D&C 125-128 Quotes and Notes

D&C 125 – March 1841, Nauvoo, Illinois

Historical Background

The following is offered by Steven Harper:

From the confines of a jail cell in Liberty, Missouri, Joseph wrote to Bishop Partridge in Illinois that the Saints could buy land in Iowa Territory for $2 per acre over twenty years with no money down, and the Saints made a deal for the land.

Joseph escaped from Missouri and joined the Saints in Illinois a few weeks later. He purchased land on a peninsula pushing into the Mississippi River across from the Saints’ Iowa land and named it Nauvoo. The Illinois land was comparatively expensive. Joseph hoped that the Church could buy it with consecrated funds and offer lots to the poor at prices they could afford, but the offerings were insufficient. It became clear that the Church would have to sell lots in order to pay its mortgage. So Joseph urged Saints in outlying areas to gather to Nauvoo and help pay for the land. Saints across the river wondered if that applied to them. Joseph sought and received section 125 to answer their question.

The Lord’s will, declared in section 125, is for the Saints to build a city in Iowa across from Nauvoo and to call it Zarahemla.^[1]The name Zarahemla is taken from the Book of Mormon. Zarahemla was the name of the leader of a people that “came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried … Continue reading The Saints were to gather from everywhere else and settle there, in nearby Nashville, Iowa Territory, or across the river in Nauvoo. As usual, there is an explicit rationale in this revelation. The Lord gives a reason why the Saints should do His will: “That they may be prepared for that which is in store for a time to come” (D&C 135:2). A stake was appointed on the “west side of the river, in Iowa Territory; over which Elder John Smith was appointed President.”^[2]Smith, History of the Church, 4:12.

Saints moved as a result of section 125. It was read to the Saints at General Conference on April 6, 1841. “Many of the brethren immediately made preparations for moving,” and came as soon as their planting was done.^[3]George D. Smith, ed., An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Salt Lake City: Signature, 1995), 86. Alanson Ripley reported that “Joseph said it was the will of the Lord the brethren in general … should move in and about the city Zerehemla with all convenient speed which the saints are willing to do because it is the will of the Lord.”^[4]Alanson Ripley, in John Smith, Journal, March 6, 1841, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

D&C 125.2 – Essaying to be my saints

In Joseph Smith’s time, the word essaying meant “trying, making an effort, attempting.”^[5]Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828, s.v. “essay.” Thus, those who were willing to take upon themselves the name of the Lord and try to be his Saints were called to gather.^[6]Garrett and Robinson, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, Volume 4, Deseret Book, 2005.

Nobody lives up to their ideals

Heber J. Grant stated:

Nobody lives up to his ideals, but if we are striving, if we are working, if we are trying, to the best of our ability, to improve day by day, then we are in the line of our duty. If we are seeking to remedy our own defects, if we are so living that we can ask God for light, for knowledge, for intelligence, and above all for His spirit, that we may overcome our weaknesses, then, I can tell you, we are in the straight and narrow path that leads to life eternal; then we need have no fear.^[7]Heber J. Grant, Conference Report, Apr. 1909, 111.

D&C 125.4 – The City of Nashville

“A little town, pleasantly situated on the Mississippi River, at the head of Des Moines Rapids, in Lee County, Iowa, three miles by rail southeast of Montrose and eight miles north of Keokuk, [which] was purchased by the Church, together with 20,000 acres of land adjoining it, June 24th 1839, . . . It continued to exist as a ‘Mormon’ town until the general exodus in 1846.”^[8]Brewster, Doctrine and Covenants Encyclopedia, 375.

The village of Nashville was located in Lee County, Iowa, across the river from Nauvoo and a little south of Zarahemla. It was settled by Saints who had emigrated from Missouri and the East in response to the call to gather to Nauvoo. Nashville and Zarahemla were used as gathering places for the Saints as they fled from Nauvoo and as stopping points for the members as they gathered to Winter Quarters and then traveled on to Salt Lake City.^[9]Garrett and Robinson, volume 4.

D&C 126 – Revelation to Brigham Young, March 1841

The Ascendancy of the Quorum of the Twelve^[10]Following the return of seven of the Twelve Apostles from England on July 1, 1841, their ascendancy began. During 1841 seven of the Quorum of the Twelve became members of the city council of Nauvoo, … Continue reading

McConkie and Ostler^[11]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. 991-992. write the following:

Brigham Young was born to teach the gospel. His missionary zeal and love of truth knew no bounds. Almost immediately after his baptism, he went on a mission to Canada, in company with his brother, Joseph, to declare the restored gospel. Shortly after his return he joined Zion’s Camp in their march from Kirtland, Ohio to the Fishing River in Missouri. He and his brother were known as the “sweet singers” of the Camp, always cheerful and true. In February of 1835 he was named one of the first Apostles of this dispensation. Early in May of that year he commenced his first apostolic mission in the Eastern States. In 1836, after having attended the solemn assembly at Kirtland and receiving the promised endowment, he went on another mission to the Eastern States, traveling through New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, returning to Kirtland in the fall of the year. In 1840, Brigham Young, accompanied by Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, and Reuben Hedlock, left New York for a mission to Great Britain, where he labored with great success. On 20 April, 1841, he set sail for New York on his return journey. While in the British mission field, he had been instrumental in performing a great work. Of that missionary experience he said, “Through the mercy of God we have gained many friends, established churches in almost every noted town and city in the Kingdom of Great Britain, baptized between seven and eight thousand souls, printed 5000 Books of Mormon, 3000 Hymn Books, 2500 volumes of the Millennial Star, and 50,000 tracts.”^[12]Young, “History,” 1. It was shortly after his return to Nauvoo that Joseph Smith visited 40 year-old Brigham’s humble log cabin where his family were in near destitute conditions to give Brigham Young the revelation recorded here.

At a conference held at Nauvoo 16 August 1841, the Prophet Joseph, with this revelation in mind, said that “the time had come when the Twelve should be called upon to stand in their place next to the First Presidency, and attend to the settling of emigrants and the business of the Church at the stakes, and assist to bear off the kingdom victoriously to the nations.”^[13]Smith, History of the Church, 4:403. The time had come for Brigham Young to stand more watchfully in the shadow of Joseph Smith that he might be fully prepared when the time came for him to bear the Prophet’s mantle.

Willard Richards copied this revelation into the “Book of the Law of the Lord” on December 17, 1841. It was first placed into the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants by Orson Pratt under the direction of President Brigham Young.^[14]Robert J. Woodford, Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants, 3:1664.

