D&C 105:14-41

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 was the case for Limhi’s people who tried three times to free themselves from Lamanite bondage and three times were defeated and suffered significant loss of life. They had to wait for the Lord to fight their battles, and the Lord waited because they were not spiritually prepared for that blessing yet. In the case of the Jews at the time of Christ, they were looking for their God to come down and fight their societal battle against the Romans, to free them from that bondage. They were so focused on that aspect of their deliverance that they complete missed it when their actual Savior came to deliver them from spiritual bondage, they weren’t ready, so they did not prevail. Likewise with Zion’s camp, the Lord is taking the option of fighting away from them which leaves them the opportunity to learn obedience and humility. I wonder if, in my own life, my options are being taken away because I need to learn obedience and humility. I definitely think that I’m at that point right now, I’ve definitely been spending a lot of time having a pity party for myself, feeling sorry for myself, that I’m so disadvantaged or victimized. I feel like this might be the message for me, that some of my battles are not being fought in the way that I want them to or in the time that I want them to because I’m not spiritually prepared to receive those blessings. The Lord says that he will fight their battles and “behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage.” Thinking about this, it would be incredibly frustrating if the Lord told me something like “in not too many years you will have more time with their children,” or “in not too many years you will get married again.” I don’t want to wait all that time, I want it now! But the point is that I’m not ready, and I definitely need to learn to lesson of trusting the Lord’s timing. Take for instance my working the night shift for so long. For 3 years I prayed for a better shift so that I could spend more time with my kids, and that’s a righteous desire, and I used to have tantrums to the Lord asking why and being angry for him not giving me what I wanted. Looking back, from the perspective of having come out of that shift, I wasn’t ready, I needed the lessons that I learned while suffering through that, and I believe, truly, that the experiences my children had during the last several very difficult years will impact them positively in their lives because that’s what the Lord has promised, that our afflictions will be for our benefit. I feel better today and I feel like that’s equating to more courage and optimism. The Lord tells them that “mine elders should wait for a little season, for the redemption of Zion.” The IM asks how long and answers, “Most people would probably not refer to a period of more than 170 years as a ‘little season,’ but from the Lord’s perspective it is a short time. The Church has used the intervening years to prepare. President Spencer W. Kimball taught: ‘Now, my brothers and sisters, it seems clear to me, indeed, this impression weighs upon me- that the Church is at a point in its growth and maturity when we are at last ready to move forward in a major way. Some decisions have been made and others pending, which will clear the way, organizationally. But the basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals. We have paused on some plateaus long enough. Let us resume our journey forward and upward. Let us quietly put an end to our reluctance to reach out to others- whether in our own families, wards, or neighborhoods. We have been diverted, at times, from fundamentals on which we must now focus in order to move forward as a person or as a people. Seemingly small efforts in the lift of each member could do so much to move the Church forward as never before… Are we ready, brothers and sisters, to do these seemingly small things out of which great blessings will proceed? I think we are. I believe the Lord’s church is on the verge of an upsurge in spirituality. Our individual spiritual growth is the key to major numerical growth in the kingdom. The Church is ready to accomplish these things now which it could not have done just a few years ago. So also we are ready as members. If you will accept my counsel, you will come to feel that there is a readiness in our people which must be put to work.’”

