Doctrine & Covenants 124
Historical Context
Following their forced exodus from Missouri, the Latter-day Saints regrouped in Illinois as refugees on the banks of the Mississippi River. Joseph Smith and his companions were freed from their captivity in Liberty Jail on April 16, 1839, and joined the Saints a few days later. Dimick Huntington, who was at the docks when Joseph Smith arrived, later vividly described Joseph’s appearance after months of confinement in Liberty Jail. The Prophet “was dressed in an old pair of boots, full of holes, pants torn [and] tucked inside of boots.” He “had not been shaved for some time” and wore a “blue cloak with collar turned up, wide brim black hat, rim sopped down.” Huntington finished his description by adding that Joseph “looked pale and haggard.” In many ways, the Prophet’s gaunt appearance was a metaphor for the state of the Church after the trials of Missouri. Most Church members lost nearly everything, and the future was uncertain.
Joseph Smith and other Church leaders moved quickly to find a new gathering place for the Saints. The citizens of Quincy, Illinois, offered temporary refuge and relief from the persecutions of Missouri while Church leaders began looking at available land nearby for a new home. After viewing properties in Lee County, Iowa, and Hancock County, Illinois, Church agents purchased thousands of acres of land in both counties for a new headquarters for the Church and laid out a new city on a peninsula that jutted into the Mississippi River. Commerce, as it was then known, was mostly malarial swampland. Willard Richards later wrote that “there were 1 stone house[,] 3 frame hou[s]es & two block hou[s]es which constitu[t]ed the whole city of Commerce . . . the place was literally a wilderness.” However, the Saints saw the location with an eye of faith. In April 1840 the name was officially changed to Nauvoo, a Hebrew word meaning “beautiful.” Nauvoo served as Church headquarters from 1839–46.
Doctrine and Covenants 124 was received nearly two years after Joseph Smith and his companions escaped from Liberty Jail. We know little about the specific context of the revelation, but it was received only a few days after the state of Illinois passed an act to officially incorporate the city of Nauvoo. Thus, Doctrine and Covenants 124 acts in many ways as a spiritual charter for the city of Nauvoo. The revelation also served as a set of instructions for reconstructing the Church after the heavy toll exacted by the Kirtland apostasy and the Missouri persecutions. The revelation affirms the importance of the gathering (verse 2) and the centrality of the temple in the spiritual life of the Saints (verses 45–55). It includes directions for reorganizing many of the leading quorums of the Church and for calling new leaders to replace those lost to death or apostasy (verses 84–145). It also contains the first reference in the Doctrine and Covenants to the practice of proxy baptisms for the deceased (verses 37–44). Joseph Smith worked to fulfill the commandments given in this revelation for nearly every waking moment of his life until his death in June 1844.
Doctrine and Covenants 124 also marks the beginning of the Nauvoo period in the history of the Church, a time ripe with change and controversy. Many of the crowning doctrines and practices of the Church came through revelation during this time. The Nauvoo era is filled with some of the most exciting and most tragic moments in the history of the Church. Doctrine and Covenants 124 was read in the April 1844 general conference of the Church. It was also published in the Church’s Nauvoo newspaper, Times and Seasons, as well as in the September 1841 issue of the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, the Church’s newspaper in England. It was first included in the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
See “Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 19 January 1841 [D&C 124].
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
D&C 124:1–14
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offering and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.
2 Your prayers are acceptable before me; and in answer to them I say unto you, that you are now called immediately to make a solemn proclamation of my gospel, and of this stake which I have planted to be a cornerstone of Zion, which shall be polished with the refinement which is after the similitude of a palace.
3 This proclamation shall be made to all the kings of the world, to the four corners thereof, to the honorable president-elect, and the high-minded governors of the nation in which you live, and to all the nations of the earth scattered abroad.
4 Let it be written in the spirit of meekness and by the power of the Holy Ghost, which shall be in you at the time of the writing of the same;
5 For it shall be given you by the Holy Ghost to know my will concerning those kings and authorities, even what shall befall them in a time to come.
6 For, behold, I am about to call upon them to give heed to the light and glory of Zion, for the set time has come to favor her.
7 Call ye, therefore, upon them with loud proclamation, and with your testimony, fearing them not, for they are as grass, and all their glory as the flower thereof which soon falleth, that they may be left also without excuse—
8 And that I may visit them in the day of visitation, when I shall unveil the face of my covering, to appoint the portion of the oppressor among hypocrites, where there is gnashing of teeth, if they reject my servants and my testimony which I have revealed unto them.
9 And again, I will visit and soften their hearts, many of them for your good, that ye may find grace in their eyes, that they may come to the light of truth, and the Gentiles to the exaltation or lifting up of Zion.
10 For the day of my visitation cometh speedily, in an hour when ye think not of; and where shall be the safety of my people, and refuge for those who shall be left of them?
11 Awake, O kings of the earth! Come ye, O, come ye, with your gold and your silver, to the help of my people, to the house of the daughters of Zion.
12 And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant Robert B. Thompson help you to write this proclamation, for I am well pleased with him, and that he should be with you;
13 Let him, therefore, hearken to your counsel, and I will bless him with a multiplicity of blessings; let him be faithful and true in all things from henceforth, and he shall be great in mine eyes;
14 But let him remember that his stewardship will I require at his hands.
The first commandment given in section 124 is to make a solemn proclamation “to all the kings of the world, to the four corners thereof, to the honorable president-elect, and the high-minded governors of the nation in which you live, and to all the nations of the earth scattered abroad” (D&C 124:3). The proclamation was not completed in Joseph Smith’s lifetime, though he did make several attempts to complete it. His efforts were hindered by the death of Joseph’s assistant, Robert B. Thompson, who was commanded to assist in writing the proclamation (D&C 124:12). The proclamation was also delayed by the apostasy of John C. Bennett and William Law, who were also commanded to assist with it (D&C 124:16, 107).
Joseph Smith began work on the proclamation on December 22, 1841, in accordance with the instructions given in Doctrine and Covenants 124. However, by November 21, 1844, the proclamation was still not complete, and Joseph “instructed Elders [Willard] Richards, [Orson] Hyde, [John] Taylor and [William W.] Phelps to write a proclamation to the Kings of the earth.” In 1863 William W. Phelps reported that he was commissioned in May 1844 to write the proclamation under the direction of Joseph Smith. He produced twenty-two pages, but the project was dropped in the aftermath of Joseph Smith’s martyrdom in June 1844. The proclamation was finally completed by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1845 and published to the world.