Brigham shares his experiences of the early years of the Church

Relating his experiences of the early Church, Brigham Young said:

“I came into this Church in the spring of 1832. Previous to my being baptized, I took a mission to Canada at my own expense; and from the time that I was baptized until the day of our sorrow and affliction, at the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, no summer passed over my head but what I was traveling and preaching, and the only thing I ever received from the Church, during over twelve years, and the only means that were ever given me by the Prophet, that I now recollect, was in 1842, when brother Joseph sent me the half of a small pig that the brethren had brought to him, I did not ask him for it; it weighed 93 pounds. And that fall, previous to my receiving that half of a pig, brother H. C. Kimball and myself were engaged all the time in pricing property that came in on tithing, and we were also engaged in gathering tithing, and I had an old saddle valued at two dollars presented to me, and brother Heber was credited two dollars in the Church books for one day’s services, by brother Willard Richards who was then keeping those books. Brother Heber said, ‘Blot that out, for I don’t want it.’ I think it was crossed out, and so was the saddle, for I did not want it, even had it been given to me. These were the only articles I ever received in the days of Joseph, so far as I recollect.

“I have traveled and preached, and at the same time sustained my family by my labor and economy. If I borrowed one hundred dollars, or fifty, or if I had five dollars, it almost universally went into the hands of brother Joseph, to pay lawyers’ fees and to liberate him from the power of his enemies, so far as it would go. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars that I have managed to get, to borrow and trade for, I have handed over to Joseph when I came home. That is the way I got help, and it was good for me; it learned me a great deal, though I had learned, before I heard of ‘Mormonism,’ to take care of number one.

“For me to travel and preach without purse or scrip, was never hard; I never saw the day, I never was in the place, nor went into a house, when I was alone, or when I would take the lead and do the talking, but what I could get all I wanted. Though I have been with those who would take the lead and be mouth, and been turned out of doors a great many times, and could not get a night’s lodging. But when I was mouth I never was turned out of doors; I could make the acquaintance of the family, and sit and sing to them and chat with them, and they would feel friendly towards me; and when they learned that I was a ‘Mormon’ Elder, it was after I had gained their good feelings.

“When the brethren were talking about starting a press in New York, and how it has been upheld, I did wish to relate an incident in my experience. In company with several of the Twelve I was sent to England in 1839.^[15]From 1839 to 1841, nine members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles labored in Britain and added another 4,000 converts to the Church. These missions were extremely important. In a relatively short … Continue reading We started from home without purse or scrip, and most of the Twelve were sick;^[16]Departing in conditions of poverty and illness and trusting in the promises of God that all would be well with them and their families, most of the members of the Twelve made their way in various … Continue reading and those who were not sick when they started were sick on the way to Ohio; brother Taylor was left to die by the road- side, by old father Coltrin, though he did not die. I was not able to walk to the river, not so far as across this block, no, not more than half as far; I had to be helped to the river, in order to get into a boat to cross it. This was about our situation. I had not even an overcoat; I took a small quilt from the trundle bed, and that served for my overcoat, while I was traveling to the State of New York, when I had a coarse sattinet overcoat given to me. Thus we went to England, to a strange land to sojourn among strangers.

“When we reached England we designed to start a paper, but we had not the first penny to do it with. I had enough to buy a hat and pay my passage to Preston, for from the time I left home, I had worn an old cap which my wife made out of a pair of old pantaloons; but the most of us were entirely destitute of means to buy even any necessary article.

“We went to Preston and held our Conference, and decided that we would publish a paper; brother Parley P. Pratt craved the privilege of editing it, and we granted him the privilege. We also decided to print three thousand hymn books, though we had not the first cent to begin with, and were strangers in a strange land. We appointed brother Woodruff to Herefordshire, and I accompanied him on his journey to that place. I wrote to brother Pratt for information about his plans, and he sent me his prospectus, which stated that when he had a sufficient number of subscribers and money enough in hand to justify his publishing the paper, he would proceed with it. How long we might have waited for that I know not, but I wrote to him to publish two thousand papers, and I would foot the bill. I borrowed two hundred and fifty pounds of sister Jane Benbow, one hundred of Brother Thomas Kington, and returned to Manchester, where we printed three thousand Hymn Books, and five thousand Books of Mormon, and issued two thousand Millennial Stars monthly, and in the course of the summer printed and gave away rising of sixty thousand tracts. I also paid from five to ten dollars per week for my board, and hired a house for brother Willard Richards and his wife who came to Manchester, and sustained them; and gave sixty pounds to brother P. P. Pratt to bring his wife from New York. I also commenced the emigration in that year.

“I was there one year and sixteen days, with my brethren the Twelve and during that time I bought all my clothing, except one pair of pantaloons, which the sisters gave me in Liverpool soon after I arrived there, and which I really needed. I told the brethren, in one of my discourses, that there was no need of their begging, for if they needed anything the sisters could understand that. The sisters took the hint, and the pantaloons were forthcoming.

“I paid three hundred and eighty dollars to get the work started in London, and when I arrived home, in Nauvoo, I owed no person one farthing.”^[17]Journal of Discourses, 4:34-35.

D&C 127 – A Revelation relating to Baptism for the Dead, September 1842

Historical Background

The following provided background^[18]McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 1021-1022. is useful:

No more perfect illustration that historical Christianity is without the authority to speak for God could be given than the inability to adequately answer the question about what becomes of those who died without having heard of Christ and his gospel. It is only in the doctrine of baptism for the dead that we find a soul-satisfying answer to this dilemma. This revelation contains instruction on how baptisms for the dead are to be performed.

In May 1838 the Prophet responded to a series of questions about Mormonism. One of the questions was, “If the Mormon doctrine is true, what has become of all those who died since the days of the Apostles?” Joseph Smith replied: “All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, and being administered unto by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged.”^[19]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121.

The first public discourse on the subject of baptism for the dead had been given on 15 August 1840 at the funeral of Seymour Brunson, who had been a member of the high council in Nauvoo. Simon Baker made an account of what Joseph Smith had said on that occasion. “He [the Prophet] read the greater part of the 15th chapter of Corinthians and remarked that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brought glad tidings of great joy, and then remarked that he saw a widow in that congregation that had a son who died without being baptized, and this widow in reading the sayings of Jesus ‘except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,’ and that not one jot nor tittle of the Savior’s words should pass away, but all should be fulfilled. He then said that this widow should have glad tidings in that thing. He also said the apostle [Paul] was talking to a people who understood baptism for the dead, for it was practiced among them. He went on to say that people could now act for their friends who had departed this life, and that the plan of salvation was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements of the law of God.”^[20]Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 49.

