Jackson County, Missouri

 In sections 59-63 Joseph Smith and other leaders arrive at Jackson County Missouri and dedicate a spot where a temple is supposed to be built.  The people of the Coleville branch, lead by Joseph Knight travel to Jackson County as the first settlers of Zion the new Jerusalem.  History tell us that things did not go well in Jackson county.  The saints are persecuted and the temple is never built.  Finally the saints are driven out and threatened with extermination by Governor Boggs.  

So the question is, why did the Lord lead them to Jackson County is the first place?  Didn't he know what would happen there?  Why did he ask them to build a temple, when he knew they would be unable? Finally, is Jackson County still chosen to be the place where the New Jerusalem will be built in some future date?

Of course, we don't have answers to these questions. The in some revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord said that Zion was not built because of the disobedience of the saints. (D&C103:4) In that revelation the Lord promises that Zion might yet be restored "after your tribulations" (v. 13) The church leaders form "Zion's Camp" to march to Missouri and escort the saints back to their lands.  But when they arrive it is too late.  All the members have fled.  In Section 105 the Lord says "Therefore, in consequence of the transgressions of my people, it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait a little season for the redemption of Zion." (v 9)  We know from other scriptures that "a little season" to the Lord can be a long time for we who are mortals.  These scriptures make us believe that eventually, Jackson County will be redeemed, and Zion, the New Jerusalem, will eventually be built on that site.

Later, after the saints have been driven from Missouri, and Joseph Smith has languished in Liberty Jail, the Lord rescinds the injunction to build a temple in Jackson County, "Therefore, for this cause I have accepted the offerings of those whom I commanded to build up a city and the house unto my name in Jackson county Missouri, and were hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord your God," (124: 50.) Instead they are commanded to build a temple in Nauvoo (v. 55) which they do. Some would argue that this verse removes the necessity of ever building Zion in Missouri. 

Church history buffs are split as to whether they think that Zion will eventually be built in Missouri, perhaps during the millennium.  Others say that section 124 nullifies the prophecies about building Zion in Jackson County.  I looked online and the church still owns land in Jackson County, but only about 15 acers near the temple lot.  They used to own more, but recently sold it off because residents complained that the church held all that land but didn't have to pay taxes on it. The church is certainly wealthy enough, that if they decided to, they could buy up much of the county any time they decided to.  However, it doesn't really seem to me that they are currently planning to transfer the center of the church to Missouri any time soon, and I, due to section 124, I am OK with the idea that they probably never will.

 

Prophecies of the Last Days in Section 45

 In section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants we have some eschatological verses in which the Lord compares his second coming to the things that happened in Jerusalem after his death in the meridian of time and at the time of the American Civil War.  The thing is, it is kind of hard to tell what verses refer to the events in Jerusalem, or the Civil War,  and which refer to the last days.  I decided it might be helpful to do a breakdown. 

Jesus introduces the comparison in vs 16, "And I will show it plainly as I showed it unto my disciples as I stood before them in the flesh, and spake unto them saying..." In other words our minds should be transported back to when Jesus was with his disciples who had asked him about his return. The footnote there takes us to Matthew 24: 3-26. We are watching him prophecy to those disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem. "And now ye behold this temple which is in Jerusalem, which ye call the house of God, and your enemies say that this house shall never fall.  But, verily I say unto you, that a desolation shall come upon this generation as a thief in the night, and this people shall be destroyed and scattered among all nations." (v 18-19)  Then he goes on to prophecy of the destruction of the temple, and the scattering of the Jews. (v 20)  Finally he sums up the flashback by saying "And it shall come to pass, that this generation of Jews shall not pass away until every desolation which I have told you concerning them shall come to pass." (21).  

We know from history that this prophecy came true.  A false Messiah rose up and stirred the Jews up into revolt against Rome.  In retaliation the Romans desolated Jerusalem, tore down the temple, and scattered the Jews in 70 AD. 

