Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

42:1-6 - The Lord begins by again introducing himself “even Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world.” Like we discussed last week, the elders were given this revelation because they “have assembled yourselves together according to the commandment wherewith I commanded you, and are agreed as touching this one thing, and have asked the Father in my name, even so ye shall receive.” The Lord commanded that in order to receive this new law, they were supposed to gather together in prayer, unity, and when they did that, the Lord was true to his word and gave the law. As the Lord continues, DJR comments that “Perhaps you have noticed that the Lord had a great many people in place to accept the gospel. The first commandment the Savior here has to do with this need for rapid membership growth.” The Lord commands that “ye shall go forth in my name, every one of you, excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon.” I’m assuming that “every one of you” means all...

I’m super short on time tonight and section 42 is really long and content heavy, so we’ll probably be spending the next month on this one, which is fine, scripture is scripture and this one is obviously important to the Lord, but we’ll probably only have time to do the introduction tonight, if that. DJR gives the background information as follows: “This revelation commonly referred to as ‘The Law’ or ‘The Law of the Lord.’ If you truly want to be a disciple of Christ and return to the Father in celestial exaltation, you will follow the principles and commandments taught in this section. The Lord promised the Saints that He would give them this ‘law’ in Ohio. (D&C 38:32). Given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section 42 was actually revealed in two parts. Verses 1 through 73 were given February 9, 1831, in the presence of twelve elders, and verses 74-93 were given two weeks later, on February 23, 1831. It was originally printed in the Book of Commandments as two chapters. Chapter ...

Section 41 was the first revelation received in Kirtland, so that’s kind of exciting. The IM gives the background information as follows: “Section 41 is the first revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants given in Ohio. The Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma had arrived in Kirtland a few days before this revelation was received, and they found that the Kirtland Branch had grown to nearly one hundred members. Many of the new converts had belonged to a religious society known as ‘Disciples.’ Even after joining the Church, these converts continued to practice what was called ‘common stock,’ or the holding of all property in common. But discord arose among members over the manner in which this system should operate. Some considered that what belonged to one member belonged to anyone in the branch. ‘Therefore,’ wrote John Whitmer, ‘they would take each other’s clothes and other property and use it without leave, which brought on confusion and disappointments, for they did not understand ...

Section 40 is a follow up to section 39 which was the Lord’s message to James Covill to be baptized and go to Ohio with the Saints. Section 40 reveals that James Covill did not accept the counsel of the Lord and rejected His commands. The Lord tells JS and SR “Behold, verily I say unto you, that the heart of my servant James Covill was right before me, for he covenanted with me that he would obey my word.” We know from this that the Lord’s command to James wasn’t premature, he was ready and it wasn’t something that he wasn’t prepared to accept, he just didn’t. I often wonder why the Lord waits for certain things before acting, and it’s because the people are not prepared, they aren’t ready, and it’s not just for the Lord to present someone a choice that they aren’t able to fully comprehend and make an informed decision about. The Lord continued, “And he received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted him; and the fear of persecution and the cares of the world caused him ...

39:6-9 - I’ve had a very humbling and revealing weekend and I actually thought about James Covill, and I thought that my answer was similar to his, to be obedient, and I could see how him being obedient would have been the right thing for him to do, but I couldn’t see that being obedient was the right thing for me to do. The Lord tells James that “I have looked upon thy works and I know thee. And verily I say unto thee, thine heart is now right before me at this time; and, behold, I have bestowed great blessings upon thy head; Nevertheless, thou hast seen great sorrow, for thou hast rejected me many times because of pride and the cares of the world.” I feel like I can relate to this so much in my life. I feel like sometimes my heart is right before the Lord and sometimes it’s not. Some of these descriptions that the Lord gives of people, like Hyrum Smith, who the Lord said had integrity, that’s a constant, that’s his natural state of being, but I feel like I am obstinate, difficult, an...

Section 39 is similar to many other revelations where the Lord gives instruction to those who are inquiring, and call them to the work. The IM gives background information as follows: “’Many are called, but few are chosen. Such is the story of James Covill, a man called by a personal revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith to labor in the Lord’s vineyard, and a man who failed to give heed to the counsel given him. Ever call to serve in the latter-day building of Zion requires personal sacrifice. James Covill had been a minister for about forty years. He was now called to be baptized into the Lord’s Church and to preach the gospel. To accept such a call would require him to forsake many of his former beliefs, to confess to his followers that he had now found a fullness of the truth, and to move to Ohio to join the Saints. It would also require that he find another way to make a living. Shortly after the Church conference of 2 January 1831, the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded: ‘There w...

38:31-42 - Ok back on track tonight. The Lord gives the reasons why he’s telling them to move to Ohio, “that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless… and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power on high. And from thence, whosoever I will shall go forth among all nations.” There are 5 reasons why the Saints will be able to progress spiritually while in Ohio. The Lord recognizes that there are going to be problems and concerns with the property that is owned by the Saints when they leave, so he gives “a commandment, that certain men among them shall be appointed, and they shall be appointed by the voice of the church; And they shall look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer; and send them forth to the place which I have commanded them; And this shall be their work, to govern the affairs of the property of this church. And they that hav...