D&C 127.1-4 Joseph Smith in hiding

By the summer of 1842, the enemies of the Prophet were pursuing him to the point that he was forced to go underground in order that he may remain out of the hands of the enemies of the Saints. This revelation was recorded in an epistle written by the Prophet in the home of John Taylor’s father, a resident of Nauvoo, where the Prophet was remaining out of sight for the time being. Before this revelation was shared with the Saints, an attempt had been made on the life of Lilburn Boggs, former governor of Missouri, and author of Extermination Order 44. About nine o’clock on the evening of May 6, 1842, while reading the newspaper in his Independence house, Boggs received a damaging but not fatal blast of buckshot to his head from a shot through the window. Suspicion was first directed to Boggs’s rivals in a heated campaign for a state senate seat, but two weeks later, anti-Mormons in Illinois reported rumors that Joseph Smith was responsible.^[21]Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p. 468.

Enemies of the Prophet in Missouri accused Orrin Porter Rockwell,^[22]Orrin Porter Rockwell’s response to the charge was that if he had taken aim at the former governor, he would not have missed. Rockwell spent the winter of 1842-43 in Philadelphia, but was arrested … Continue reading bodyguard and faithful friend of the Prophet’s, as being the hapless would- be assassin, with Joseph Smith as his accessory.^[23]Bushman relates the following: The Quincy Whig claimed Joseph had predicted Boggs’s violent death a year before. Joseph denied the charge in a letter to the editor, but the rumors would not die. … Continue reading On July 20, 1842, Boggs charged Rockwell with the crime and asked Illinois to deliver him to Jackson County for trial. All the evidence was circumstantial, but against the history of the Boggs’s treatment of the Mormons, the accusation seemed plausible.^[24]Rough Stone Rolling, p. 469. See: JS, Journal, Aug. 23, Dec. 9, 1842, in PJS, 2:439, 499-500; Schindler, Orrin Porter Rockwell, 67-82; Leonard, Nauvoo, 279; Thomas Reynolds, Extradition … Continue readingNot until Rockwell was arrested, tried, and acquitted a year later would his innocence be proven.^[25]Bushman, p. 468. Enemies of the Church hoped to be able to somehow extradite Joseph Smith to Missouri to answer the charge so that they could get him back into the hands of the Missouri mobbers. Joseph saw these proceedings as a pretext to kidnapping, and so they worked to create legal obstacles to any document demanding Joseph be arrested from outside Nauvoo. On July 5, 1842, the city council passed an ordinance empowering the city courts to examine all outside arrest warrants and issue writs of habeas corpus. A warrant for Joseph’s extradition would fall under this law, which required the municipal court to review such cases.^[26]Rough Stone Rolling, p. 469. Nauvoo City Council, Minutes, July 5; Aug. 8, 1842; Nauvoo Wasp, July 16, 1842.

On August 8, extradition papers had passed from Governor Thomas Reynolds of Missouri through Carlin, governor of Illinois, and to the deputy sheriff of Adams County. With two assistants, the sheriff arrested Rockwell in Nauvoo and took Joseph Smith into custody as an accessory before the fact. Now was the moment for putting the Nauvoo habeas corpus machinery to the test. The city council, which functioned as the municipal court, issued a writ, which gave the sheriff pause. Unsure of his legal grounds, he went back to Carlin for instructions. By the time he returned two days later, the prisoners were gone. Rockwell left for Philadelphia, and Joseph went into hiding.^[27]Rough Stone Rolling, p. 469. Nauvoo City Council and Citizens to Thomas Carlin, July 22, 1842, in Nauvoo City Council, Minutes, July 22, 1842; JS, Journal, Aug. 8, 10, 1842, in PJS, 402-403; Snow, … Continue reading

For the next three months, in the fall of 1842, Joseph would remain in concealment.^[28]For the next three months, Joseph spent nearly half his time concealed in friends’ houses outside of Nauvoo. He headed first for his uncle John Smith’s across the river in the Mormon settlement … Continue reading From early September and throughout October, while Joseph was in hiding, Emma was ill. Joseph was able to visit her on October 20, and again for a longer stay on October 28, but she was up and down physically for much of this time with illness.^[29]Rough Stone Rolling, p. 479.

By December 1842, Joseph was able to come out of hiding, due to the fact that Justin Butterfield, the United States district attorney for Illinois, passed along his opinion that the extradition of the Prophet was unconstitutional.^[30]Justin Butterfield to Sidney Rigdon, Oct. 20, 1842, in T&S, Dec. 15, 1842, 33-36. Judge Stephen Douglas also assured Joseph the writ should be revoked. JS, Journal, Dec. 9, 1842, in PJS, 2:499; … Continue reading The constitutional provision for extradition, Butterfield told Sidney Rigdon, allowed a state to recover a “fugitive from justice,” that is, a suspect who had fled the state, but Joseph was not in Missouri on May 6, when the crime occurred. If he had committed a crime, it occurred in Illinois, and Illinois officials, not the Missourians, would have to prosecute. Illinois’s newly elected governor, Thomas Ford, accepted Butterfield’s opinion, but was reluctant to reverse the action of his predecessor. Butterfield advised Joseph to take his case to the state supreme court, assuring him the justices were unanimously in his favor.^[31]Bushman, p. 479. See: Thomas Ford to JS, Dec. 17, 1842, in PJS, 2:504-505; JS, Journal, Dec. 9, 1842, in PJS, 2:500-2; Justin Butterfield to JS, Dec. 17, 1842, in PJS, 2:505-506. Ford … Continue reading On December 27, Joseph, surrounded by fifteen supporters, left for the state capital in Springfield. At Joseph’s request, Butterfield himself presented the petition, not to the Illinois Supreme Court, as it happened, but to the United States Circuit Court. On January 5, Judge Nathaniel Pope handed down a favorable judgment. The Missouri writ for Joseph’s extradition on charges of conspiring to kill Boggs was dead.^[32]Rough Stone Rolling, p. 479.

Joseph Smith is free – January 1843

After the hearing, Judge Pope, obviously curious, invited Joseph into his room. Pope and Butterfield wanted to know if Joseph really believed himself to be a prophet. Joseph dodged the question by referring to a biblical passage about the testimony of Jesus being the spirit of prophecy. Every preacher should be a prophet. Butterfield asked about the price of lots in Nauvoo, and the other lawyers laughed, “saying he would be a Mormon in 6 weeks if he would go to Nauvoo.”^[33]Bushman, 481. See also: JS, Journal, Jan. 4-6, 1843, in APR, 278, 284-86; Revelation 19:12.

Joseph came away from Springfield happy: “I have met with less prejudice and better and more noble and liberal feelings on the part of the people generally than I expected.” On the way home, Wilson Law composed a song that began:

And are you sure the news is true?

And are you sure he’s free?

Then let us join with one accord,

And have a Jubilee

The song was sung over and over, the company adding new verses as they went.

We’ll have a Jubilee, My friends

We’ll have a Jubilee

With heart and voice we’ll all rejoice

In that our Prophet’s free.

