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S2E25 · Unpublished Revelations of Joseph Smith Part 2
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Standard of Truth · Season 2 · Episode 25 · 55:30

Unpublished Revelations of Joseph Smith Part 2

In December 1834, the Lord rebuked Church leaders for their "low, uncultivated and disrespectful" way of greeting one another, and the minutes say the sharp rebuke brought them joy.

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The question ·

What other revelations did Joseph Smith receive that never made it into the Doctrine and Covenants?

Richard

Richard and Gerrit continue looking at revelations Joseph Smith received that were never canonized. Gerrit reads an 1834 revelation rebuking leaders for how they addressed one another, and explains that some converts brought old church traditions that refused titles like President or Bishop, which leads to a talk about policy, preferences and authority. He then reads 1836 revelations and minutes about preparing for the Kirtland Temple's washing of feet and the spiritual outpouring that followed. The episode ends with a January 1838 revelation telling the presidency to leave Kirtland for Far West, a command faithful Saints like Amanda Smith followed into Missouri.

Who comes upJoseph SmithNewel K. WhitneyOliver CowderyMartin HarrisAmanda Barnes SmithRussell M. Nelson
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Intro Welcome to the Standard of Truth Podcast, hosted by historian, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, where we explore the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and gain rare historical insights into how a young farm boy was able to establish a new church and grow it by way of visions, manifestations and miracles.
Gerrit Hi, welcome to another episode of the Standard of Truth podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, and I'm joined by my friend, Professor Richard LeDuc.
Richard Hello, Gerrit. When last we left you, after the un-published, or the uncannonized revelations from the Prophet Joseph Smith, we talked about a couple. We went heavy in the paint on copyright law in Canada.
Gerrit Yeah, it was very, it was township-esque.
Richard No, it was very interesting, and so we wanted to actually, there were several additional revelations that you wanted to talk about here in part two, and so we'll just resume where we left off.
Gerrit Yeah, well, one of the ones I thought I would share a little bit on is, it's pretty interesting, and has a context surrounding it that again, matters more to the early church, and maybe that's the reason why this is something that never ended up being published as a canonized revelation. But in 1834, in December of 1834, this is what the revelation is. And then I'm going to provide some context for it. Verily, condemnation resteth upon you, who are appointed to lead my church and to be saviors of men, and also upon the church. And there must needs be a repentance and a reformation among you in all things, in your examples before the church, and before the world, and in your manners, habits, customs, and salutations one toward another. Rendering unto every man the respect due the office, calling, and priesthood, whereunto I the Lord have appointed and ordained you.
Gerrit Amen. Well, this is clearly a revelation, right? This is the voice of the Lord. It even closes in the name of the Lord with the amen that you see following some of the other revelations. And it's a chastising revelation that's not only to the leaders of the church, but to the church in general. And the minutes of the meeting in which this revelation is received provide context into what exactly the condemnation is coming from. And it's actually pretty interesting. Or at least it's as interesting as townships. Or the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Richard Or Canadian copyrights.
Gerrit The Canadian, what about, what about, Kansas-Nebraska Act? We haven't done that one yet.
Richard I can't wait.
Gerrit You're probably wondering about the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Richard Oh my gosh, I was actually just talking to my wife about it this morning over breakfast.
Gerrit Yeah, it comes up a lot. So the minutes of the meeting record that after assembling, we received a rebuke for our former low, uncultivated and disrespectful manner of communication. This one might hit a little bit too close to home. Maybe some things are best left unlearned, you know, and then you can claim ignorance, but our manner of communication and salutation with and unto each other by the voice of the Spirit saying, and then you have the entirety of the revelation that's there. After the revelations recorded in the minutes of this meeting, then you have an explanation even further on what do you mean? Why is the church sinning in salutations? I mean, we're not saying visitors welcome and shaking everyone's hand as we come in. What's going on? Well, the minutes continue. It is only necessary to say, relative to the foregoing reproof and instruction, that though it was given in sharpness, it occasioned gladness and joy, and we were willing to repent and reform in every particular according to the instruction given.
Gerrit So that's helpful that you responded, and get that into the minutes. Don't worry, we did repent, but I still don't really know what you're repenting for. I love you saying, get that in the minutes. Well, I mean, if you're keeping the minutes, you're gonna put it in. And we also, and we repented. And just so everyone's reading, this knows. It is also proper to remark that after the reproof was given, we all confessed voluntarily that such had been the manifestations of the Spirit a long time since, in consequence of which the rebuke came with greater sharpness. So again, I don't really know what's going on, but I do know this. I know that whatever it is that they're being rebuked for, they've actually all kind of felt, yeah, we probably need to, but they haven't done anything on it. So when the revelation comes in the voice of the Lord, and again, a perfect demonstration that though this is an uncanonized revelation, they're certainly treating it as a revelation.
Gerrit You can see them treating it as a revelation because they actually already had the impression that they needed to do or change this thing, but they didn't. So I mean, again, that also hits a little too close to home. In fact, this is a bored document to pick. We need more pietistic hosts.
Richard Well, this is the thing is when you talk about the copyright in Canada, I didn't feel rebuked.
Gerrit Well, you hadn't tried to walk to Canada, but again, they were trying to sell it in the British part of Canada. Your ancestors would have said, whatever the Kiviqua equivalent of...
Richard Which I believe is no. Yeah, that's the French translation.
