Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

121:38 - JS continues with what happens when someone is consumed by their own sins, and this speaks to me personally because I spent many years like this, and probably still do. The verse says, “Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.” It’s interesting that he says “ere he is aware” and this really is the point for so much in our lives, we can’t see what is really happening but everyone else can. I wonder why that is, what blinds us to our own truth, whether it’s that we aren’t keeping the commandments but we think we are or if we think we are being a good person when in fact we are not. And the opposite is true, most of us are much harder on ourselves than we should be, or definitely harder on ourselves than the Lord is, I believe. I’ve had many instances where I was so angry with myself, that I was sure the Lord was super disappointed in me, but He’s whispered that I’m doing a good job and th...

121:26-29 - While the Lord blasts those who fight against his work and his people, he makes an incredible promise to those who stay faithful saying, "God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fulness of their glory. A time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many gods, they shall be manifest. All thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ." There is a lot of content and points made in these few verses, the first one being the use of the word "unspeakable." To me this sounds related to "unpardonable" which refers to the denial of t...

121:1-6 - The first 6 verses are JS praying asking God how long are they going to have to suffer, not only those imprisoned but all the saints as they are driven from the state of Missouri. He recognizes that at any moment the Lord can choose to stop the abuse of his people, but I believe mistakenly asks how long “before thine heart shall be softened towards them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?... Let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us.” I believe that this implies that the Lord is not concerned with what is happening to his people, and I don’t think that JS really felt that way, but it’s pretty desperate language and I totally understand that thought process. The IM asks, “Why did the Prophet use such words as pavilion and hiding place?” and answers, “These are expressions used by the authors of the Bible. When David says, ‘...

Specifically about this section the IM says, “Occasionally they were permitted visits at the jail form friends and were allowed to send and receive correspondence. Between 20 March and 25 March 1839, the Prophet Joseph dictated a lengthy communication that was signed by all the prisoners (actually there were two letters, although the Prophet identified the second as a continuation of the first). President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote of this correspondence: ‘This is one of the greatest letters that was ever penned by the hand of man. In fact it was the result of humble inspiration. It is a prayer and a prophecy and an answer by revelation from the Lord. None other but a noble soul filled with the spirit of love of Christ could have written such a letter. Considering (their sufferings), it is no wonder that the Prophet cried out in the anguish of his soul for relief. Yet, in his earnest pleading, there breathed a spirit of tolerance and love for his fellow man.’ Sections 121-23 were ...

I've been looking forward to section 121 for a long time because it starts what I like to call the "Lessons from Liberty." These sections, 122 specifically has made a huge difference in my life and the way that I deal with adversity and truly has given me more insight into the atonement than I had before. The first time that I realized that the Prophet's experience in Liberty Jail was a bigger deal than I imagined was when I saw a painting of JS kneeling on a stone floor praying with a blankey around his shoulders. I've always lived in hot, sunny places my whole life with the exception of Utah for 3 years, so I have never really understood the harshness of a cold winter before. I am very sensitive to cold, I really don't like it, the heat, I get used to, but the cold, forget it, at about 35 degrees my ears start to ache and I can't see. That's really not that cold in comparison to say, North Dakota where it's below 0 for months at a time. Imagining...

Section 119 is short, only 7 verses, but it covers a lot of information. The IM gives interesting background information saying, “The Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation on tithing on 8 July 1838 at Far West, Missouri. The revelation came in response to the following question: ‘O Lord! Show unto thy servant how much thou requires of the properties of thy people for a tithing.’ President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: ‘The Lord had give to the Church the law of consecration and had called upon the members, principally the official members, to enter into a covenant that could not be broken and to be everlasting in which they were to consecrate their properties and receive stewardships, for this is the law of celestial kingdom. Many of those who entered into this solemn covenant broke it and by so doing brought upon their heads, and the heads of their brethren and sisters, dire punishment and persecution. This celestial law of necessity was thereupon withdrawn for the time,...

