Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

97:18-20 - The IM prefaces the next few verses by asking, “What is the destiny of Zion?” The Lord says that if Zion is righteous, “she shall prosper, and spread herself and become very glorious, very great, and very terrible. And the nations of the earth shall honor her… And he hath sworn by the power of his might to be her salvation and her high tower.” The IM says, “here the lord says that Zion ‘shall prosper, and spread herself and become very glorious, very great, and very horrible.’ The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: ‘You know there has been great discussion in relation to Zion- where it is, and where the gathering of the dispensation is, and which I am now going to tell you. The prophets have spoken and written upon it; but I will make a proclamation that will cover a broader ground. The whole of America is Zion itself from north to south, and is described by the Prophets, who declare that it is the center of the land. When the Elders shall take up and examine the old prophecies i...

Section 97 brings up a concept that I still feel a disconnect towards, and that is the righteousness and disobedience that was found in Zion, or in Missouri. The IM gives background information saying, “On 20 July 1833 the first open violence against the Saints in Jackson County broke out. The printing press owned by William W. Phelps was destroyed, many of the Saints were turned out of their homes, and Edward Partridge and Charles Allen were tarred and feathered on the public square in Independence, Missouri. The Prophet, unaware of the problems, sent a letter to the leaders of the Church in Missouri on 6 August 1833 in response to questions concerning the School of Zion. The letter contained Doctrine and Covenants 97, given 2 August 1833, and Doctrine and Covenants 98, in which the Lord warned the inhabitants in Zion to observe His commandments or they would be visited ‘with sore affliction, with pestilence, with plague, with sword, with vengeance, with devouring fire.’ As it turned...

Section 96 is short, only 9 verses and is pretty specific. The IM gives the background information as: “In the months following the purchase of land in Kirtland for the Saints, the Lord directed the Church to prepare a building for the Presidency, another for printing, and the temple. The Kirtland council met to consider how to use the French farm, but since they could not agree on who was to be the overseer, they decided to take the matter to the Lord. ‘The also considered the matter of dividing lots according to wisdom and the Lord have them counsel in relation to these matters. The Stake of Zion was to become strong. The poor were to be cared for. The bishop, Newel K. Whitney, was to take charge of the matter of assigning lots and preparing them for the building of a city and a Temple to the name of the Lord. John Johnson was to be given responsibility and admitted into the united order, so that he could assist in bringing forth the word of the Lord to the children of men.’” 96:1...

95:5-7 - Verse 5 has been said before and was kind of confusing for me for a while. The Lord says, “There are many who have been ordained among you, whom I have called but few of them are chosen.” When it says “few of them are chosen,” it seems to indicate that the person responsible for doing the choosing is the Lord, so we can say, “well he didn’t chose me,” but that’s not the case at all. The Lord has called us to his work and it is us who gets to choose whether or not to accept. The IM asks, “why are some priesthood holders not chosen or accepted by the Lord?” And answers, “It is one thing to be called to labor in the vineyard and another to be faithful in the performance of that work. Only those who faithfully fill their callings are chosen by the Lord for exaltation in the kingdom of God. Those who are called but not chosen ‘have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day,’ for the do not respond to the light of the restored gospel that surround...

95:3 - The Lord tells them that they are guilty of “a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things, that I have given unto you concerning the building on mine house.” The IM asks “What was the saints’ ‘grievous sin’?” and answers, “Later verses in section 95 show why it was so important to build the temple. Missionaries were to be prepared there ‘to prune (the Lord’s) vineyard’ for the last time. Also in the temple the Lord intended to ‘endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high.’ President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: ‘The Kirtland Temple was necessary before the apostles (who had not yet been called), and other elders of the Church could receive the endowment which the Lord had in store for them. The elders had been out preaching the Gospel and crying repentance every since the Church was organized and many great men had heard and embraced the truth, nevertheless the elders could not go forth in the power and authority which t...

Section 95 is the same size as 94, 17 verses, but it's content heavy, so that will be fun. We just learned that the Lord commanded the people to build several buildings, the first being the temple. The IM gives the historical background as follows: "The commandment to build a temple was first given in December 1832. The Prophet Joseph Smith reprted that when Doctrine and Covenants 95 was given, 'great preparations were making to commence a house of the Lord, but 'the Church was poor' and the work lagged. On 1 June 1833 the temple committee, composed of Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahood, and Jared Carter, sent a circular to all the members, encouraging them to assist spiritually and temporally in building the temple. On the same day the Propeht Joseph Smith recieved section 95, in which the Lord reproved the Saints for neglecting the commandment to build a temple." Listening to all this made me wonder, just how much the Lord expects from us because as far as I under...

