Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

130:12-13 – We have another prediction about the civil war, though it is not named as such, saying that it will begin in South Carolina and will probably be over the issue of slavery. The IM says “Section 87 foretells a war between the northern and southern sections of the United States. The Prophet Joseph Smith learned of this impending war on Christmas Day 1832, and these verses written eleven years later are a second mention of the same disaster.” 130:14-17 - There is an interesting part here that shows that JS was just as curious as the rest of us as to when the Savior will come again. JS relates a story to us about a time that he “was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when a heard a voice repeat the following: Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eight-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.” The Lord doesn’t give a date or time, he does...

130:8-11 - This next part is a very abstract teaching, but my brother helped me make sense of it. Referencing the “white stone” spoken of in Revelation 2:17, JS taught that it “will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.” If you think that the idea of holding a small white rock in your hand looking for information, my brother said, imagine all the people looking down at their cell phones all the time. What information can you get from a cell phone? You can find out any kind of information on your cell phone, basically the whole of human knowledge is accessible to you on your smart phone. Now imagine looking at a rock and being able to find the whole of universal knowledge, it’s pretty similar. I t...

Here is another section by Joseph Smith expounding doctrine, the IM gives some interesting background saying, "On the 2nd of April, 1843, the Prophet Joseph attended a meeting at which Orson Hyde spoke and, alluding to the coming of the Savior, said, 'When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, etc. He will appear on a white horse as a warrior, and maybe we shall have some of the same spirit. Out God is a warrior. It is our privilege to have the Father and Son dwelling in our hearts.' At dinner time the Prophet called the attention of Orson Hyde to these statements and told him that he would offer some corrections. Orson Hyde replied that they would be thankfully received, whereupon the Prophet gave the explanations contained in these paragraphs, first privately and afterward in the meeting.' Still later in the evening, after a meeting, the Prophet answered some questions and gave the additional instructions found in Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-23." I don...

Section 129 is pretty interesting, abstract for sure, at least for me. The IM gives background saying, "In the early days of the Church, many were curious about angels, spirits, and resurrected persons. About the time Joseph Smith recorded this revelation, he wrote: 'A man came to me in Kirtland, and told me he had seen an angel, and described his dress. I told him he had seen no angel, and that there was no such dress in heaven. He grew mad, and went into the street and commanded fire to come down out of heaven to consume me. I laughed at him, and said, You are one of Baal's prophets; your God does not hear you; jump up and cut yourself; and he commanded fire from heaven to consume my house.' Doctrine and Covenants 129 describes the difference between angels who have gone through mortality and have been resurrected and those who are still spirits. It also gives three keys 'whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.'" The IM also cites ba...

128:14-18 - I’m sort of confused by what verses 14-18 say with the “spiritual” and “earthy” and “heavenly” and all that. JS quotes Paul as saying, “that they without us cannot be made perfect- neither can we without our dead be made perfect… Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?” The IM gives a list version of what is taught in these verses saying: “1. The salvation of our dead ancestors is ‘essential to our salvation.’” – I have always wondered why that is, but now it makes sense because, of course we value our own salvation, but if we only care about our own fate then that is not a Christ-like attribute. In order to love our neighbor as ourselves, their salvation should be a top priority to us just like our own is, that’s how we become truly Christ-like. “2. Baptism for the dead is the ‘most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel.’ This doctrine shows the love and ...

Section 128 is about baptism for the dead and is another letter from JS to the saints. In the letter he quotes a lot of scriptures from the bible which is interesting because I’m not sure if it’s a common belief among mainstream Christianity, the resurrection and baptism for the dead because I had a conversation with a friend who is a Christian and she was saying, strongly like it’s a fact, that the only opportunity to accept the gospel is in this life, that the bible says so. It was eye opening to me to see that some people actually believed that, it was depressing. 128:1-5 - I had a thought while listening to the IM’s explanation on these first verses that helped me understand the importance of the ordinance of baptism. I’ve always wondered why the act of being baptized was so important, why couldn’t I just accept in my heart that I believe in Jesus and will do what he says? Why do I have to physically be submerged in water? Physically, the water doesn’t make a difference; it ...

Section 127 is a letter from Joseph Smith to the saints, the IM gives background saying, “As early as 10 August 1840, in an address at the funeral of Seymour Brunson, the Prophet introduced the doctrine of baptism for the dead to a startled congregation of Saints. Thereafter it was frequently a topic of addresses of the Brethren, and baptisms for the dead were performed in the nearby Mississippi River. According to the minutes of the general conference of the Church held in Nauvoo on 2 October 1841, however, the Prophet declared it was the Lord’s will that baptisms for the dead stop until they could be performed in His house. The first baptisms for the dead in the uncompleted Nauvoo Temple were performed Sunday, 21 November 1841. By the summer of 1842 persecution had grown to the point that the Prophet Joseph Smith was forced into hiding. This revelation was given while he was staying in the home of Brother Taylor, father of John Taylor. The Prophet sent instructions by letter, as did...