In the verses that follow Jesus compares the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD to the time the Saints are currently in. He talks about the "times of the Gentiles" (v. 25) which will be characterized by "wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth will be in commotion." (v 26)  But during these perilous times, "And when the times of the Gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fulness of the Gospel."(28).  So what time period are we in now?  The time of the restoration of the gospel.  

He starts then to prophecy of about the generation existing in 1830. "In that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. and there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge, for a desolating sickness shall cover the land." There were actually several epidemics that occurred during the 1830-1850s in the United States. There were Yellow Fever epidemics in 1833 and 1851 and Scarlet Fever in 1847 and 1885. For most of these, the Latter Day Saints were spared because they had already left the main body of the United States and were isolated in the West. "But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved." (v 32.)

He also prophecies of war, "...yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another." (v. 33)  It is easy to see this as a prophecy of the Civil War, especially because it says they will take up the sword "one against another," rather than against an invading army or an enemy. 

So far we have seen prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem, and prophecies of the 19th century.  After these prophecies, God finally refers to the last days. These prophecies are much more vague. "...he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.  And they shall see signs and wonders...And they shall see blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke." (v. 39-40.) 

"And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened and the moon be turned to blood, and the stars fall from heaven." (v. 42) These descriptions sound a lot like the Book of Revelation symbolic prophecies, rather than the specific prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem and the Civil War. From here on out he describes Jesus' appearance in a cloud, (v 44) the rapture (v. 45) and the resurrection (v. 45).  He also describes the judgement on the wicked. Those who willfully rebelled shall be "hewn down and cast into a fire." (v.50)  The Jews will recognize their fallen Lord, (v. 51-52) and heathen nations, who had no chance to learn of Christ shall be redeemed (v.54)  Finally, he hints that he is merely recounting what has already been revealed in the New Testament (presumably the Book of Revelation) when he says, "And now, I say unto you, it shall not be given unto you to know further concerning this chapter, until the New Testament be translated, and in it all these things shall be made known." (v. 60).

In summary, not all the dire prophecies in D&C 45 are prophecies of the last days.  Some are about the destruction of the Jews in 70 AD, and some are about the coming Civil War in (1860).  The ones that are about the second coming and beginning of the Millennium echo the symbolic prophecies we already have in the Book of Revelations. That are meant to assure us that even though Satan fights against the Saints, the Lord and his disciples will ultimately triumph. 

The Law of Consecration

 This week in Come Follow Me, we are introduced to the Law of Consecration. What I hadn't remembered until this week was that some of the new converts to the church, the Campbelites, had already been living a version of the Law of Consecration based on passages from the book of Acts.  However, in their version all property was held in common.  In practice, if someone needed a tool, they could take any tool in the community and use it.  If someone needed a new shirt, and saw one in the community, they could take it as if it were their own.  Of course, this was problematic. People couldn't depend on things they needed being available to them at any specific time. Also, some people, just because of their personality, would be more likely to take things, and others more likely to be taken from. This could not help but cause hard feelings in the group.

The revelation in section 42 sets out a more functional form of consecration.  Verses 30-34 explains that the member of the church make a "first consecration " (v. 33) at which time they acknowledge that all they own belongs to the church. Then they are given stewardship over part or all of what they have consecrated. They have responsibility and control over that portion and are expected to use it to support themselves and meet their family's need, and then if there is any left over, it is given to the bishop and put in the storehouse to care for the poor and needy.  

This is a much more practical way to administer consecration, but still this ended up being problematic.  One of the biggest problems was that there were so many poor and needy in the early church.  When the original members who lived in New York gathered to Ohio, many arrived without enough resources to support themselves.  Some new converts in the Ohio area gave up great amounts of money and land to help the needy saints. Then a few years later new converts from England start to arrive, also without many personal funds or property, and the established saints were expected to help support them. Until the saints were established in Nauvoo, most were pretty poor. It must have been frustrating, once they were established and started to flourish in Nauvoo, to then be driven out again, left destitute again, and have to migrate again, this time to Utah. 

