Doctrine and Covenants 64–66

<p>Joseph&rsquo;s history says that section 65 came to him in early October 1831 as he was living with the Johnsons in Hiram, Ohio, and that he regarded it as a prayer.<a id="_ftnref1" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> An early copy of section 65 in the handwriting of William McLellin sheds more light on it. The revelation is linked to the Lord&rsquo;s Prayer in Matthew 6 and particularly the meaning of verse 10: &ldquo;Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.&rdquo;<a id="_ftnref2" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p> <p>Section 65 teaches us to pray for the ideal government. We look for a literal, earthly fulfillment of Isaiah&rsquo;s declaration, &ldquo;The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us&rdquo; (Isaiah 33:22). This short revelation also reminds us how thoroughly biblical Joseph became as he read that sacred text by the light of the Holy Ghost. In the 6 verses of section 65 there are clear references to Isaiah, Daniel, Matthew, and the Revelation of John.</p> <p>Section 65 elaborates a prophecy of Daniel, who saw &ldquo;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&rdquo; (Daniel 2:44). Daniel compared this kingdom to a rolling stone that would eventually fill the earth. Some of the early Saints envisioned a snowball effect, but Joseph clarified Daniel&rsquo;s meaning. The stone, Joseph said, &ldquo;is stationary like a grind stone. It revolves.&rdquo; He taught that it grew as &ldquo;the Elders went abroad to preach the gospel and the people became believers in the Book of Mormon and were baptized.&rdquo; In this way &ldquo;they were added to the little stone. Thus they gathered around it so that it grew larger and larger.&rdquo; Joseph prophesied that in this way the stone&mdash;the kingdom of God&mdash;would fill the earth.<a id="_ftnref3" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a></p> <p>In 1838 Judge Austin King charged Joseph Smith with treason and confined him in jail at Liberty, Missouri, for believing what he taught about Daniel&rsquo;s prophecy. Parley Pratt wrote that Judge King &ldquo;inquired diligently into our belief of the seventh chapter of Daniel concerning the kingdom of God, which should subdue all other kingdoms and stand forever.&rdquo; The Saints testified that they believed the prophecy, and Judge King instructed his clerk, &ldquo;Write that down; it is a strong point for treason.&rdquo; The Saints&rsquo; attorney objected. Is the Bible treason?<a id="_ftnref4" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> The next time he was charged with treason came a month after he set up &ldquo;the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord&rdquo; and declared his intent to &ldquo;revolutionize the whole world.&rdquo; Joseph&rsquo;s life was ended abruptly by a lynch mob shortly after that.<a id="_ftnref5" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a></p> <p>However, the work of God&rsquo;s kingdom rolled on. It will continue to do so &ldquo;till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear.&rdquo;<a id="_ftnref6" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> That, at least, is the prayer of section 65. &ldquo;May the kingdom of God go forth that the Kingdom of Heaven may come&rdquo; (D&amp;C 65:6) so that he who is entitled may reign as King of Kings (Rev 17:14).</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn1" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> &ldquo;<a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">History, 1838&ndash;1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805&ndash;30 August 1834]</a>,&rdquo; p. 155, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 5, 2020.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn2" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> See <em>The Journals of William E. McLellin</em>, 243.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn3" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Henry William Bigler (1815&ndash;1900), Journal, Feb. 1846&ndash;Oct. 1899, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn4" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Parley P. Pratt, Jr., editor, <em>The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt</em> 4th edition (Salt Lake City: Deseret, 1950), 211&ndash;12.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn5" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Andrew F. Ehat, &lsquo;&rdquo;It Seems Like Heaven Began on Earth&rsquo;: Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God,&rdquo; <em>BYU Studies</em> 20:3 (Spring 1980): 253&ndash;79.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn6" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> &ldquo;<a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november-1838-31-july-1842/459" target="_blank" rel="noopener">History, 1838&ndash;1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838&ndash;31 July 1842]</a>,&rdquo; p. 1285, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 5, 2020.</p> </div>

