Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

Section 110 isn’t very long, only 16 verses but it very content heavy. The IM gives background as saying, “Excitement ran high as the Saints prepared to dedicate the Kirtland Temple of 27 March 1836. The Lord was pleased with the sacrifices made by the Saints to complete ‘a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.’ As the house was being dedicated, the Lord’s acceptance was gloriously manifested in divine endowments of ‘power from on high.’” I just made the connection between our personal endowment of “power from on high” with the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit at the temple dedication. Interesting, I had never put that together before. The IM continues, “After the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, council and spiritual meetings were held in the building almost daily. Sunday, April 3, 1836, was one of the most eventful days in the history of the Church.’ The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote of h...

109:54-59 - Dealing with the civil war and governmental stuff the prayer continues asking for protection for the constitution. The IM gives some very interesting insight quoting President George Q. Cannon as saying, “god has founded this land American and the government for the express purpose that Zion might be built upon this land, and that the people of all nations might come here singing His praises and thanking him that from the darkness and the threatening evils by which they are surrounded He has provided a way of escape, a safe place, that when calamities and judgments come upon the inhabitants of the earth, they can stand in holy places and be secure by keeping the commandments of God. What a glorious theme this is for the Elders to carry to the down-trodden of the nations of the earth who groan in darkness and who see no way of deliverance! Nor will it be the down-trodden alone who will listen to these tidings. Men in high places and of commanding positions will yet liste...

109:36-53 - Again, looking at this revelation from the perspective that the Lord revealed it, the Prophet prayed for an outpouring “as upon those on the day of Pentecost.” This was very interesting to me, mostly because I don’t really know too much about the Pentecost. The prayer continues asking for God to remember the suffering of those “who have been driven by the inhabitants of Jackson county, Missouri… O Lord, how long wilt thou suffer this people to bear this affliction, and the cries of their innocent ones to ascend up in thine ears, and their blood come up in testimony before thee, and not make a display of thy testimony in their behalf?” Interestingly though he continues, “Have mercy, O lord, upon the wicked mob, who have driven thy people, that they may cease to spoil, that they may repent of their sins if repentance is to be found.” Eventually the Smith family will suffer incalculably at the hands of the mobs in Jackson County, and knowing this, the Lord still included t...

109:1-9 - One of the things that I think is important to remember when reading section 109 is that the Lord himself dictated it, it wasn’t just what Joseph Smith thought was a good idea to say, it was of divine origin. The prayer begins with the statement that the Lord had “commanded thy servants to build a house to thy name in this place. And how thou beholdest, O Lord, that thy servants have done according to thy commandment.” The IM comments, “President George Q. Cannon wrote that the Kirtland Temple had been built at the ‘utmost self-sacrifice. Nearly three years had been occupied in it construction; and during this time the Saints had given of their substance and had toiled without ceasing to make a habitation fit for the ministration of angelic visitants and of the Holy One, Himself. The consummation of this work had been very near to the Prophet’s heart, especially since the tribulations in Missouri had shown that no house of the Lord could be erected speedily in the center ...

Section 109 is something new, it is the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple. I hadn't understood why the Kirtland Temple was so important and I guess that's because we have so many temples now, so I was like "what's the big deal," but reading the circumstances and what different things mean, it makes more sense. I guess let's start out with some perspective. The D&C church manual on section 109 asks "How many temples were built by the Lord's covenant people before this dispensation?" And answers saying, "we know of only four temples that were built by the Lord's covenant people before this dispensation. The first was the temple built in the days of Solomon, which was rebuilt twice and known at different times as the temple of Zerubbabel and the temple of Herod. The other three temples are mentioned in the Book of Mormon: the temple built by Nephi (2 Nephi 5:16), the temple in the land of Zarahemla from which King Benjamin gave...

Section 108 is very short, only 8 verses, and I'm going to do my best but I feel kind of disconnected from these, I don't know. The IM gives background saying, "When the First Quorum of the Seventy was organized on 28 February 1835, many of its members were drawn from the group of men known as Zion's Camp, the body that in 1834 had gone to help the afflicted Saints in Missouri. Lyman Sherman, whose loyalty and faith had been proven in the Zion's Camp expedition, was called to be one of the Seven Presidents of the First Quorum of the Seventy. The day after Christmas 1835, the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded in his journal that 'Brother Lyman Sherman came in, and requested to have the word of the Lord through me; 'for', said he, 'I have been wrought upon to make known to you my feelings and desires, and was promised that I should have a revelation which should make known my duty." 108:1-8 - As we begin this revelation, we will see why it was so s...

107:21-52 - There’s a lot of technical information here and I’m really short on time, so I’m just going to go through the parts that I find profitable for me personally at this time. The Lord lists the characteristics of those who are to make decisions over the church, “the decisions of these quorums, or either of them, are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long-suffering, and in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity; Because the promise is, if these things abound in them the shall not be unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord.” If these attributes are needed for the leaders to make proper decisions, then surely they would be helpful for us to make our decisions with the Holy Ghost. The Lord goes through the ancient priesthood lineage, who ordained who and when, it’s really interesting in verse 43 which says, “Because he (Seth) was a perfect man, and his likeness was the ex...

107:18-20 - The Lord sets out the privileges and duties of the different priesthoods, and most of them are straightforward. The Melchezidek priesthood has “the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” Those make sense, they are pretty straight forward, but the Aaronic priesthood is more complicated for me. “The power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronic Priesthood, is to hold the keys of the ministering of angels, and to administer in outward ordinances, the letter of the gospel, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, agreeable to the covenants and commandments.” The first point in this description is that the Aaronic Priesthood has governance over the physical side of covenants. For instance, the Aaronic Priesthood (AP from now on) can ba...

