Over and over again Israel is taught that they must not worship Yahweh in the same manner that they worshipped other gods. Deuteronomy 12:31 is characteristic of this teaching: “You shall not do thus for Yahweh, your God, for every abomination which Yahweh hates, they have performed for their gods.” In Deuteromony 29:26 Israel is warned about their ancestors’ transgressions: “They went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods which they had not known, and whom he had not allotted to them.” They are banned from worshipping the other deities, for two reasons: (1) the gods of the nations were unknown to their fathers, and (2) the gods of the nations were not allotted to Israel. The nature of the polytheism of this culture is evident in the texts, if we read these texts as they are, apart from our cultural expectations of them.

We see ideas like this in other places as well. For example, Amos tells his hearers that he has been in the council of god, “Surely the Lord God will do no thing/word, except he revealeth his council סוֹדוֹ to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3.7) Michaiah describes his vision of the council of God in 1 Kings 22.19-23. In this text, the prophet is introduced into the sôd of Yahwehn and thereby knows Yahweh’s secret plans. In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah is brought into God’s presence, seeing God on his throne in the temple, meeting his divine council and receives his mission to deliver his message from the council to humanity (Isaiah 6.2-9). We read something similar in Jeremiah 23.21-22, where God speaks to Jeremiah:

 “I did not send the [false] prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my sôd, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.”

Psalm 82 offers a fascinating description of the “council of God”:

1 God (אלהים  ělōhîm) has taken his place in the council (עדת  ʿǎdat) of God (אל  ʾel); in the midst of the gods (אלהים  ělōhîm) he holds judgment. . . . 6 I [God] said, “You [of the divine council/ʿǎdat] are gods (אלהים  ělōhîm), sons of the Most High ( בני עליון benê ʿelyôn), all of you.”^[44]William Hamblin, The Sôd of Yhwh and the Endowment, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 38 (2020), p. 42.

We have learned by sad experience – D&C 121.39

During most of Joseph Smith’s life, he experienced the abuse of authority by unrighteous men. His incarceration in Liberty Jail is a classic example. Unrighteous men see authority as personal power rather than as an opportunity for service. If they don’t have power, they will try to obtain it by whatever means necessary. Many people cannot always be trusted, and some cannot ever be trusted. In theory, the Saints represent that minority who are called to imitate Christ and who, therefore, can be trusted more than the average in the world. Yet Joseph’s experiences in Missouri had shown him that power and authority could corrupt even those who had sacrificed for the gospel and who were trying to live its precepts. The mere fact that individuals hold the priesthood or even a position of leadership does not guarantee that they can be trusted at all times and in all things.^[45]Garrett and Robinson, Commentary. I would add that Joseph, by saying that “we have learned,” is noting that this applies to the Saints just as much as it does to the people in power in Missouri. … Continue reading

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained – D&C 121.41

When obedience is demanded by virtue of one’s ordination to the priesthood alone, it is an empty demand and a sign that something is terribly wrong. As President Spencer W. Kimball once said, “We have heard of men who have said to their wives, ‘I hold the priesthood and you’d better do what I say.’ Such a man should be tried for his membership. Certainly he should not be honored in his priesthood.”^[46]Spencer W. Kimball, Korea Area Conference Report, Mar. 1975, 52–53.

The Power God Wields – Pure Love

These verses are the foundation of power to preside in the priesthood in time and in eternity, and reveal how God the Father exercises power and authority. Each of the approaches and characteristics mentioned reveal his nature. The doctrine of the priesthood contained herein includes truths by which we may become like him. He is a “Man of Holiness” (Moses 6:57). Through the spirit of truth, he invites his children to do good without force or compulsion (Moroni 7:16). He is long- suffering as he waits for them to discover and learn the exactness and veracity of his doctrines. He is gentle and meek in teaching them truth and allowing them to make it part of their lives. He does not seek his own good but does all things out of pure love for his children. He does not feign love as a disguise for manipulating and controlling them. Even in his chastisement, his motive is pure love (D&C 95:1). He does not seek to dominate by virtue of his fatherhood. In the words of Alma, he asks his children to “give place” in their hearts for the truths he teaches them (Alma 32:27). He is virtuous in thought and deed, possessing perfect purity. We know that we may put our everlasting trust and faith in him. All who give him dominion over them do so with the utmost confidence in his sincere and fatherly intent to bring to pass their immortality and eternal life. The grand secret of presiding in the priesthood is that there is power in righteousness. Virtuous beings will freely give honor and glory to their Father, who is in every respect a “Man of Holiness.”