Gerrit The French translation of no would be no. Or Renault or something like that. So they go on to say, not thinking to evade the truth or excuse in order to escape censure, but to give proper information, a few remarks relative to the situation of the church previous to this date is necessary. Many, on hearing the fullness of the gospel, embraced it with eagerness. Yet at the same time, were unwilling to forego their former opinions and notions relative to church government and the rules and habits proper for the good order, harmony, peace and beauty of a people destined with the protecting care of the Lord to be an ensample and light of the world. Well, suddenly my interest is peaked a great deal here because this is, you talk about an application of something.
Gerrit These people embrace the gospel. They love the gospel, but they were unwilling to forego their former opinions and notions relative to church government and the rules and habits proper for good order. Sometimes we get into quite a bit of a discussion about whether or not something that is required in the church is something that is just simply policy. And I think we seem to say that as a way of saying, I don't actually have to do it. You know, oh, that's just policy that you do that. Well, yes, and it's the church's policy. We're members of that church, so yeah. I mean, I understand what they're trying to say is, look, the age in which people get called on missions has changed so many times. I mean, it's changed actually a couple of times within the space of a year and a half at one point in the history of the church.
Gerrit And so clearly, the age that the Lord allows full-time missionaries to serve for the church is a matter of changing policy, right? It's a matter of something that, you know, tomorrow President Nelson could say, we've decided to lower the mission age to 17, you know, for anyone who can graduate high school early, because more and more people are doing that. I'm not saying that's going to happen, by the way. Please don't send the emails saying something about that. I'm not saying that's going to happen. I haven't seen the seventh feather from Daniel yet or the third horn. I don't know. But that wouldn't cause a ton of consternation. It might be surprising, you know, there'd be a flurry of high school students trying to get some concurrent enrollment courses so they could graduate early or whatever, doing, you know, online classes. But it wouldn't be seen as a change in, you know, something fundamental in the church. It would be seen as, yeah, well, you know, that's, the prophet gave that direction.
Gerrit Now, does that mean the direction is not inspired simply because it's been changed before? And I think that's where the arguments between what is policy and what is not come into conflict with our natural man state, where we want to do and believe whatever we want to do and believe, and we don't want to have to conform to things that are different. I mean, look, missionary ages don't matter a lot to me, yet, although in a couple years, I'm guessing it'll matter a lot more to me when my son's old enough. It matters to you. It matters to you a lot because your son's getting ready to go.
Richard Well, but I mean, a good example of this, his birthday is in October, and so him leaving in August versus October, that's not too big of a difference, but my other son is in February. Well, that's a bigger difference, I guess.
Gerrit Yeah, but it would affect you, and there's something that affect you in a greater way and some that don't. I just think that a lot of times when people engage in, well, that's not the doctrine of the church, that's policy. Well, that person's using a very specific definition of doctrine when they say it. I mean, here, this document seems to be acknowledging that there are aspects of the church's government, the rules and habits proper for good order, harmony and peace are necessary to order in the church. I'm not saying that you want... I mean, I'm the last person to even be pushing this point given the fact that I wear colored shirts to church every Sunday, right? But the reality of there are some aspects of worship that need to have some conformity in order for people to know what's going on.
Gerrit That's not the same thing as condemning someone because they didn't close their testimony the way that you've always expected people to close their testimony. Those aren't the same thing. At any rate, this has apparently become a problem because people are coming into the church with, well, my whole life, I've been a Methodist, and this is how Methodists conduct their church meetings. Well, my whole life, I've been a Quaker. Well, in a Quaker meeting, nobody speaks. You don't have an assigned speaker. You just all sit and wait until someone feels enlightened by the Holy Spirit to speak to the rest of the people there. Well, what if they bring that idea into the church where they only conduct meetings of other converted Quakers in the same way that they had conducted them? This is interesting as the minutes go on to explain. They did not despise government. So these people that are being rebuked here, it's not that they're saying that they didn't want the church to have regulations, but there was a disposition to organize that government according to their own notions or feelings.
Gerrit So notice what's going on there. It's not that they're saying they don't want order in the church. It's just that what they consider order to be is different between every man. And then an example is given. For example, every man must be subjected to wear a particular fashion coat, hat or other garment or else an accusation was brought that we were fashioning after the world. So apparently, some converts, most likely coming from these more pietistic sex, again, possibly coming from the number of shakers that they have who deliberately wore almost uniform type of clothing in the sense that it was very plain and you couldn't have anything that called attention to yourself. Well, there appear to be people coming to the church who are trying to say the same thing. Oh, if you're worshipping God, everyone needs to be wearing something uniform, right? Or everyone must be called by their given name without respecting the office or ordinance to which they had been called.
Gerrit So there were other religious faith movements at the time that were so opposed to the idea of any position or power inside of Christianity that even if you had an office in the church, you were only supposed to call people by their first name. I mean, maybe we should look up this church so we can go join it. I mean, so it sounds good, but... And so people are doing that. They're, you know, hey, Bill, instead of referencing his calling an office. So this is the minutes go on. Thus, President Smith was called Joseph or Brother Joseph, President Rigdon, Brother Sidney or Sidney, et cetera. This manner of address gave occasion to the enemies of truth and was a means of bringing report reproach upon the cause of God. Very interesting that part of the reason why this topic is being highlighted here, both in the revelation and in the minutes is apparently there are people that are using the familiarity in the church to undermine its truthfulness.