I have been thinking about my ancestors who joined the church during this period, and ended up as some of those who made and sacrificed their fortune several times over because of their belief in the church.  Why would then put up with that?  Some didn't.  Some came into the church, even migrated to Utah, and then became disillusioned and left. So why did the ones that stayed, stay?  All I can think is that they must have seen or felt something so powerful that it galvanized their testimonies. Without the witness of the spirit, without experiences that built and strengthened the early saints, the church would have withered and dried up like so many other utopian schemes that were rather popular in this time period.  But it didn't.  It grew and spread until it is starting to be a real force in the world. 

All those who take on temple covenants still promise to keep the law of consecration.  We do not, at this time, formally turn over all our worldly possessions to the church and then be assigned a stewardship.  The formal process is not the important part. The important part is that in our hearts we turn over all that we have to the Lord. We decide that we are only stewards over our income, possessions, time, and resources, and that we will use them to righteously support ourselves, and help those around us. I must admit I am not perfect in this. I try to be generous, and I try to keep God as the focus of my actions and decisions, but I am also selfish, and I feel ownership over my possessions. 

As we face upcoming reductions in our personal income, this has become an issue I have thought about more. Will I be as generous as I have been with fast offerings and donations to humanitarian projects once my personal income is cut in half, or even more than half? Do I need to be? Will I sacrifice a standard of living in order to remain generous? My standard of living will still be so much higher than many saints across the world.  I guess I need to seek guidance from the Lord in this matter. 

Rosetta Leonora Pettibone Snow

 I decided in January that I would discover the dates of when my and my husband's ancestors first joined the church. Both of us have ancestors who joined the church during the time period covered in the Doctrine and Covenants.  I wanted to tie in the baptisms of our ancestors with what was happening in the church and in the Doctrine and Covenants.  In the sections we read in Come Follow Me this week there is a passage that I think leads directly to the first person in our genealogy to join the church, Rosetta Leonora Pettibone Snow, wife of Oliver III and mother of Lorenzo and Eliza Snow. The passage is 37:1-2 "Behold, I say unto you (Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon) that it is not expedient in me that you should translate any more until you shall go to the Ohio, and this because of the enemy and for your sakes. And again, I say unto you that ye shall not go until you preached the gospel in those parts."  I believe Joseph and Sydney were following this directive when they visited and baptized Rosetta.

There is a lot of information about Rosetta on Family Search.  I can't include it all here but here is a mini-biographical sketch:

When Rosetta Leonora Pettibone was born on 22 October 1778, in Simsbury, Connecticut, her father, Captain Jacob Pettibone Jr, was 25 and her mother, Rosetta Amanda Barber, was 20. Captain Pettibone and his wife, Rosetta, both claimed to be descendants of the original pilgrim settlers of 1620. Captain Pettibone served in the Revolutionary war. 

Rosetta was raised to be a wife and mother and was accomplished in the homely arts.  Her daughter Eliza said in her biography, that Rosetta “considered a practical knowledge of housekeeping the best, most efficient foundation on which to build a magnificent structure of womanly accomplishments-that useful knowledge was the most reliable basis of independence”. 

Rosetta L married Oliver Snow III on 6 May 1800, in Becket, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 4 daughters. 

Eliza said her parents were “free of bigotry and intolerance” and made their home a “welcome resort for the honorable of all denominations.”

In the early months of 1831 the Snow family was living in Mantua, Ohio when a family friend, Sidney Rigdon, introduced them to the prophet, Joseph Smith. Rosetta responded immediately to the message of the restored gospel and was baptized by Joseph Smith himself” (Eliza, the life and faith of Eliza R. Snow, by Karen Lynn Davidson and Jill Mulvay Derr)

She later moved with the saints to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839. She died on 12 October 1846, in Walnut Grove,  Illinois, at the age of 67, before the saints migrated to Utah.