The finished proclamation was written by Parley P. Pratt on behalf of the Quorum of the Twelve. It was published in Liverpool, England, under the title “Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” It began by announcing: “That the kingdom of God has come: as has been predicted by ancient prophets, and prayed for in all ages; even that kingdom which shall fill the whole earth, and shall stand for ever . . . Being established in these last days for the restoration of all things spoken by the prophets since the world began; and in order to prepare the way for the coming of the Son of Man.”
D&C 124:15–21
15 And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.
16 Again, let my servant John C. Bennett help you in your labor in sending my word to the kings and people of the earth, and stand by you, even you my servant Joseph Smith, in the hour of affliction; and his reward shall not fail if he receive counsel.
17 And for his love he shall be great, for he shall be mine if he do this, saith the Lord. I have seen the work which he hath done, which I accept if he continue, and will crown him with blessings and great glory.
18 And again, I say unto you that it is my will that my servant Lyman Wight should continue in preaching for Zion, in the spirit of meekness, confessing me before the world; and I will bear him up as on eagles’ wings; and he shall beget glory and honor to himself and unto my name.
19 That when he shall finish his work I may receive him unto myself, even as I did my servant David Patten, who is with me at this time, and also my servant Edward Partridge, and also my aged servant Joseph Smith, Sen., who sitteth with Abraham at his right hand, and blessed and holy is he, for he is mine.
20 And again, verily I say unto you, my servant George Miller is without guile; he may be trusted because of the integrity of his heart; and for the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord, love him.
21 I therefore say unto you, I seal upon his head the office of a bishopric, like unto my servant Edward Partridge, that he may receive the consecrations of mine house, that he may administer blessings upon the heads of the poor of my people, saith the Lord. Let no man despise my servant George, for he shall honor me.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:15–21 notes the loss of three of the most valiant early Saints, David W. Patten, Edward Partridge, and Joseph Smith Sr. (see commentary for D&C 4; 35; 41:7–112; 114). David W. Patten was killed during the Battle of Crooked River on October 25, 1838. Edward Partridge, the first bishop called in this dispensation (D&C 41:9), survived the travails of Missouri but passed away on May 27, 1840, near Nauvoo. Joseph Smith Sr, the Prophet’s father, had served as Patriarch of the Church and as a counselor in the First Presidency before passing away at the age of sixty-nine on September 14, 1840.
Lucy Mack Smith recorded the poignant scene as Joseph Smith Sr. gave each of his sons a final blessing on his deathbed. Lucy wrote:
To Joseph [Smith Jr.] he said: “Joseph, my son; thou art called to an high and holy calling—thou art even called to do the work of the Lord—hold out faithful and you shall be blessed, and your children after you—you shall even live to finish your work.” (At this Joseph cried out, weeping “Oh my father will I[?]”) “Yes,” said his father, “you shall live to lay out the plan of all the work which, which God has given you to do. This is my dying blessing on your head in the name of Jesus—I also confirm your former blessings upon your head; for it shall be fulfilled, even so. Amen.”
Doctrine and Covenants 124 assures the Church that David W. Patten and Edward Partridge are “with me [the Lord] at this time” and that Joseph Smith Sr. “sitteth with Abraham at his right hand” (D&C 124:19).
The revelation also introduces a number of important figures in the story of Nauvoo. John C. Bennett (D&C 124:16) joined the Church in 1840 and became a close associate of Joseph Smith. He was vital in securing the generous charter from the state of Illinois that helped establish the city of Nauvoo, and he served as the first mayor of the city. His relationship with the Church and its leaders quickly deteriorated when it was discovered that Bennett had abandoned a wife and several children before coming to Nauvoo. Bennett had also engaged in several illicit affairs with women in the city. Joseph Smith wrote that after being discovered in these acts Bennett “attempted to destroy himself by taking poison but[,] being discovered before it had taken sufficient affect, and proper antidotes administered[,] he again recovered.” Bennett was excommunicated for adultery in May 1842 and subsequently became one of the most bitter enemies of the Church. He even published a searing anti-Mormon book, The History of the Saints, or, An Expose of Joe Smith and Mormonism.
Lyman Wight (D&C 124:18) and George Miller (D&C 124:20–21) are two more interesting case studies of the dramatic history of the Nauvoo era. Wight was a fellow prisoner in Liberty Jail with Joseph Smith. He was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 8, 1841. After Joseph Smith’s death, Wight apostatized from the Church and led a group of 150 Saints to the Republic of Texas, where they established a colony at Zodiac, Texas. He was excommunicated on December 3, 1848, and died in 1858 in Texas. George Miller was appointed in section 124 to serve as a bishop in Nauvoo. Unlike Edward Partridge and Newel K. Whitney, who served as regional or traveling bishops, Miller was appointed to serve as a bishop over a limited geographical area, or ward, in Nauvoo. The term ward came from designated political areas already existing in the city. Miller was excommunicated in 1848 after he chose to follow Lyman Wight rather than Brigham Young and the Twelve. He later left Wight’s movement to follow another break-off group led by James Strang. After Strang was murdered, Miller attempted to travel to California, dying en route in 1856.
D&C 124:22–28
22 Let my servant George, and my servant Lyman, and my servant John Snider, and others, build a house unto my name, such a one as my servant Joseph shall show unto them, upon the place which he shall show unto them also.
23 And it shall be for a house for boarding, a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein; therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord; and the cornerstone I have appointed for Zion.
24 This house shall be a healthful habitation if it be built unto my name, and if the governor which shall be appointed unto it shall not suffer any pollution to come upon it. It shall be holy, or the Lord your God will not dwell therein.
25 And again, verily I say unto you, let all my saints come from afar.
26 And send ye swift messengers, yea, chosen messengers, and say unto them: Come ye, with all your gold, and your silver, and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities; and with all who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may come, and bring the box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth;
27 And with iron, with copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and with all your precious things of the earth; and build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein.
28 For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood.
Earlier in Doctrine and Covenants 124, even before the directive to build the temple, the Lord commanded George Miller, John Snider, and others to build another “house unto my name” (D&C 124:22). While the temple was a sacred home for the ordinances, the house mentioned in verse 22 was intended for visitors to the city. The revelation explains, “Let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord; and the cornerstone I have appointed for Zion” (see D&C 124:23). This house was to provide hospitality without descending into worldly practices. The revelation warns, “It shall be holy, or the Lord your God will not dwell therein” (D&C 124:24).