105:24-33 - The IM makes a connection between verse 24 that I hadn’t made before. In verse 24, the Lord says, “talk not of judgments, neither of faith nor of might works, but carefully gather together.” The IM asks, “Is one justified in seeking judgments against evil men?” I hadn’t made the connection between the two statements. The IM explains, “When a Samaritan village refused Jesus hospitality, James and John requested, ‘Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?’ Such impulses are natural in the face of persecution or trial. But just as Jesus counseled James and John, He also directed the Saints in Missouri to refrain from such ‘mighty works’ of judgment. All must remember that the Father ‘hath committed all judgment unto the Son.’ ‘Avenge not yourselves,… for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.’” I think that this goes back letting the Lord fight our battles for us, we can’t demand judgment because we don’t know the situation and if we want to be forgiven of our sins, we need to forgive others, if we want time to repent and to grow spiritually, we need to afford the same privilege to others, even if we are the ones they hurt. If we accept that the Lord will fight our battles, then we have to accept that he probably won’t do things the way that we would, and that’s probably for the best. I mean, look at the situation in Samaria, to call down fire and destruction on a city just for refusing them hospitality, it seems pretty extreme, but I’m sure to them at the time, it made perfect sense. How many times in our lives have we wanted something down, some severe retribution for something that seemed justified at that moment. Looking back on the situation ourselves we can see the absurdity of what we wanted done, or even if it takes centuries and different cultures to say “hey, yeah, that was a little bit much,” eventually we can be grateful that, like with James and John, we have the Lord behind us saying, “let me take care of this the way that I see fit.” The Lord even tells them that he will “given unto you favor and grace in their eyes,” one of the ways that the Lord fights our battles for us is to soften the hearts of those whose hearts can be softened, “as I did the heart of Pharaoh.” The Lord continues that the lands are to be purchased with money, I don’t really understand the significance of it, but the IM has a lot to say so I’m going to put that here. The IM quotes President Joseph Fielding Smith as teaching, “the saints were… commanded to continue to purchase lands in Jackson County and the surrounding country, for it was the will of the Lord that these lands should be purchased and consecrated unto him. If they continued to buy lands and then their enemies should come upon them the armies of Israel would be justified in taking possession of their lands and break down the towers of the enemy. Before this could be done, however, the army of the Lord should become very great that her ‘banners may be terrible unto all nations.’ The whole tenor of this commanded seems to point to the fact that the saints should have deeds to the property in Jackson County and surrounding lands, but that the time for the redemption was to wait for a long time, until the Church should become very great, and then when the time was ripe that Lord would come forth to fight their battles. Apparently it was to be when the kingdoms of this world may be constrained to acknowledge that ‘the kingdom of Zion is in very deed the kingdom of our God and his Christ; therefore, let us become subject to her laws.’ From other scripture it appears that the time when the nations will acknowledge Zion as the kingdom of god is not to come until our Redeemer comes to take his place as King of kings.”

105:34-41 - Another interesting connection in section 105 is made between verse 34 and “the revocation of the law of consecration.” Verse 34 says, “And let those commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her law be executed and fulfilled, after her redemption.” The IM quotes President J. Reuben Clark Jr. as explaining, “It was under these circumstances, with the Satins scattered and sometimes hunted like wild animals, with their property gone, their organization largely broken up, wounded in mind and spirit, with the condemnation of the Lord pronounced upon their heads because of their unfaithfulness, not to say wickedness, with ‘Zion’ to all intents and purposes destroyed, that the Lord commanded them, in the great revelation given at Fishing River,- ‘And let those commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her laws be executed and fulfilled, after her redemption.’ It is interesting to note that after this pronouncement, the Lord practically never referred to the United Order in his revelations to the Prophet. The people had had their opportunity and failed. He then gave them the law of tithing in a revelation given in Missouri itself, in Zion, which is still in full force and effect… Thus the Lord directed that the law he had given regarding the setting up of the United Order in Zion was to be ‘executed and fulfilled’ after the redemption of Zion, that is, in the meaning in which the Lord was then using the word Zion, the ‘redemption,’ the reestablished.’” Thinking about it, they really didn’t have very long to get it right, to work through all the problems and really get it going, a couple years max, so that makes me wonder why did the Lord call it so short and say “too late, you had your chance.” That doesn’t seem very patient or merciful at all. Personally, I think that it wasn’t his will that Zion be established right at that time, but that he wanted to give the saints a chance to try it. It’s similar to the fall of Adam. It wasn’t God’s will for Adam and Even to stay in the garden long term, but he couldn’t just kick them out because otherwise they wouldn’t be fallen, it wouldn’t have been their “choice.” He had to give them the opportunity to decide for themselves what they would do, and it’s similar here. He had to give the saints the chance to live celestial law, and when it didn’t work, as he knew that it wouldn’t, he told them that it was time to move on. Maybe that’s why the Lord uses the word “transgression” for both the fall of Adam and the early saints failure to establish Zion. It wasn’t the right time or circumstances, but the Lord had to let them try it for themselves.