D&C 88:70-98

88:70-76 - The Lord now turns to giving the brethren specific instructions concerning the affairs of the Church. DJR comments, “There seems to be a transition now from the Savior’s ‘classroom’ to practical instructions for these brethren in conducting the business of the Church in the Kirtland are. Remember that these men have been doing much traveling on the Lord’s errand. Next, He asks them to stay in Kirtland for a season.” The Lord will be asking these brethren to set up and attend the School of the Prophets in the end of this section, but it appears he’s setting it up to alleviate some of their concerns beforehand, so that perhaps when he does bring it up, they might be already comforted. The Lord says, “I will take care of your flocks, and will raise up elders and send unto them. Behold, I will hasten my work in its time.” When I heard this part I was very relieved because in my personal situation I’m not going on a mission or attending a “School of the Prophets” but I feel like I am doing my best in raising my children in the gospel, and I always think that because I can’t always be there or because I’m not always the best mom, that my children are going to suffer spiritually. It comes back to the whole “I’m so important, no one can do this job except me” issue that I struggle with, but I felt like, if the Lord was telling me that if I left he would raise up my children to be righteous and my son an Elder, then yeah, I would be just fine leaving and doing whatever work he wants me to do. Not that I wouldn’t be otherwise, but it just made my heart swell knowing that the Lord supplements my efforts and that he can make amazing things happen regardless of whether or not I am there. The Lord tells them to “continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth.” The IM asks “How does one continue in fasting and prayer?” And answers saying, “(Prayer and fasting) are indispensable in the preparation for the ministry. Our Lord teaches us that there are evil spirits that cannot be overcome except by those whose spiritual life and faith are made strong by self-denial and communion with God. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that the servants of the Lord should fast and pray. Through the fasting and prayer of the servants of the Lord, the mouth of Alma was opened, and his limbs strengthen. Through fasting and prayer the Nephites ‘did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ.’ Fasting has in all ages been an outward sign of sorrow and mourning. When the heart is full of grief, the body does not crave for food as usual. When calamities sweep over a country, or when winners are awakened to a realization of their condition abstinence form all pleasures, including those of the table, is natural to all who take things seriously. The Elders, however, are not required to fast as a sign of mourning alone, but as one of rejoicing. This is just as natural. For when the heart is filled with joy, the craving for food is forgotten for long periods, as they know who have attended meetings, lasting for many hours, where the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the assembly. Our Lord warns His people against making a display of their fasting: ‘When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face.’” I am really terrible about fasting, I know that this has created my own personal prison and I’m working on it. It really hit me when it said that there are certain evil spirits that can only be overcome through fasting and prayer, neither of which I’m good at, that was powerful to me.

88:77-86 - The Lord continues, “ And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand. Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth, things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms.” I love that he includes all of this, all of these issues, because it’s so detailed, so in depth in issues. The IM has an excellent breakdown of this by quoting Elder John A. Widtsoe as teaching, “Theology is not the only subject in which the Elders should be interested. They should study:

Things both in heaven – Astronomy.

And in the earth – Everything pertaining to the cultivation of the soil.

And under the earth – Minerology, geology, etc.

Things which have been – History, in all its branches.

Things which must shortly come to pass – Prophecies.

Things which are at home and abroad – Domestic and foreign politics.

Wars- perplexities- judgment- the songs of the times, by which the observer may know that the day of the Lord is at hand.

A knowledge of countries and kingdoms- physical and political geography, languages, etc.

These studies, the Lord considers necessary. God does not require all his servants to become doctors, or professors, or even profound students of these subjects, but He expects them to know enough of these things to be able to magnify their callings as His ambassadors to the world.’ Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-80 explains that as the saints diligently teach one another the doctrines of the kingdom, they can be instructed more perfectly in all these other subjects.”  Thinking about why the Lord would want his people to know about all these other topics, it occurs to me that if we only study the gospel and know nothing of anything else, anyone we talk to about the gospel would consider us to be zealots, and that’s creepy, and a big turn off to most people who are reasonable. It also allows his people to hold positions in public where we can talk to people and excel at things, branch out and establish relationships. The Lord makes a connection between fasting, praying, learning and freedom in verse 86 which says, “Abide ye in the liberty where-with ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord comes.” He equates freedom with clean hands and righteousness. That’s interesting.