The boarding house mentioned in the revelation became commonly known as the “Nauvoo House.” In February 1841, George Miller, one of the men mentioned in the revelation, was elected “president of the Quorum of the Nauvoo boarding house,” an interesting combination of sacred and secular titles. In keeping with the Lord’s command to build a holy house, the article of incorporation for the Nauvoo House Association described the building as a “public house of entertainment” for visitors and as a place that prohibited all “spiritous liquors of every description.” To finance the project, interested parties could invest in the association by buying shares.
The Nauvoo House’s location illustrates how important it was to the city’s plans. The structure was located on the banks of the Mississippi River near the point of arrival for most visitors to the city. In effect, the boarding house served as the gateway to Nauvoo. It was built on a road leading to the house of the Lord, which rose on the bluff above the city. The Nauvoo temple and the Nauvoo House often competed for labor and resources during their construction, and on at least one occasion Joseph Smith chastised the Saints for their neglect of the hospitality project. In a discourse given in Nauvoo on February 21, 1843, the Prophet declared, “The building of N[auvoo] House is just as sacred in my view as the Temple. I want the Nauvo[o] House bui[l]t[;] it must be built, our salvation depends upon it. When men have done what they can or will for the temple[,] let them do what they can for the Nauvoo House.” At a Church meeting held a month later, Joseph declared, “It is important that this conference give importance to the N[auvoo] House, as a prejudice exists against the Nauvoo House in favor of the Lord’s House.” At one Sunday sermon, Brigham Young called for the Saints to support the temple and the Nauvoo House, saying that “for the salvation of the Church it was necessary these public buildings should be erected.” Joseph Smith indicated the importance of the Nauvoo House when he placed the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, along with a draft of the revelation calling for the construction of the Nauvoo House, in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House on September 25, 1841.
The Saints never fully realized their vision for the Nauvoo House. Construction on the Nauvoo House continued throughout Joseph Smith’s lifetime, at one point even surpassing the efforts put into the temple. Sadly, increasing persecution and limited resources resulted in the Saints diverting most of Nauvoo’s limited labor and resources to the completion of the temple. After the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in June 1844, hostilities in Hancock County led the Saints to consider abandoning their beloved city. At a meeting of Church leaders in September 1845, it was “agreed to turn more force of hands to the Temple even if it ha[s] to hinder the Nauvoo House.” The work on the Nauvoo House, set aside after the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, never resumed. One visitor to Nauvoo lamented the incomplete state of the structure in 1845, writing, “the building of the Nauvoo House is wholly abandoned, its bare walls and large piles of brick nearby exposed to the weather, presenting a striking contrast to the view which would be presented if the measures of the martyred Prophet were to be carried out as he designed.”
In the years following the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo, Emma Smith and her second husband, Lewis Bidamon, constructed a three-story structure on the southwest corner of the foundations of the Nauvoo House. The completed structure was known as the Riverside Mansion. It was operated as a boarding house by Bidamon. Bidamon even opened the cornerstone of the house and found the decaying manuscript of the Book of Mormon. Apparently, Bidamon gave away pages of the manuscript to visitors as souvenirs. The building is still in use and is operated as a boarding house by Community of Christ.
D&C 124:29–35
29 For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead—
30 For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me.
31 But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me.
32 But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God.
33 For verily I say unto you, that after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me;
34 For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory.
35 And after this time, your baptisms for the dead, by those who are scattered abroad, are not acceptable unto me, saith the Lord.
Following the pattern established in earlier cities built by the Church, a house of the Lord was found in the heart of Nauvoo. In section 124, the Lord declared, “I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me” (D&C 124:31). The temple in Nauvoo was to function primarily as a home for ordinances, including the newly introduced practice of baptisms for the dead. The Lord specifies “your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places, wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes, and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory and honor and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name”(D&C 124:39). The purposes of this new temple differ greatly from the earlier temple built in Kirtland. Even though Church leaders performed some ordinances in the Kirtland temple, its primary function was to serve as a meetinghouse and a community center for the Saints. Another vital role of the Kirtland temple was to serve as a place where the keys could be received that were later used in the Nauvoo temple. The primary purpose for this new house of the Lord was to be performing sacred ordinances for the Saints, and every subsequent temple built by the Latter-day Saints has followed this pattern.
On August 15, 1840, Joseph Smith preached at a funeral in Nauvoo and, for the first time in public, taught the doctrine of salvation for the dead. According to Simon Baker, who was at the funeral, the Prophet began by testifying that the “gospel of Jesus Christ brought glad tidings of great joy.” He read most of 1 Corinthians 15 and explained that “the Apostle was talking to a people who understood baptisms for the dead, for it was practiced among them.” He then declared that “people could now act for their friends who had departed this life, and that the plan of salvation was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements of God.”
Doctrine and Covenants 124, received several months after the practice of proxy baptisms for the deceased began in Nauvoo, clarified that baptisms for the dead needed to take place within the temple (D&C 124:29). In 1843 Joseph Smith elaborated on baptism for the dead and its relationship to the temple. He taught:
It was the design of the Councils of heaven before the world was, that the principles and Laws of the Priesthood were predicated upon the gathering of the people in every age of the world. Jesus did everything possible to gather the people[,] and they would not be gathered[;] and he therefore poured out curses upon them. Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the World in the Priesthood for the Salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed, all must be saved on the same principles.
It is for the same purpose that God gathers together his people in the last days to build unto the Lord a house to prepare them for the ordinances and endowments[,] washings and anointings, etc.. One of the ordinances of the house of the Lord is baptism for the dead. God decreed before the foundation of the world that that ordinance should be administered in a font prepared for that purpose in the house of the Lord.
D&C 124:36–44
36 For it is ordained that in Zion, and in her stakes, and in Jerusalem, those places which I have appointed for refuge, shall be the places for your baptisms for your dead.
37 And again, verily I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name?
38 For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was.
39 Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.
40 And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;
41 For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times.
42 And I will show unto my servant Joseph all things pertaining to this house, and the priesthood thereof, and the place whereon it shall be built.
43 And ye shall build it on the place where you have contemplated building it, for that is the spot which I have chosen for you to build it.
