Doctrine and Covenants 103-105

<p>One is impressed with the depth of meaning associated with the words &ldquo;saviors of men,&rdquo; when they are studied in companionship with a complete definition of the priesthood: &ldquo;The priesthood is the power and authority of God delegated to man on earth to act in all things pertaining to the salvation of men. It is the means whereby the Lord acts through men to save souls&rdquo; (Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, June 1975, p. 3).</p> <p>Priesthood is God&rsquo;s power. It is to be used in saving souls. It is not shared with young men or older men simply to sit on or to hold in name only. It is shared with the expectation that the receiver will exercise it in behalf of himself and others. The priesthood is to be honored, and callings within the priesthood are to be magnified.</p>

<p>Jesus Christ himself exemplified the manner in which we fulfill this call. He announced the purpose of his ministry by quoting Isaiah in his first public discourse, given in a Nazarene synagogue.</p> <p>&ldquo;The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord&rdquo; (Luke 4:18&ndash;19).</p> <p>The conditions of our discipleship impose on us the identical mission, for he said, &ldquo;The works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do&rdquo; (3 Nephi 27:21). We are empowered, as necessary, to do all that the Savior did&mdash;except for the Atonement itself&mdash;in our labors to save our fellowmen. In fact, we are told that we must be &ldquo;the saviors of men&rdquo; or we will be &ldquo;as salt that has lost its savor&rdquo; (D&amp;C 103:10).</p> <p>The Lord has not left the accomplishment of this sacred labor to chance. Through sacred covenants he imposes this responsibility on all members of his kingdom, and simultaneously empowers us to fulfill these covenants. Even young children and youth have this sacred duty and also the power to do it.</p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;As a people, if we will do the will of God we have the power to build up Zion in beauty, power and glory,&nbsp; as the Lord has revealed it through the mouth of the Prophet. It rests with us, the Lord working with us. We are called upon to work with the Lord just as fast as we are prepared to receive the things of his kingdom. But I am satisfied there has got to be a great change with us in many respects before we are prepared for the redemption of Zion and the building up of the New Jerusalem. I believe the only way for us is to get enough of the Spirit of God that we may see and understand our duties and comprehend the will of the Lord.&rdquo;</span></p>

