D&C 94
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 planning and constructing "the city of the stake of Zion." He's given them a pattern and very specific instructions as to the dimensions, locations, purposes and uses. These buildings were to be used as a temple, basically a "church office building" for the First Presidency to conduct church business, and inheritances for the people. The IM asks "What pattern had the Lord given for he city of the stake of Kirtland?" And answers saying, "'The city of the stake of Zion' at Kirtland was to be built 'beginning at my house.' The city was to be laid out with the temple as the starting point and the rest of the city built in relation to it. Joseph Smith drafted a plan for the central city of Zion in the spring of 1833 as a general pattern for cities of Zion. According to a copy of the place sent to the Church in Independence, the temple was to be located in the center tier of blocks in a one-mile-square plat. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: 'A lot was set apart for the building of a house for the use of the First Presidency and where revelation could be given and all matters pertaining to the progress of the Church could receive proper attention... It was to be dedicated unto the Lord from the foundation thereof, according to the order of the Priesthood. There is no question that the First Presidency needed a place where they could attend to the matters of Church government. This was to be a sacred house; no unclean thing was to be permitted to enter it, and if the builders would remember this the presence of the Lord should be in the building. The section lot south of this building was to be dedicated for the building of another house where the printing for the Church could be done and the translation of the scriptures, on which the Prophet had been working off and on for many months, could be published... This house also was to be dedicated to the service of the Lord, and set apart for the printing.'"
94:8-9 - I hadn't considered that any building other than the temple and maybe a chapel could be dedicated to God and the standards of entrance be so high, but after reading this, it would make sense that any structure can be dedicated and especially if it's set apart for church purposes, that it would be entitled to the companionship of the Spirit. The Lord continues, "And ye shall not suffer any unclean thing to come in unto it; and my glory shall be there, and my presence shall be there. But if there shall come into it any unclean thing, my glory shall not be there; and my presence shall not come into it." When we think of God's glory, we know that the glory of God is intelligence, it's my guess that the Lord is telling us here that if we are worthy and respectful and reverent in his buildings, then he will impart of his knowledge to us, in other words, a place of learning. The IM asks "How must one prepare to enter the Lord's house?" And answers, "in such a sacred building as the house of the First Presidency mentioned here, the Lord will manifest His glory for the benefit of those who enter worthily. The Spirit of the Lord is repulsed by uncleanness. Therefore, if individuals enter the Lord's house in a state of impurity, 'the Spirit of the Lord is grieved' and 'the heavens withdraw themselves.' Therefore, all who enter must purify themselves from sin. This was true of the houses referred to in this revelation, as well as the Kirtland Temple, which was built later, and it is true of modern temples. One purpose of the temple recommend is to ensure that those who enter the temple do so in worthiness, so that the Lord's house will not be defiled and the out pouring of the Lord's Spirit will not be inhibited or restrained." For the most part, a temple recommend interview is based on the honor system, meaning that you could probably lie and get one, but honestly, it's hard enough to get the members who actually value their temple recommend to go to the temple, let alone those who have to lie to get it. That's kind of funny actually, but I know that it has to happen, someone lies to get a temple recommend because they want to secretly video tape what happens in there or they aren't worthy but they want to go anyway to appease their spouse or other church members. I wonder what happens to the Spirit when these people enter the rooms of the temple. I wonder if the temple workers can feel the difference in the Spirit, or if it just leaves that one person. Because as far as I know, they can't very well stand up in the front of the room and say "we feel a loss of the Spirit, who is here unworthily?" That doesn't seem like the Lord's way. Interesting, I'll have to think about that. I guess the only real thing that we can do about that is to make sure that we ourselves are worthy to enter the temple and to maintain reverence when we are in the other Church buildings.
94:10-17 - The Lord continues with his specifications giving inheritances to specific people, namely Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter, "that they may do the work which I have appointed unto them, to be a committee to build mine houses." The IM says, "Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter were appointed as a committee to oversee the completion of certain buildings in Kirtland. To aid them in their assignment, the Lord gave them land adjacent to the temple lot. The Lord specified that the buildings for the First Presidency and the printing work should not begin 'until I give unto you a commandment concerning them.' As it happened, the building of the Kirtland Temple took all the energy and finances of the Church. By the time it was completed, the faithful in Kirtland were compelled to leave for Missouri, so the other two buildings were not completed." That begs the question, why would the Lord command the construction of buildings that He knew were never going to be finished? He told them to not begin construction until he later commanded them, therefore giving all the focus to the temple. Maybe the Lord was setting a precedent for all of his cities to follow, because really, this is the first city that the saints were commanded to gather in, and he told them to "act as if for years," so it would only make sense that he would also command from the long-term perspective. This probably gave the example for the rest of the main cities that the saints occupied throughout their migration until they ended up in the Salt Lake Valley.
