D&C 101:76-80

101:76-80 - The Lord goes into some pretty specific stuff about how the Saints should go about solving their problems, and the origin of the United States constitution. I’m not sure what the saints were expecting, vengeance or permission to fight, maybe like the Jews at the time of Christ, they wanted a warrior god to free them from their oppression but like the Jews, the Lord tells them to be patient, to endure, to perfect themselves in their tribulations. This is similar to Alma and Amulon, Limhi and his people, they weren’t delivered right away, it took time, they were told to wait and so they did, kicking and screaming much of the time. Here the Lord tells them to “importune for redress, and redemption, by the hands of those who are placed as rulers and are in authority over you.” The IM teaches, “One purpose of government is to protect individuals ‘in their inherent and inalienable rights,’ including ‘the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.’ The Saints in Zion were denied all these rights. The Constitution of United States guarantees individuals the right to apply from redress when denied their rights. The Lord urged the Saints in Zion ‘to importune for redress, and redemption’ at the hands of the constituted authorities. President Charles W. Penrose explained how the Constitution benefits all people: ‘In section 101 the Lord speaks about the constitution of this land. He says it was framed by wise men whom he raised up for that very purpose. What for? To maintain the rights and privileges ‘of all flesh.’ Now only the people of this land. The principle of that great instrument are to go forth to the nations, and the time will come when they will prevail, just as sure as the sun shines even when it appears to be in darkness and the clouds are over it.’” And I guess it’s true, the constitution of our country have influenced the constitutions of other governments. The next several verses are thick with language that I’m kind of struggling with right now, but basically the Lord is saying that the constitution was established by God to protect the rights of all people so that they could act for themselves “according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.” This brings to mind when the Lehi said to Laman and Lemuel that they will be responsible for the sins of their children because they refused to teach them the gospel, or when King Mosiah convinced the people that they needed elected judges instead of kings because a wicked king influences his people to be wicked themselves, and therefore he is responsible for much of their wickedness as well. But in a democratic government where people are free to make their own choices, then the government isn’t to blame to people’s poor choices, but as the Lord stipulates this is “according to just and holy principles.” Excellent insight into the creation of the United States in verse 80 in which the Lord says “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.” The IM says, “To me… that statement of the lord, ‘I have established the Constitution of this land, puts the Constitution of the United States in the position in which it would be if it were written in the book of Doctrine and Covenants itself. This makes the Constitution the world of the Lord to us. That it was given, not by oral utterance, but by the operation of his mind and spirit upon the minds of men, inspiring them to the working out of this great document of human government, does not alter its authority.” Looking at it from this perspective, makes amending the constitution that much more serious. The taking of this nation by bloodshed is a pretty serious matter coming from the Prince of Peace, and knowing that the founders were inspired and chosen for this very purpose is incredible. Once I was at a book store and I picked up a book called Being George Washington and the back of the book read as follows, referring to George Washington as the “colonel” it says: “As he stared into the fire, the colonel took off his coat. Shaking it out, he found two holes, the shells having passed right through the fabric. He stared at them in disbelief, pushing a finger through each hole as if to convince himself that they were real. He slowly shook his head in disbelief. A small group of officers was watching. One of them, a scrawny Virginia with jet-black hair, leaned forward on his knees, his face pale yellow in the firelight. ‘There’s another one in your hat, sit.’ The colonel took his hat off and examined it. Yes, there was another hole. Two shells through his clothes. Another through his hat. Two horses shot out from underneath him. He shook his head again. A fellow Virginian officer watched him carefully. ‘Who are you?’ the man wondered aloud, a deep hesitation in his voice… The colonel looked his fellow Virginian in the eyes. ‘I am George Washington.’” I got goose bumps reading that, it was so incredible, another example of how God can protect in ways that make no sense to us. The IM quotes President Brigham Young as saying, “We believe that the Lord has been preparing that when he should bring forth his work, that, when the set time should fully come, there might be a place upon his footstool where sufficient liberty of conscience should exist, that his Satins might dwell in peace under the broad panoply of constitutional law and equal rights. In this view we might consider that the men in the Revolution were inspired by the Almighty, to throw off the shackles of the mother government, with her established religion. For this cause were Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, and a host of others inspired to deeds of resistance to the acts of the King of Great Britain, who might also have been led to those aggressive acts, for aught we know, to bring to pass the purposes of God, in this establishing a new government upon a principle of greater freedom, a basis of self-government allowing the free exercise of religious worship. It was the voice of the Lord inspiring all those worthy men who bore influence in those trying times, not only to go forth in battle but to exercise wisdom in council, fortitude, courage, and endurance in the tented field, as well as subsequently to form and adopt those wise and efficient measures which secured to themselves and succeeding generations, the blessings of a free and independent government.”