Section 107 is very long revelation about “the organization of Priesthood quorums.” The IM says that the Twelve apostles requested direction from the Lord for comfort and guidance before they left on their first missions to the “eastern states, to the Atlantic Ocean.” Interestingly, during the meeting where many decisions were made, the Twelve met together they did “feel to confess also, that we have not realized the importance of our calling to that degree that we ought; we have been light-minded and vain, and in many things done wrong.” They asked for forgiveness from the Lord and from “the Presidency.” After listening to this section, it makes me wonder this explanation of the priesthood is comforting to these men who are about to go on their mission? I’m also going to try to do something different this time, I’m not going to go by just the IM. Maybe it’s comforting to them because they are armed with the priesthood. 107:1-17 - I feel like a lot of this section is a back and ...

Section 106 is very short, only 8 verses, and introduces a new character, Warren A. Cowdery, Oliver Cowdery’s oldest brother. The IM gives background saying, “On his journey among the churches in early 1834, the Prophet Joseph Smith stopped in the village of Freedom, New York. Here he was entertained by Warren A. Cowdery, a brother of Oliver. (There were eight children in the Cowdery family, of which Warren was the oldest and Oliver the youngest.) The Prophet wrote that he stayed at Warren’s house, where ‘we were blessed with a full enjoyment of temporal and spiritual blessings, even all we needed, or were worthy to receive.’ The visit of the Prophet, as well as the influence of Oliver, who had been corresponding with his brother, resulted in the eventual conversion of Warren Cowdery to the Church. Through the efforts of the Prophet and other members of the Church, a branch was eventually established in Freedom, over which Warren Cowdery was called to preside. That fall found the P...

105:14-23 - I’m definitely getting caught up in this section. Verse 14 is incredibly powerful because the Lord says “I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion… I will fight your battles.” I think that this concept can be a little bit frustrating for us as humans because when we hear that we think “awesome, my problems are over,” and that’s not the case. Usually the situation is such that the Lord will fight our battles but not in the way that we want or expect. He’ll fight our battles by softening the hearts of those who can make a difference, or for instance the storm that arose and changed the intentions of the militia coming to give Zion’s Camp problems, that’s something that the Lord did to fight their battles. It’s hard, I guess, to take that concept and accept that if the Lord is going to fight our battles then we have to be patient and do it on his time table. And if we take matters into our own hands, then we will not succeed, we will be defeated. This wa...

105:6-12 - I think that I am getting caught up in lots of different topics and just going step by step through the IM, so I’m going to try to be more aware. I think one of the hear things is that, like with the Book of Mormon, there is a story and it just kind of flows together, where here they are different topics and revelations given without the background information or really, any information about what’s happening. I need to get back to DJR’s study guide, that I think will be helpful. The Lord says that the Saint need to “be prepared, and that my people may be taught more perfectly, and have experience, and know more perfectly concerning their duty, and the things which I require at their hands. And this cannot be brought to pass until mine elders are endowed with power from on high. For behold, I have prepared a great endowment and blessing to be poured out upon them, inasmuch as they are faithful and continue in humility before me.” The IM has a lot to say about this, and I...

105:1-5 - The Lord makes a very interesting delineation in verse 2 that I think is important. He says that Zion hasn’t not been redeemed because of transgression, which leads me back to my question, just how wicked are they? But He clarifies that he’s “speaking concerning the church and not individuals.” This was nice for me to see that it wasn’t everyone, that there righteous people there and that the Lord recognized that. The IM quotes President Lorenzo Snow as teaching, “the Saints in Jackson County and other localities, refused to comply with the order of consecration, consequently they were allowed to be driven from their inheritances; and should not return until they were better prepared to keep the law of God, by being more perfectly taught in reference to their duties, and learn through experience the necessity of obedience. And I think we are not justified in anticipating the privilege of returning to build up the center stake of Zion, until we shall have shown obedience t...

Section 105 comes back to Zion’s camp, and the IM gives background saying, “In October and November 1833, the Saint sin Jackson County, Missouri, were driven from their homes by mobs. ‘A revelation was given to Joseph Smith December 16, 1833, giving the reason for the expulsion of the members of the Church from Jackson County.’ As part of that revelation the Saints were instructed, through a parable, to ‘gather together the strength of the Lord’s house, ‘My young men and they that are middle aged also among all my servants, who are the strength of mine house, save those only whom I have appointed to tarry, ‘said the Lord, ‘and go straightway unto the land of my vineyard, and redeem my vineyard, for it is mine, I have bought it with money.’ Joseph Smith met with the High Council in Kirtland on February 24, 1834. The subject uppermost in the minds of everyone present was how could they relieve and rescue the Saints from the mobbers in Zion. At the meeting attend by about forty others...

104:19-46 – The Lord spends the next 27 verses giving specifics about certain people and what he wants their stewardships to be. The IM sums it up pretty nicely by quoting Smith and Sjodahl: “Specific directions are here given for stewardships. Sidney Rigdon is given charge of the tannery. He had, at one time, been engaged in the very useful business of a tanner and was competent in this stewardship. Martin Harris, who was a successful farmer, is given charge of a piece of land. He was also to manage a publication business, under the direction of the Prophet. Oliver Cowdery and Frederick G. Williams are given charge of the printing office. John Johnson is to be a real estate agent. Newel K. Whitney is assigned to the mercantile establishment. Joseph Smith is given charge of the Temple lot. He is also to take care of his father, for the Lord recognizes the duty of children to provide for their parents, as well as the duty of parents to care for their children.” I am curious as to wh...