88:87-92 - Ending verse 86 with “until the Lord comes” he how goes into the terrible calamities that will happen in the last days, all types of crazy things, similar to what we heard in the previous sections, so I’m not going to go over it in detail here, but the IM has insight into some of the topics. The IM asks “What is the reason for the calamities of the last days?” And answer saying, “About a year after this revelation was given, the Saints were driven from their homes in Jackson County, Missouri. The Lord told His prophet at that time that the affliction came upon them ‘in consequence of their transgressions.’ President Joseph Fielding Smith explained why so many severe judgments are being poured out upon the world in the last days: ‘It is not the will of the Lord that there should come upon the people disaster, trouble, calamity, and depression,… but because man himself will violate the commandments of God and will not walk in righteousness, the Lord permits all of these evils to come upon him…The Lord has made the declaration in our own day that it was his good pleasure to give to men the fullness of the earth, and the Lord is pleased to have them use it, and he would pour out upon them his blessings in abundance if they would only hearken and be obedient to the laws which he has given them for their guidance. But, man are rebellious; they are not willing to live in that law and profit thereby; they are not willing to receive the goods things of the earth as the Lord would give to them in abundance; but in their narrow-mindedness, shortsightedness, and in their greed and selfishness, they think they know better than the Lord does. And so, they pursue another course, and the result is that the blessings of the Lord are withdrawn, and in the place thereof come calamity, destruction, plague, and violence. Men have themselves to blame… The Lord decreed that he would withhold his spirit from the inhabitants of the earth… this spirit he was withdrawing from them because of their wickedness, and the withdrawal of his spirit would bring upon them these calamites.” I’ve often wondered what our lives would be like if instead of spending our entire existence trying to kill each other if we spent our time and resources on science and innovation, from the dawn of time until now. The advancements that we’ve made technologically, socially, and medically in the last 200 years has been more than in the whole of human existence. Now imagine if, like President Smith said, we had been a righteous people and had the blessings of God from the beginning, how long would it have taken for the first peoples to develop the internet, to develop indoor plumbing, how much would those advancements change our lives today? But instead we literally spend every possible resource trying to kill each other for power and money and control that we’ve spent the last 5,000 years in complete destitution, and only by the sheer grace of God have we made it this far during this time. Just something to think about. Another interesting phrase that I’ve always wondered about is in verse 91 that “men’s hearts shall fail them.” I’ve heard it speculated that this is referring to the terrible health that we are in, so literally our hearts are failing us. I’ve heard that it means the loyalty of the heart will fail, so there will be a significant decrease in loyalty, and I’ve heard it described as fear and depression, hopelessness. I can see all of these things, and I don’t know why it couldn’t mean all of them. The IM says, “In a previous revelation the Lord said, ‘If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.’ The people of the world will not be prepared when the Lord pours our His judgments. Sin will abound as in the days of Noah, and people will be left without excuse because they did not heed the warning to repent. Knowing that the judgments are just and that they have no excuse and no escape, the people of the world will greatly fear. The Nephites experienced the same warnings and judgments, as recorded in Mormon 1-6.” There’s another meaning, the heart in a spiritual sense, they will not have their hearts in the right place, they will not have righteousness in their hearts, because the Lord requires the heart, and they will not give it to him, so they will be afraid.

88:93-98 - This is newish, “And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together.” The IM teaches, “Immediately after the testimony of these messengers a great sign will appear in heaven, which, like the sun, will be see all round the world. Our Lord calls it the ‘Sign of the Son of Man.’… When the sign appears, God will make its meaning known to the Prophet, Seer and Revelator who at that time may be at the head of the Church, and through him to His people and the world in general.’ The Prophet Joseph Smith said: ‘There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east.” Then “another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church, the mother of abominations… she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned.” The IM says, “The first of seven angels to sound trumps after the warning to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom will announce the binding of ‘that great church, the mother of abominations.’ This ‘church’ is the ‘church of the devil,’ often called ‘the great and abominable church’- terms used to designate groups that lead people away from Christ as His gospel and kingdom.” It seems to mean that Satan will be bound, then “there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded.” I had a Sunday School teacher once do the math saying that this means 1000 years of the Lord’s time divided by 24 hours of our time, divided twice for half an hour and that’s what that means, so I’ve always been intrigued. The IM comments, “After the angel sounds a trump ‘loud and long,’ there will be ‘silence in heaven for the space of half an hour.’ ‘Whether the half hour here spoken of,’ said Elder Orson Pratt, ‘is according to our reckoning- thirty minutes, or whether it be according to the reckoning of the Lord we do not know. We know that the word hour is used in some portions of the Scriptures to represent quite a lengthy period of time. For instance, we, the Latter-day Saints, are living in the eleventh hour, that is in the eleventh period of time; and for aught we know the half hour during which silence is to prevail in heavens may be quite an extensive period of time.’ If this measurement refers strictly to the Lord’s time- one thousand of man’s years to one day for the Lord- the ‘half hour’ would be approximately twenty-one years. Elder Pratt continued: ‘During the people of silence all things are perfectly still; no angels flying during the half hour; no trumpets sounding; no noise in the heavens above; but immediately after this great silence the curtain of heaven shall be unfolded as a scroll is unfolded. School children, who are in the habit of seeing maps hung up on the wall, know that they have rollers upon which they are rolled up, and that to expose the face of the maps they are let down. So will the curtain of heaven be unrolled so that the people may gaze upon those celestial beings who will make their appearance in the clouds. The face of the Lord will be unveiled, and those who are alive will be quickened, and they will be caught up; and the Saints who are in their graves, will come froth and be caught up, together with those who are quickened, and they will be taken into the heavens into the midst of those celestial beings who will make their appearance at that time. These are the ones who are the first fruits, that it, the first fruits of the time of his coming.’ At this time the resurrection of those who are celestial will take place. Mortals at the time of the Lord’s coming who are living celestial law will be quickened and caught up to meet Him and those who are already resurrected. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught, ‘This does not mean that those who are living in mortality at that time will be changed and pass through the resurrection, for mortal must remain on the earth until after the thousand years are ended.’ Rather their bodies will be prepared to dwell on earth during the Lord’ millennial reign, when ‘the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.’ After this event they will return to the earth and continue to live as mortals.”  Lots of good information here, the IM covers all the rest of the topics until verse 98. My mind is pretty stretched right now, it’s a lot to take in. Good thing that the Lord knows this and wants me to think and talk to him about it. Love it.