D&C 95:3-4

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 the Lord intended them to possess until this Temple was built where he could restore keys and powers essential to the more complete preaching of the gospel and the administration in its ordinances…. Four days after the Lord had rebuked the brethren for their neglect, without waiting for subscriptions, the brethren went to work on the Temple. Elder George A. Smith, a recent convert, hauled the first load of stone for the Temple. Hyrum Smith and Reynolds Cahoon commenced digging the trench for the walls, and they finished the same with their own hands.” Part of this explanation that bothered me was when it said that the Lord intended the missionaries to carry his power with them when they were preaching, but I don’t grasp the concept that the Lord would call these missionaries out only to give them limited power because they hadn’t been to the temple yet. I think that if the Lord wanted to give them his power, then he would when they needed it, he promised that, so did he break his promise by sending out ill-equipped messengers? No I don’t think so, and honestly, it might not make sense but I really had to think about that because if I put myself in the place of someone who desperately wanted to know the gospel but didn’t hear the message in an effective way because the missionary wasn’t given the power to do so, then that wouldn’t be fair, I wouldn’t want my eternal salvation tied to anyone else’s choices. What I decided was that the Lord knew what these people needed in order to progress spiritually, I’m confident that He fully supported and cared for those he sent out prior to this commandment and gave them the power to do what he had asked them. I’m also confident that just as he knows each of us intimately, he knew that the saints in Kirtland were ready to go to the temple and that they needed to sacrifice in order to build it. I think it’s very profound that Hyrum Smith dug the trenches for the temple walls, and he was martyred with his brother several years later. Those kind of experiences build strong testimonies. The Lord knew exactly what they needed in order to grow next, and they needed temple ordinances, so they needed a temple and they built that temple themselves through much difficulty and sacrifice.

95:4 - There are a few interesting concepts in verse 4 which says, “For the preparation wherewith I design to prepare mine apostles to prune my vineyard for the last time, that I may bring to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” The first concept is that of pruning the vineyard. The IM says, “The vineyard is the harvest symbol usually used to represent the world- the earth and all of the people who live on the earth. At times the vineyard (the people of the world) has become corrupt, and it is necessary to prune it so the vine will be able to produce good fruit in abundance. The process of pruning involves the separation of one part of the plant form other parts. This could be achieved by calling out or separating the righteous from among the wicked or by the actual destruction of the wicked. It is usually the former sense that the Lord instructs his servants (missionaries) to prune his vineyard. However, the Lord has also warned that when the pruning process is completed, the vines that continue to bring forth bad fruit will be burned. This evidently refers to the burning of the wicked, which will take place at the second coming when Jesus Christ will come in power and great glory.” The second interesting part about verse 4 is the word “strange.” When I was listening to this section, I had to stop and think “wait, did he just say strange?” The IM explains it nicely by quoting Elder Neal A. Maxwell who taught, “A fresh view is not always welcomed…’ it can be jarring to those who are intensely set in their ways. Even the remarkable Enoch was not welcomes by many of his contemporaries. Of his and his labors it was said anciently, ‘There is a strange thing in the land.’ Isaiah’s phrase ‘strange work’ is amplified in Restoration scriptures. Fresh and striking truths were necessary so that mortals could ‘hear and know that which they have never considered.’ Without such vision, people perish. Having described the Restoration as his ‘strange act,’ and ‘my strange work,’ the Lord indicated that it would go against the grain of much of society. Yet restitution of the unfamiliar, the uncommon, the unusual, and the unique would actually aid mortals by providing fresh, divine standards and help them in discerning between righteousness and wickedness, as God ‘poured (His) Spirit upon all flesh.’ With values otherwise shorn of true perspective, the inversions of certain of them become almost inevitable. Finally, evil can end up being called good, and good evil.”