<p>In November 1833, the Saints in Jackson County, Missouri, were driven out of their homes. Most of the Saints escaped to nearby Clay County, where they labored to find adequate shelter and sustenance before winter came. Parley P. Pratt notes, “Hundreds of people were seen in every direction, some in tents and some in the open air around their fires, while the rain descended in torrents. Husbands were inquiring for their wives, wives for their husbands; parents for children, and children for parents. . . . The scene was indescribable, and, I am sure, would have melted the hearts of any people on the earth, except our blind oppressors, and a blind and ignorant community.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a> Lyman Wight recalls, “I saw one hundred and ninety women and children driven thirty miles across the prairie, with three decrepit men only in their company, in the month of Nov[ember], the ground thinly crusted with sleet, and I could easily follow on their trail by the blood that flowed from their lacerated feet . . . on the stubble of the burnt prairie.”<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a> </p> <p>A conference was held among the Saints in Missouri, who decided to send Parley P. Pratt and Lyman Wight to Kirtland to inform Church leadership of the Saints’ situation. Joseph received Section 103 the same day that the two men reported on the crisis to the high council in Kirtland. During the high council meeting, Pratt and Wight asked “how and by what means Zion was to be redeemed from our enemies.”<a href="#_ftn3" id="_ftnref3" title="" class="see-footnote">[3]</a> The minutes of the meeting reveal that “Bro. Joseph arose and said that he was going to Zion to assist in redeeming it.”<a href="#_ftn4" id="_ftnref4" title="" class="see-footnote">[4]</a> Joseph called for volunteers to go with him, and around thirty to forty of those present offered to go. The council then nominated Joseph to serve as “the Commander in Chief of the Armies of Israel and the leader of those who volunteered to go and assist in the redemption of Zion.”<a href="#_ftn5" id="_ftnref5" title="" class="see-footnote">[5]</a> It is not known if section 103 was given before, during, or after the high council meeting in which Joseph volunteered to travel to Zion.</p> <p>Church leadership immediately began acting on the commandments given in section 103. Just two days after Joseph received them, he and Parley P. Pratt left home to begin recruiting volunteers to go to Missouri. In the following weeks, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, Hyrum Smith, and Frederick G. Williams all joined in the recruiting efforts. Parley later notes that “our mission resulted in the assembling of about two hundred men at Kirtland, with teams, baggage, provisions, arms, etc. for a march of one thousand miles, for the purpose of carrying some supplies to the afflicted and persecuted Saints in Missouri, and to reinforce and strengthen them, and, if possible, to influence the Governor of the State to call out sufficient additional force to cooperate in restoring them to their rights. This little army was led by President Joseph Smith in person.”<a href="#_ftn6" id="_ftnref6" title="" class="see-footnote">[6]</a> In records from Joseph’s time, this group was referred to as the “Camp of Israel.” It was later known by the name “Zion’s Camp.”<a href="#_ftn7" id="_ftnref7" title="" class="see-footnote">[7]</a></p> <p>See “Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 24 February 1834 [D&C 103].</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> <em>Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt</em>, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr., 1938, 102.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> Lyman Wight, in “Trial of Joseph Smith,” <em>Times and Seasons</em>, July 15, 1843, 264.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref3" id="_ftn3" title="" class="footnote-label">[3]</a> Minutes, 24 January 1834, p. 41, JSP. </p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref4" id="_ftn4" title="" class="footnote-label">[4]</a> Minutes, 24 January 1834, p. 42, JSP.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref5" id="_ftn5" title="" class="footnote-label">[5]</a> Minutes, 24 January 1834, p. 42, JSP.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref6" id="_ftn6" title="" class="footnote-label">[6]</a> <em>Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt: Revised and Enhanced Edition</em>,2000, 102.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref7" id="_ftn7" title="" class="footnote-label">[7]</a> “Camp of Israel,” JSP. </p> </div>

<p>The Lord provides two reasons why the Saints in Jackson County were allowed to be persecuted. First, the Lord allowed the wicked to &ldquo;fill up the measure of their iniquities&rdquo; (D&amp;C 103:3). The Book of Mormon records a similar situation in which Alma and Amulek are forced to watch the cold-blooded murder of innocent men, women, and children at the hands of the wicked. When Amulek asks Alma to use the power of the priesthood to end the bloodshed, Alma replies that he was constrained from acting by the influence of the Spirit. He then teaches Amulek that the Lord &ldquo;doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day&rdquo; (Alma 14:11).</p> <p>Second, the Lord allowed the Saints to be persecuted to chasten them &ldquo;because they did not hearken altogether unto the precepts and commandments which I gave unto them&rdquo; (D&amp;C 103:4). The Lord here simply emphasizes what was given in an earlier revelation: the Saints &ldquo;polluted their inheritances&rdquo; because of &ldquo;jarrings, and contentions, and envying, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them&rdquo; (D&amp;C 101:6). But although the Saints in Jackson County were guilty of transgression, they were not cast off. The Lord had more for them to do. The primary purpose of section 103 is to rally the rest of the Church to help the suffering Saints in Missouri.</p>

<p>Even during this time of suffering, the Lord still extends His hand toward the Saints, if they will hearken “from this very hour unto the counsel” He gives to them (D&C 103:5). The Lord holds high expectations for the Saints and declares their purpose to be “a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men” (D&C 103:9). Note that the Saints are given the title of “saviors” with a lowercase <em>s</em>; they are not on the same level as the Savior Jesus Christ. The title “saviors” is linked to the prophecy of Obadiah that “saviors shall come up on mount Zion” (Obadiah 1:20). This prophecy and the concept of the Saints becoming “saviors” would gain greater importance as the theology of the Restoration, specifically the role of temple ordinances, was revealed to Joseph Smith. </p> <p>The tribulations of the Saints in Ohio and Missouri were soul rending, but they helped refine the Saints and bring them closer toward being a people who could truly act as “saviors on mount Zion” to the rest of the human race.</p>