Sections 121-123, cont.
The Liberty Jail Letter
Much Yet to Be Revealed
121:26-28. 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…
Many Gods – Abraham?
•121:28 A time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether
there be one God or many gods, they shall be manifest.
•121:32 …which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal
God of all other gods before this world was…
Class 23 – Sections 124-128
A New Vision of Temples
Nauvoo’s Beginnings
• The Saints leaving Missouri headed north and east into
Illinois.
•The residents of Quincy welcomed the Saints and helped
provide for them
•Joseph arrived in Quincy on April 22, 1839.
Nauvoo’s Beginnings
• The wisdom of gathering again was questioned.
•“I cried Lord what will thou have me do? & the answer was
to ‘build up a city & call my saints to this place.”
•Two days after Joseph arrived, he advised them to move to
Commerce and the land on the other side of the Mississippi
in Iowa.
Nauvoo’s Beginnings
The Galland Tract
• Isaac Galland offered 20,000 acres in Iowa at $2 per acre
with nothing down and a payment of $2000 per year.
•Part of the “Half-breed Tract,” land given to children of
whites and Indians. The owners were allowed to sell it, but
claims were hazy.
The Galland Tract
•Isaac Galland joined the Church while Joseph was in jail.
•Most Saints avoided it because titles weren’t clear and
Iowans didn’t seem too friendly.
•The Saints defaulted on payment.
The Galland Tract
• In 1841 Galland took church funds east to make a
payment on Nauvoo land, but he kept the money and left
the church.
•Later that year, Galland’s claim to title was not recognized
by the courts and most of the Saints in Iowa left their lands.
Commerce
• On the “Des Moines Rapids” -- the Mississippi was not
passable at certain seasons.
•Joseph Smith bought out the town of Commerce and
almost all of the lowland peninsula near the river. Payments
would be $3000 per year over 20 years with large payments
in the 10th and 20th year.
Commerce
•Payments for the land could not be kept. The owners, who
lived in the east, were upset and threatened action.
•No record of a settlement exists. It is likely that the owners
gave up trying to collect the debt.
Nauvoo
The name of our city (Nauvoo), is of Hebrew origin, and
signifies a beautiful situation, or place, carrying with it, also,
the idea of rest; and is truly descriptive of this most
delightful situation.
-- Joseph Smith 1841
Nauvoo’s Beginnings
Nauvoo Charter
•Granted December 1840
•Allowed Nauvoo to establish police, militia, courts, and a
university
The Mississippi River Downstream from Nauvoo
Marshes Near the Mississippi
View from the Bluff
The Homestead
New Faces
•Assistant President
Oliver Cowdery demoted then excommunicated
Replaced by Hyrum Smith Jan. 1841
John C. Bennett, Apr. 1841, excommunicated 1842
New Faces
•Patriarch
Joseph Smith, Sr. died Sept. 1840
Replaced by Hyrum Smith Jan. 1841
New Faces
•First Presidency
Sidney Rigdon remained in his position -- often absent.
Frederick G. Williams was excommunicated in 1839
Replaced by Hyrum Smith Nov. 1837
Replaced by William Law Jan. 1841, excommunicated
April 1844
Quorum of the Twelve
• Out: Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, William E.
M’Lellin, Luke Johnson, John F. Boynton, Lyman Johnson,
(Orson Pratt)
• In: John E. Page, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A.
Smith, Willard Richards, Lyman Wight, Amasa Lyman
Problems
•In Nauvoo, Joseph could get off on writs of habeas corpus.
•Joseph had to periodically go into hiding near Nauvoo to
avoid arrest by Missouri officers.
•John C. Bennett apostatized in 1842, wrote a book, History
of the Saints, and called for a war on the Mormons. -Bennett was an opportunist who tried to use the church for
personal gain.
Problems
•Joseph Smith was in Washington from September 1839 to
June 1840 petitioning President Van Buren and Congress
for redress. The Saints became better known and
respected, but no help could be obtained.
•Joseph started taking more plural wives. Knowledge of the
practice spread. Many brethren had a hard time accepting
it. Orson Pratt left the church Aug. 1842-Jan. 1843.
European Converts
•The Twelve took the gospel to England in 1839 and found
many converts there. The first European converts arrived in
Nauvoo in 1840.
Overview of Sections 124-128
•124-126: 1841 revelations at Nauvoo
•Section 126 is the last revelation to Joseph Smith in the D&C
•127-128: 1842 epistles to the Saints in Nauvoo
Section 124
•Proclamation to the rulers of the earth.
•Eventually written by Wilford Woodruff in 1845
•Hyrum Smith v.15.
•John C. Bennett v.16-17 – How do we understand this in view of
the fact that Bennett was a scoundrel from the start?
Section 124
•Proclamation to the rulers of the earth.
•Eventually written by Wilford Woodruff in 1845
•Hyrum Smith v.15.