One of the things that impressed me about Rosetta is that she joined the church long before anyone else in her family. Eliza R. Snow joined in 1835 and Rosetta's husband, Oliver, and son Lorenzo didn't join until 1836.  I have to ask myself, if Rosetta had not joined in 1831, would any of her family ever joined? If she had not joined it would have been easy for other members to forget about Joseph Smith and his church.  Her brave and faithful decision to be baptized ensured that the rest of the family would be in contact with other members over and over again. Unfortunately, I could not find a picture of Rosetta, but here is memorial marker at the site of her home in Mantua, Ohio.

Jesus on the Cross

 Last week was Holy Week.  David and I read through the account of Jesus' last week from the book of Matthew. There is so much you can write about Easter, but many people have said everything better than I can.  

I just wanted to point out one thing I noticed while reading Matthew 27, the account of when Jesus was up on the cross. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints people often emphasize Jesus' suffering in Gethsemane.  That is because we have extra information about that part of Jesus' suffering found in the Doctrine and Covenants 19.  Many other Christian, however, focus on his suffering on the cross, and rightfully so.  There is no reason to believe that the weight of sin Jesus took on in Gethsemane was at all lessened when he was on the cross. Add to all that spiritual weight of sin, the physical torture of being on the cross, and psychological attacks from onlookers.  

As I was reading Matthew 27 I noticed that the challenges hurled at Jesus while on the cross, were reiterations of his temptations from the beginning of his ministry.  Here is a chart.

Temptation 1: And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (v.3) 

Challenge while on the Cross: They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. (v. 34)

Essence of the temptation: Break his resolve to meet a physical need.  In the Temptation Jesus was fasting and was tempted to break his fast.  On the Cross Jesus had told his disciples he wouldn't drink the fruit of the vine until he drank it with them in the Kingdom of heaven. 

Temptation 2: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (v.6)

Challenge on the Cross: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. (v. 42)

Essence of the temptation: Satan was tempting Jesus to flaunt his divine power to save himself. 

Temptation 3: Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (v. 8-9)

Challenge from the Cross: And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Essence of the temptation: Satan was tempting him to seek the glory of the world.  If Jesus had rebuilt the temple in three days, it would have been proof of his power that would have brought him fame and glory.

In the end Jesus was able to resist these final temptations just as he did the initial ones. Did resisting the first temptations help him be better prepared to resist the last?  Applying this idea to ourselves, I wonder if sometime we are given little temptations first that, if we can resist them, give us greater power to resist temptation when it comes at our more vulnerable times. 

The Lamanite Mission

 This week I was asked to be the Sunday School teacher for teens age 17-18.  This new calling has made me begin to think about how I would present sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to that age group.  When I was given the assignment the bishop of our ward suggested that the focus in our congregation for teaching youth is to help them learn how to find answers to their questions, instead of just answering their questions. So what questions might teenagers ask about the reading this week?

I think they would probably ask the same thing I ask myself every time I read the Doctrine and Covenants.  Why does the Lord tell the Saints to do something, knowing they will not actually be able to accomplish it?  

In section 32 the Lord calls Parley P. Pratt and Ziba Peterson to go with "Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer, Jun., into the wilderness among the Lamanites" (v. 2).  History shows that these four men traveled in December and January through severe winter weather. After a very difficult journey, they were only able to talk with native people a couple of times before an agent for the US Indian Affairs gave them an order to stop proselyting. No native peoples joined the church through their efforts. 

Historians are quick to point out that on the way they stopped in to visit Sidney Rigdon who was the paster of a small Methodist congregation in Kirkland Ohio.  Sidney Rigdon was converted as were eventually 300 from the region.  The mission therefore tripled the numbers of members in the church and laid the foundation for the gathering of the saints in Kirkland and the building of the Kirkland Temple. 

So, why did the Lord tell Oliver Cowdery and the others to go find Sydney Rigdon, instead of telling them to go and preach to the Lamanites?  And what does that tactic tell us about God?

In other words, can we even have faith in God?  When he tells us to do something, can we believe what he says? 