44 If ye labor with all your might, I will consecrate that spot that it shall be made holy.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:36–44 begins by explaining that Nauvoo will not be the only place where a temple of the Lord will be built—places appointed for refuge (temples) will be built in Zion, her stakes, and in Jerusalem. The Lord also lists some of the ceremonies intended to take place in His temples. Anointings, washings, and solemn assemblies all took place in the Kirtland Temple, though in an earlier form different from the ceremonies performed in temples today. The Lord also directed Joseph Smith to introduce new ordinances, taking the form of the temple endowment to what we are now familiar with.
Joseph Smith labored to instruct the Saints about these ordinances as quickly as possible, even before the temple was completed. On May 1, 1842, Joseph’s journal records, “Preached in the grove on the keys of the kingdom charity &c.—The keys are certain signs & words by which false spirits & personages may be detected from true.—which cannot be revealed to the Elders till the Temple is completed.—The rich can only get them in the Temple. The poor may get them on the Mountain top as did Moses.” With the help of a few other close associates, Joseph arranged the office and assembly room in his Red Brick Store to represent “the interior of a temple as much as the circumstances would permit.”
Willard Richards, who was present when Joseph introduced some of the Saints to the endowment on May 4, 1842, later wrote that Joseph Smith instructed those present
in the principles and order of the priesthood, attending to washings & anointings, endowments, and the communications of keys, pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood, and so on to the highe[s]t order of the Melchizedek Priesthood, setting forth the order pertaining to the Ancient of days & all those plans & principles by which any one is enabled to secure the fulness of those blessings which has been prepared for the chu[r]ch of the first-born, and come up, and abide in the prese[n]ce of Eloheim in the eternal worlds. In this council was instituted the Ancient order of things for the fir[s]t time in these last days.
According to Richards, Joseph Smith’s instructions
were of things spiritual, and to be received only by the spiritual minded: and there was nothing made known to these men but what will be made known to all saints, of the last days, so soon as they are prepared to receive, and a proper place is prepared to communicate them, even to the weakest of the saints; therefore let the saints be diligent in building the Temple and all houses which they have been or shall hereafter be commanded of God to build, and wait their time with patience, in all meekness[,] faith, & perseverance unto the end, knowing assuredly that all these things refer[re]d to in this council are always governed by the principles of Revelation.
D&C 124:45–55
45 And if my people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place.
46 But if they will not hearken to my voice, nor unto the voice of these men whom I have appointed, they shall not be blest, because they pollute mine holy grounds, and mine holy ordinances, and charters, and my holy words which I give unto them.
47 And it shall come to pass that if you build a house unto my name, and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfil the promises which ye expect at my hands, saith the Lord.
48 For instead of blessings, ye, by your own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments upon your own heads, by your follies, and by all your abominations, which you practice before me, saith the Lord.
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.
50 And the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work, unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not, and hate me, saith the Lord God.
51 Therefore, for this cause have I accepted the offerings of those whom I commanded to build up a city and a house unto my name, in Jackson county, Missouri, and were hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord your God.
52 And I will answer judgment, wrath, and indignation, wailing, and anguish, and gnashing of teeth upon their heads, unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not, and hate me, saith the Lord your God.
53 And this I make an example unto you, for your consolation concerning all those who have been commanded to do a work and have been hindered by the hands of their enemies, and by oppression, saith the Lord your God.
54 For I am the Lord your God, and will save all those of your brethren who have been pure in heart, and have been slain in the land of Missouri, saith the Lord.
55 And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place, that you may prove yourselves unto me that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that I may bless you, and crown you with honor, immortality, and eternal life.
In verses 45–55, the Lord returns to the first time he gave the Saints a commandment to build a temple in His name, specifically the temple in Jackson County, Missouri (D&C 84:1–5). Because of persecution and difficulties among the Saints themselves, the temple was never built (D&C 101:6–8). The Saints were also commanded to build a temple in Far West, Missouri (D&C 115:7–14). In both cases the construction of these temples ceased because of persecution. The Lord assures the Saints that those who hindered the temples’ work, whether by transgressions or persecutions, will suffer if they do not repent (D&C 124:47–48, 50).
The Lord also assures the faithful Saints who were unable to complete the Missouri temples that their offerings are acceptable to Him. By applying this principle in our own lives, we see that the Lord expects us to do our best. We may not always be able to achieve what is asked of us, but all the Lord requires is a genuine, sincere effort. As long as we do our best, the Lord will accept our offering. In a 2015 general conference address, Elder Dale G. Renlund quoted Nelson Mandela, who said, “I’m no saint—that is, unless you think a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.” Elder Renlund added, “My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites. As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were.”
D&C 124:56–83
56 And now I say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding house which I have commanded you to build for the boarding of strangers, let it be built unto my name, and let my name be named upon it, and let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein, from generation to generation.
57 For this anointing have I put upon his head, that his blessing shall also be put upon the head of his posterity after him.
58 And as I said unto Abraham concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my servant Joseph: In thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed.
59 Therefore, let my servant Joseph and his seed after him have place in that house, from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.
60 And let the name of that house be called Nauvoo House; and let it be a delightful habitation for man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof;
61 That he may receive also the counsel from those whom I have set to be as plants of renown, and as watchmen upon her walls.
62 Behold, verily I say unto you, let my servant George Miller, and my servant Lyman Wight, and my servant John Snider, and my servant Peter Haws, organize themselves, and appoint one of them to be a president over their quorum for the purpose of building that house.
63 And they shall form a constitution, whereby they may receive stock for the building of that house.
64 And they shall not receive less than fifty dollars for a share of stock in that house, and they shall be permitted to receive fifteen thousand dollars from any one man for stock in that house.
65 But they shall not be permitted to receive over fifteen thousand dollars stock from any one man.
66 And they shall not be permitted to receive under fifty dollars for a share of stock from any one man in that house.
67 And they shall not be permitted to receive any man, as a stockholder in this house, except the same shall pay his stock into their hands at the time he receives stock;
68 And in proportion to the amount of stock he pays into their hands he shall receive stock in that house; but if he pays nothing into their hands he shall not receive any stock in that house.
69 And if any pay stock into their hands it shall be for stock in that house, for himself, and for his generation after him, from generation to generation, so long as he and his heirs shall hold that stock, and do not sell or convey the stock away out of their hands by their own free will and act, if you will do my will, saith the Lord your God.