The guidelines in these verses are given as truths that cannot be trampled upon. Each priesthood bearer must learn them and make them part of his character if he is to ever preside over a family in righteousness. Likewise, those who are called to presiding offices in the Church should govern upon these principles of righteousness. By doing so they will also receive power in the priesthood within their sphere of teaching and presiding over the Saints.^[47]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 955-956.

Scepter of Righteousness and Truth

A scepter is a staff or rod, which, like a throne or a crown, is a symbol of kingship and its accompanying authority and power. In this text we are told that the authority and power of the Melchizedek Priesthood centers in the principles of “righteousness and truth.” The word righteousness literally means “to move in a straight line,” it is to be “up right,” and “virtuous.” Truth, as used here, carries the idea of conformity to correct principles or doctrines. Thus, the authority and power of the priesthood centers in the “up right” or “virtuous” application of eternal principles or the light of heaven. This meaning is captured in the name Melchizedek, by which the priesthood is known. It naturally follows that the priesthood of God will never be found conscribing agency. All that is done in the Church and kingdom of God must represent free will and be accomplished by “persuasion, by long- suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned” (D&C 121.41).^[48]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 957.

D&C 122

Sections 121-123 were extracted from the letters dictated by Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, with Alexander McRae acting as scribe for the Prophet. Selections of these letters were put together by apostle Orson Pratt when he included them in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. There is no record identified to indicate the criteria of what was used to determine which portions of these letters were to be included in the Doctrine and Covenants, but it is know that Elder Pratt worked on this edition of the Doctrine and Covenants under the direction of President Brigham Young. Later, the D&C, with these sections contained in it, was presented to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and sustained as scripture, binding upon all Latter-day Saints. Thus, by common consent, sections 121-123 became the word of the Lord to the Church.^[49]Robert Woodford, Historical Development, BYU Dissertation, 1974, p. 1566-67.

If the sentence of death is passed – D&C 122.7

When Joseph and his companions were betrayed and arrested at Far West, they were held overnight in the camp of the Missouri militia. At about midnight, commanding General Samuel D. Lucas issued an order to General Alexander Doniphan: “You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West and shoot them at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.” General Doniphan, deeming it to be an illegal order, refused to carry it out, declaring: “It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning, at 8 o’clock; and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God.” The execution did not take place.^[50]Garrett and Robinson, Commentary. See also: Smith, History of the Church, 3:190–91.

Their bounds are set, they cannot pass – D&C 122.9

I see so much randomness in the universe that this verse becomes a struggle for me personally. How do we explain the problem of evil to those not of our faith who see so much that a loving God could prevent? Why do some have the Alexander Doniphans in their lives, and yet others are marched into the concentration camps of Nazi Germany? I do not know. I see this particular verse as having application to Joseph Smith, but perhaps not universal in its application of all humanity.^[51]This seems to be the conclusion of Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig Ostler as well. See: Revelations of the Restoration, p. 960. They write, “The reference is to those who held Joseph Smith and … Continue reading But I do not know the mind of God. Indeed, if the “bounds are set” for all things, then one wonders why God would set them where they are when it comes to so much of the needless suffering that takes place every day on this planet. I see this idea, combined with the problem of evil, to be one of the greatest arguments against theism used by enemies of faith. And I see this as a powerful argument.^[52]See David Paulsen, “Joseph Smith and the Problem of Evil,” BYU Speeches, September 21, 1999.

On the other hand, I would sense that Joseph gains a glimpse into the possibility that he would come out of this experience a better person, and that he would survive. One of his main questions, “How long?” is not answered by the Lord, but it seems as if the Lord is telling Joseph that he would not remain in this dungeon forever.