Gerrit This manner of address gave occasion to the enemies of truth and was a means of bringing reproach upon the cause of God. But in consequence of former prejudices, the church, many of them would not submit to proper and wholesome order. This proceeded from a spirit of enthusiasm and vain ambition, a desire to compel others to come to certain rules, not dictated by the will of the Lord. So you apparently have congregations in which people are teaching. No, no, you don't ever refer to Elder Johnson as Elder Johnson. You only refer to him as Bill. You don't refer to his calling. You don't refer to President Jones as President Jones. You only refer to him as, well, also Bill. Lots of Bill's, lots of Williams in early America. Now, it's one thing to have it as personal preference, the way that someone is speaking. It's quite another to insist upon it as part of someone else's religiosity.
Gerrit I'm going to guess that just about every single person listening, or those of you who've stopped listening already, know that of an occasion in the church where someone has, in a church setting, very strongly, adamantly advocated that things be done a certain way, but the way that they're advocating isn't actually from the church's policy or doctrine. It's just what they, this is how we did it in my ward. And okay, that's how you did it there, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the... But some people will feel so strongly about those things that they'll actually get to the point where they'll say, if you don't do it the way I'm doing it, then you are committing some form of heresy or apostasy. The way I want it done is the only way it can be done. So I think that's important to note that that's what seems to be going on here. It seems to be that what generates this revelation isn't just that someone has a different way of doing things or that someone says, Hey, Brother Joseph, we know that people referred to Joseph as Brother Joseph a lot.
Gerrit But there appear to be people that are advocating because of their former faith tradition that you can never make references like President Smith, even though Joseph is the president of the high priesthood, even though he's the president of the church. So I think that's more of what's going on there. But as the minutes continue, that not only do they want to have these certain rules not dictated by the will of the Lord or a jealous fear that were men called by their respective titles and the ordinance of heaven honored in a proper manner, some were in a way to be exalted above others and their form of government disregarded. So there appears also to be the reality of just a jealousy. Well, why don't I want to call him Bishop Whitney? Well, because I'm not a bishop and I don't want to call him Bishop Noel K. Whitney, right? That might seem petty.
Gerrit Again, you probably know someone in your life who has wanted to climb the ladder of church governance only to find themselves not climbing the ladder or that the ladder doesn't exist, like me. Desperately trying to ascend the ladder, being struck down by my sins and my vain ambition. So it goes on to talk a little bit more about this. I know we've spent a little time on this, but it's pretty interesting, right? It's township-esque, at least. It's in the neighborhood. In fact, the true principle of honor in the church of the saints that the more a man is exalted, the more humble he will be. If actuated by the Spirit of the Lord, seem to have been looked over. And the fact that the greatest is least and servant of all, as said our Savior, never to have been thought of by numbers. These facts such as they were when viewed in their proper light were sufficient of themselves to cause men to humble themselves before the Lord.
Gerrit But when communicated by the Spirit, made an impression upon our hearts that was not to be forgotten. Perhaps an arrangement of this kind in a former day would have occasioned some unpleasant reflections in the minds of many. And in an earlier period in this church, others to have forsaken the cause in consequence of weakness and unfaithfulness. And this is not a hypothetical the minutes are talking about here. Absolutely people have left the church over a redirection of how worship is supposed to take place and a redirection of offices in the church. Absolutely. In consequence of weakness and unfaithfulness, but the leaders of the church should wait so long before stepping forward, according to the manifestation of the Spirit, deserved reproof. So apparently, you know, Joseph and Oliver and Sydney, they had already had the Spirit whisper to them, Hey, you see what's going on here where, you know, Bill is advocating that everyone only wear plain brown jackets to church because that's the only proper way to worship.
Gerrit You see that happening, and you've actually been touched in the Spirit to say, Hey, Bill, that's, we don't do that here. You just, you just wear whatever you want. You know what I mean? But you haven't said anything to him for whatever reason. So the fact that they were already all feeling this, and then the word of the Lord comes by way of a revelation, an unpublished, uncanonized revelation, but a revelation that's so powerful to the people in this meeting that it changes their hearts and causes them to confess their sins before God. And as, again, as the minutes continue, and that the church should be chastened for their uncultivated manner of salutation is also just. So it's, again, you know, hitting a little bit too close to home because I'm quite familiar with people in the sense of like, hey, how's it going, Bill, you know, a type of thing. But it is the fact that you had people who were advocating that you couldn't maintain these titles.
Gerrit And that wasn't something that had been received by Revelation. It was tradition that was being brought in with them in their previous faith groups. There's nothing, I mean, it's the most natural thing in the world, as we've said before, for someone who's worshiped a certain way their whole lives to expect that the way they worshiped was right, that that's normal, that that's why they would see those things as normal. And so if you came from a faith tradition, that part of the way that you demonstrated your piety to God was that you made sure you never addressed any of the church leaders by their title. Well, of course you're going to still do that when you come into the church because you've been taught your whole life that that's how you show respect to God by not ever giving a title to a leader. The problem is that wasn't what the Lord had commanded. And I think that it's a little bit more of a sensitive subject in the church because what the church is proclaiming that Peter, James and John have come and restored apostolic authority, that John the Baptist has come and restored authority, that is a unique claim.
