Doctrine and Covenants 95

Doctrine and Covenants 95

Historical Context

Joseph Smith received this revelation several months after the Lord gave a command to organize a “school of the prophets” (D&C 88:11–27) and to “establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119). Emphasizing the importance of fulfilling these commandments, Joseph Smith wrote to William W. Phelps shortly after section 88 was received, telling him:

You will see that the Lord commanded us in Kirtland to build an house of God, & establish a school for the Prophets, this is the word of the Lord to us, and we must—yea[,] the Lord helping us[,] we will obey, as on conditions of our obedience, he has promised us great things, yea[,] even a visit from the heavens to honor us with his own presence, we greatly fear before the Lord lest we should fail of this great honor which our master proposes to confer on us, we are seeking for humility & great faith lest we be ashamed in his presence.1

A few months later on May 4, 1833, a conference of high priests held a discussion about the “necessity of building a school house for the purpose of accommodating the elders who should come in to receive their education for the ministry.”2 At this conference Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter, and Reynolds Cahoon were appointed to a committee for procuring donations from Church members to raise funds to build the “school house,” which eventually became the Kirtland Temple. About a month later on June 1, 1833, this committee wrote a letter to the entire Church, asking “that they make every possible exertion to aid temporally as well as spiritually in this great work that the Lord is bringing about and is about to accomplish. And unless we fulfil this command, vis. establish an house and prepare all things necessary whereby the Elders may gather into a school called the School of the prophets and receive that instruction that the Lord designs they should receive, we may all despair of obtaining the great blessing that God has promised to the faithful of the Church of Christ. Therefore, it is as important as our salvation that we obey this above-mentioned command as well as all of the commandments of the Lord.”3

Section 95 was received the same day that the committee’s letter was sent out. It chastens the Saints for neglecting the commandment to build the House of the Lord. In Joseph Smith’s later history, he introduced the revelation by writing, “Great preparations were making to commence a house for the Lord; and, notwithstanding the church was poor, yet, our unity, harmony and charity abounded to strengthen us to do the commandments of the Lord . . . The building of the House of the Lord in Kirtland continued to increase its interest in the hearts of the brethren, and the building committee issued the following circular to the different branches of the Church . . . the same day I received the following [D&C 94].”4

See “Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 1 June 1833 [D&C 95].

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

D&C 95:1–6

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you—

2 Wherefore, ye must needs be chastened and stand rebuked before my face;

3 For ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things, that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house;

4 For the preparation wherewith I design to prepare mine apostles to prune my vineyard for the last time, that I may bring to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh—

5 But behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many who have been ordained among you, whom I have called but few of them are chosen.

6 They who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day.

The Lord chastens the Saints for their slothfulness in beginning the work of building the house of the Lord in Kirtland. In March 1833 Levi Hancock captured in his journal some of the frustration felt by Church leaders due to the Saints’ lack of initiative to build the temple. He wrote that the Church members in Kirtland “had no place to worship in.” Hancock noted that “Jared Carter went around with a subscription paper to get signers. I signed two dollars. He made up a little over thirty and presented it to Joseph—the Lord would not accept it and gave a command to build a temple.”5

According to Lucy Mack Smith, the Saints in Kirtland also equivocated regarding the importance of the structure they were building. She recorded that when a “council was called and Joseph requested the brethren[,] each one[,] to rise and give his views. After they were through he would give his opinion [on what] they all spoke. Some thought that it would be better to build a frame [house]. Others said that a frame was too costly kind [sic] of a house, and the majority concluded upon the putting up a log house and made their calculations about what they could do towards building it. Joseph rose and reminded them that they were not making a house for themselves or any other man but a house for God.” Joseph then declared, “Shall we brethren build a house for our God of logs? No, brethren, I have a better plan than that[;] I have the plan of the house of the Lord given by himself.” According to Lucy, Joseph “then gave them the plan in full of the house of the Lord at Kirtland with which[,] when the brethren heard[,] they were highly delighted.”6 

The use of apostle in verse 4 is most likely the general meaning of the term as “one sent forth,” since the first Quorum of the Twelve was called nearly two years after section 95 was received. However, the Lord emphasizes the importance of the temple in “bring[ing] to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (D&C 95:4). The priesthood keys given to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland temple continue to play a key role in the work of the Church around the world.

