Doctrine and Covenants 123

Doctrine and Covenants 123

Historical Context

Doctrine and Covenants 122 contains excerpts from a two-part letter written from Liberty Jail by Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, and Lyman Wight (see the historical context for Doctrine and Covenants 121). The content of Doctrine and Covenants 123 is found on pages 5–7 of the second part of the letter. This excerpt from the letter was selected by Orson Pratt and was first included in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.

See “Historical Introduction,” Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 March 1839, JSP.

See “Historical Introduction,” Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, circa 22 March 1839, JSP.

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

D&C 123:1–6

1 And again, we would suggest for your consideration the propriety of all the saints gathering up a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this State;

2 And also of all the property and amount of damages which they have sustained, both of character and personal injuries, as well as real property;

3 And also the names of all persons that have had a hand in their oppressions, as far as they can get hold of them and find them out.

4 And perhaps a committee can be appointed to find out these things, and to take statements and affidavits; and also to gather up the libelous publications that are afloat;

5 And all that are in the magazines, and in the encyclopedias, and all the libelous histories that are published, and are writing, and by whom, and present the whole concatenation of diabolical rascality and nefarious and murderous impositions that have been practiced upon this people—

6 That we may not only publish to all the world, but present them to the heads of government in all their dark and hellish hue, as the last effort which is enjoined on us by our Heavenly Father, before we can fully and completely claim that promise which shall call him forth from his hiding place; and also that the whole nation may be left without excuse before he can send forth the power of his mighty arm.

In response to the directions in verses 1–6, a committee presided over by Joseph Smith, who by that time had escaped from Liberty Jail, was appointed by a general conference of the Church on May 4, 1839. In the meeting, Almon Babbitt, Erastus Snow, and Robert B. Thompson were assigned to serve as “a traveling committee to gather up and obtain all the libelous reports and publications which have been circulated against our Church, as well as other historical matter connected with said Church which they can possibly obtain.”1 This material, along with other materials gathered from among the Saints, was intended to be used to petition the government of the United States to secure redress for the losses suffered by the Saints in Missouri at the hands of mobs. The petitions numbered over seven hundred when they were finally compiled.2

Hoping to secure help from the federal government, Joseph Smith and several other Church leaders traveled to Washington, DC, arriving in the city on November 28, 1839. The Prophet and his companions stayed in the city for three weeks to advocate for the Saints. The day after their arrival, the party was able to arrange a meeting at the White House with Martin Van Buren, the president of the United States. Unfortunately, the meeting with Van Buren was discouraging. Elias Higbee later recalled, “We presented him with our letters of introductions;—as soon as he had read one of them, he looked upon us with a kind of half frown and said, what can I do? I can do nothing for you, —if I do any thing, I shall come in contact with the whole State of Missouri.”3 Van Buren’s response illustrates the growing concerns in the United States at the time over the role of the federal and state governments.

The actions of the Saints in 1839–40 mirror earlier counsel given to them from the Lord in 1833 to appeal to the federal government for assistance when the Saints were evicted from Jackson County (D&C 101:86–89). At that time, the Lord promised that if the government would not assist the Saints, then He would “arise and come forth out of his hiding place, and in his fury vex the nation” (D&C 101:89). The conflict over states’ rights was later one of the primary factors leading to the American Civil War (1860–65).

D&C 123:7–10

7 It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with whom we shall be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and children, who have been made to bow down with grief, sorrow, and care, under the most damning hand of murder, tyranny, and oppression, supported and urged on and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the hearts of the children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been growing stronger and stronger, and is now the very mainspring of all corruption, and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity.

8 It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell.

9 Therefore it is an imperative duty that we owe, not only to our own wives and children, but to the widows and fatherless, whose husbands and fathers have been murdered under its iron hand;

10 Which dark and blackening deeds are enough to make hell itself shudder, and to stand aghast and pale, and the hands of the very devil to tremble and palsy.

Joseph does not defend the mobocrats who persecuted and murdered the Saints. However, he does point out that the actions of the mobs were “urged on and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies” (D&C 123:7). Like the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon, hatred against the Saints was implanted in the hearts of their enemies in part by cultural circumstances (Jacob 3:7). When the teachings of Jesus Christ are distorted and misused for wicked purposes, situations can arise in which Christians attack other Christians. The Saints have a sacred charge to recount the stories of their persecutions if only to show the danger of religion when it is twisted into a weapon to use against others.

However, opposition to the Lord’s work is another sign that the Church is true. As difficult as it can be to endure persecution for the truth, the Lord can use opposition to further the spread of truth and to build up of the kingdom of God on the earth. President Brigham Young taught, “Every time you kick ‘Mormonism’ you kick it upstairs; you never kick it downstairs. The Lord Almighty so orders it.”4 When the New Testament church was subject to intense persecution, Gamaliel, noted, “if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it” (see Acts 5:34-39).

D&C 123:11–17

11 And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart—

12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—

13 Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—

14 These should then be attended to with great earnestness.

15 Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.

16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.

17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

Despite the tribulations they endured, the Prophet and his companions emerged from Liberty Jail with their faith in God and humanity intact. There are good people of all religions who are “only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12). The revelations given in Liberty Jail transformed it from a dank prison into a temple of learning and enlightenment. Joseph Smith emerged from his trials with a closer relationship with God, a great love for his friends, and increased optimism about the work of the latter days. The Prophet gained a determination to not only trudge on in his duties but to also cheerfully do all in his power to accomplish the works of God (D&C 123:17).

Seeking to apply the lessons of Liberty Jail to our own lives, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught:

Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking. We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that may not have been our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord . . . But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace.5

Footnotes

• 1. Minutes, 4–5 May 1839, p. 1, JSP.
• 2. See Clark V. Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 1992, xix–xxi.
• 3. Quoted in Byron B. Korth, “Images of Joseph Smith’s 1839–40 Visit to Washington, D.C.,” in Latter-day Saints in Washington, D.C., ed. Kenneth L. Alford, Lloyd D. Newell, and Alexander L. Baugh, 2021, 17.
• 4. Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe, 1941, 351.
• 5. Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail” (BYU devotional, September 7, 2008), emphasis in original.