70 And again, verily I say unto you, if my servant George Miller, and my servant Lyman Wight, and my servant John Snider, and my servant Peter Haws, receive any stock into their hands, in moneys, or in properties wherein they receive the real value of moneys, they shall not appropriate any portion of that stock to any other purpose, only in that house.
71 And if they do appropriate any portion of that stock anywhere else, only in that house, without the consent of the stockholder, and do not repay four-fold for the stock which they appropriate anywhere else, only in that house, they shall be accursed, and shall be moved out of their place, saith the Lord God; for I, the Lord, am God, and cannot be mocked in any of these things.
72 Verily I say unto you, let my servant Joseph pay stock into their hands for the building of that house, as seemeth him good; but my servant Joseph cannot pay over fifteen thousand dollars stock in that house, nor under fifty dollars; neither can any other man, saith the Lord.
73 And there are others also who wish to know my will concerning them, for they have asked it at my hands.
74 Therefore, I say unto you concerning my servant Vinson Knight, if he will do my will let him put stock into that house for himself, and for his generation after him, from generation to generation.
75 And let him lift up his voice long and loud, in the midst of the people, to plead the cause of the poor and the needy; and let him not fail, neither let his heart faint; and I will accept of his offerings, for they shall not be unto me as the offerings of Cain, for he shall be mine, saith the Lord.
76 Let his family rejoice and turn away their hearts from affliction; for I have chosen him and anointed him, and he shall be honored in the midst of his house, for I will forgive all his sins, saith the Lord. Amen.
77 Verily I say unto you, let my servant Hyrum put stock into that house as seemeth him good, for himself and his generation after him, from generation to generation.
78 Let my servant Isaac Galland put stock into that house; for I, the Lord, love him for the work he hath done, and will forgive all his sins; therefore, let him be remembered for an interest in that house from generation to generation.
79 Let my servant Isaac Galland be appointed among you, and be ordained by my servant William Marks, and be blessed of him, to go with my servant Hyrum to accomplish the work that my servant Joseph shall point out to them, and they shall be greatly blessed.
80 Let my servant William Marks pay stock into that house, as seemeth him good, for himself and his generation, from generation to generation.
81 Let my servant Henry G. Sherwood pay stock into that house, as seemeth him good, for himself and his seed after him, from generation to generation.
82 Let my servant William Law pay stock into that house, for himself and his seed after him, from generation to generation.
83 If he will do my will let him not take his family unto the eastern lands, even unto Kirtland; nevertheless, I, the Lord, will build up Kirtland, but I, the Lord, have a scourge prepared for the inhabitants thereof.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:56–83 contains instructions pertaining to the Nauvoo House, the house for boarding mentioned earlier in the revelation (D&C 124:22–24). The plans for the Nauvoo House reflected part of the grand expectations for the city of Nauvoo. The existent plans describe an L-shaped building, 120 feet on each side and 40 feet wide. Some sources indicate the building was planned to have five floors and be “built after Grecian Doric order as near as is practicable.” The plans also include a suite of rooms designated for Joseph Smith and his heirs in perpetuity (D&C 124:59). Lucien Woodworth, William Weeks, and Truman Angell are all identified in different sources as architects of the Nauvoo House. Weeks was the primary architect of the Nauvoo Temple, and Angell designed several key structures in Utah, including the temples in Salt Lake City and St. George, as well as the Salt Lake Tabernacle with its exquisite acoustics. Historian Alex D. Smith identifies Woodworth as the primary architect for the Nauvoo House.
The Lord commands several Church leaders to purchase stock in the Nauvoo House, including Joseph Smith (verse 72), Vinson Knight (verse 74), Hyrum Smith (verse 77), Isaac Galland (verse 78) and others. Church leaders also worked to promote the Nauvoo House to those outside the faith as well. Apostle Willard Richards wrote several letters to the Boston Daily Bee under the pseudonym “Viator” to promote the development of Nauvoo. In a letter published in May 1843, he wrote, “The Nauvoo House will be a splendid establishment when completed, and is much needed, for individuals of great respectability and worth are frequently calling to see the Prophet . . . I understand it is their design to finish the building in such style as to render it acceptable to the fancy and accommodation of the Kings, Queens, Lords, Ladies, and Nobles of the earth.” Another Church member, Benjamin Winchester, wrote a letter infused with enthusiasm over the planned building, even boasting, “This house when finished, I should think from what I have seen, will surpass any house of the kind for beauty, convenience, and durability, west of the Allegany mountains.”
D&C 124:84–86
84 And with my servant Almon Babbitt, there are many things with which I am not pleased; behold, he aspireth to establish his counsel instead of the counsel which I have ordained, even that of the Presidency of my Church; and he setteth up a golden calf for the worship of my people.
85 Let no man go from this place who has come here essaying to keep my commandments.
86 If they live here let them live unto me; and if they die let them die unto me; for they shall rest from all their labors here, and shall continue their works.
At the time section 124 was received, Almon Babbit was serving as the stake president in Kirtland. Part of the rebuke Babbit received in this revelation came from his desire to build up Kirtland at the expense of Nauvoo. Earlier in section 124, the Lord promises to eventually “build up Kirtland,” but at the time He had prepared a scourge for Kirtland and its inhabitants (D&C 124:83). In a letter written to Oliver Granger, a Church agent in Kirtland (see D&C 117:12–16), Joseph Smith wrote, “I am sorry to be informed not only in your letter but from other respectable sources of the strange conduct pursued in Kirtland by Elder Alman Babbit [Almon Babbitt]; I am indeed Surprised that a man having the experience which Bro Babbit has had should take any steps whatever calculated to destroy the confidence of the brethren in the presidency or any of the Authorities of the church.”
Continuing, Joseph elaborated on the importance of harmony and love in Church leadership. “In order to conduct the affairs of the kingdom in righteousness it is all important, that the most perfect harmony kind feeling, good understanding and confidence should exist in the hearts of all the brethren and that true charity—love one towards another, should characterize all their proceedings. If there are any uncharitable feelings, any lack of confidence, then pride and arrogancy and envy will soon be manifested and confusion must inevitably prevail and the Authorities of the church set at nought.” Joseph lamented that “under such circumstances Kirtland cannot rise and free herself from the captivity in which she is held and become a place of safety for the Saints[,] nor can the blessings of Jehovah rest upon her. If the saints in Kirtland deem me unworthy of their prayers when they assemble together, and neglect to bear me up at a throne of heavenly grace, it is a strong and convincing proof to me that they have not the spirit of God.”