94:1-7 - The Lord begins with my favorite greeting of all time, "my friends," and he commands them to begin planning and constructing "the city of the stake of Zion." He's given them a pattern and very specific instructions as to the dimensions, locations, purposes and uses. These buildings were to be used as a temple, basically a "church office building" for the First Presidency to conduct church business, and inheritances for the people. The IM asks "What pattern had the Lord given for he city of the stake of Kirtland?" And answers saying, "'The city of the stake of Zion' at Kirtland was to be built 'beginning at my house.' The city was to be laid out with the temple as the starting point and the rest of the city built in relation to it. Joseph Smith drafted a plan for the central city of Zion in the spring of 1833 as a general pattern for cities of Zion. According to a copy of the place sent to the Church in Independence, the temple was to be located in the center tier of blocks in a one-mile-square plat. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: 'A lot was set apart for the building of a house for the use of the First Presidency and where revelation could be given and all matters pertaining to the progress of the Church could receive proper attention... It was to be dedicated unto the Lord from the foundation thereof, according to the order of the Priesthood. There is no question that the First Presidency needed a place where they could attend to the matters of Church government. This was to be a sacred house; no unclean thing was to be permitted to enter it, and if the builders would remember this the presence of the Lord should be in the building. The section lot south of this building was to be dedicated for the building of another house where the printing for the Church could be done and the translation of the scriptures, on which the Prophet had been working off and on for many months, could be published... This house also was to be dedicated to the service of the Lord, and set apart for the printing.'"
94:8-9 - I hadn't considered that any building other than the temple and maybe a chapel could be dedicated to God and the standards of entrance be so high, but after reading this, it would make sense that any structure can be dedicated and especially if it's set apart for church purposes, that it would be entitled to the companionship of the Spirit. The Lord continues, "And ye shall not suffer any unclean thing to come in unto it; and my glory shall be there, and my presence shall be there. But if there shall come into it any unclean thing, my glory shall not be there; and my presence shall not come into it." When we think of God's glory, we know that the glory of God is intelligence, it's my guess that the Lord is telling us here that if we are worthy and respectful and reverent in his buildings, then he will impart of his knowledge to us, in other words, a place of learning. The IM asks "How must one prepare to enter the Lord's house?" And answers, "in such a sacred building as the house of the First Presidency mentioned here, the Lord will manifest His glory for the benefit of those who enter worthily. The Spirit of the Lord is repulsed by uncleanness. Therefore, if individuals enter the Lord's house in a state of impurity, 'the Spirit of the Lord is grieved' and 'the heavens withdraw themselves.' Therefore, all who enter must purify themselves from sin. This was true of the houses referred to in this revelation, as well as the Kirtland Temple, which was built later, and it is true of modern temples. One purpose of the temple recommend is to ensure that those who enter the temple do so in worthiness, so that the Lord's house will not be defiled and the out pouring of the Lord's Spirit will not be inhibited or restrained." For the most part, a temple recommend interview is based on the honor system, meaning that you could probably lie and get one, but honestly, it's hard enough to get the members who actually value their temple recommend to go to the temple, let alone those who have to lie to get it. That's kind of funny actually, but I know that it has to happen, someone lies to get a temple recommend because they want to secretly video tape what happens in there or they aren't worthy but they want to go anyway to appease their spouse or other church members. I wonder what happens to the Spirit when these people enter the rooms of the temple. I wonder if the temple workers can feel the difference in the Spirit, or if it just leaves that one person. Because as far as I know, they can't very well stand up in the front of the room and say "we feel a loss of the Spirit, who is here unworthily?" That doesn't seem like the Lord's way. Interesting, I'll have to think about that. I guess the only real thing that we can do about that is to make sure that we ourselves are worthy to enter the temple and to maintain reverence when we are in the other Church buildings.
94:10-17 - The Lord continues with his specifications giving inheritances to specific people, namely Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter, "that they may do the work which I have appointed unto them, to be a committee to build mine houses." The IM says, "Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter were appointed as a committee to oversee the completion of certain buildings in Kirtland. To aid them in their assignment, the Lord gave them land adjacent to the temple lot. The Lord specified that the buildings for the First Presidency and the printing work should not begin 'until I give unto you a commandment concerning them.' As it happened, the building of the Kirtland Temple took all the energy and finances of the Church. By the time it was completed, the faithful in Kirtland were compelled to leave for Missouri, so the other two buildings were not completed." That begs the question, why would the Lord command the construction of buildings that He knew were never going to be finished? He told them to not begin construction until he later commanded them, therefore giving all the focus to the temple. Maybe the Lord was setting a precedent for all of his cities to follow, because really, this is the first city that the saints were commanded to gather in, and he told them to "act as if for years," so it would only make sense that he would also command from the long-term perspective. This probably gave the example for the rest of the main cities that the saints occupied throughout their migration until they ended up in the Salt Lake Valley.
Comments
Post a Comment