Gerrit While all other Protestants are performing ordinances because they were commanded to by God, they are performing them in faith, they are performing them in holiness, but they aren't performing them in authority specifically because they don't believe that authority is necessary. They don't believe ordinances are necessary and they don't believe that the way someone receives authority is from hands on head transferal of that authority. So, it makes sense that they convert into the church, but they bring with them these ideas of not maintaining these titles. And yet, it seems like what the Lord is saying in part of the reproof is you're trying to be a little bit too Protestant by half here. By not addressing the bishop with his title, by refusing to address the president with his title, it's not about making them feel better, but it's actually an acknowledgement that there has been a restoration of priesthood authority on the earth every time you do it.
Gerrit Now, I don't know how much application you want to take from that into your own life. I'm probably still going to see the bishop and say, hey, call him by his first name. I probably am because I haven't been rebuked enough for this. If I was in the meeting, then maybe. If they want to canonize this, then fine. But the reality is this is a powerful revelation that might help you understand why it is that there is an understanding in church governance that when people have titles, you reference them. I mean, that tradition is not just something that is invented in the 1920s and the 1930s. However, codified policies might become more in the 20th centuries. It has a basis in something that happened even earlier. And so, again, I think that's an interesting thing to study. Someone's probably yelling at their phone right now. It's not very interesting to me. Well, I'm sorry.
Gerrit I like the proverbial story. You knew what I was when you picked me up.
Richard So there's a couple of things you said that I thought were interesting there. One is, and we joke about how sometimes, as Latter-day Saints, we want to be Protestant so bad. Like, we still want to be Protestant so bad. Is there an aspect to that that, as we have new members coming in and the Church is relatively new, it's like they're trying to help along. Well, you know, this is nice, but let me tell you some things that can help this out.
Gerrit Well, think for a moment, if you were an Episcopalian and you became a Latter-day Saint in 1833, your worship services would have gone from being incredibly regimented. Regalia would have been worn by your priest. You would have had, you know, something that's frankly, don't tell the Anglicans I said this, but quite similar to the Catholic Mass, certainly in the 1800s especially. And your preacher would not have been Bill. Your preacher would have been a highly educated, professionally trained Anglican priest. So just by the very nature that your worship services are, A, almost entirely taking place inside actual churches, buildings. They're not outside. They're actually in a stone church that's been built, that they're being conducted by a professional pastor who has years of experience and all kinds of education.
Gerrit Well, that worship service is going to look very different than a Latter-day Saint worship service where the presiding elder who's preaching to you that Sunday is also the town blacksmith, and that's the extent of his education. So I think absolutely as members convert and become part of the church, unlike today where there's this kind of requisite idea that you're going to attend church a little bit, get to know just how many children in the ward are going to run up to bear their testimony, fast and testimony, and then decide to get baptized. There really aren't a lot of opportunities to go to a Sunday church meeting, and there certainly aren't any meeting houses for them to go to.
Gerrit So I think that that actually kind of goes to your point, that when you see what appears to you to be kind of chaotic, you might, well, from my experience, if we do X and we do Y, then that would... So I certainly think that would be the case for some people. I think for other people, they simply just come from other... They come from a background of being a shaker. Well, this is how I was always taught to worship. And in the absence of the church saying, yeah, don't do that anymore, we do this, of course that's what they're still going to do.
Richard So the majority of the converts that are coming in, they're not... they weren't borderline agnostics and now they're all of a sudden Latter-day Saints.
Gerrit Yeah. I mean, look, are there people who, you know, lost their faith in God and then become Latter-day Saints? Sure, but there's almost... because the demographics of the country are just not that.
Richard Yeah, the majority of them are Christians.
Gerrit Nearly all of them are Christians and the very fact of where they are coming from. Again, we have, by 1834, we have converts from everywhere, including Canada, just for you, but not the French part. And so they are everywhere, but the vast majority in these early days of the Church are coming from New Hampshire and Vermont and New York and Massachusetts. They are coming from these New England and Middle State areas. And so those are the most religious parts of the United States. So yes, you can find people who are disillusioned with the acrimony between religions in those places, but you don't find them disillusioned, again, generally, to the point where they don't believe in God. What you find them is desperately trying to find, like Joseph was, what is it that I need to believe or how can we get away from this turmoil that seems to be engendered?
Gerrit Well, I think that that's going to be a problem. It's already been a problem in the church and it's going to be a problem going forward. Every new wave of conversion to the church is going to bring new ideas that many of them are great. Much of that diversity is helpful and brings a vitality to the church that it wouldn't have otherwise. I think everybody who served a mission has had the experience, or you don't even have to have served a mission, you've been in a ward where there was someone who was recently baptized into the ward. And that person was on fire with the gospel. They probably knew less about the church than anyone else in the congregation, but they cared way more about it than more than half the people in that congregation. So you kind of have that balancing act, right, where they lack knowledge, but they don't lack zeal.