The jubilation went beyond their relief about Joseph. The Missouri extradition, combined with John C. Bennett’s charges, had threatened the Church. The legal struggle could have ignited more persecution. After just three years in Illinois, the Saints foresaw another Missouri. But, for the moment, the fear was lifted. The law had come down on their side. “The whole party were very cheerful,” Richards noted, and sang over and over:

And now we’re bound for home my friend

A bond of brothers true

To cheer the heart of those we love

In beautiful Nauvoo.^[34]Bushman, 481. See also: JS, Journal, Jan. 5, 7, 1843, in APR, 285, 287-90; Clayton, Journal, Jan. 7, 1843. Willard Richards said he helped Law compose the verses. Rough Draft Notes, ManH, Jan. … Continue reading

Responding to the question as to why the Prophet was constantly subjected to such harassment, Brigham Young said, “Why was he hunted from neighborhood to neighborhood, from city to city, from State to State, and at last suffered death? Because he received revelations from the Father, from the Son, and was ministered to by holy angels, and published to the world the direct will of the Lord concerning his children on the earth. Again, why was he persecuted? Because he revealed to all mankind a religion so plain and so easily understood, consistent with the Bible, and so true. It is now as it was in the days of the Savior; let people believe and practise these simple, Godlike truths and it will be as it was in the old world, they will say, if this man be let alone he will come and take away our peace and nation.”^[35]Journal of Discourses, 18:231.

D&C 127.1 – Falsehood of the blackest dye

Brigham Young blamed the religious sentiment of his day for much of the persecution of Joseph nad the early Saints. He observed that “Joseph, our Prophet, was hunted and driven, arrested and persecuted, and although no law was ever made in these United States that would bear against him, for he never broke a law, yet to my certain knowledge he was defendant in forty- six lawsuits, and every time Mr. Priest was at the head of and led the band or mob who hunted and persecuted him. And when Joseph and Hyrum were slain in Carthage jail, the mob, painted like Indians, was led by a preacher.”^[36]Journal of Discourses, 14:199.

D&C 127.3 – A Just Recompense

Jedediah M. Grant explained, “It is good that all men in the different dispensations of the Almighty, each in his situation, calling, capacity, and sphere of action, are to be, and of right should be, rewarded according to his works. We do not wish to reverse this law in relation to our enemies, we only wish them to be rewarded according to their works; we do not desire to warp the law in the least.

“I am aware that many suppose that we entertain some unchristian feelings to those out of the Church, but this is a mistake; we only wish that persons who have shed the blood of our Apostles may be rewarded just according to their works. And we expect that, sooner or later, they will have meted out to them that reward which the Almighty actually knows that they deserve. When speaking of governors, rulers, kings, emperors, judges, and officers of nations and states, would we wish to reverse the general law that every person shall be rewarded according to their works? No. It would not do to have some men die as soon as many might desire, for they would not meet their proportionate reward on the earth.”^[37]Journal of Discourses, 3:126.

D&C 127.4 – The Work of My Temple

It can justly be said that the revelations received in Nauvoo and the ordinances performed in its temple rank among the most important events in earth’s history. Events of such spiritual grandeur require a matching expression of faith. The building and completion of the Nauvoo Temple constituted evidence sufficient for all the hosts of heaven to know that the Lord had indeed raised up a people worthy of the endowment of power that he deigned to put upon them. In the labor of building that temple, the nation of Israel was born anew and the announcement made to all the world that the stone seen by Daniel had commenced to roll forth and that there was no power in heaven or on earth that could stop it.^[38]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 1022-1023.

D&C 127.6-9 – Let there be a recorder

As Wilford Woodruff observed, the Saints did not understand that a record needed to be kept of all ordinances performed and that there had to be witnesses to the performing of the ordinances. Here the Prophet instructed the Saints that in order for things to be recorded in heaven, they must be recorded on earth. The record should be kept in the temple for generations thereafter to have access to. The Prophet Joseph, at another time, taught the Relief Society: “I have one remark to make respecting the baptism for the dead to suffice for the time being, until I have opportunity to discuss the subject at greater length—all persons baptized for the dead must have a recorder present, that he may be an eyewitness to record and testify of the truth and validity of his record. It will be necessary, in the Grand Council, that these things be testified to by competent witnesses. Therefore let the recording and witnessing of baptisms for the dead be carefully attended to from this time forth.”^[39]History of the Church, 5:141.

D&C 127.8 – For I am about to restore many things… pertaining to the priesthood

It was in Nauvoo that the fulness of the priesthood was restored. Here the keys of the kingdom were given to those who would succeed Joseph Smith in this great latter- day work. Here the Twelve received the rights of the priesthood and all the powers and blessing of the temple. Here thousands of Latter- day Saints were clothed in the blessings of the priesthood and endowed with power from on high. Those sensitive to the things of the Spirit cannot walk the streets where old Nauvoo stood without the sense that they walk on sacred ground, the staging place for great events of our dispensation.^[40]Ibid., p. 1023

D&C 128 – September 1842

The circumstances under which Doctrine and Covenants 128 was written were the same as those in section 127. “Brother Joseph was hid up in my house from his enemies from Missouri,” wrote Edward Hunter. “During that time, Joseph revealed the last part of the baptism for our dead. I was present with William Clayton.”^[41]Revelations of the Restoration, 1024. See also: Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage 6:323.

D&C 128.2-4 – A General Recorder

Rudger Clawson explained that “in the early days of the Church, some baptisms for the dead that were not properly witnessed and recorded, were rejected of the Lord, and the work had to be done over again. We know that great care and attention is given to this matter today in our Temples and that efficient help must be secured to do this. . . . Truly it is a great and marvelous work, and not the least important thing about it is that these ordinances are all carefully recorded in the books and are filed away in the archives of the Temple, to be brought forth in due time. From these records the people who have gone to that house will be judged. Nothing that is done in that Temple will be accepted of the Lord, except it is properly witnessed and recorded.”^[42]Conference Report, April 1900, 43-44.

D&C 128.5 – Ordained and prepared before the foundation of the world

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that the Lord contemplated all things regarding the plan of salvation before the earth was ever created. “He knows the situation of both the living and the dead,” he taught further, “and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.”^[43]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 220. Wilford Woodruff recorded the following from a talk given by Joseph Smith on 11 June 1843: “A large assembly of Saints met at the Temple & were addressed by President Joseph Smith[.] He took for the foundation of his discourse the words of Jesus to the Jews how oft would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under wings But ye would not &c. He then asked what was the object of Gathering the Jews together or the people of God in any age of the world, the main object was to build unto the Lord an house whereby he could reveal unto his people the ordinances of his house and glories of his kingdom & teach the people the ways of salvation for there are certain ordinances & principles that when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose this was purposed in the mind of God before the world was & it was for this purpose that God designed to gather together the Jews oft but they would not it is for the same purpose that God gathers together the people in the last days to build unto the Lord an house to prepare them for the ordinances & endowment washings & anointing &c. one of the ordinances of the house of the Lord is Baptism for the dead, God decreed before the foundation of the world that that ordinance should be administered in a house prepared for that purpose. If a man gets the fulness of God he has to get [it] in the same way that Jesus Christ obtain it & that was by keeping all the ordinances of the house of the Lord.”^[44]Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 212-13.

