D&C 67:1-8

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 witness to its truth and the truth of all the revelations received by the Prophet. The Prophet expressed his deep gratitude for the Lord’s commandments. He entertained no doubts concerning the divine inspiration for the revelation he received for the guidance of the Church… Not all those present at the conference fully approved the revelations. One at least, questioned the language of them: William E. McLellin. The challenge was answered in a revelation: (D&C 67:5-8). McLellin, who, in the words of the Prophet, had ‘more learning than sense, endeavored to write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord’s.’ McLellin had taught school rather successfully in five states of the Union and had acquired considerable learning. His attempt to write a revelation was a miserable failure. Joseph Smith said: ‘… It was an awful responsibility to write in the name of the Lord. The Elders and all present that witnessed this vain attempt of a man to imitate the language of Jesus Christ, renewed their faith in the fullness of the Gospel, and in the truth of the commandments and revelations which the Lord had given to the Church through my instrumentality…’ After the conference adjourned, Joseph arranged the revelations, and Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer carried them to Independence for William W. Phelps to print.” The IM gives a definition for the Book of Commandments saying, “The Book of Commandments was the original title for the collection of revelations that was to be published. When the press and most of the copies were destroyed by a mob in Jackson County, the Prophet decided to add additional revelations that had been received in the meantime. The expanded edition was called the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.”

67:1-4 - The Lord begins by reassuring the elders “who have assembled yourselves together, whose prayers I have heard, and whose hearts I know, and whose desires have come up before me. Behold and lo, mine eyes are upon you, and the heavens and the earth are in mine hands, and the riches of eternity are mine to give. Ye endeavored to believe that ye should receive the blessing which was offered unto you; but behold, verily I say unto you there were hears in your hearts, and verily this is the reason ye did not receive.” The IM comments, “The assembled Elders, or some of them, failed to receive a blessing which they had expected. What that blessing was is not stated. It might have been a special manifestation concerning the Book of Commandments; or, some miraculous manifestation after the laying on of hands by the Prophet. But whatever it was, some had failed to receive what they expected, and the reason is here stated: they lacked faith, and were consequently, dominated by fear.” When I heard this explanation of these verses, I thought about my own lack of desire to have some miraculous manifestation, like seeing Jesus Himself, or having ministering angels or something like that. I think that if that were to happen to me, I would suddenly have so much more responsibility, be so much more accountable than I am now, and I don’t really want that. This is the main reason that I put off going to the temple for so long, and I was waiting for my then-husband to be ready to go himself so that we could go together. I didn’t want to go to the temple because I didn’t want the added responsibility, and so taking that fear based attitude really kept me quite deprived of the blessings of the temple for all those years, I wasn’t ready. I don’t necessarily think that this is the same concept though, because the temple is available for all to qualify themselves to receive those blessings, angelic manifestations or seeing the Lord himself, is not guaranteed to anyone, nor is it even one of those that I think we’re supposed to strive for, is it? I believe that I’m surrounded by miracles every day, I feel the Spirit as much as I’m prepared to feel it. I guess my whole reasoning is that I don’t need to see angels or the Savior in order to believe, I already believe, I already strive to become closer to the Savior through the means that he’s provided. I don’t need the shock and awe, and I feel that by “striving” for that I’m tempting God and being ungrateful for what I already have.

67:5-8 - The Lord now addresses those who are critical of the revelations, acknowledging that the Prophet has his flaws but asks anyone who is so inclined to “seek ye out of the Book of Commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint hum that is the most wise among you. Or, if there be any among you that shall make one like unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true; But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true.” I thought about this, thought about trying to come up with a revelation, and it felt terrible, and was difficult to even imagine. The IM says, “Some of the elders at this time questioned the language of the revelations. They were looking at misspellings, error in grammar, and other peculiarities. They reasoned that if these revelations were from the Lord, no such mistakes or peculiarities would be found. Thus came the challenge to them from the Lord to write a revelation. Elder Orson F. Whitney stated: ‘Well, one of them, who thought himself the wisest, and who possessed some learning, took up the challenge and actually attempted to frame a revelation; but it was a flat failure. He could utter, of course, certain words, and roll out a mass of rhetoric; but the divine spirit was lacking, and he had to acknowledge himself beaten. It is not so easy to put the spirit of life into things. Man can make the body, but God alone can create the spirit.’” I thought that this was an excellent explanation about why William wasn’t able to reproduce a moving, inspiring revelation even remotely close to the Lord’s.