38:28-30 - The Lord comes back to the issue facing the Saints currently, “that the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh your lives.” The IM teaches, “the Saints should not be surprised when the world opposes the kingdom and tries to thwart the work of God, for He Himself promised that such would be the case. Elder Joseph F. Smith said that ‘the hatred of the wicked always has and always will follow the Priesthood and the Saints. The devil will not lose sight of the power of God vested in man- the Holy Priesthood. He fears it, he hates it, and will never cease to stir up the hearts of the debased and corrupt in anger and malic towards those who hold this power, and to persecute the Saints, until he is bound.’ Elder Bruce R. McConkie made this observation in general conference: ‘Now are the days of our greatest sorrow and our deepest sufferings all behind us. They too lie ahead. We shall yet face greater perils, we shall yet be tested with more severe trials, and we shall yet weep more t...

38:21-27 - If the righteous are to inherit the earth, there has to be some sort of governance, and the Lord tells them that he is it, and really, it’s a miracle if we consider the horrors that are perpetuated on others by corrupt governments. Christ is the only king that is guaranteed to not be corrupted by power, because he has all the power in the universe now, but he doesn’t bow to the pressures to misuse it. Christ as King is a concept that has been interesting to me since the time of Christmas carols. The IM teaches, “’Christ is the King. By this is meant that he is the Ruler, Lawgiver, and Sovereign in whom all power rests. As King he rules over the heavens and the earth and all things that are in them; and also, in a particular sense, he rules over the kingdom of God on earth which is the Church and over the kingdom of God in heaven which is the celestial kingdom.’ Though Jesus is King by right and authority, President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that at the council of Adam-ond...

38:5-9 - The Lord uses an interesting reference in verse 5 saying, “But behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day, which shall come at the end of the earth.” It’s the “chains of darkness” that I found to be interesting because the concept of chains or bandage or slavery as associated with sin is found all throughout the scriptures. The idea that keeping the commandments somehow limits your freedom only operates in the condition of complete lawlessness, and if there are no laws, then there is no gravity, there is no atmosphere, there are no plants or animals, there can be no governance, essentially, there can be no people because there can be no God, because there is no law, moral or otherwise, and there is nothing that can operate in the absence of direction. So if there are laws that govern the universe, then surely obedience to them will bring harmony with all things and disobedience to them will cause disharmony. It’s phy...

Section 38 is really long and content heavy, so let’s see how this goes. The IM gives the background as follows: “As the year 1831 dawned, Joseph Smith envisioned ‘a prospect great and glorious for the welfare of the kingdom.’ The Lord had previously charged the Church to ‘seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion.’ From the time this commandment was first given until his martyrdom, the Prophet labored diligently to this end. He once said, ‘We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.’ During the months of December 1830, Joseph Smith received by revelation the remained of the book of Moses. Chapters 6 and 7 dealt specifically with the establishment of Zion in Enoch’s day. Two things were needed before Zion could be built in this dispensation, however: revelation from the Lord giving His law and the order of Zion, and the preparation and sanctification of the Saints. The fulfillment of the first requirement was begun on 2 January 1831. During the third conf...

Section 37 is short and kind of difficult for me to understand but I guess we’ll do our best here. The IM gives background information as follows: “This revelation was given eight months after the Church was officially organized. Since 6 April 1830, the Church had grown to about 200 Saints in the state of New York. Missionary efforts had been extended westward to Kirtland, Ohio, and to the borders of Missouri. Missionaries had been particularly successful in the Kirtland area, where they baptized about 127 people during the two or three weeks they spent there on their way to Missouri. The Church continued to grow rapidly in that area after they departed. By the time of this revelation, such notable leaders as Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Sidney Rigdon, Edward Partridge, and Thomas B. Marsh had joined the Church Revelations had poured down from heaven as the Prophet joseph Smith received guidance for individual Saints, direction in vising the Bible, and the records of Moses and Enoch. ...

Section 36 has the same background as section 35 because it is given to Edward Partridge, who went with SR to meet Joseph Smith. The IM gives the account of JS’s mother of the event when JS met Edward Partridge saying, “In December of the same year (1830), Joseph appointed a meeting at our house. While he was preaching, Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge came in and seated themselves in the congregation. When Joseph had finished his discourse, he gave all who had any remarks to make, the privilege of speaking. Upon this, Mr. Partridge arose, and stated that he had been to Manchester, with the view of obtaining further information respecting the doctrine which we preached; but, not finding us, he had made some inquiry of our neighbors concerning our characters, which they stated had been impeachable, until Joseph deceived us relative to the Book of Mormon. He also said that he had walked over our farm, and observed the good order and industry which it exhibited; and, having seen what we...