Statements about the temple

I believe that the busy person on the farm, in the shop, in the office, or in the household, who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the house of the Lord than anywhere else. If he will leave his problems behind and in the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and quite as large a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moments, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solution of the problems that vex his life. That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly, because it is a place where revelations may be expected. I bear you my personal testimony that this is so.^[45]John A. Widtsoe, “Temple Worship,” The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Apr. 1921, 63-64.

I have a feeling also, my dear brethren and sisters, that those who give themselves with all thier might and main to this work receive help from the other side, and not merely in gathering geneologies. Whoever seeks to help those on the other side receives help in return in all the affiars of life.^[46]John A. Widtsoe, The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Jul. 1931, 104.

Joseph Smith described by those who knew him

Brigham Young

In my experience I never did let an opportunity pass of getting with the Prophet Joseph and of hearing him speak in public or in private, so that I might draw understanding from the fountain from which he spoke, that I might have it and bring it forth when it was needed… Such moments were more precious to me than all the wealth of the world. No matter how great my poverty—if I had to borrow [a] meal to feed my wife and children, I never let an opportunity pass of learning what the Prophet had to impart. This is the secret of the success of your humble servant.^[47]Brigham Young, JD 12:269-70.

George A. Smith

[Joseph] told me I should never get discouraged whatever difficulties might surround me. If I was sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia and all the Rocky Mountains piled in on top of me, I ought not to be discouraged but hang on, exercise faith and keep up good courage and I should come out on the top of the heap.^[48]George A. Smith, Juvenile Instructor, 81:463; See also Ezra Taft Benson, “Do Not Despair,” Ensign, Oct. 1986, 4.

D&C 128.5 – The dead who should die without a knowledge of the gospel

Parley P. Pratt taught: “In the same world there are also the spirits of Catholics and Protestants of every sect who all have need to be taught and to come to the knowledge of the true, unchangeable gospel, in its fulness and simplicity, that they may be judged the same as if they had been privileged with the same in the flesh. There is also the Jew, the [Muslim], the infidel who did not believe in Christ while in the flesh. All these must taught, must come to the knowledge of the crucified and risen Redeemer, and must hear the glad tiding of the gospel.

“There are also all the varieties of the heathen spirits: the noble and refined philosopher, poet, patriot, or statesmen of Rome or Greece; the enlightened Socrates, Plato, and their like; together with every grade of spirits down to the most uncultivated of the savage world. All these must be taught, enlightened, and bow the knee to the eternal King, for the decree hath gone forth that unto him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

“O what a field of labor, of benevolence, of missionary enterprise now opens to the apostles and elders of the Church of the Saints! As this field opens they will begin to realize more fully the extent of their divine mission, and the meaning of the great command to ‘preach the gospel to every creature.’ (D&C 68:8.)

“In this vast field of labor, holders of the priesthood are, in a great measure, occupied during their sojourn in the world of spirits while awaiting the resurrection of the body; and at the same time they themselves are edified, improved, and greatly advanced and matured in the science of divine theology.”^[49]Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 81-82; emphasis added.

D&C 128.6-7 – The books were opened… the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works

 “What books? The Standard Works of the Church, the holy scriptures wherein the law of the Lord is recorded and the instruction given as to how men should walk in this mortal probation; also, the records of the Church wherein are recorded the faith and good works of the saints— the records of their baptism, celestial marriage, tithe paying, missionary service, and their acts of devotion and worship.” ^[50]McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:578.

The book of life

“What is it? Figuratively, it is our own life, and being, the record of our acts transcribed in our souls, an account of our obedience or disobedience written in our bodies. Literally, it is the record kept in heaven of the names and righteous deeds of the faithful.”^[51]McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:578, emphasis added.

The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books

The dead are judged by the law of the gospel as found in the scripture known to them and out of the records attesting to the nature of their works.

The book of life is the record which is kept in heaven

Heaven too keeps its record of all that we do. This record will stand as a second witness with the record kept on earth in the determination of our standing before God.

Elder Rudger Clawson stated, “Truly it is a great and marvelous work, and not the least important thing about it is that these ordinances are all carefully recorded in the books and are filed away in the archives of the Temple, to be brought forth in due time. From these records the people who have gone to that house will be judged. Nothing that is done in that Temple will be accepted of the Lord, except it is properly witnessed and recorded.”^[52]Elder Rudger Clawson, Conference Report, Apr. 1900, 44.

The Tablets of Destiny

I see connections between the importance of this book, the book of life, and the record to be kept by the Saints by which the sons and daughters of Adam will be judged, to the tablets of destiny as described in Ancient Near Eastern literature.^[53]Stephanie Dalley will translate this as “tablets of destinies.” See: Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 329. She writes, … Continue reading In what some scholars submit as one of the oldest stories ever told, the Enuma Elish, or Mesopotamian epic of creation tells the tale of the birth of the gods and the creation of the cosmos. Like Hesiod’s Theogony, this epic tale involves combat between heavenly beings of great power. Many scholars see a close connection between the story in the Enuma Elish, or epic of creation in Mesopotamia and the Hebrew Bible’s version of the creation, as well as Moses’ liberation of the slaves in Egypt as he split the sea like Marduk split Tiamat in the Babylonian classic.

Sonik relates that the “Tablet of Destinies, a well-known if somewhat enigmatic motif, features prominently in Mesopotamian mythology as both an emblem and a receptacle of divine power and kinship.”^[54]Karen Sonik, The Tablet of Destinies and the Transmission of Power in Enūma eliš, in Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East, Eisenbrauns, 2012, … Continue reading These tablets were fought over in the Mesopotamian story of Marduk’s victory over Tiamat, a goddess representing the primeval sea, or the forces of chaos.^[55]We also see a battle between Ninurta and the lion headed eagle Anzu in what is known as the Anzu epic. In this story, Anzu steals the tablets of destinies from the father god Ellil. Tablet one gives … Continue reading

Marduk defeats Tiamat through single combat, using winds and a net as his weapons of choice.

Tablet IV of the epic of creation gives us this information:

Face to face they came, Tiamat and Marduk, sage of the gods.