Almon Babbitt repented and eventually gathered with the Saints. He was appointed as the presiding elder in Ramus, Illinois. Even though he was a gifted and able leader, Babbitt had a tempestuous relationship with Church leaders. Several times he was disfellowshipped, and on one occasion he was excommunicated for immorality and intemperance. He was killed in an attack by American Indians at Ash Hollow, Nebraska, while crossing the plains in 1856.
D&C 124:87–90
87 Therefore, let my servant William put his trust in me, and cease to fear concerning his family, because of the sickness of the land. If ye love me, keep my commandments; and the sickness of the land shall redound to your glory.
88 Let my servant William go and proclaim my everlasting gospel with a loud voice, and with great joy, as he shall be moved upon by my Spirit, unto the inhabitants of Warsaw, and also unto the inhabitants of Carthage, and also unto the inhabitants of Burlington, and also unto the inhabitants of Madison, and await patiently and diligently for further instructions at my general conference, saith the Lord.
89 If he will do my will let him from henceforth hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph, and with his interest support the cause of the poor, and publish the new translation of my holy word unto the inhabitants of the earth.
90 And if he will do this I will bless him with a multiplicity of blessings, that he shall not be forsaken, nor his seed be found begging bread.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:87–88 mentions William Law, who just verses later is called to take the place of Hyrum Smith as a counselor in the First Presidency (D&C 124:91). Law was a prominent leader in Nauvoo. He served on the city council and in several different civic position. He is also mentioned prominently in Doctrine and Covenants 124:97–102, in which the Lord counsels him to “be humble before me, and be without guile, and he shall receive of my Spirit, even the Comforter, which shall manifest unto him the truth of all things” (D&C 124:91).
Rejecting the principles taught in Doctrine and Covenants 132, William Law later became one of the most bitter enemies of Joseph Smith. He was removed from the First Presidency in January 1844 and was excommunicated on April 18, 1844. Dissenters appointed Law to replace Joseph Smith as President of the Church, and eventually Law organized his own church in 1844. In June 1844 Law published the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper designed to criticize the leaders of Nauvoo, particularly Joseph Smith. The decision of the Nauvoo city council to destroy the Expositor press directly led to the arrest and murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage Jail.
D&C 124:91–96
91 And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant William be appointed, ordained, and anointed, as counselor unto my servant Joseph, in the room of my servant Hyrum, that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right;
92 That from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people,
93 That whoever he blesses shall be blessed, and whoever he curses shall be cursed; that whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
94 And from this time forth I appoint unto him that he may be a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my church, as well as my servant Joseph;
95 That he may act in concert also with my servant Joseph; and that he shall receive counsel from my servant Joseph, who shall show unto him the keys whereby he may ask and receive, and be crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood, that once were put upon him that was my servant Oliver Cowdery;
96 That my servant Hyrum may bear record of the things which I shall show unto him, that his name may be had in honorable remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever.
In Doctrine and Covenants 124:91–96, Hyrum Smith is appointed to two new positions. First, following the death of Joseph Smith Sr., Hyrum was appointed to serve as the Patriarch to the Church. This office has at times been known by different names, including Patriarch over the whole Church, Patriarch of the Church, and Presiding Patriarch. Section 124 specifies that Hyrum received this office “by blessing, and also by right” (D&C 124:91). In a blessing given to Hyrum in September 1835 by Joseph Smith, Hyrum was blessed that “he shall stand in the tracts of his father and be numbered among those who hold the right of patriarchal priesthood, even the evangelical priesthood.”
When Joseph Smith Sr. was on his deathbed, he gave Hyrum a blessing, saying, “I seal upon your head the patriarchal power and you shall bless the people.” Following Hyrum’s death, the office of Patriarch to the Church generally passed by hereditary succession from Joseph Smith Sr. to his descendants, with a few exceptions, until Elder Eldred G. Smith. In 1979 the First Presidency honorably released Elder Eldred G. Smith from his calling and made him an emeritus General Authority Seventy without a replacement, effectively ending the office of Patriarch to the Church. The calling of thousands of patriarchs in stakes around the world had made the office of Patriarch to the Church less necessary.
Verses 91–96 also contain Hyrum’s call to fill the position of Oliver Cowdery, who was excommunicated from the Church in April 1838. Hyrum was “crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood” (D&C 124:95) that had belonged to Oliver Cowdery. Hyrum was also appointed to serve as “a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my church” and given the authority to “act in concert” with Joseph Smith (D&C 124:94–95). From this point on, Hyrum effectively occupied the place of Oliver Cowdery as one of the co-testators of the Restoration (D&C 135:5).
Joseph Fielding Smith, a descendent of Hyrum Smith, once remarked on the special relationship between the first and second elders of the Restoration (D&C 20:2–3). He said, “I am firmly of the opinion that had Oliver Cowdery remained true to his covenants and obligations as witness with Joseph Smith, and retained his authority and place, he, and not Hyrum Smith, would have gone with Joseph Smith as prisoner and to martyrdom at Carthage.”
D&C 124:97–110
97 Let my servant William Law also receive the keys by which he may ask and receive blessings; let him be humble before me, and be without guile, and he shall receive of my Spirit, even the Comforter, which shall manifest unto him the truth of all things, and shall give him, in the very hour, what he shall say.
98 And these signs shall follow him—he shall heal the sick, he shall cast out devils, and shall be delivered from those who would administer unto him deadly poison;
99 And he shall be led in paths where the poisonous serpent cannot lay hold upon his heel, and he shall mount up in the imagination of his thoughts as upon eagles’ wings.
100 And what if I will that he should raise the dead, let him not withhold his voice.
101 Therefore, let my servant William cry aloud and spare not, with joy and rejoicing, and with hosannas to him that sitteth upon the throne forever and ever, saith the Lord your God.
102 Behold, I say unto you, I have a mission in store for my servant William, and my servant Hyrum, and for them alone; and let my servant Joseph tarry at home, for he is needed. The remainder I will show unto you hereafter. Even so. Amen.
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.
104 And if he will offer unto me an acceptable offering, and acknowledgments, and remain with my people, behold, I, the Lord your God, will heal him that he shall be healed; and he shall lift up his voice again on the mountains, and be a spokesman before my face.
105 Let him come and locate his family in the neighborhood in which my servant Joseph resides.
106 And in all his journeyings let him lift up his voice as with the sound of a trump, and warn the inhabitants of the earth to flee the wrath to come.