D&C 95:7–10

7 And for this cause I gave unto you a commandment that you should call your solemn assembly, that your fastings and your mourning might come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, which is by interpretation, the creator of the first day, the beginning and the end.

8 Yea, verily I say unto you, I gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high;

9 For this is the promise of the Father unto you; therefore I command you to tarry, even as mine apostles at Jerusalem.

10 Nevertheless, my servants sinned a very grievous sin; and contentions arose in the school of the prophets; which was very grievous unto me, saith your Lord; therefore I sent them forth to be chastened.

In many of the documents linked to this time, the house of the Lord is referred to as a school or a schoolhouse.7 When it was completed, the Kirtland Temple was used as a multipurpose structure not only for education but also for administration and for worship. Here the Lord emphasizes the endowment that He will give to the Saints within the Kirtland Temple. While this endowment was different than the later ordinance revealed in Nauvoo that is practiced in temples today, the Kirtland endowment ceremony was a vital source of strength to those who participated in it. In a larger sense, the spiritual outpouring that accompanied the dedication of the Kirtland Temple served as an endowment of sorts to the entire community of Saints in Kirtland.

Elder Orson Pratt, a participant in both the Kirtland endowment ceremony and the Pentecostal season during the temple’s dedication later recalled, “God was there, his angels were there, the Holy Ghost was in the midst of the people . . . and they were filled from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet with the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.”8

D&C 95:11–17

11 Verily I say unto you, it is my will that you should build a house. If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it.

12 If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness.

13 Now here is wisdom, and the mind of the Lord—let the house be built, not after the manner of the world, for I give not unto you that ye shall live after the manner of the world;

14 Therefore, let it be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you, whom ye shall appoint and ordain unto this power.

15 And the size thereof shall be fifty and five feet in width, and let it be sixty-five feet in length, in the inner court thereof.

16 And let the lower part of the inner court be dedicated unto me for your sacrament offering, and for your preaching, and your fasting, and your praying, and the offering up of your most holy desires unto me, saith your Lord.

17 And let the higher part of the inner court be dedicated unto me for the school of mine apostles, saith Son Ahman; or, in other words, Alphus; or, in other words, Omegus; even Jesus Christ your Lord. Amen.

In contrast to the suggestions of some Church members to build the temple as a frame house or even a log cabin, the Lord declares that the temple shall “be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you, whom ye shall appoint and ordain unto this power” (D&C 94:14). The Lord fulfilled this promise when He gave a remarkable vision on June 3 or 4 to Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Williams described this vision to laborers at the temple: “Carpenter Rolph said, ‘Doctor [Williams], what do you think of the house?’ [Williams] answered, ‘It looks to me like the pattern precisely.’” Williams then related the following:

Joseph [Smith] received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors, Williams and Rigdon, and come before the Lord, and He would show them the plan or model of the house to be built. We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the building appeared within viewing distance, I being the first to discover it. Then we all viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us, and the makeup of the Hall seemed to coincide with that I there saw to a minutiae.9

Orson Pratt also confirmed the visionary origins of the Kirtland Temple’s design. In a discourse given in 1871, Elder Pratt declared, “When the Lord commanded this people to build a house in the land of Kirtland, he gave them the pattern by vision from heaven, and commanded them to build that house according to that pattern and order; to have the architecture, not in accordance with architecture devised by men, but to have everything constructed in that house according to the heavenly pattern that he by his voice had inspired to his servants.”10

Footnotes

• 1. Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 January 1833, p. 19, JSP.
• 2. Minutes, 4 May 1833, p. 20, JSP.
• 3. Letter Book 1, pp. 36–37, JSP; punctuation modernized.
• 4. JS History, vol. A-1, pp. 296–299, JSP.
• 5. Robert J. Woodford, Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants, 1974, 2:1222.
• 6. Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, p. 1, bk. 14, JSP.
• 7. See, for example, Minutes, 4 May 1833, p. 20, JSP.
• 8. Orson Pratt, “Remarks,” Deseret News, January 12, 1876, 788.
• 9. Elwin C. Robinson, The First Mormon Temple, 1997, 8.
• 10. Journal of Discourses, 14:273.