They engaged in combat, they closed for battle.

The Lord spread his net and made it encircle her…

Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow it…

Fierce winds distended her belly…

He shot an arrow which pierced her belly,

Split her down the middle and slit her heart,

Vanquished her and extinguished her life…

The gang of demons who all marched on her right,

He fixed them with nose-ropes and tied their arms.

He trampled their battle-filth beneath him.

As for Qingu (Tiamat’s consort), who had once been the greatest among them,

He defeated him nad counted him among the dead gods,

Wrested from him the Tablet of Destinies,

Wrongfully his,

Sealed it with (his own) seal and pressed it to his breast.^[56]Dalley, p. 253-254. I am just giving lines 93-122 of the tablet. The entire epic of creation, including all seven tablets, can be read here.

The body of Tiamat was split like a fish to be dried into two halves, one of which became the sky. Once the god Marduk acquires the tablets of destiny, he turns them over to his grandfather Anu.^[57]Sonik, p. 392. As Sonik notes, “In securing the suzerainty of the gods and establishing the structure and order of the cosmos, Marduk has at last firmly consolidated divine power.”^[58]Sonik, p. 393. Marduk has ascended as the king of the gods, and order is restored. This creation story was tied to kingship and the temple in the ancient Near East, something several commentators have identified.^[59]See S.H. Hooke, Hugh Nibley, and Geo. Widengren. Hugh Nibley writes, “J. Massingberd Ford calls the stone of Peter and Abraham “the Jewel of Discernment,” thus lending belated support to Joseph … Continue reading

The Tablets of Destinies and Secret Knowledge

The tablets were also connected to secret knowledge as well as cosmic order and kingship. The tablets of destiny constitute part of the secret knowledge of kingship necessary for temporal sovereignty:

In the Chamber of Destiny, where the oracle consultation . . . takes plathece, the divine assembly is summoned for fixing the fate by the rule of the gods, who casts the lots by means of the tablets of destiny. We now understand why these tablets are given various names: the Tablets of Destiny, the Tablets of Wisdom, the Law of Earth and Heaven, the Tablets of the Gods, the Bag with the Mystery of Heaven and Earth. All these names reflect various aspects of these mysterious tablets. They decide the destiny of the Universe, they express the law of the whole world, they contain supreme wisdom, and they are truly the mystery of heaven and earth.^[60]Widengren, p. 11, emphasis added.

S.H. Hooke connects the idea of the tablets of destiny to the book that John sees in the hand of God in the Book of Revelation.^[61]S.H. Hooke, The Labyrinth, MacMillan, 1935, p. 229. Hooke identifies a connection between Enoch, John and Ancient Near Eastern texts that describe Marduk’s ascension to power in his victory … Continue reading Widengren notes that the king of Mesopotamia, at his enthronement, would be given the tablets of destiny, which contain the “wisdom and fate of all the universe, and which he must have born attached to his breast like Marduk in the Enuma Elish.”^[62]Geo. Widengren, The Ascension of the Apostle and the Heavenly Book, Uppsala, Sweden, Lundequistska Bokhandeln, 1950, p. 20 In both modern and ancient times, there was a text associated with order, kingship, and the right to represent the powers of heaven on earth. Widengren writes that anciently, “the king is the possessor of divine knowledge imparted to him especially by the god of wisdom, but also of course as the possessor of the tablets of wisdom.”^[63]Widengren, p. 20. This connection is then strengthened by the fact that Moses, as a prophet-king figure, is also given tablets by God that connect mortals to the heavens.^[64]Exodus 24.1-12. Widengren notes that “we here meet with an ascension to God, a meeting between Moses and God and a handing over to Moses of the tablets belonging to God.”^[65]Widengren, p. 24. He also notes the banquet scene in Exodus 24, connecting it back to Enuma Elish III, 129-138.

More parallels to modern temple worship and ancient coronation texts abound, at least from my reading of Widengren and S.H. Hooke. After making the connection to 2 Kings 11.12, where Jehoiada the priest as “chief actor” does the following:

“He brought out the son of the king and put upon him the diadem and the “testimony,” and they made him king and anointed him and clapped their hands and said: (Long) live the king!”^[66]2 Kings 11.12, Widengren translation, see p. 25.

Widengren notes that a copy of the law was not only given to the ruler, but even attached to him at his coronation. He ties this to the idea that a sacral garment was passed to the high priest which in effect, was a way of tying the law to the individual who was to officiate in sacred temple rites. Modern Latter-day Saints should see the obvious parallel in this instance.^[67]Widengren, p. 25-26.

As to Joseph Smith, pre-eminent prophet of the Restoration, it is valuable to see his role in connection to these ideas. Latter-day Saints are familiar with Joseph’s having received a Urim and Thummim when he was to work on the translation of the text of the Book of Mormon. Since the Book of Mormon is a text that claims divine origins, and also is connected with wisdom and the Urim and Thummim, the text itself is an internal claim to its authority and authenticity.^[68]Paul Callister writes, “The implication of Joseph’s translating the Book of Mormon through use of a seer stone is that it places the book on a different footing than the Bible. The very words … Continue reading Widengren, commenting on the connection between the motif of the Tablets of Destiny and the Urim and Thummim provides the following commentary:

“It must also be emphasized that the tablets of the Law, as well as the Urim and Thummim, play the same role as the tablets of destiny in being the instrument by which the will of the deity is communicated to the leader of the people, be it Moses or the king.”^[69]He comments further, “It is striking to note how Moses as judge communicates the divine will by means of oracles, Ex. 18.12, while the king has the urim and Thummim consulted for him, see the … Continue reading

D&C 128.12-13 Symbolism of the Ordinance

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “The Lord has placed the baptismal font in our temples below the foundation, or the surface of the earth. This is symbolical, since the dead are in their graves, and we are working for the dead when we are baptized for them. Moreover, baptism is also symbolical of death and the resurrection, in fact, is virtually a resurrection from the life of sin, or from spiritual death, to the life of spiritual life. (See D. & C. 29:41–45.) Therefore when the dead have had this ordinance performed in their behalf they are considered to have been brought back into the presence of God, just as this doctrine is applied to the living.”^[70]Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:332.

The symbolism of baptism applies also to the living. When we are baptized, it is as though we are buried and resurrected with Christ. Our old, sinful natures die and we become a new person (see Romans 6:1–7). Baptism also symbolizes the physical process of being born, so that when we emerge from the waters, it is as though we have been born a second time (see John 3:5; Moses 6:59–60).^[71]For further discussion of the symbolism of baptism, see Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:323–27.