107 Let him assist my servant Joseph, and also let my servant William Law assist my servant Joseph, in making a solemn proclamation unto the kings of the earth, even as I have before said unto you.
108 If my servant Sidney will do my will, let him not remove his family unto the eastern lands, but let him change their habitation, even as I have said.
109 Behold, it is not my will that he shall seek to find safety and refuge out of the city which I have appointed unto you, even the city of Nauvoo.
110 Verily I say unto you, even now, if he will hearken unto my voice, it shall be well with him. Even so. Amen.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:97–110 contains further instructions to William Law and counsel to Sidney Rigdon, both members of the First Presidency. Following his ordeal in Liberty Jail, Sidney Rigdon was in poor health. During most of the 1840–44 period in Nauvoo, illness prevented Sidney Rigdon from taking as large a role in Church leadership as he had in the past. Sidney’s son Wickliffe later wrote, “Sidney Rigdon being a bilious temperament was sick most of the time while he remained at Nauvoo . . . for weeks at a time he would not be able to leave his bed.” When his cousin John Rigdon, a Campbellite minister, challenged Sidney to a debate in the summer of 1840, Sidney had to decline, writing, “My health is very bad, and it is only at intervals that I am able to write . . . it is known through the country, generally, that I am unable to get five miles from my house, let alone discuss a subject of importance with any person. And it is also a fact that my attendant physician has forbidden my using any exertions, either mental or physical, except very moderate exercise, as it will endanger my life.”
Sidney’s health struggles during the Nauvoo period prompted Joseph Smith to take a more active role in speaking publicly to the Saints. In 1843 Joseph wrote a scathing letter to Sidney, accusing him of working with apostates to undermine the Church. “I believe, I am laboring under the fullest conviction that you are actually practicing deception and wickedness against me, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” Joseph wrote to Sidney. Joseph threatened in the same letter to remove Sidney from Church fellowship. The relationship between the two men remained unstable throughout the remainder of the Nauvoo period, though Sidney remained a member of the First Presidency until Joseph’s death.
D&C 124:111–122
111 And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant Amos Davies pay stock into the hands of those whom I have appointed to build a house for boarding, even the Nauvoo House.
112 This let him do if he will have an interest; and let him hearken unto the counsel of my servant Joseph, and labor with his own hands that he may obtain the confidence of men.
113 And when he shall prove himself faithful in all things that shall be entrusted unto his care, yea, even a few things, he shall be made ruler over many;
114 Let him therefore abase himself that he may be exalted. Even so. Amen.
115 And again, verily I say unto you, if my servant Robert D. Foster will obey my voice, let him build a house for my servant Joseph, according to the contract which he has made with him, as the door shall be open to him from time to time.
116 And let him repent of all his folly, and clothe himself with charity; and cease to do evil, and lay aside all his hard speeches;
117 And pay stock also into the hands of the quorum of the Nauvoo House, for himself and for his generation after him, from generation to generation;
118 And hearken unto the counsel of my servants Joseph, and Hyrum, and William Law, and unto the authorities which I have called to lay the foundation of Zion; and it shall be well with him forever and ever. Even so. Amen.
119 And again, verily I say unto you, let no man pay stock to the quorum of the Nauvoo House unless he shall be a believer in the Book of Mormon, and the revelations I have given unto you, saith the Lord your God;
120 For that which is more or less than this cometh of evil, and shall be attended with cursings and not blessings, saith the Lord your God. Even so. Amen.
121 And again, verily I say unto you, let the quorum of the Nauvoo House have a just recompense of wages for all their labors which they do in building the Nauvoo House; and let their wages be as shall be agreed among themselves, as pertaining to the price thereof.
122 And let every man who pays stock bear his proportion of their wages, if it must needs be, for their support, saith the Lord; otherwise, their labors shall be accounted unto them for stock in that house. Even so. Amen.
In Doctrine and Covenants 124:111–22, the Lord calls on other Church members to purchase stock in the Nauvoo House. Consistent with other revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, a line is not drawn between temporal and spiritual things (D&C 29:34–35). Building a hotel for guests might be considered a strictly temporal affair, but the Lord asks that anyone who purchases stock in the venture to “be a believer in the Book of Mormon, and the revelations I have given unto you, saith the Lord your God” (D&C 124:119). Given this connection between the builders of the Nauvoo House and a belief in the Book of Mormon, it is fitting that the building itself played a unique role in the history of the book.
The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon was kept by Joseph Smith. It remained in his care until he placed it in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House during the building’s cornerstone ceremony held on October 2, 1841. Warren Foote, a Church member present at the ceremony, recorded, “I was standing very near the cornerstone when Joseph Smith came up with the manuscript of the Book of Mormon, and said he wanted to put that in there as he had had trouble enough with it. It appeared to be written on foolscap paper and was about three inches in thickness . . . a close-fitting stone cover was laid in cement, and the wall built over it.”
In 1882, over forty years later, the original manuscript was removed from the cornerstone by the second husband of Emma Smith, Lewis Bidamon. When the manuscript was in the cornerstone, water seeped in and destroyed most of it. Only portions of the beginning of the book (1 Nephi) and its middle (Alma 22 into the early parts of the book of Helaman) remained intact. In the following six years, Bidamon gave away most of the better-preserved portions to several individuals, mostly Latter-day Saints from Utah, among them Church historians Andrew Jenson, Edward Stephenson, and Joseph W. Summerhays. Bidamon kept a few fragments of the manuscript for himself, and they remained with his son, Charles, until 1937, when Wilford Wood, an avid collector of Latter-day Saint memorabilia, purchased the fragments. Today, only about 28 percent of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon is extant. Nearly all of it (roughly 25 percent of the current text) is held by the historical department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
D&C 124:123–145
123 Verily I say unto you, I now give unto you the officers belonging to my Priesthood, that ye may hold the keys thereof, even the Priesthood which is after the order of Melchizedek, which is after the order of mine Only Begotten Son.
124 First, I give unto you Hyrum Smith to be a patriarch unto you, to hold the sealing blessings of my church, even the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby ye are sealed up unto the day of redemption, that ye may not fall notwithstanding the hour of temptation that may come upon you.
125 I give unto you my servant Joseph to be a presiding elder over all my church, to be a translator, a revelator, a seer, and prophet.