Gerrit They're ready to, they're ready, let's go convert the whole world. I just read this Book of Mormon last week, and everybody needs to know this, right? And so I think that there's kind of this give and take, and in the early church, Joseph receives revelations all the time about the proper way to conduct church meetings, about the proper way to feel the gifts of the Spirit, about the proper way to perform baptisms. I mean, it is a kind of really line upon line, precept upon precept experience all throughout the early church. And here's another experience where the leaders of the church are feeling, I'm not comfortable with how some people are bringing this aspect in or this aspect, but I'm not going to say anything. And then the voice of the Lord says, well, I prompted you to say something and you didn't, but now here's a revelation, so you don't have any choice. Another revelation that I thought I would spend a little bit of time, it's actually a couple of revelations that are received in March of 1836, just prior to the dedication of the Kirtland Temple.
Gerrit These revelations are, they're both received, at least it's assumed on March 29th, 1836, both relate to the sacred things that they need to do to prepare themselves for the dedication and the holy ordinances that they're going to perform in the Kirtland Temple. Again, this is the type of thing that I could easily see someday being added to the Doctrine and Covenants. Frankly, the last one we just read could have easily been added to the Doctrine and Covenants. When you think about the sections we have, we already have sections in the Doctrine and Covenants that are not readily apparent, right? If you just read the section, you'd be like, I'm not quite sure what's going on. And then you read, you know, an explanation of or the revelations in context. You're like, oh, oh, that's what it means. Okay, that makes sense. And now I'm not advocating in particular that any of these are added again, though my bias as a Joseph Smith historian is, you know, all of it, right?
Gerrit Just everything like I'm pretty sure that this, the postmark Joseph wrote here shouldn't be canonized. I don't know. Let's get it. He was the prophet. Let's get it in there. Just get all of his words. But these two revelations, very interesting. So here's the first one. The voice of the Spirit was that we should come into this place, talking about the temple three times, and also call the other presidents, the two bishops and their councils, each to stand in his place and fast through the day and also into the night. And that during this, if we would humble ourselves, we should receive further communication from him. So.
Richard Yeah, that's pretty powerful, because we know what happens.
Gerrit Again, the other best part about being a historian is you always know, it's a constant spoiler alert.
Richard Yeah, you guys should do that, some good's coming.
Gerrit I don't know, maybe you will have a manifestation from the Spirit, I mean, when you already know, because you're reading what happened with the dedication. So that's the first one.
Richard So, yeah, that's interesting. So how far out before...
Gerrit The next day is when they're going to be doing these things.
Richard And then Jesus comes, how soon after?
Gerrit So they're having that experience, you know, April 6, right? When Joseph and Oliver have their great vision. So several days later, after these dedications have already started going on, because they're doing more than one, because they can't fit everybody in. So there are multiple dedications of the temple. They can't just broadcast it, even though they do try to throw their voice pretty far. But here's that second one in relation to this. So the leaders are supposed to gather and essentially stay in the temple in order to make themselves holy so that they can then be a part of this, both the dedication and then also the ordinances that they're going to be performing as part of those ceremonies. So, here's that second one. The word of the Lord came to us through President Joseph Smith Jr. that those who had entered the holy place must not leave the house until morning, but send for such things as were necessary, and also that during our stay, we must cleanse our feet and partake of the sacrament that we might be made holy before him, and thereby be qualified to officiate in our calling upon the morrow in the washing of the feet of the elders.
Gerrit So, of course, this ordinance is going to take place the next day in the temple, and they receive a revelation, first of all, to gather in the temple and to prepare to be holy, and then after that, these leaders receive a revelation telling them to not, you're going to stay here. You're going to keep this level of holiness until you actually perform these sacred ordinances. So pretty cool, right? Again, you could see why that could easily be included in a later meeting. So here's the minutes of that meeting that's now the next day. So again, so I'm using the minutes now. This is not the revelation. This is the minutes. Wednesday morning, 8 o'clock, March 30th, 1836, according to the appointment of the presidency, the 12th, the 70s, the high council, the bishops, and their entire quorum, the elders, and all official members of this stake of Zion amounting to about 300 met in the temple of the Lord to attend the ordinance of washing of feet.
Gerrit I ascended to the pulpit and remarked to the congregation that we had passed through many trials and afflictions since the organization of this church and that this is a year of jubilee to us and a time of rejoicing and that it was expedient for us to prepare bread and wine sufficient to make our hearts glad as we should not probably leave this house until morning. To this end, we should call on the brethren to make a contribution. The stewards passed around and took up a liberal contribution and messengers were dispatched for bread and wine. Tubes, water and towels were prepared and I called the house to order and the presidency proceeded to wash the feet of the Twelve, pronouncing many prophecies and blessings upon them in the name of the Lord Jesus. The brethren began to prophesy upon each other's heads and cursings upon the enemies of Christ who inhabit Jackson County, Missouri. That's my favorite one. Continued prophesying and blessings and sealing them with Hosanna and Amen until nearly 7 o'clock p.m.