An Ancient Outlook

From an ancient perspective, the physical elements associated with the molten sea in Israel’s temple structure could also take a different aspect that is provocative.^[72]The molten sea הַיָּם מוּצָק is described in 1 Kings 7.23-26 and in 2 Chronicles 4.2-5. It rested upon the backs of twelve bulls or oxen. The word used for oxen in the KJV … Continue reading A couple of symbols come to mind: the symbol of the bull (12 bulls are under the baptismal structure), and the image of the sea, or cup with water (the font). The bull is a well-known representation of the god El in Ancient Near East iconography.^[73]The bull was used to depict Pharoah as well as gods and mighty men. This animal was used as a symbol for strength and warrior prowess. See: Patrick Miller, El the Warrior, The Harvard … Continue reading This comes to us, in part, from the text of Genesis 49.24, where the phrase “mighty god of Jacob” אֲבִיר יַעֲקֹב abir ya-acov, is found.^[74]This, of course, like all things in the Bible, is debated. As one author has written, “‘The mighty one of Jacob’ was interpreted as a divine name by Alt (1929). He classified it as a … Continue reading The Canaanite equivalent to El or El Elyon in the early Israelite pantheon was El, a god who was commonly called “Bull,” or “El is Bull.”^[75]Mark Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 32. Smith writes, “El often bears the title, “Bull” (CAT 1.1 III 26, IV 12, V 22; 1.2 I 16, 33, 36, … Continue reading

The ocean has reference to chaos as well as space outside of the created order. It has a relationship to Tehom, or The Deep, as it is understood by the ancient Israelites. The sea is also associated with waves, change, and space uncontrolled. The symbol of the wave or water is also connected to the divine feminine in some places. As one scholar has noted, “mythological and iconographic evidence confirms that the ancient Greeks and Romans indeed connected the ocean with the womb, as did their Old European ancestors dating back to the Paleolithic period.”^[76]Marguerite Rigoglioso, Persephone’s Sacred Lake, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Fall, 2005, p. 12-13. Another scholar writes, “In the iconography of all prehistoric periods of Europe as well as of the whole world, the image of water is zig-zag or serpentine. The zig-zag is the earliest symbolic motif recorded: Neanderthals used this sign around 40,000 B.C., or earlier.^[77]Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, Thames and Hudson, 2001, p. 19. Over time, this zig-zag symbol developed into a stylized M, and was painted on objects by prehistoric man. Gimbutas writes, “The zig-zag alternates with the M sign, an abbreviated zig-zag. In Magdalenian times^[78]Magdalenian cultures date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. and later in Old Europe, zig-zags and M’s are found engraved or painted within uterine and lens shapes, suggesting the symbolic affinity between the zig-zag, M, female moisture, and amniotic fluid.^[79]Gimbutas, 19. The Phoenician mother goddess Astarte has images of her holding the sea on her lap, indeed she is referred to as “Athirat of the Sea,” and is the consort of El.^[80]Justin Watkins, “Athirat: As Found at Ras Shamra,” Studia Antiqua 5, no. 1, 2007.

More can be said of this symbol as it was put forth anciently. I find it provocative that images of both male and female fertility were combined into a symbol of birth and rebirth, at least as it was taught and understood by the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Nauvoo period. This image is an ancient and modern symbol of both death, birth, rebirth, and cleansing. It can also be considered a beautiful combination of both power, strength, and beauty, as it represents not only the gathering of the tribes of Israel from both the underworld and the world of the living, it could also represent the scattering of the seed into the earth as a figure of future growth in characters drenched in images of fertility.

D&C 128.11 – The great and grand secret… the summum bonum of the whole subject

The man standing at the head of the Church and Kingdom of God, the prophet, seer, and revelator, to whom the keys of the kingdom have been given, has the right to unlock the heavens and obtain whatever intelligence is necessary to direct the sealing work in our temples or to direct the teaching of the gospel and the performance of gospel ordinances among any who dwell upon the earth. Of the Prophet Joseph Smith the Lord said, “I have given unto him the keys of the mystery of those things which have been sealed, even things which were from the foundation of the world, and the things which shall come from this time until the time of my coming” (D&C 35:18). See commentary on Doctrine and Covenants 84:19, “Even the key of the knowledge of God.”^[81]Revelations of the Restoration, p. 1030.

D&C 128.15-17 – These principles cannot be lightly passed over

No one is saved separately and singly. Salvation is a community affair, and the covenant of salvation is made with the community of Saints rather than with people individually. The Lord had Moses lead the children of Israel to Sinai that he might make of them a holy nation. To Moses he said, “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6).

So it was that covenants were made between the generations long before we were born to do a work and labor for each other. Elder John A. Widtsoe explained: “In our preexistent state . . . we made a certain agreement with the Almighty. The Lord proposed a plan. . . . We accepted it. Since the plan is intended for all men, we became parties to the salvation of every person under that plan. We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves but . . . saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became then not merely the Father’s work, and the Savior’s work, but also our work. The least of us, the humblest, is in partnership with the Almighty in achieving the purpose of the eternal plan of salvation.

“That places us in a very responsible attitude towards the human race. By that doctrine, with the Lord at the head, we become saviors on Mount Zion, all committed to the great plan of offering salvation to the untold numbers of spirits. To do this is the Lord’s self-imposed duty, this great labor his highest glory. Likewise, it is man’s duty, self-imposed, his pleasure and joy, his labor, and ultimately his glory.”^[82]“Worth of Souls,” 25:189, emphasis added. See also: Revelations of the Restoration, p. 1031-1032.

Illustrating the covenants made before we were born that exist between the generations, Wilford Woodruff bore the following testimony, “I am going to bear my testimony to this assembly, if I never do it again in my life, that those men who laid the foundation of this American Government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of Heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. George Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord. Another thing I am going to say here, because I have a right to say it. Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence with General Washington called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the house of God for them. Men are here, I believe, that know of this— Brothers J. D. T. McAllister, David H. Cannon and James C. Bleak. Brother McAllister baptized me for all these men, and I then told these brethren that it was their duty to go into the Temple and labor until they got endowments for all of them. They did it. Would those spirits have called upon me, as an Elder in Israel, to perform that work if they had not been noble spirits before God? They would not. I bear this testimony because it is true. The spirit of God bore record to myself and the brethren while we were laboring in that way.”^[83]Cited in Lundwall, Temples of the Most High, 82. See also Revelations of the Restoration, p. 1032. To President Woodruff they said, “You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.”^[84]Journal of Discourses, 19:229. See also: Revelations of the Restoration, 1031-1032.

D&C 128.18 – A Welding Together

Orson F. Whitney put it this way:

“Involved in this mighty scheme of bringing together all things that are Christ’s, is the gathering of the scattered house of Israel, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the chosen people, through whom God has worked from the beginning for the salvation and betterment of mankind; and Joseph Smith, a descendant of that Joseph who was sold into Egypt, was the divinely appointed instrument for lifting up the ensign for the gathering of Israel in the last days.

