Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

Section 85 is different than the others that we’ve gone through so far because, as the IM tells us, it “was written as a letter by Joseph Smith to William W. Phelps on 27 November 1832. The first part of the letter read: ‘I say brother, because I feel so from the heart, and although it is not long since I wrote a letter unto you, yet I feel as though you would excuse me for writing this, as I have many things which I wish to communicate. Some things which I will mention in this letter, which are lying with great weight on my mind. I am well, and my family also; God grant that you may enjoy the same, and yours, and all the brethren and sisters who remember to inquire after the commandments of the Lord, and the welfare of Zion and such a being as myself; and while I dictate this letter, I fancy to myself that you are saying or thinking something similar to these words:- ‘My God, great and might art Thou, therefore show unto Thy servant what shall become of those who are essaying to come...

84:77-97 - This section really flows nicely from one topic to another, to me it seems jumpy just because I’m stopping and starting again with the entries. The Lord tells these men that he wants them to become just like his disciples that were with him during his mortal ministry. I always love when the old church is tied in with the new church because it shows the continuous nature of God, always the same, even when it appears that things may be different. He shows them that when he asks them to go on missions, especially during this time when the early missionaries were generally leaving behind wives and children to serve the Lord, he shows them that he sent his disciples anciently without “purse or scrip, neither two coats… And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint;… And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst.” This makes me wonder a...

84:55-59 - The Lord ties in the lesson “and by this you may know the righteous from the wicked… And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received.” There are a couple of points here that I think are important. The first is that the Lord shows us just how easy it is go slide back into wickedness from righteousness, all we have to do is not take seriously the things that He gives us. Even the faithful men to whom the Lord was speaking now, have had their minds “darkened because of unbelief.” It’s not a scourge that we are free from once we get baptized, the quest for spirituality and enlightenment from the Lord is a lifelong pursuit. The second point that is made here is that not all who are “wicked” are bad and not all who are “righteous” are good, there’s both aspects in everyone and it’s our quest to drive the darkness out. He shows us that even those who profess to be saints can engage in wicked beh...

84:26 - There is a very subtle underlying theme of section 84 and that is of angels. Verse 26 says that the Aaronic priesthood “holdeth the key of the ministering of angels.” Most 12-18 year olds Aaronic priesthood holders that I know and it’s kind of a leap to think that they could be having “ministering of angels,” surely not because they aren’t promised that, but it’s just interesting to know that at such a young age, that is available to them. It makes me wonder how I can prepare my son for that, so that he can understand and fully utilize that incredible promise. While the IM skips over this phrase, DJR explores it extensively saying, “In reference to ‘ministering of angels,’ in verse 26, we are taught that angels do much behind the scenes to prepare the way for people to join the Church. We also understand that there is much ‘ministering’ by angels in assisting us in our family history work so that our dead ancestors can have the blessings of repentance and baptism. Elder Dall...

84:20-25 - I feel like the Lord is describing some of the blessings that come with the administration and righteous holding of the priesthood, in verse 19 he talks about the “mysteries of the kingdom,” and verse 20 bridges to the importance and power of ordinances. The Lord says that “without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without his no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.” We need the priesthood ordinances in order to “walk back into the presence of the Father.” Ordinances are one of those concepts that are kind of difficult for me to understand. I always wondered why we couldn’t just decide in our hearts to be faithful to Jesus, and then live our lives from there, but now that I think about it, by having him set the terms for our salvation, we begin our spiritual journey in a mental place of submission, we are not trying to set our own terms, and that way we recognize ...

Verses 6-31 of section 84 are called the “Parenthetical” verses, which DJR explains as meaning “it is basically a long explanation that could have a parenthesis at the beginning and one at the end. If you were to place these parentheses in your own scriptures as notes, you would have the following: 6. And the sons of Moses, (according to the Holy Priesthood which he received under the hand of his father-in-law, Jethro; … and continuing to verse 31… 31. Therefore, as I said concerning the sons of Moses) –The sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron…” The IM comments “Smith and Sjodahl noted that in verse six is ‘the beginning of a sentence which is continued in … (verse) 31. All that intervenes is parenthetic, containing a statement regarding the lineage through which the Priesthood came to Moses and Aaron, and how it was restored in our day.’ Without the parenthetical insertion, the sentence would read, ‘And the sons of Moses, according to the Holy Priesthood… shall offer an acceptabl...

Section 84 is very doctrinally heavy, so we'll probably take quite a bit of time with this one. DJR notes "This is one of the major doctrinal sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Among other topics, it deals with: New Jerusalem The priesthood line of authority from Adam to Moses Melchizedek Priesthood Aaronic Priesthood The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood The light of Christ The condemnation of the Church for not studying the Book of Mormon sufficiently Signs that follow believers Plagues of the last days Singing a 'new song' The Millenium The destruction of New York, Albany, and Boston, if they reject the gospel.  We get a little bit of insight into Joseph Smith as a person as DJR relates this incident: "In early May, Joseph Smith, Bishop Newel K. Whitney, and Sidney Rigdon left by stagecoach. Near Greenville, Indiana, something frightened the horses pulling the stagecoach. They bolted and ran. Newel jumped from the stage, but his coat got...

Section 83 is very short and refers to a specific population and how they are affected by the law of consecration, that of widows and orphans. The IM quotes the Prophet Joseph Smith giving background as follows: "On the 27th, we transacted considerable business for the salvation of the Saints, who were settling among a ferocious set of mobbers, like lambs among wolves. It was my endeavor to so organize the Church, that the brethren might eventually be independent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial kingdom, by bonds and covenants of mutual friendship, and mutual love. On the 28th and 29th, I visited the brethren above the Big Blue river, in Kaw township, a few miles west of Independence, and received a welcome only known by the brethren and sisters united as one in the same faith, and by the same baptism, and supported by the same Lord. The Colesville branch, in particular, rejoiced as the ancient Saints did with Paul. It is good to rejoice with the people of God. On the 30...

82:19-21 - Yesterday I ended with the question, what does it say about us as human beings if we have the abundance to be able to give every person alive food, clean water, shelter, and clothing, yet we refuse and have such a huge discrepancy in the standard of living throughout the world. The Lord tells us exactly why that is, the system only works if “every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.” This is really it, the only way that it can work, and what is the antithesis of seeking the glory of God and welfare of our neighbor? Selfishness. We are so selfish as a people that we cannot look at the deplorable situations of our fellows and think “this is unacceptable, what can we do to fix this?” And that’s the question right? As a whole, I don’t think that most people are evil, honestly, I think most want to do good and help others. I believe that most are generous and compassionate. So if the majority of people want to hel...

182:8-10 - The Lord now gives “unto you a new commandment, that you may understand my will concerning you; or, in other words, I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation.” He will give us the commandments or “directions” and by doing what he says, it will work for our salvation. I think that this comes back to the whole commandments as blessings vs commandments as sacrifices concept. If we see commandments as restrictions or something that we are making sacrifices by doing, then it will be hard for us to make the connection between keeping commandments and it being for our eternal welfare. This is a pivotal moment in our spiritual progression because it completely transforms our choices into feelings of protection and empowerment, whereas before the choices before were probably made because of or at least with a twinge of guilt, which isn’t what the Lord wants for us, and isn’t conducive to our spiritual growth. The Lord gives us a...