Gerrit The bread and wine was then brought in and I observed that we had fasted all day and lest we faint, as the Savior did, so shall we do on this occasion. We shall bless the bread and give it to the twelve and they to the multitude, and after which we shall bless the wine and do likewise. While waiting for the wine, I made the following remarks. That the time that we were required to tarry in Kirtland to be endowed would be fulfilled in a few days. And then the elders would go forth and each must stand for himself that it was not necessary for them to be sent out two by two as in former times, but to go out in all meekness and sobriety and preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, not to contend with others on account of their faith or systems of religion, but to pursue a steady course. This I delivered by way of commandment, and all that observe them will not pull down persecution upon their heads, while those who do shall always be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Gerrit This I pronounced as a prophecy, sealed with a Hosanna and an Amen. Also, that the 70s are not called to serve tables or to preside over churches to settle difficulties, but to preach the gospel and to build them up and to set others who do not belong to these quorums to preside over them who are high priests. The 12 are also not to serve tables, but to bear the keys of the kingdom to all nations and unlock them and to call upon the 70s to follow after them and assist them. And the 12 are at liberty to go whithersoever they will. And if one shall say, I wish to go such and such place, let all the rest say, Amen. So the minutes go on, but you have this powerful spiritual experience where this sacred, holy experience that these men have and there's then prophesying that take place, there's powerful spiritual experiences that take place and all because of these revelations that had told them to prepare themselves.
Gerrit Now, I'm going to keep going a little bit here. I know this is a little bit tedious, but frankly, the entire podcast, it could be, we could actually rename the podcast.
Richard We should.
Gerrit A little bit tedious.
Richard A little bit.
Gerrit I'm trying, I mean, I don't want to be too self-effacing.
Richard Yeah, we do get the emails.
Gerrit Yeah, pretty tedious. Yeah. Pretty darn tedious. Welcome to the Pretty Darn Tedious Podcast. I'm your host. But I think it's interesting, and if people haven't heard it.
Richard Actually, I'm all kidding aside. This is actually interesting. I didn't know of those revelations, and there's a lot to be learned in terms of how I could apply that to my own self. Preparation.
Gerrit Yeah.
Richard How I prepare for things.
Gerrit Absolutely.
Richard Thanks.
Gerrit I then observed, again, the minutes in Joseph's first person is how this is being recorded. I then observed to the quorums that I had now completed the organization of the church, and we had passed through all the necessary ceremonies, that I had given them all the instruction they needed, and that they were now at liberty after obtaining their licenses to go forth and to build up the kingdom of God. And that it was expedient for me and the presidency to retire, having spent the night previous in waiting upon the Lord in His temple, and having to attend to another dedication on the morrow. Like I said, the next day they're having another dedication because they couldn't have everyone fit in the one dedication. Or conclude the one commenced on the last Sabbath for the benefit of those, my brethren and sisters, who could not get into the house on the former occasion. But that it was expedient for the brethren to tarry all night and to worship before the Lord in his house. I left the meeting in the charge of the 12 and I retired at about nine o'clock in the evening.
Gerrit So Joseph is going to leave. The brethren continued exhorting, prophesying and speeding in tongues until five o'clock in the morning. Joseph leaves at nine. Eight hours later, those who were there are still preaching prophesying. And here's the cool part. The Savior made his appearance to some while angels ministered unto others. And it was a Pentecost and endowment indeed long to be remembered, for the sound shall go forth from this place into all of the world. And the occurrences of this day shall be handed down upon the pages of sacred history to all generations as the day of Pentecost. So shall this day be numbered and celebrated as a year of jubilee and time of rejoice into the saints of the Most High. So that is one of the most powerful spiritual experiences, collective spiritual experiences in recorded church history. And it's preceded by these two revelations that Joseph Smith receives about the leaders of the church preparing themselves so that they could then perform these ordinances and be able to be in touch with the Holy Spirit of God when they did it.
Gerrit Now, I have one more. I wanted to, while we're on the topic of Kirtland, you know, speaking of spoiler alerts, lest you think that they maintain themselves in Kirtland forever. Well, they don't. And one of the revelations I want to share comes from January of 1838. We already covered in the previous podcast a revelation that we received on January 12th. It was asking about the organization of stakes. But there's another revelation that I mean, boy, if I had to rank the ones that I think, you know, what would be the top of my list to get to the Doctrine and Covenants? I would have, it would be a long list. No, but this one would be either at or the very top, in part because it is so important to what happens next in the church. So, I mean, the church is still, to give you a background of what's going on, the church has been driven out of Jackson County, which you learned from some of our previous podcasts.
Gerrit And eventually, they settle in Caldwell County, which is where Far West is going to be established. Far West grows rapidly, and eventually has thousands of people living there. At the same time, there is this massive catastrophe in Kirtland with the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society, the bank that they had created, to try to aid the buying and selling of lands and extending credit to people. And they're in the midst of this gigantic panic of 1837, this depression that is hitting the country hard. So there's a lot of financial catastrophe. And there is a mass apostasy that takes place in Kirtland with people that had been friends of Joseph Smith, like Warren Parrish, taking sides against him and claiming himself to be the new leader of the church. You have people that are once defenders of Joseph Smith, like John Boyington, who are now publicly denouncing him.
Gerrit At the same time, you have the apostasy of people like Oliver and Martin Harris and the Whitmers. It is a time of turmoil. And things in Kirtland over the winter have gotten so bad that there is even the threat of violence. There's even a meeting in the temple in which people pull swords and guns as they argue and yell at one another. No one gets killed, but there's a slight difference between bringing your sword to the temple and fasting at the temple. One could argue, at the very least. So with all of this turmoil going on in Kirtland, Kirtland is where they have their temple. We just talked about its dedication. It's not even been two years later. That was April and March of 1836 we were talking about. This is now January of 1838, roughly a year and a half later.