“And what is the object in view? Why all this stupendous labor and sacrifice? Why must the house of Israel be assembled? Why must the gospel dispensations—links of a mighty chain extending from the creation down to the end of time—be bound together in one? It is because God is coming down upon the earth, and the way must be prepared before him. Jesus Christ is coming to reign as King of kings, to inaugurate the millennial era of universal freedom, righteousness and peace; and in order that his coming, which is designed as a blessing, may not prove a curse, a calamity, through the unpreparedness of his people and the world at large, he has set his hand in these days to perform the marvelous work and wonder that the Prophet Isaiah foretold. Israel must be gathered because this God who is coming is the God of Israel, and no other people have the right to receive him. He will come to his own as he came anciently, but his own will not reject him as they did before. Neither will he come again as a lamb led to the slaughter; he will come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to sit upon the throne of David and reign for a thousand years, sanctifying the earth and preparing it for future glory, when it will become a heaven, a celestial abode for the righteous. God raised up Joseph Smith and revealed to him anew the everlasting gospel, and conferred upon him the powers of the eternal Priesthood, that he might lift up the ensign as a rallying center for the tribes of Israel, that a people might be ready to receive the Lord when he comes.”^[85]Elder Orson F. Whitney, Conference Report, April 1918, 74-75.

D&C 128.18 – For we without them cannot be made perfect – The Parable of the Keys

Once there was a little boy and a little girl who loved Jesus very much, and he loved them. They were kind and always told the truth, and whatever Jesus wanted them to do they tried their best to do.

“You may come to my house,” Jesus told them one day, “and there I will give you a gift.”

They put on their best clothes, made sure they were clean, and went to Jesus’ house.

It was a beautiful house, and it made them feel beautiful too, just to be inside it. They met Jesus, and he gave them his gift. It was a key—a wonderful key.

“Take care of this key,” he said. “Put it next to your heart. Don’t let it tarnish or get rusty. Always keep it with you. One day it will open a wonderful door. Whenever you wish, you may return to my house, but each time I will ask to see the key.”

They promised him they would, and they went home.

They returned often to Jesus’ house, and each time he asked if they still had the key. And they always did.

One day he asked if they would follow him. He led them to a hill covered with green grass and trees. On top of the hill was a mansion in the middle of a beautiful garden. Even in their dreams they had never imagined anything so magnificent.

“Who lives here?” they asked him.

“You may,” he answered. “This is your eternal home. I’ve been building it for you. The key I gave you fits a lock in the front door. Now run up the path and put your key into the lock.”

They ran up the hill and through the garden to the front door.

“If it’s this beautiful on the outside,” they said, “it must be even more wonderful inside!”

But when they reached the front door, they stopped. It was the strangest door they had ever seen. Instead of one lock, the door was covered with locks, hundreds of locks, thousands of locks. And they had only one key.

They put their key into one of the locks. It wouldn’t fit. They put it into another. It didn’t fit that one either. They tried many different locks. Finally they found the one that fit. They turned the key and the lock clicked. But the door wouldn’t open.

They ran back to Jesus. “We cannot open the door,” they said. “It is covered with locks, and we have only one key.”

He smiled at them and said: “Do you think you will be happy living in your mansion all alone? Is there anyone you would like to live with you there?”

They thought for a while and then answered, “We would like our families to live with us.”

“Go and find them,” he said. “Invite them to my house, and I will give each one their very own key. Soon you will have many keys.” They rushed out eagerly to find their families. They found their fathers and mothers, their brothers and sisters, and all their cousins and brought them to Jesus’ house. Just as he had promised, he gave each one a key. When all had been given a key, together they returned to the great door of the mansion.

Now they had dozens of keys, but there were thousands of locks, and the door still wouldn’t open. They needed more keys.

Once again they returned to Jesus. “We have brought our families,” they said. “But the door still won’t open.”

“Do your parents have a mother and father and brothers and sisters?” He asked them “Do you think they will be happy living in the beautiful mansion without them? If you look hard enough, you will find many, many people. Bring them all to my house, and I will give each one a key.”

They looked very hard, just as Jesus told them. They found mothers and fathers. They found brothers and sisters. They found grandmas and grandpas and great-great-grandmothers and great-great-great-grandfathers. They found aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews and cousins.

They found them in big cities. They found them in tiny villages. Some lived by the seashore. Some lived on the open prairie. Some lived near the mountains. Some lived far across the ocean. And some lived close, just over the next hill.

Some were blacksmiths and some were farmers. There were cobblers and tailors and fishermen. There were teachers and mechanics and shopkeepers.

Some were tall with strange-looking hats. Others were short and wore wooden shoes. They spoke different languages and came from many different countries.

They found some with long blond hair that hung far down their backs in braids. They found some with short red hair that stuck straight up and had to be hidden under a hat.

The boy and girl searched until they had found everybody and all their families.

They brought all the fathers and mothers, the brothers and sisters, the aunts and uncles, the nieces and nephews, the grandmothers and grandfathers to Jesus’ house. Inside he gave each one his or her own key.

Soon all the families were gathered before the great door. There was a lock for every key. They tuned the keys, but the door remained closed. There was one final lock, a great big one right in the middle of the door, and no one had its key.

The boy and girl returned to Jesus. “We have found all our families,” they said. “But the door still won’t open. We’re missing a key and we don’t know where to find it.”

Jesus smiled, put his arms around them, and gave each one a kiss. “I have that last key,” he said, and he held it up. It was bright and shining and beautiful.

“This is the key of my atonement,” he said. “Am I not a member of the family? Do you think you will be happy living in your mansion without me? Do you think I would be happy living without you? Now that you have found the whole family, all my brothers and sisters, all our Father’s children, together we will enter our eternal home, for home will always be where families live and love together.”

He took their hands, and the whole family opened the door, entered the mansion, and spent an eternity of happiness together.”^[86]S. Michael Wilcox, House of Glory, 90-93.

Making Time for the Temple

Elder John A. Widstoe taught:

I believe that the busy person on the farm, in the shop, in the office, or in the household, who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the house of the Lord than anywhere else. If he will leave his problems behind and in the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and quite as large a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moments, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solution of the problems that vex his life. That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly, because it is a place where revelations may be expected. I bear you my personal testimony that this is so.^[87]John A. Widtsoe, “Temple Worship,” The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Apr. 1921, 63-64.

I have a feeling also, my dear brethren and sisters, that those who give themselves with all their might and main to this work receive help from the other side, and not merely in gathering geneologies. Whoever seeks to help those on the other side receives help in return in all the affairs of life.^[88]John A. Widtsoe, The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Jul. 1931, 104.

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