D&C 58:19-25

58:19-25 - Previously we learned that one of Edward Partridge’s assignments as bishop was to “judge the people according to the Lord’s law,” which begs the question, what was the law they were to keep. The IM answers saying, “The Saints had entered into a covenant to keep the laws of God, which included the gospel and the law of consecration. They were also expected to ‘be subjected to the powers that be’ and live according to the laws of the land. President Joseph Fielding Smith said: ‘Very strict was the command to the Saints that the law of God should be kept on the land of Zion. ‘Let no man think he is ruler; but let God rule him that judgeth, according to the counsel of his own will, or in other words, him that counselteth or sitteth upon the judgement seat.’ We, today, do not realize the rigidity of this command. The Saints were to assemble in the land which had been appointed from the beginning as the site of the holy city, New Jerusalem. This land and this site was dedicated. Those who assembled there were placed under covenant that they would keep the law of God, which commandment had been repeated to them many times. Sidney Rigdon, according to appointment, stood p and asked the assembly: Do you receive this land for the land of your inheritance, with thankful hearts, from the Lord? Do you pledge yourselves to keep the law of God on this land, which you never have kept in your own lands? Do you pledge yourselves to see that others of your brethren who shall come hither do keep the laws of God? To these questions, the each answered, ‘We do,’ and then the land was dedicated for their gathering and inheritance. The Lord was very jealous of these commandments. This was not to be an empty pledge. Failure to observe the covenant was to bring tribulation… Many of the members of the Church forgot the covenant they had made to ‘keep the law of God’ upon the land, which was mandatory, and this brought them into trouble. Persecutions came and eventually they were driven from their inheritances. The tribulation in part, but not all, which the Lord has promised they should suffer, came upon them because of their disobedience.’” I think that the word “jealous” used here meant more like “protective” instead of envious, like we equate it today. I don’t really understand this too much, so I’m going to move on. In the next few verses, DJR says that the Lord covers many smaller and interesting points, “Those in leadership positions must be humble enough to let God guide and direct them.” I would think that if I was called, it would be because I show sound judgment, and would work with that, but that’s not the point. Being called to a leadership position could be difficult to keep your humility, I know that it would be for me. DJR continues, “Being a loyal member of the Church is not an excuse for breaking the laws of the land.” The Lord says, “Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.” Whenever I hear something like this, I always think about some super corrupt government like Nazi Germany or Cambodia during the Pol Pot rebellion, and think that surely it wouldn’t be right to follow the laws of that government. But I think that this is on the extremes and that we wouldn’t normal deal with issues like this. It was while reading “Articles of Faith” by James E. Talmage, that I learned that for the most part, the laws of God are higher than the laws of man, so if we are striving to keep the laws of God, we will most likely be in compliance with the laws of the land. I have to talk myself back off the edge about this concept because I think “my government is corrupt! This 35 MPH speed limit is stupid.” But what the Holy Ghost tells me is “how can I protect you if you are breaking the law?” I want to get my windows tinted and in my state, it’s illegal to have any tint on your front windows, which I think is really stupid. But when I was talking to my kids about it, they looked absolutely disgusted at the concept of tinting the front ones anyway, just because I don’t think that I’ll get caught. They said “definitely not” to tinting the front ones because breaking the law is bad and I have to show them that I value the things that I teach them. So even though I will not tint my front windows, I’m grateful that my kids can be a good example for me. There are expressed specific laws, and then there are matter that should be dealt with “as they shall counsel between themselves and me.” I love the concept of personal revelation. I think that any other way just wouldn’t make sense to me and I didn’t realize just how important and documented in the scriptures concept that it was until I went to a funeral at a Catholic church where they did a whole mass service, and the priest talked about being able to talk to God and find out things for ourselves, it was really interesting.

I know that this is short, but I’m pretty tired and busy tonight.