I never answered this kind of complex question when I was 18.  I wasn't even mature enough in my theology to even ask it.  My faith at 18 was simple and fervent. I knew that if I kept the commandments the Lord would bless me and I would progress and eventually inherit eternal life. At 18 this seemed like a fairly easy and straight forward task to me.  I was already pretty good at keeping commandments. I kept the word of wisdom strictly.  I kept the 10 commandments.  I served a mission and applied to and attended BYU.  I was doing everything I knew how to do be an obedient daughter. 

Now at age 60, I look back on my life and see times when the Lord told me to metaphorically go to preach to the Indians, not so I could actually preach to the Indians, but meet up with and preach to Sidney Rigdon instead.  Going on and staying true under those kinds of circumstances, takes real faith. It is not only trusting the Lord, but trusting in the Lord.  It is believing that not matter what snow storms the Lord drags you through, it will all be for the best and for his greater glory. I think I am just getting to that place in my life, 43 years after I was the age of my new students. 

If you look at this section and section 29:6 the Lord doesn't actually say they are going to have success converting native peoples.  He said that Oliver had the power to "build up my church among the Lamanites."  Did Oliver have the power? I assume yes, since the Lord said he did.  Did he have the opportunity to exercise that power?  No. Where Oliver and Peter promised that they would have success among the native peopled? No.  They were told to go, and that as they went Jesus would be their advocate with the Father, and nothing would prevail against them (v. 3). You can argue that that happened.  None of them died, and many felt the Spirit of the Lord and were converted.  The outcome was just as God wanted, It blessed the missionaries and the Church, but it wasn't what they expected. 

The take-away from this lesson is that we can't become so tied down to our own expectations of what is going to happen, that we miss the miracles in our life that come unexpectedly from God. 

Did someone teach me this when I was 18?  They probably tried to, but I wasn't ready and humble enough to understand. I think the youth of today are more sophisticated than I was at 18. Maybe they will get it. 

One more thing. My family had a personal stake in this mission. Sidney Rigdon was a friend of the Oliver Snow family and first told them about Joseph Smith. Rosetta Pettibone Snow was the first member on either my or my husband's family line to join the church, and that happened as a result of the Lamanite Mission.

Section 29: Foreshadowing the Exodus

 Section 29 is the first eschatological section in the Doctrine & Covenants. Eschatology is the study of the end times. This section is often compared to the book of Ezekiel or the Book of Revelation because they also deal with the end times and have some of the same symbolic images.  One of the podcasts I listened to this week (I think it was Scott and Casey on Scripture Central) pointed out that there is also a lot of imagery here from the book of Exodus. This fascinated me since one of the things I am discovering this year is that the modern church was as much a restoration of the Old Testament worship as it is of the New Testament gospel.  

In the Exodus story, before the people leave Egypt, Moses calls down 10 plagues onto the Egyptians.  They are:, water into blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock dying, boils, hail that turns into fire, locust, darkness, and the death of the firstborn.  Once they left Egypt, the Hebrews were lead by a pillar of fire/smoke to Mount Sinai where they received the law. Let's see how many of these images we can find in D&C 29.

Hail: 29:16 (also and stars falling v. 14)
Flies: 29:18

Lice: (here maggots) 29:18
Darkness: 29:14
Pillar of Fire: 29:12
Mount Sinai: 29:13

It doesn't include all the images, but there is definitely enough that someone familiar with the Exodus story might notice the tie in, especially because of the mention of the Pillar of Fire and the Mount Sinai. Those images are exclusively related to the Moses story.

At this time Joseph Smith was working on the "translation" of the Bible, so maybe these ideas were already in his head when he received the revelation. The thing he didn't know, and nobody knew at that point except God, was that within 20 years the Saints would be making their own exodus from the United States, lead by a modern Moses, Brigham Young, to establish a new home/nation in the American West. As the Old Testament Exodus is the foundation story of the People of Israel, the Doctrine and Covenants is the foundation story of the modern church. Was the Lord intentionally foreshadowing?  Probably.  He loves to do that. Did anyone pick up on it at the time? Probably not.