Section 94 is not super short but it is very specific. The IM gives historical background as follows: "On 23 March 1833 a council was called to appoint a committee to purchase land in Kirtland for a stake of Zion. The committee was appointed, and some large farms were purchased. Among these was the Peter French farm, so-called after its previous owner. It was purchased because it had an excellent stone quarry and facilities for making brick. The Kirtland Temple was later built on a part of the Peter French farm. Once the land was purchased, a city plat was surveyed, and the Saints gathered from surrounding states until the Church in Kirtland numbered about fifteen hundred souls. In this revelation,  given on 6 May 1833, the same day section 93 was given, the Lord instructed the Saints 'to build the city of Kirtland Stake, beginning at His house.'" 94:1-7 - The Lord begins with my favorite greeting of all time, "my friends," and he commands them to begin plan...

93:38 - It’s been a while, I’ve been out of town at a conference and it was pretty awesome, excellent speakers, very spiritually uplifting. We last learned that “the glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one.” The Lord continues, “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.” This concept deals with original sin and the fact that we each come to this earth with a fresh start, there’s not “baggage” from the premortal life that holds us back in this life. The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “there is no such thing as original sin as such is defined in the creeds of Christendom. Such a concept denies the efficacy of the atonement. Our revelation says: ‘Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning’- meaning that spirit started out in a state of purity and innocence in preexistence- ‘and God having r...

Before we get into today’s study I want to go back into the last entry when we talked about how we can grow spiritually, step by step, in order to become more like the Savior. Again, the Lord knows exactly what I need to hear to further understand and apply his teachings. Driving to work today I listened to the December 2015 Ensign article entitled “Navigating the Currents of Life,” which says, “As in everything else, the Savior is a great source to look to in knowing where to start. We don’t know much about Christ’s early life, but we do know that he ‘increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.’ This implies at least four categories for potential self-improvement goals: mental, physical, spiritual, and social. President Howard W. Hunter suggested that we become engaged in ‘the personal pursuit of hobbies or crafts, the seeking of knowledge and wisdom, particularly of the things of God, and the development and honing of skills.’ Other categories might be community,...

93:20-23 - We know that the Savior started out with no knowledge of who he was or what he was to do, but it was revealed to Him as he grew in righteousness, quite quickly I might add. The Lord says that we also “shall receive of his fullness,… you shall receive grace for grace.” It’s a step by step process. It won’t happen overnight, but it is possible for it to happen rapidly. But I think that the main message here is that Christ received a fullness of the glory of the Father and we can receive that same fullness, to the same extent that Christ did, and that’s a little overwhelming because we are imperfect, and in most instances very flawed, and to imagine that we can eventually be on the same level of righteousness as the Savior is quite the idea. Satan wants us to think that we are so different from Jesus that we could never be even remotely like him, like an emulate from a distance type of idea, but that’s not true, we can be just like him in righteousness. The Lord tells us that ...

93:15-18 - John’s record continues that when he baptized the Savior, “the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.” DJR quotes JS as teaching, “He was entrusted with the important mission, and it was required at his hands, to baptize the Son of Man. Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that administration? The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was g...

Section 93 is pretty awesome, I have to be honest, one of my favorites and I just discovered that this morning, so that’s pretty exciting. There are a ton of topics covered and DJR calls this a “high mountain” revelation because it “gives us knowledge and perspective that enable us to make better decisions and draw closer to the Lord in our daily living, especially when we are faced with opposition.” The IM says, “The spring of 1833 was a time of joy but also a time of trials for the Saints. In Kirtland the lord revealed many things in the School of the Prophets, and the Saints prepared for a stake of Zion to be established there. In Zion, in Jackson County, Missouri, a special conference was held on 6 April to commemorate the organization of the Church. ‘It was an early spring, and the leaves and blossoms enlivened and gratified the soul of man like a glimpse of Paradise. The day was spent in a very agreeable manner, in giving and receiving knowledge which appertained to this last ki...