Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

Section 71 brings up a new look at an old concept, conflict, contention, debate. The IM gives background information saying, “At the date of this revelation, 1 December 1831, the Saints did not yet have means of publicly defending the Church when it was under attack from critics and apostates. Those who were willing to listen needed to hear viewpoint other than those of the unbelievers. Ezra Booth, a former Methodist minister who joined the Church when he witnessed a healing, turned apostate and wrote nine letters against the Church. The letters, published in the Ohio Star at Ravenna, Ohio, were highly critical, and the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote that they, ‘by their coloring, falsity, and vain calculations to overthrow the work of the Lord, exposed (Booth’s) weakness, wickedness and folly, and left him a monument of his own shame, for the world to wonder at.’ Booth was not the first to apostatize, but he was the first Church member to write anti-Mormon literature and publish it. A Ch...

Section 70 deals more with printing the Book of Commandments. The IM gives the background saying, “At one of the four conferences of the Church held in Hiram, Ohio, from 1 to 12 November 1831, the brethren testified that the revelations were from God and should be published for the world. The Lord confirmed His approval by giving the preface (now D&C 1) and the appendix (now D&C 133) to the collection of revelations that were to be published, which would be called the Book of Commandments. Efforts began toward accomplishing this objective. W.W. Phelps obtained a printing press and type, which were set up at Independence, Missouri. Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer were commissioned to carry the manuscripts of some of the revelations from Ohio to Missouri for printing. At this time the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that certain individuals were to have a special commission in publishing the revelations. They were to be ‘stewards’ over the revelations, using proceeds from the sale...

Section 69 is very short and covers a couple of different topics. The IM gives background information as follows: “Joseph Smith received Doctrine and Covenants section 69 during the month of November 1831 while he was staying at Hiram, Ohio. According to President Joseph Fielding Smith, ‘following the November conference the Prophet hastened to get the revelations arranged and in readiness by the time Oliver Cowdery was to leave (for Missouri), which was to be on or before the fifteenth day of November. The Prophet writes that at this time there were many things which the elders desired to know relative to preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth, and concerning the gathering and in compliance with their wish on the 3 rd of November, the day after the conference closed, he inquired of the Lord and received the revelation which was also ordered printed with the commandments, but having been considering after the conference, it was to be placed in the volume as part of an a...

68:25-29 - The Lord now turns the topic to of raising children, saying, “In as much as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine pf repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.” This is the purpose of my existence right now, to teach my children the gospel. I work tirelessly to read scriptures as a family every day, having morning and evening prayers, or really it’s more like before they go to school and before I go to work prayers, and to have Family Home Evening, or as we call it Family Home Daytime, because I work on Monday nights, so we have to do it on Tuesday afternoons, because that’s when we have time. I try so hard and put so much effort into trying to teach them the gospel and apply it to their lives. The IM says, “Elder Harold B. Lee pointed out tha...

68:11-24 - We come now to a really complex issue for me to understand, and that is of the Presiding Bishop. The Lord talks about the “literal descendants of Aaron” who have a “legal right to the bishopric.” This is super complicated, and I like DJR’s explanation saying, “these instructions regarding a literal descendant of Aaron, and the office of Presiding Bishop, may well be a matter that will come into place sometimes in the future, and if and when it does, we will probably exclaim, ‘Oh, that is what it meant!’” The IM asks “Under what conditions can a literal descendant of Aaron be a bishop without counselors?” And answers by quoting President Joseph Fielding Smith as teaching, “It has no reference whatever to bishops of wards. Further, such a one must be designated by the First Presidency of the Church and receive his anointing and ordination under their hands. The revelation comes from the Presidency, not from the patriarch, to establish a claim to the right to preside in this o...

The IM gives background for section 68 by quoting President Joseph Fielding Smith as teaching, “At the close of the conference of November 1-12, 1831, Elders Orson Hyde, Luke Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson, and William W. McLellin, cane to the Prophet and sought the will of the Lord concerning themselves, and their ministry. The Prophet made inquiry and received the revelation which appears as Section sixty-eight. Surely the Lord in his wisdom poured out knowledge, line upon line, precept upon precept as the members of the Church were prepared to receive it.” 68:1-4 - The Lord begins by addressing “My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordination to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people, and from land to land, in the congregations of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with and expounding all scriptures unto them.” The IM says, “The prophecy in this verse was literally fulfilled. Orson Hyde proclaimed the gospel ‘from people to...