<p>In October 1831, while residing in the John Johnson home in Hiram, Ohio, Joseph received this revelation, which he designated as a “prayer.” In the revelation, the Prophet was told, “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 mountains without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth” (D&C 65:2).</p> <p>The reference to “the stone which is cut out of the mountains without hands” has been spoken of by every prophet in this dispensation in relation to the growth of the Church. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “I calculate to be one of the instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord, and I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world” (Daniel 2:34).<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <p>In reminiscing over his lifetime in the Church, President Spencer W. Kimball said in his April 1976 general conference address,</p> <blockquote> <p>We now have members of the Church in sixty-six countries, and we teach the gospel in most of these lands. We have 23,000 plus missionaries, over 2,000 of them local boys and girls from the nations which they teach.</p> <p>When I was made president of a stake in 1938, it was the 124th stake in the world, whereas now we have 750 stakes; and whereas we had only a little more than a score of missions when I filled my mission, we now have 134.</p> <p>We envelop much of the vast world which we inhabit with congregations in South America, the Orient, the South Seas, South Africa, Europe, and many other places. There are numerous tens of thousands of people who find each year that the gospel is satisfying to their spiritual needs, and we bring in great numbers of people. ...</p> <p>Our work for the dead has greatly increased, and with 16 temples the work continues unabated and ever increasing. New temples have been announced for São Paulo, Brazil; Tokyo, Japan; Seattle, Washington. There will be additional edifices built for the continuation of this great work for the living and for the dead.<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Then President Kimball went on to tell the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation of “a stone was cut out without hands” (Daniel 2:34).</p> <p>President Gordon B. Hinckley said in his general conference address in October 2007:</p> <blockquote> <p>The Church has become one large family scattered across the earth. There are now more than 13 million of us in 176 nations and territories. A marvelous and wonderful thing is coming to pass. The Lord is fulfilling His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would roll forth and fill the whole earth, as Daniel saw in vision (see Daniel 2:31–45; D&C 65:2). A great miracle is taking place right before our eyes. ...</p> <p>When the Church was organized in 1830 there were but six members, only a handful of believers, all residing in a largely unknown village. Today, we have become the fourth or fifth largest church in North America, with congregations in every city of any consequence. Stakes of Zion today flourish in every state of the United States, in every province of Canada, in every state of Mexico, in every nation of Central America and throughout South America.</p> <p>Congregations are found throughout the British Isles and Europe, where thousands have joined the Church through the years. This work has reached out to the Baltic nations and on down through Bulgaria and Albania and other areas of that part of the world. It reaches across the vast area of Russia. It reaches up into Mongolia and all down through the nations of Asia into the islands of the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand, and into India and Indonesia. It is flourishing in many of the nations of Africa.</p> <p>Our general conferences are carried by satellite and other means in 92 different languages. And this is only the beginning.<a href="#_ftn3" id="_ftnref3" title="" class="see-footnote">[3]</a></p> </blockquote> <p>In 2019 the Church reported a membership of 16,565,036. There were 3,437 stakes; 67,021 full-time missionaries; 31,333 Church-service missionaries; and 167 temples in operation.</p> <p>Elder James E. Faust explained how the stone was able to roll forth in such a majestic wonder:</p> <blockquote> <p>It has been said that this church does not necessarily attract great people but more often makes ordinary people great. Many nameless people with gifts equal only to five loaves and two small fishes magnify their callings and serve without attention or recognition, feeding literally thousands. In large measure, they make possible the fulfillment of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that the latter-day gospel of Christ would be like a stone cut out of the mountains without hands, rolling forth until it fills the whole earth (see Daniel 2:34–35; D&C 65:2). These are the hundreds of thousands of leaders and teachers in all of the auxiliaries and priesthood quorums, the home teachers, the Relief Society visiting teachers.<a href="#_ftn4" id="_ftnref4" title="" class="see-footnote">[4]</a></p> </blockquote> <div class="footnotes"> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844], Document Transcript. Joseph Smith Papers.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> Spencer W. Kimball, “The Stone Cut without Hands,” General Conference, April 1976.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref3" id="_ftn3" title="" class="footnote-label">[3]</a> Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain,” <em>Ensign</em> (November 2007).</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref4" id="_ftn4" title="" class="footnote-label">[4]</a> James E. Faust, “Five Loaves and Two Fishes,” <em>Ensign</em> (May 1994), 5.</p> </div>

<p>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.</p> <p>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.</p>