Gerrit A little more than that. The Revelation. Thus saith the Lord, let the presidency of my church take their families as soon as it is practicable, and a door is opened for them and move on to the west as fast as the way is made plain before their faces. And let their hearts be comforted, for I will be with them. Verily I say unto you, the time has come that your labors are finished in this place for a season. Therefore arise and get yourself on a land which I shall show unto you, even a land flowing with milk and honey. You are clean from the blood of this people and woe unto those who have become your enemies, who have professed my name saith the Lord. This is a powerful part of this revelation. It's not just woe unto those who have become your enemies. Woe unto those who have become your enemies who profess my name. The revelation is readily acknowledging that while there's an anti-Mormon committee of Kirtland and while there's Eber Howe who is doing everything he can to undo the power of the church and there's other ministers of other faith around that are doing the same thing, the real condemnation is coming on these apostates, these people who were brothers, elders in the church who are now not only no longer members of the church but are seeking to destroy it and in some ways Joseph.
Gerrit As the Lord continues, For their judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Let all your faithful friends arise with their families also, and get out of this place, and gather themselves together unto Zion, and be at peace among yourselves, O ye inhabitants of Zion, or there shall be no safety for you. This is not just a call to the presidency, it's a call to all the faithful members of the church. January 1838, it's not just Joseph who's going to leave and go to far west. This revelation is going to declare essentially to the members in the Kirtland area, like previous revelations had also provided. If you are still a follower of Joseph Smith, if you still believe he is the Lord's prophet on this earth, then you need to leave. And this is not a minor leaving. This is far greater distance than any other.
Gerrit When they left from Colesville to Ohio, that was several hundred miles. And that was daunting and that was difficult. But now they are leaving an established city, a temple that they have worked on for half of a decade that they have just barely gotten possession of. They have homes and farms. They have cemeteries like Parley Pratt where you have your wife and child buried. There's a connection to Kirtland. And the voice of the Lord comes and says, you need to leave. And all of those, all your faithful friends arise with their families and get out of this place. There are very few times where you get to have this kind of, I think we joke about it all the time, right? Like, well, you know, what if President Nelson says we all got to go back to Missouri next week?
Gerrit You know, you're going to be ready to go. And it's usually someone who's trying to sell you some type of food storage or maybe a suit that can capture your own sweat and turn it into drinking water. I mean, I don't know. But, you know, that hypothetical is bandied about a little bit. But part of the reason why it's kind of funny to even speculate is everyone takes it as such a hypothetical. Of course, I don't actually think that tomorrow President Nelson's going to tell us all to move to Missouri. But I don't think that many of the saints living in Kirtland thought that God would call them to go a thousand miles from their homes that they've had, from their temple that they built, to the western Missouri, far west, essentially in the middle of nowhere, and also in the middle of winter. They're being commanded by God to leave in the middle of winter. So there's a real winnowing here in a very stark way.
Gerrit The people who follow this revelation, they go to far west. The people who think Joseph was a fallen prophet, who think that Joseph, oh, the Kirtland Saved Society, that that can't, they don't go. And, you know, talk about the winnowing of the people who are followers and the people who aren't. This separates them. So what do you end up with in far west? You have incredibly faithful people arriving there in Missouri, because the only reason they're there is they're following a commandment of the Lord through Joseph to leave everything behind in Kirtland and move to Missouri. That's part of the reason why I say this revelation, it would be key to understanding other aspects of the Gospel in the Doctrine and Covenants. Why is Joseph and why are the saints leaving Kirtland and going to far west? It's not just because Joseph was like, well, I'm tired of dealing with the people here, I guess maybe we'll go try far west, that might not be too bad.
Gerrit No, it's because the Lord told them he had to leave. And so Joseph does. There's a sense too in the Revelation that one of the reasons why Joseph is unwilling to leave or the reason why he needs a Revelation to tell him to leave is that he's still endeavoring to try to bring back to the fold these people that have oh so recently jumped ship, right? That passage in the Revelation that says, you are clean from the blood of this people. You've done your part. You've tried to bring them back. You've testified. You've done your part and now you need to get out. To me, it's a powerful, beautiful Revelation and one that actually leads to tragedy. At some point in the future, we'll talk about the continued violence in Missouri. Of course, when I say at one point in the future, I mean probably never and still at some point.
Gerrit In our 18th season, perhaps. Yeah. But Amanda Smith, who has the horrific experience of witnessing the murder of her son, the murder of her husband, the attempted murder and maiming of her other son in Hans Mill, she is one of those faithful people that's leaving Ohio and heading to Missouri because of the revelation, because the prophet declared it as the word of the Lord. And so even understanding why some people are where they're at when that Missouri violence takes place, it's important to understand these revelations. Now, I of course have not covered all of them. I've kept enough in the knapsack here that we can come back to this topic at a future time if people find it interesting.
Gerrit But I think a lot of people do. We all love Joseph. We all love the teachings he gives about the Lord. And even just going over some of these revelations, it brings me even greater clarity and insight into the workings of the Holy Spirit and the miracles that were performed. These people collectively saw Jesus. They saw angels. They spoke in tongues. They had a miracle that wasn't just a single person experiencing it. Multiple people in that temple that day. So thank you so much for listening. We look forward to having you tune in to another episode of the podcast.
Intro Thank you for listening to the Standard of Truth podcast, hosted by historian Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat. If you know anybody that could benefit from the material in this episode, please share it with them. And for more resources, visit standardoftruth.com. Until next time.

