Doctrine and Covenants 14
Historical Context
Joseph Smith received the revelation in section 14 on behalf of David Whitmer shortly after Joseph and Oliver moved to the home of Peter Whitmer Sr. in Fayette, New York. The Prophet and his scribe relocated to Fayette for the last month of the translation because of rising conflict between Joseph and the other residents of Harmony, including Joseph’s father-in-law, Isaac Hale. The Whitmer farm is located about thirty miles away from the Hill Cumorah, and the entire area was alive with rumors about the retrieval of the plates. Oliver was acquainted with the Whitmer family and corresponded with them while he was assisting Joseph in the translation. Because of rising persecution in Harmony, Pennsylvania where Joseph and Oliver were working, Oliver wrote a letter asking David Whitmer to find a place where they could move to complete the work of translation. Lucy Mack Smith later recorded, “[Joseph] was commanded to write a letter to one David Whitmer, this man Joseph had never seen but he was instructed to say [to] him that he must come with his team immediately in order to convey Joseph and Oliver [Cowdery] back to his house which was 135 miles that they might remain there until the translation was completed. . . . An evil designing people were seeking to take away Joseph’s life in order to prevent the work of God from coming forth.”
According to an interview given later in his life, David described a curious experience that he, Joseph, and Oliver had during the trip from Harmony to Fayette. As David described it,
A very pleasant, nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon and saluted us with, “good morning, it is very warm,” at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and, by a sign from Joseph, I invited him to ride if he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, “No, I am going to Cumorah.” This name was something new to me, I did not know what Cumorah meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked around enquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared. . . . It was the messenger who had the plates, who had taken them from Joseph just prior to our starting from Harmony.”
David, along with the rest of the Whitmer family, became key allies of Joseph Smith in bringing forth the Book of Mormon. Doctrine and Covenants 15 and 16 were received on behalf of other Whitmer family members. David himself became one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Each of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon were either a member of Joseph Smith’s immediate family or a member of the Whitmer family (Hiram Page was a Whitmer brother-in-law, married to Katherine Whitmer). The Whitmer’s prominently participated in a number of other key events in the early Restoration, including the organization of the Church (D&C 20), the incident with Hiram Page and the Seerstone (D&C 28), and the first mission to the American Indians (D&C 30).
See Historical Introduction, “Revelation, June 1829–A [D&C 14],” p. 32, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 12, 2020, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-june-1829-a-dc-14/1
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Doctrine and Covenants 14:1–6
1 A great and marvelous work is about to come forth unto the children of men.
2 Behold, I am God; give heed to my word, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow; therefore give heed unto my word.
3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.
4 Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God.
5 Therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will knock it shall be opened unto you.
6 Seek to bring forth and establish my Zion. Keep my commandments in all things.
The call to the ministry the Lord issues here parallels the calls He gave to Joseph Smith Sr., Oliver Cowdery, and Hyrum Smith. He gave a similar call to David’s brothers, John and Peter, in Doctrine and Covenants 15 and 16 (see D&C 4; 6:1–5; 11:1–9).
Doctrine and Covenants 14:7–8
7 And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
8 And it shall come to pass, that if you shall ask the Father in my name, in faith believing, you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see, and also that you may declare repentance unto this generation.
The Lord promised David eternal life provided that he endure to the end. He was baptized the same month of this revelation and became one of the six original members of the Church in April 1830. David followed the Church when it moved to Kirtland and then to Jackson County, Missouri. He was subject to the terrible persecutions faced by Church members in 1833, and the next year Joseph Smith appointed him as president of the Church in Missouri. During the crisis linked to the Kirtland Safety Society, David challenged Joseph Smith’s leadership over the Church, attempting to become the president of the Church. The Missouri High Council excommunicated him on April 13, 1838, at Far West, Missouri, based on charges of “not observing the word of wisdom, for unchristian-like conduct in neglecting to attend meetings, in uniting with, and possessing the same spirit with the dissenters, [and] in writing letters to the dissenters in Kirtland unfavorable to the cause and to Br. Joseph Smith Jr.
Though David was excommunicated, he remained steadfast in his testimony of the Book of Mormon. In 1884, B. H. Roberts interviewed David who recounted his experience with the Angel Moroni and beholding the gold plates and other artifacts. According to Roberts, when the angel was showing the plates to the witnesses, he turned and looked directly at David, saying, “David, blessed is he that endureth to the end.” In a talk later given in general conference, Roberts said, “It is a rather sad reflection that of these three witnesses [David] was the only one who died outside of membership in the Church. I wonder if Moroni was not trying to sound a warning to this stubborn man, that perhaps whatever his experiences and trails might be, that at the last he, too, might have been brought into the fold, and might have died within the pale of the Church.”
Doctrine and Covenants 14:9–11
9 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who created the heavens and the earth, a light which cannot be hid in darkness;
10 Wherefore, I must bring forth the fulness of my gospel from the Gentiles unto the house of Israel.
11 And behold, thou art David, and thou art called to assist; which thing if ye do, and are faithful, ye shall be blessed both spiritually and temporally, and great shall be your reward. Amen.
Even before Joseph and Oliver arrived at the Whitmer household, the family began to receive temporal and spiritual blessings. When David received Oliver Cowdery’s letter requesting help relocating to Fayette, he was already overwhelmed. He later explained, “I did not know what to do, I was pressed with my work. I had some 20 acres to plow, so I concluded I would finish plowing then go. I got up one morning to go to work as usual, and on going to the field, found between five and seven acres of my ground had been plowed during the night. I didn’t know who did it; but it was done just as I would have done it myself, and the plow was left standing in the furrow.”
Lucy Mack Smith recalled the same incident with slightly different details. According to her, David’s work entailed sowing the field with plaster of paris, a common element used during the time to reduce the acidity of soil. David determined to complete the chore and then depart to assist Joseph and Oliver. Lucy reported,
The next morning, David took a wooden measure under his arm and went out to sow the plaster, which he had left, two days previous, in heaps near his sister’s house, but on coming to the place, he discovered that it was gone! He then ran to his sister and inquired of her if she knew what had become of it. Being surprised she said, “Why do you ask me? Was it not all sown yesterday?” “Not to my knowledge,” answered David. “I am astonished at that,” continued his sister, “for the children came to me in the forenoon and begged of me to go out and see the men sow plaster in the field, saying, that they never saw anybody sow plaster so fast in their lives. I accordingly went, and saw three men at work in the field, as the children said, but, supposing that you had hired some help, on account of your hurry, I went immediately into the house, and gave the subject no further attention.”
Lucy added, “David made considerable inquiry in regard to the matter, both among his relatives and neighbors, but was not able to learn who had done it. However, the family were convinced that there was an exertion of supernatural power connected with this strange occurrence. David immediately set out for Pennsylvania, and arrived there in two days without injuring his horses in the least, though the distance was 135 miles.”
Footnotes