101:80-95 - The Lord gives another parable in which he demonstrates the Saints need to continue to seek redress from the government, and it’s really an interesting point He’s making here, it’s kind of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” situation. The parable is about a woman who went a an unjust judge and asked for redress and he refused because he “feared not God, neither regarded man.” But she kept coming and coming to him so much that he eventually got tired of her and said “though I fear not God, nor regard man,  yet because this widow troubleth me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” The Lord tells the Saints to “importune at the feet of the governor” and if that doesn’t work then the president, and if that doesn’t work then the Lord will “come forth out of his hiding place, and in his fury vex the nation.” I find it interesting that he never tells them “do this and it will work,” he tells them “try this and if it doesn’t work, then try that.” He tells them his end game but never the route to take. A lot of people can look at that and say “Joseph Smith was guessing, that’s why,” but that doesn’t seem to be the case because every time the saints try what the Lord has commanded, even if it doesn’t get them the results that they want, they learned a valuable lesson needed for later, or strengthened a part of themselves that couldn’t be done any other way. It’s interesting to look at that model in our own lives because how often are we given an answer to our prayers and then are disappointed when it doesn’t work out the way that we want it to? The IM say, “the Lord repeated the parable in Luke 18:1-8 of the woman who so wearied a judge with her importuning that he finally granted her petition. He then likened the parable to the situation of the Saints. They were to seek redress from the judge through the governor to the president of the United States himself. If the appeals went unheeded, the Lord said that he would rise in anger and mete out justice to those who had dispossessed the Saints, for all men would ‘be left without excuse.’ President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: ‘The saints were also to carry their grievances to the proper tribunals and seek for redress of their wrongs. This was a very necessary step, and when the Saints did this and were denied their civil and religious rights, those officials were left without excuse, and the judgments of the Almighty which later came upon them during the Civil War, were justified… Since there is a just law of retribution, as fixed and eternal as are other laws of the Almighty, the day must come when there shall be adjustments made before a Just Magistrate who will not be cowed by the threats of mobs.’” Even though the Lord knows that they won’t respond favorably, it’s important to the process for them to be given the chance to do so. With that logic, we could be punished for things we haven’t done yet just because the Lord knows that we will. Agency dictates that we have the opportunity to choose to be obedient or to be disobedient before any consequences are rendered, that only makes sense. But we are counseled to “pray ye, therefore, that their ears may be opened unto your cries, that I may be merciful unto them, that these things may not come upon them.” That’s an interesting perspective, pray for them to be just so that not only will you be taken care of but they won’t have to be punished.

101:96-101 – The Lord’s last counsel to the saints in this revelation is for them to hang on to the land and the properties that they bought, “therefore, it is my will that my people should claim, and hold claim upon that which I have appointed unto them, though they should not be permitted to swell thereon.” The IM says “the saints were commanded to ‘hold claim’ upon their Missouri lands even ‘though they should not be permitted to dwell thereon.’ In writing to the Saints in Jackson County, the Prophet Joseph Smith said: ‘I would inform you that it is not the will of the Lord for you to sell your lands in Zion, if means can possibly be procured for your sustenance without. Every exertion should be made to maintain the cause you have espoused.’ He then went on to say: ‘Let your sufferings be what they may, it is better in the eyes of God that you should die, than that you should give up the land of Zion, the inheritanes which you have purchased with your moneys; for every man that giventh not up his inheritance, though he should die, yet, when the lord shall come, he shall stand upon it, and with Job, in his flesh he shall see God. Therefore, this is my counsel, that you retain your lands, even unto the uttermost, and employ every lawful means to seek redress of your enemies; and pray to God, day and night, to return you in peace and in safety to the lands of your inheritance: and when the judge fail you, appeal unto the executive; and when the executive fail you, and the humanity of the people fail you, and all things else fail you but God alone, and you continue to weary Him with your importunings, as the poor woman did the unjust judge, He will not fail to execute judgment upon your enemies, and to avenge His own elect that cry unto Him day and night.’ The consecrated lands of the Saints’ inheritances were polluted by the wicked mobs as they burned and pillaged. But for the Saints to consent to this pollution by selling their lands was, in the eyes of the Lord, ‘a very sore and grievous sin.’”