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In fact, this is a bored document to pick. We need more pietistic hosts.

GerritBanter

Now, does that mean the direction is not inspired simply because it's been changed before?

GerritInsight

There's nothing, I mean, it's the most natural thing in the world, as we've said before, for someone who's worshiped a certain way their whole lives to expect that the way they worshiped was right, that that's normal, that that's why they would see those things as normal.

GerritInsight

By not addressing the bishop with his title, by refusing to address the president with his title, it's not about making them feel better, but it's actually an acknowledgement that there has been a restoration of priesthood authority on the earth every time you do it.

GerritInsight

They probably knew less about the church than anyone else in the congregation, but they cared way more about it than more than half the people in that congregation.

GerritInsight

Again, the other best part about being a historian is you always know, it's a constant spoiler alert.

GerritBanter

Pretty darn tedious. Welcome to the Pretty Darn Tedious Podcast. I'm your host.

GerritBanter

I didn't know of those revelations, and there's a lot to be learned in terms of how I could apply that to my own self.

RichardInsight

No one gets killed, but there's a slight difference between bringing your sword to the temple and fasting at the temple.

GerritBanter

These people collectively saw Jesus. They saw angels. They spoke in tongues.

GerritInsight

More from this episode

Claim checkThings people say, and what the episode shows.

Claim check

What critics say, and what the episode found
If something in the church is "just policy" and has changed before, I don't really have to follow it.
Calling leaders by titles like President or Bishop is a 20th-century formality.
Joseph left Kirtland for Far West just because he was tired of the trouble there.
Take it to classReady to use in a lesson or a talk.

Take it to class

Ready to copy into a lesson or a text

In 1834 the Lord rebuked leaders and members for their manners and greetings, and the minutes say the sharp rebuke brought "gladness and joy" and a willingness to change.

Bringing "this is how we did it in my ward" into church as if it were doctrine is an old problem; some early converts did the same with habits from their former churches.

Before the Kirtland Temple ordinances, revelations told the leaders to fast and stay in the temple to make themselves holy, and the night that followed was remembered as a day of Pentecost.

The January 1838 revelation to leave Kirtland told the faithful, "You are clean from the blood of this people," and sent them a thousand miles to Far West in winter.

Banter binThe funniest moments in this episode.

Banter bin

The running jokes, for people who skip ahead
Township-esqueThe Canadian copyright episode is graded township-esque, and so is this one, or at least "in the neighborhood" (0:55, 17:49).
The Kansas-Nebraska ActStill waiting for its episode; Richard says he discussed it with his wife over breakfast (2:49, 2:57).
Richard's French ancestorsWhat would the Quebecois say to the Canadian copyright? "No" (5:39, 5:50).
Colored shirts to churchGerrit admits he's the last person to push conformity, since he wears colored shirts every Sunday (9:58).
Lots of BillsEarly converts who insisted on first names only, so every leader is just Bill (14:26, 20:05).
Climbing the ladderGerrit, desperately trying to ascend the ladder of church governance and struck down by his own vain ambition (17:49).
Historians are always rightThe best part of being a historian: a constant spoiler alert (33:42).
Pretty Darn TediousGerrit proposes renaming the podcast, and Richard agrees a little too fast (39:57, 40:16).
Episodes promised, never madeThe Missouri violence episode will come "probably never," maybe in season 18 (52:15, 53:22).
The sweat-to-water suitWhoever says the prophet might send us back to Missouri next week is usually selling food storage (50:02).
The Phebe Draper Palmer Brown MailbagSend Gerrit and Richard your question.

The Phebe Draper Palmer Brown Mailbag

Your question could be next week’s episode
Questions from Litners drive a lot of episodes. Send yours. If it makes the show, Richard reads it on air.
Go deeperWhere to read more.

Go deeper

Deep dives the episode points toward
Read the full minutes of the December 1834 meeting in the Joseph Smith Papers and see what else they say about church order (3:01).
Follow the Kirtland Temple events from the March 1836 washing of feet to the April 6 vision Joseph and Oliver received (34:15).
Study the Kirtland apostasy of 1837-38, the Kirtland Safety Society, and the meeting where people drew swords in the temple (44:20).
Trace Amanda Barnes Smith's journey from Kirtland to Missouri and Haun's Mill (53:22).
SOT Litner · S2E25.