•John C. Bennett v.16-17 – How do we understand this in view of
the fact that Bennett was a scoundrel from the start?
The Nauvoo House
• A boarding house for strangers
•“ the weary traveler may find health and safety while he
shall contemplate the word of the Lord”
•“It shall be holy, or the Lord your God will not dwell therein.”
The Nauvoo House
The Nauvoo Temple
• “Build a house to my name for the Most High to dwell
therein.”
•The Nauvoo Temple was built much like the Kirtland
Temple, except it had a baptismal font in the basement.
•It had lower and upper courts or assembly rooms and a
third store with offices. No ordinance rooms were designed.
The Nauvoo Temple
• For anointings, washings, baptisms for the dead, solemn
assemblies, memorials, sacrifices by the sons of Levi,
oracles.
•“that I may reveal mine ordinances therein”
Commands Can Be Revoked
124:49 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a
commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto
my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and
with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their
diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder
them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to
require that work no more at the hands of those sons of
men, but to accept of their offerings.
Joseph’s Posterity
124:56-7 let my servant Joseph and his house have place
therein, from generation to generation. For this anointing
have I put upon his head, that his blessing shall also be put
upon the head of his posterity after him.
•What happened?
Kirtland
124:56-7 I, the Lord, will build up Kirtland, but I, the Lord,
have a scourge prepared for the inhabitants thereof.
Sidney Rigdon
124:103 And again, verily I say unto you, if my servant
Sidney will serve me and be counselor unto my servant
Joseph, let him arise and come up and stand in the office of
his calling, and humble himself before me.
Sect. 125-126
•Zarahemla stake to be organized in Iowa.
•Brigham Young to proclaim the gospel abroad and care for
his family.
Baptism for the Dead
•Doctrine first taught in August 1840
•First performed in the Mississippi River
•October 1841: Stop until they can be done in the temple
•November 1841: First baptisms in the unfinished temple
performed.
The Doctrine of Baptism for the Dead
•1 Corinthians 15:29 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?
•What was the context?
•What do we know about baptism for the dead in Christian
tradition?
Section 127
•Need to call a recorder.
•What is recorded on earth is recorded in heaven. What is
not recorded on earth is not recorded n heaven.
•Why?
Section 128
•How is the imagery of the grave appropriate for baptism?
•v. 19-24 – a recounting of the heavens being opened in this
dispensation.
•Voice of the Lord in the Chamber of Father Whitmer: D&C
21.
Mary Whitmer
John C. Whitmer, 1888. "I have heard my grandmother (Mary
Musselman Whitmer) say on several occasions that she was shown the
plates of the Book of Mormon by a holy angel, whom she always called
Brother Nephi. (She undoubtedly refers to Moroni, the angel who had
the plates in charge.) It was at the time, she said, when the translation
was going on at the house of the elder Peter Whitmer, her husband.
Joseph Smith with his wife and Oliver Cowdery, whom David Whitmer a
short time previous had brought up from Harmony, Pennsylvania, were
all boarding with the Whitmers, and my grandmother in having so many
Mary Whitmer
extra persons to care for, besides her own large household, was often
overloaded with work to such an extent that she felt it to be quite a
burden. One evening, when (after having done her usual day's work in
the house) she went to the barn to milk the cows, she met a stranger
carrying something on his back that looked like a knapsack. At first she
was a little afraid of him, but when he spoke to her in a kind, friendly
tone and began to explain to her the nature of the work which was going
on in her house, she was filled with inexpressible joy and satisfaction.
He then untied his knapsack and showed her a bundle of plates, which
Mary Whitmer
in size and appearance corresponded with the description subsequently
given by the witnesses to the Book of Mormon. This strange person
turned the leaves of the book of plates over, leaf after leaf, and also
showed her the engravings upon them; after which he told her to be
patient and faithful in bearing her burden a little longer, promising that if
she would do so, she should be blessed; and her reward would be sure,
if she proved faithful to the end. The personage then suddenly vanished
with the plates.
The Endowment
There has been speculation that Joseph Smith copied
Masonic rites for his own purposes as the endowment
followed soon after a Masonic Lodge was established in
Nauvoo.
•There are clear similarities and clear differences.
•As with many other things, Joseph was probably moved to
ask the Lord by questions that arose as he advanced in the
Masonic orders.
The Masonic Hall
The Masonic Hall
The Endowment
•The term “endowment” seems to originally implied an
endowment of power associated with beholding the Lord.
•In Nauvoo, the “endowment” came to mean the ritualistic
entry into the presence of the Lord.
•The endowment was first given on May 4, 1842 in the
upper room of the Red Brick Store.
The Red Brick Store
The Temple
•The outer walls of the Temple were only about 2/3
complete at the time of Joseph Smith’s death.
•The Saints worked hard to finish the temple and receive
their endowments before they were forced to leave Nauvoo
in 1846.
•Screens were used to divide the third floor offices into
changing rooms and ordinance rooms.
The Temple