Section 118 is short and "another of the four (revelations) give to the Prophet at Far West, Missouri, on 8 July 1838. It came in response to the question, 'show unto us thy will O Lord concerning the Twelve.'" 118:1 - The Lord calls for a "conference to be held immediately; let the Twelve be organized; and let men be appointed to supply the place of those who are fallen." The IM says that this is because "the Apostles and prophets are the foundation of the Church, and the Lord wished to keep the Quorum of the Twelve functioning without any long delay, another evidence of the importance the Lord places on the presiding quorums." The IM comments of the fallen apostles, "Elders William E. M'Lillin, Luke S. Johnson, John F. Boynton, and Lyman E. Johnson had at this point fallen into disharmony with the Church and had been excommunicated. They had been in the first Quorum of the Twelve in this dispensation, which was called on 14 February 18...

Section 117 deals with money and materialism, which seems to be a running theme throughout the scriptures, but thus is human nature I think. The IM gives background saying, “This revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants is the first of four revelations that were all given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on 8 July 1838 at Far West, Missouri. Their order in the Doctrine and Covenants is somewhat different, however, from the order given in Joseph Smith’s history. ‘The Lord had commanded the Saints to gather and build up Far West speedily. A company of 515 souls, known as the Kirtland Camp, left Kirtland on the 6 th of July, 1838, for Zion. On the 14 th of September, it appears only 260 members were left, the others having been scattered ‘to the four winds.’ The camp arrived in Adam-ondi-Ahman on the 4 th of October. Neither Marks, Whitney, nor Granger were members of this company. (Granger was already in Far West. He carried this revelation to Marks and Whitney in Kirtland and was inst...

Section 116 is only 1 verse so let’s make it count. The IM has a lot of background information, but I’m just going to include the last paragraph, which says, “On another occasion the Prophet wrote: ‘Adam-ondi-Ahman is located immediately on the north side of Grand River, in Daviess county, Missouri, about twenty-five miles north of Far West. It is situated on an elevated spot of ground, which renders the place as healthful as any part of the United States, and overlooking the river and the country round about, it is certainly a beautiful location.’” 116:1 – The only verse in the section says, “Spring Hill is names by the Lord Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet.” The IM says, “Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said that the council at Adam-ondi-Ahman, as prophesied in Daniel 7:9-14, will be ‘of the greatest importance to this world. At that time there will be ...

115:5 – The Lord tells the Church “Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.” The IM has a very interesting commentary given “in the early years of World War II” by Elder John A. Widtsoe saying, “What is our mission to the world? I have turned to the scriptures to get the answer, and have found the answer, both in ancient and modern scriptures. It is that the Church of Christ at all times must be a standard to the nations, a standard to which all nations, all people, all men may turn as they seek safety, peace, and happiness. It is our great mission… to be a standard to all the world, and we say without hesitation that those who obey and comply with that standard will find that which men most desire in life. It is a bold declaration, tremendously bold, that a small people in the valleys of these mountains, misunderstood, often harassed by persecution, may become the standard by which all mankind may be led to peace and happiness; but so it is. I am no...

There's not a ton of background information for this section, the section heading says, "Revelation given through the Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Far West, Missouri, April 26, 1838, making known the will of God concerning the building up of that place and of the Lord's house. This revelation is addressed to the presiding officers and the members of the Church." The IM says, "Section 115 was received nine days after section 114 and is addressed to the officers and members of the Church, particularly the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric. The Prophet Joseph Smith recorded that on 26 April 1838 at Far West, Missouri, he received the revelation setting forth 'the will of God concerning the building up of that place, and of the Lord's House." 115:4 - the Lord officially names the church as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." The IM quotes Elder B.H. Roberts as giving interesting explanation as "It will be observ...

Section 114 is only 2 verses so let’s see what we got. The IM gives background saying, “The Prophet Joseph Smith received this revelation of 17 April 1838 in behalf of David W. Patten at Far West, Missouri. Elder Patten was one of the original Apostles and ‘had for some time been located in Missouri and with Elder Thomas B. Marsh was maintaining a steady influence amidst the opposition of disaffected brethren, including the three who had been appointed to preside, David Whitmer, William W. Phelps and John Whitmer. The Lord called upon Elder Patten to settle up his business as soon as possible, make a disposition of his merchandise, and prepare to take a mission the following spring, in company with others to preach the Gospel to all the world. ‘For verily thus saith the Lord, that inasmuch as there are those among you deny my name, others shall be planted in their stead, and receive their bishopric. Amen.’ Elder Patten obedient to this revelation took steps to meet this call which ...

