Doctrine and Covenants 65
Historical Context
The revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 65 was received on Sunday, October 30, 1831, at the John Johnson home in Hiram, Ohio. William E. McLellin, a new convert who may have been present when the revelation was received, recalled a Church service held in the Johnson home the day the revelation was given. He wrote,
This day the brethren and sisters collected at Bro. John Johnson’s. And the brethren called on me to preach. But it seemed to me as if I could not. Here was the church who had been instructed by the first elders in the church. Here was Brothers John [Johnson], Sidney [Rigdon], Oliver [Cowdery], and Joseph [Smith] and it did not seem to me as if I could instruct them or even entertain the congregation, but with confidence along in Enoch’s God I arose and addressed them about one hour and a half. And it was not I but the spirit and power of God which was in me and it did seem to me before I finished as though it was not I or that I had got into another region where all was light and glory.
Sometime during the day Joseph Smith received this revelation. William McLellin made his own copy of the revelation and said that it related to Matthew 6:10, a part of the Lord’s prayer, which reads, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” While Joseph Smith was working on a translation of the Bible at this time, he appears to have translated this passage some time earlier. However, the revelation does speak about the coming kingdom of God and the keys given to govern it. Joseph Smith also described the passage as a “revelation on prayer,” which fits with McLellin’s description.
Prior to the 2013 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the exact date of this revelation was not known. Revelation Book 1 dates it as being received on October 30, 1831, meaning it was actually received the day after Doctrine and Covenants 66.
“Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 30 October 1831 [D&C 65]
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
D&C 65:1–2
1 Hearken, and lo, a voice as of one sent down from on high, who is mighty and powerful, whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto men—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
2 The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth.
This brief revelation makes two important connections to earlier dispensations. First, Joseph Smith is told that he has been given the “keys of the kingdom,” a reference to a similar incident in the New Testament in which Peter was told he would receive “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19). A revelation given just a few months later in March 1832 confirmed that Joseph was given the “keys of the kingdom which belong always to the Presidency of the High Priesthood” (D&C 81:2). In a history written in the summer of 1832, Joseph Smith also wrote of “the keys of the Kingdom of God” being conferred upon him.
Second, this revelation declares that a prophecy made by the prophet Daniel is about to be fulfilled in the restoration of the kingdom of God in the latter days through the work of Joseph Smith and others. This prophecy of Daniel came when King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon, received a dream that greatly troubled him. In the dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a “great image” with a head made of gold, breast and arms made of silver, a belly and thighs made of brass, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. Then the king saw a stone “cut out without hands” that “smote the image upon his feet that were iron and clay, and brake them to pieces,” destroying rest of the image. The stone the grew in size to become “a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:31–35).
In interpretation of this dream, Daniel explained to the king that the image represented different kingdoms of the earth. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, while the parts of the statue made of silver, brass, iron, and clay represented inferior kingdoms that were to follow. As for the stone that destroyed the image, Daniel declared that in the days of the kingdoms of iron and clay “shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:37–44). This stone is the restored gospel.
While Daniel only makes known the identity of the golden head as the Babylonian Empire, Elder Orson Pratt interpreted the dream to include successive empires. He taught that the silver breast and arms represented the Medo-Persian Empire and that the belly of Brass represented the Macedonian Empire built by Alexander the Great. The legs of iron represented the Roman Empire, which was eventually split into two divisions, and in turn succeeded by the feet of clay and iron, representing the European kingdoms that ruled over much of the earth when the Restoration of the gospel began. Lastly, Elder Pratt taught that the “kingdom or stone cut out of the mountain without hands is a power superior to that of carnal weapons—the power of truth, for the kingdom of God cannot be organized on the earth without truth being sent down from heaven, without authority being given from the Most High.”
D&C 65:3–6
3 Yea, a voice crying—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom.
4 Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people.
5 Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth.
6 Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, forever and ever. Amen.
The final verses of this revelation connect the coming of the kingdom of God to two New Testament passages, the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13) and the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13). Making reference to these two passages, the Lord invites His disciples not only to pray for his coming but to “make known his wonderful works among the people” (D&C 65:4). In issuing this invitation, the Savior invites us to be active participants in preparing the world for His coming. The Saints are not to sit back and wait for a rapture to remove them from the ills of the world but to actively work to build the kingdom and end the ills of the world.
The Savior will rule over the earth when He comes, but in the meantime the Church is instructed to do all it can to bring forth the kingdom of God on the earth. In many ways the Church is the mother of the coming kingdom. This connection was made literal through a passage Joseph Smith was directed to restore in the book of Revelation. In the original reading of the passage, John sees a woman in childbirth who was assailed by a dragon attempting to consume her child. The dragon represents Satan and his followers. The Joseph Smith Translation clarifies that “the woman . . . was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains and brought forth the kingdom of God and his Christ” (Joseph Smith Translation, Revelation 12:7). Therefore, the best thing a person can do to bring about the coming kingdom of God is to serve, support, and uplift the Church, the mother of the coming kingdom.
Footnotes
