D&C 136:1-27

Section 136 deals mostly with the “Organization of the camp of Zion,” which is the saints heading west to the Rocky Mountains. The IM gives some interesting info saying, “With the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the leadership of the Church fell on the Quorum of the Twelve. Brigham Young, as the senior Apostle, was President of the Quorum.” That’s how it is now, which makes more sense. What I thought was interesting is that even with the death of Joseph Smith the persecution only got worse, which indicates to me that the problem wasn’t Joseph Smith it was the work. It makes me think about that Baptist guy giving out free prayers in the mall and I stopped because I was having a really hard time and when he found out I was Mormon he flipped, “you aren’t Christian! You worship Joseph Smith!” I was like “wait, what? I haven’t thought about that dude in like 2 weeks, but I thought about Jesus 10 seconds ago.” This is another example of why this is Jesus is the founder of the work and not Joseph Smith. If this was founded by Joseph Smith then when he was killed, the persecution would have stopped immediately, but the devil doesn’t just hate Joseph Smith, he hates the work. The IM continues, “In February 1846, under the direction of the Twelve, the Saints began to leave Nauvoo, Illinois, and cross the Mississippi River to Iowa. As they moved west across Iowa, they established camps for those who would follow. The winter of 1846-47 was spent at Winter Quarters (which today is Florence, Nebraska). While encamped at Winter Quarters, President Brigham Young received a revelation for the Lord.”

136:1-17 - The Lord starts by giving instruction in the organization of the companies with captains over hundreds, fifties, and tens, “with a president and his two counselors… Let each company provide themselves with all the teams, wagons, provisions, clothing, and other necessaries for the journey, that they can… Let each company hear an equal proportion, according to the dividend of their property, in taking the poor, the widows, the fatherless, and the families of those who have gone into the army, that they cries of the widow and the fatherless come not up into the ears of the Lord against this people.” I think that it’s important to note that everyone is responsible for those who are in need. The saints are commanded, “and if ye do this with a pure heart, in all faithfulness, ye shall be blessed; you shall be blessed in your flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, and in your houses, and in your families.” The IM teaches, “How essential it was then in the days of tribulation for the saints to walk by covenants as they journeyed towards a new home,’ wrote Smith and Sjodahl. ‘Moreover it was necessary that they provided themselves the best they could with teams, clothing and provisions, and for the journey was a difficult one. Some members of necessity would be left behind until such time as they could be prepared. The officers of the companies were to decide who might go and who would better remain behind until a more suitable day. These who were to remain were to put in crops and wait until the coming harvest. Each company was to bear an equal proportion of the means for the benefit of all. Those who had substance were to share with those who were destitute, in the true spirit of charity and faith. There were among them the widows and fatherless and the wives and families of those who had gone into the ‘Mormon Battalion.’ If they would do this the Lord would pour out upon them his blessings. They should have flocks and herds and their fields would not fail them.’” This is kind of like the Liahona that worked for Lehi’s family when they were obedient and when they weren’t it was just a paper weight. Also interesting to me is that it wasn’t a “quick, everyone go west as fast as they can!” It was a slow-ish, cautious, execution. This is good insight that I didn’t know about before.

136:18-27 - The Lord assures the people that “Zion shall be redeemed in mine own due time.” I think that Smith and Sjodahl (S&S from now on) makes an excellent point in the IM saying, “the members of the Church had been disappointed, if not discouraged, because Zion had not been redeemed. No doubt it was trying to the faith of some to be on the way to the unknown region of the Rocky Mountains. All that they had heard of this territory was discouraging and the redemption of Zion seemed farther away than ever from fulfillment. Now they were to take courage, for the Lord had not forgotten Zion, and it should be redeemed in the due time of the Lord.” I talked about how I would have felt as an early member of the Church when driven out of Missouri, fully believing that I was in Zion and the kick in the stomach that I would have had to deal with when we had to leave. I know myself and I know that I would have felt like a limb had been blown off with the raw and unexpected events. So I appreciate that the IM acknowledges that point of view. The Lord reminds them that he delivered His people in ancient Israel. The IM asks “Can one compare ancient Israel to modern Israel?” and answers by bringing up Moses and the Puritans but notes “the impulse which prompted each of these great movements, which have meant so much to the world and its people, were similar, but the circumstances under which they were accomplished entirely different.” The IM points out that the ancient Israelites were in slavery, leaving a foreign home and returning to the land of their fathers. But the early saints here were leaving their homes and going into unknown territory. The ancient Israelites were one people, stemming from a single ancestor, whereas the saints were from scattered places, cultures, languages, and backgrounds. This, the IM says, makes the early saints voyage into the great unknown west, unlike any other in human history. There is an interesting point made by the Lord that borrowing from a neighbor must be taken seriously, you have to return what you borrow and if you lose what you borrowed you need to own it and “go straightway and tell thy neighbor,  left he condemn thee.”