67:9 - Verse 9 reminds me of what Joseph Smith said, “no evil man could write the Book of Mormon and no righteous man would,” because the writings in it bring people closer to Christ and no evil thing does that, Satan’s goal is to destroy the work of God and all happiness and the Book of Mormon inspires people to do good works and be happy, so therefore, if the Book of Mormon accomplishes a goal that is contrary to the mission of Satan, it therefore cannot be inspired by the devil and by default must be inspired by God. That’s the logical way to process the truthfulness of the scriptures, and like Joseph Smith said, anyone who relies on logic, forsaking the spiritual, misses out on the better part of the gospel. Verse 8 refers to the challenge to anyone who disputes the wording of the revelations given by the Lord, to write their own revelation, and leads up to verse 9 saying, “But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are tru...

The IM gives background for section 67 as follows: “On the first day of the conference, November 1, 1831, the Lord approved the publication of the revelations by giving what is commonly referred to as the Lord’s own preface to the Book of Commandments. (D&C 1.) Its purpose was to serve as an introduction to the contents of the entire book. In this revelation the Lord proclaimed to the whole world his message of repentance and the fact that through his servant Joseph Smith, Jr., the gospel for the salvation of mankind was restored. ‘Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may here: Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.’ At the conference the elders decided that ten thousand copies of the sixty-five revelations should be printed under the title, ‘Book of Commandments.’ Oliver Cowdery read the Lord’s preface, and several brethren arose and bore...

Section 66 is directed to William E. M’Lellin of which DJR gives background saying, “After becoming acquainted with the Prophet, William E. McLellin asked him to inquire of the Lord for him (which resulted in section 66). William had approached the Lord previously, in secret prayer, and specifically asked him to answer five questions for him. He shared this information with no one, but after the revelation of the Lord through Joseph Smith, Brother McLellin wrote, ‘I now testify in the fear of God, that every question which I had thus lodged in the ears of the Lord of the Sabbath, were answered to my full and entire satisfaction. As we proceed with our study of this brief section, we will see that William E. McLellin has many good attributes and must potential but also that he has some weaknesses about which the Lord warns him.” I think that that can be said of all of us, that we have good attributes and potential, but also weaknesses. The IM asks “What was the spiritual condition of W...

Section 65 is really short, and in an interesting format, the IM says that “The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that this section is a prayer. He said, ‘In the fore part of October, I received the following prayer (D&C 65) through revelation.” I thought that this was interesting that the Lord would give him a prayer, but further reasoning why comes from the IM saying, “At Hiram, several important conferences were held. There (sixteen) Revelations were received, including the memorable vision recorded in Section 76. There a mob, excited by the agitation of Ezra Booth, who had denied the faith and become an enemy, tried to take the life of the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon. No doubt, this Revelation came to strengthen them for the work and experiences before them.” One of the main topics of this section is the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The IM quotes the Prophet Joseph Smith as teaching, “The ancient prophets declared that in the last days the God of heaven should s...

64:21-22 - After I wrote the shpeel from last night, I felt irritated, but after a few minutes, I had a feeling of peace, which is not what I expected. I expected long lasting feelings of aggravation because I was worked up about the perceived wrongs that I was discussing. As I was thinking about everything and trying to reconcile the idea of trials being for our own good, I was able to see that suffering is not a trait exclusive to women, I know that children suffer, sometimes horribly, I know that men suffer too, from loneliness, insecurities, and other difficulties. I also understood that the depths to which we can suffer during this life is reflective of the heights to which we can achieve joy in the next life, you know, the law of compensation, “Satan knocks my little cup of happiness out of my hands, but then I’m offered the well.” I like that. I don’t know it 100%, I still lack some understanding, but I was able to feel at peace, that progression is an eternal process, the Lord...

64:12-20 - From the fault finding of others towards JS, the Lord recognizes that he isn’t perfect and commands all to forgive each other, which I guess implies, in this context, to forgive JS his faults, but “him that repenteth not on his sins, and confesseth them not, ye shall bring before the church.” I think that the idea of “repenteth not” here can seem like it’s talking about those who have been the aggressor, or the person who caused the other person to need to repent, but I think that what the Lord is saying is that he who does not forgive should be brought before the church. It seems that there’s going to be a lot of this in the future, lots of people who find fault personally with Joseph Smith and leave the church because of it, and that includes our time now as well. I’ve had many friends leave the church because of something they read on the internet about him, and it’s heart breaking to be sure. The Lord rebukes Ezra Booth and Isaac Morley because “they sought evil in thei...

64:9-11 - DJR considers this next section “probably some of the most often-quoted in the Doctrine and Covenants. The doctrine is clear. We must forgive others in order to be forgiven ourselves.” The Lord says, “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” This is such a complex issue, especially when you consider the horrors and atrocities that we commit against each other. But if the Lord commands it, then it must be possible to do, but I guess the question, then, is how do you do it? How do you move on? How do you forgive? DJR says is perfectly when he comments “The last phrase of verse 9, above, bears further comment. At first glance, it sounds unfair, especially in the case of serious and damaging actions against us by others. For instanc...