I’m going to go through section 113 the same way that I did 112, taking what I personally found to be enlightening for my situation currently and commenting on that. Section 113 deals with scriptural interpretation of the 11 th chapter of Isaiah. The IM says, “In January 1838 the Prophet Joseph Smith fled from Kirtland to escape the enemies who were seeking his life. He traveled to Far West, Missouri, where he arrived on 14 March 1838. He wrote: ‘On the 14 th of March, as we were about entering Far West, many of the brethren came out to meet us, who also with open arms welcomed us to their bosoms. We were immediately received under the hospitable rook of Brother George W. Harris, who treated us with all possible kindness, and we refreshed ourselves with much satisfaction, after our long and tedious journey, the brethren bringing in such things as we had need of for our comfort and convenience. After (our) being here two or three days, my brother Samuel arrived with his family.’ T...

112:11 - The concept of loving others has always been pretty difficult for me because I don’t really feel love most of the time. It’s really easy for me to decide to cut someone out of my life or to not love them anymore, really easy. But it’s interesting because I’ve prayed to be able to love people, and almost immediately the Lord made that possible for me. I’m able to love people now, I feel a greater obligation to them, I actually feel for them, in my heart and that’s relatively new. The Lord made that happen. The Lord tells Thomas B. Marsh “Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.” There is such a division between Christians and Mormons or Catholics or this or that, we might differ on some points of doctrine but we all love Jesus and should use that commonality to build a relationship of love.   112:12 – He is also counseled to “pray for thy brethr...

I'm feel like I'm getting too bogged down in the sections, I know that it would be perfect to go through verse by verse, but at this point I think that I'm just going to go through what I think pertinent to me today and move on.  112:3 - The Lord again freely forgives sins, "inasmuch as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be exalted; therefore, all thy sins are forgiven thee." Jesus definitely helped me through my anger issues today, I've been on the edge most of the day, he is very patient and kind and merciful to me.  112:4 - "Let thy heart be of good cheer before my face; and thou shalt bear record of my name." I think that this speaks to the relationship between a good attitude and the influence you can have on people to desire the gospel. If you think about it, a person who is really unpleasant to be around is not going to entice people to be like they are. Most people don't look at someone who is desperately unhappy and think "I...

There is a lot going on in section 112 and I find it kind of complicated. The section heading says, “Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Thomas B. Marsh, at Kirtland, Ohio, July 23, 1837, concerning the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb. Tis revelation was received on the day Elders Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde first preached the gospel in England. Thomas B. Marsh was at this time President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.” The IM gives background saying, “Before he received this revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded in his journal that Kirtland was experiencing widespread disunity, contention, and apostasy. Financial speculation had caused the Kirtland Safety Society, the financial institution of the Church, to fail. Many, even some of the leaders of the Church, blamed the Prophet for such problems. The Prophet Joseph wrote: ‘In this state of things, and but a few weeks before the Twelve were expecting to meet in full quorum, (some of them having been absen...

111:1 - Section 111 covers some concepts that are near and dear to my heart, money and money making. I don’t really care about money very much, but that’s because I’ve always had enough. I try all types of business stuff all the time and I feel like there’s a lot to this section that pertains to me and gives me comfort, such as verse 1 saying, “I, the Lord your God, am not displeased with your coming this journey, notwithstanding your follies.” The IM says, “The Prophet Joseph Smith’s motives for following William Burgess’s suggestion to search for the hidden treasure in Salem were good, prompted by his love for the Saints and for the Church. It appeared that in one incredible stroke of good fortune the Church could gain money enough to clear itself of its debts and care for the suffering Saints in Kirtland and Zion. The leading elders had no thought of personal gain in the trip. So the Lord was not displeased with their journey, ‘notwithstanding (their) follies.’ Their folly lay i...