126 I give unto him for counselors my servant Sidney Rigdon and my servant William Law, that these may constitute a quorum and First Presidency, to receive the oracles for the whole church.
127 I give unto you my servant Brigham Young to be a president over the Twelve traveling council;
128 Which Twelve hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth, and after that to send my word to every creature.
129 They are Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, William Smith, John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, George A. Smith;
130 David Patten I have taken unto myself; behold, his priesthood no man taketh from him; but, verily I say unto you, another may be appointed unto the same calling.
131 And again, I say unto you, I give unto you a high council, for the cornerstone of Zion—
132 Namely, Samuel Bent, Henry G. Sherwood, George W. Harris, Charles C. Rich, Thomas Grover, Newel Knight, David Dort, Dunbar Wilson—Seymour Brunson I have taken unto myself; no man taketh his priesthood, but another may be appointed unto the same priesthood in his stead; and verily I say unto you, let my servant Aaron Johnson be ordained unto this calling in his stead—David Fullmer, Alpheus Cutler, William Huntington.
133 And again, I give unto you Don C. Smith to be a president over a quorum of high priests;
134 Which ordinance is instituted for the purpose of qualifying those who shall be appointed standing presidents or servants over different stakes scattered abroad;
135 And they may travel also if they choose, but rather be ordained for standing presidents; this is the office of their calling, saith the Lord your God.
136 I give unto him Amasa Lyman and Noah Packard for counselors, that they may preside over the quorum of high priests of my church, saith the Lord.
137 And again, I say unto you, I give unto you John A. Hicks, Samuel Williams, and Jesse Baker, which priesthood is to preside over the quorum of elders, which quorum is instituted for standing ministers; nevertheless they may travel, yet they are ordained to be standing ministers to my church, saith the Lord.
138 And again, I give unto you Joseph Young, Josiah Butterfield, Daniel Miles, Henry Herriman, Zera Pulsipher, Levi Hancock, James Foster, to preside over the quorum of seventies;
139 Which quorum is instituted for traveling elders to bear record of my name in all the world, wherever the traveling high council, mine apostles, shall send them to prepare a way before my face.
140 The difference between this quorum and the quorum of elders is that one is to travel continually, and the other is to preside over the churches from time to time; the one has the responsibility of presiding from time to time, and the other has no responsibility of presiding, saith the Lord your God.
141 And again, I say unto you, I give unto you Vinson Knight, Samuel H. Smith, and Shadrach Roundy, if he will receive it, to preside over the bishopric; a knowledge of said bishopric is given unto you in the book of Doctrine and Covenants.
142 And again, I say unto you, Samuel Rolfe and his counselors for priests, and the president of the teachers and his counselors, and also the president of the deacons and his counselors, and also the president of the stake and his counselors.
143 The above offices I have given unto you, and the keys thereof, for helps and for governments, for the work of the ministry and the perfecting of my saints.
144 And a commandment I give unto you, that you should fill all these offices and approve of those names which I have mentioned, or else disapprove of them at my general conference;
145 And that ye should prepare rooms for all these offices in my house when you build it unto my name, saith the Lord your God. Even so. Amen.
The final part of the revelation (D&C 124:123–45) concerns the reorganization of the leading quorums of the Church, following their disruption during the Missouri persecutions. After the apostasy of Thomas B. Marsh, Brigham Young was chosen to serve as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (D&C 124:127). The Twelve were affirmed in their role as “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world” (D&C 107:23) and told that they “hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth, and after that to send my word to every creature” (D&C 124:128). The Twelve fulfilled these responsibilities in part by carrying out the Lord’s charge to preach the gospel in Europe (D&C 118:5).
Even though the Twelve were aware of their mission call to Europe, the difficult conditions of the Saints in the summer of 1839 delayed the departure of the Twelve from Illinois for several months. The malaria-infested swamps around Nauvoo took a huge toll on the already weakened Saints. But although the Twelve (and their families) suffered from the terrible illness found in Nauvoo’s swamplands, they were determined to fulfill their mission to England and made plans to depart. As Wilford Woodruff lay on the ground to rest after traveling just a short distance from his home on the day of his departure, the Prophet Joseph Smith happened upon him and cheerfully remarked, “Well, Brother Woodruff, you have started upon your mission.” Wilford replied, “Yes, but I feel and look more like a subject for the dissecting room than a missionary.” Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, knowing full well of the terrible conditions in which they were leaving their families and of their own troubled health, stopped their wagon on their way out of Nauvoo and with great effort arose to shout three times to their wives, “Hurrah, hurrah for Israel!” After traveling a modest distance, illness forced them to rest for several days in Quincy.
The journey across the United States and the voyage across the Atlantic proved slow and difficult for the Twelve. It was several months before the majority of the Twelve reached the British Isles. At a council meeting held on April 14, 1840, in the home of Willard Richards in Preston, England, Richards was ordained an apostle as commanded in the July 1838 revelation (D&C 118:6). After this meeting, the majority of the Apostles preached in the British Isles, and the work of spreading the good news of the Restoration moved forward. The Twelve’s encouragement and enthusiasm for the work was much needed among the English Saints. Persecution and a lack of strong local leadership had left once faithful converts struggling to keep their faith. The Twelve reinvigorated the work in the British Isles and spread the gospel at an unprecedented rate. Elder John Taylor explained why they enjoyed such success: “I feel the word of the Lord like fire in my bones . . . you may rejoice with us in those great and glorious things which God has revealed for the salvation of the world.”
Through the efforts of the Twelve and that of others, by 1841 over four thousand people had entered the waters of baptism. Several hundred of these converts, joining the Twelve when they voyaged home across the Atlantic, settled in the new Church center of Nauvoo. In the decades that followed, thousands of converts from the British Isles joined the Saints in the Intermountain West. Another success from the Twelve’s British mission was the unification of the Twelve under the able leadership of Brigham Young. Joseph Smith, noting the confidence and unity of the Quorum of the Twelve, expanded their responsibilities and gave them the keys of the kingdom.
The Twelve’s mission to England was a sacrificial effort to fulfill Joseph’s prophecy on April 26, 1839, at Far West, Missouri, that the Twelve would journey “over the great waters [to] promulgate my gospel, the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name” (D&C 118:4). Thousands of new Church members reaped the benefit of the devotion of the Twelve to the Lord and His servant Joseph Smith. The blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ became rooted in Great Britain through the Twelve’s sacrifice and willingness to serve the Lord.
Footnotes