D&C 123

Joseph Smith encourages the Saints to make known their sufferings, as well as to bring to light the message of the Restoration

A Committee to take statements and gather information – D&C 123.4-5

On 4 May 1839 this committee was appointed by a general conference of the Church held in Quincy, Illinois, and presided over by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who by that time had escaped from confinement in Missouri. Almon Babbitt, Erastus Snow, and Robert Thompson were charged to be “a traveling committee to gather up and obtain all the libelous reports and publications which have been circulated against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as other historical matter connected with said Church, which they can possibly obtain.”^[53]Smith, History of the Church, 3:346. Erastus Snow wrote that the committee was also “to insert and refute them in a church history which would be compiled by us after the conference.”^[54]Erastus Snow Journal, as quoted in Cook, Revelations, 242. On the following day, the same conference appointed Lyman Wight to collect sworn affidavits verifying crimes against the Saints, which were to be sent to the federal government in Washington, D.C.^[55]Smith, History of the Church, 3:346. These and other sworn accounts were later used, without success, to petition the governments of Missouri and the United States for redress.^[56]Dr. Clark V. Johnson, professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, compiled and published over 700 redress petitions of the Saints regarding the conflicts in Missouri. He has … Continue reading

“In 1839, Church members commenced writing affidavits of their Missouri experiences and swearing to their authenticity before civil authorities, including justices of the peace, clerks of the court, clerks of the circuit court, clerks of county commissioner’s courts and notary publics in two counties in Iowa and ten counties in Illinois. Thus the Saints took every precaution to send sworn, legal documents authenticated by the seals of local government officials. They even sent documents authenticating the officials themselves. During the ensuing years the Mormons presented these documents to the federal government in an effort to obtain reparation for their sufferings in Missouri.”^[57]Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, xix.Since 1839 the Church has continued to keep a record and collect the writings of anti-Mormons and others who libel or otherwise attack the Church.^[58]Garrett and Robinson, Commentary, volume 4.

Besides being important legal documents and providing a witness against the wicked at their judgment, these records memorialize the sufferings of the Saints for the sake of the gospel and provide a lasting, true account for history and a lasting stain on the honor of Missouri and the United States in that generation.

Religious Persecution – D&C 123.7-10

The Prophet Joseph Smith attributes the persecutions of the Saints to the religious bigotry of the Missourians. Regardless of historical commentary attributing the conflict between the Saints and the old settlers to cultural differences, political power, or economic advantage, the main complaint that the Missourians had against the Saints was their religion. For example, Captain Samuel Bogart, who led a company of Caldwell County Militia against the Saints, was a Methodist minister. He and two other ministers, Neil Gilliam and Sashel Woods, led much of the opposition to the Saints. The theme of religious persecution is borne out even more plainly by the fact that many Saints were given the opportunity to remain in Missouri if “they would deny their faith or their religion.”^[59]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 963. See also: Clark, Mormon Redress Petitions, 158.

Make the Truth Known – D&C 123.13-17

The need has never been greater for publishing the truth to all of the world. Satan has set up a kingdom whose doctrines include all manner of lies concerning the Lord’s people and his church. Many people among the religions of the world know instinctively that the creeds of their faith are incorrect. They know by the Spirit of God that they are his children and that they were created in his image. The apostasy left the world barren of the fruits of truth. The Restoration of the fulness of the gospel provided the truths that the honest in heart seek. Yet they are left to wander the earth seeking the word of the Lord (Amos 8:11-12). We are stewards of the Restoration and must do all within our power to publish the glad tidings of truth. Thus, the answer to attacks against the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon is to flood the earth with copies of that volume, allowing all people to judge for themselves as they read and pray concerning its testimony of Jesus Christ. Likewise, the answer to every attack against the kingdom of God is to publish the truth as far and wide as our means will permit through members, full- time missionaries, books, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, videos, television and radio interviews, and any other means at our disposal through which the Spirit of God might witness to the heart of those who are seeking the truth.^[60]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 964, emphasis added.

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