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S3E40 · History of the Hosanna Shout
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Standard of Truth · Season 3 · Episode 40 · 59:52

History of the Hosanna Shout

At the 1892 capstone ceremony of the Salt Lake Temple, the Saints were told to shout Hosanna so loudly that every house in the city would tremble.

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The question ·
How did the Hosanna Shout come to be, and what is its significance?
Christian (listener)

Christian, writing from Northwest Arkansas, gets Richard excited about the Christ of the Ozarks statue and the passion play where Jesus flies over the crowd. He also thanks Gerrit for gently correcting history at sites like Liberty Jail, then asks how the Hosanna Shout began. After Richard's Sukkot plug and a post-diet Crown Burger, Gerrit explains that hosanna means "save us," shows its early place in D&C 19, and reads Joseph's journal from January 1836 as quorums were organized in the nearly finished Kirtland Temple. He follows the shout through the Kirtland dedication, Brigham Young's tongues, Orson Hyde's prophecy, and the 1892 Salt Lake Temple capstone, where the crowd waved handkerchiefs and shouted with all their might. Gerrit closes on why temples, and the work for the dead inside them, matter so much.

Who comes upJoseph SmithBrigham YoungOrson HydeSidney RigdonSylvester SmithDavid W. PattenWilford WoodruffLorenzo SnowJoseph Don Carlos YoungRussell M. NelsonMartin Harris
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Richard notes they only got to one of two emails last time.

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Intro Welcome to the Standard of Truth Podcast. In this podcast, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat and Professor Richard LeDuc explore the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the life and teachings of Prophet Joseph Smith. They examine the original historical sources and provide context for events of the past. They approach the history of the Church with faith, expertise and humor.
Gerrit Hi, welcome to another episode of the Standard of Truth podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, and I am joined by my friend, antelope gangrenous, Professor Richard LeDuc.
Richard Hello, Gerrit. Last week, we thought we'd get to two emails. Gerrit said he had something up his sleeve for Larry on Alvin going to hell for not being baptized, and he did.
Gerrit It ended up being the instruction card of how to play.
Richard Yeah, by Presbyterian USA. But so, at the time, we planned to get to two emails, but the other one, we were able to cover a lot of material, which was great. So we wanted to then get to this email by a Christian who, you know, jumping right into the Phebe Draper mailbag.
Gerrit Do you think that he is a Christian, or is it that he's baptized by Mormon?
Richard Well, if he's a Latter-day Saint, it depends on who you'd ask, I suppose. You know, if you ask me, sure. You ask anyone else, probably not.
Gerrit Yeah, not even close.
Richard So this one, Dear Brother and Almost Dr. LeDuc and Dr. and Almost Brother Dirkmaat. So actually, last week, by the way, we mentioned about Gerrit's virtual Zoom fireside for three missions in Spain a couple of weeks ago, I guess. And one of the things that was very funny is one of the missionaries, I don't know who these missionaries were, but they had as the names below them, Dr. Dirkmaat and Almost Dr. LeDuc as the names.
Gerrit It was pretty hilarious, but it also made me think, we've got some obedience problems in this mission. And of course, you know what? Andrew's probably just sharing the premium content around, like it's a pack of cigarettes.
Richard In jail, he uses it as currency. No. So, yeah.
Gerrit I would like to think that the Standard of Truth is its own cryptocurrency on missions, that people are like, hey, I've got two of the condemned to repeat it. If you've got, do you? No, no, I'm not trading. I'm not trading a Joseph Smith in the Restoration for a condemned to repeat it. You've got to be out of your mind.
Richard You've got Pokemon cards versus a crypto, but it's still similar. Well, so I will say in Andrew's mission, he's not allowed to listen to the podcast, but he can listen to Google Drive audio that I sent. So when I share-
Gerrit Yeah, so it sounds like this wasn't approved by the mission president. That's what this sounds like.
Richard I don't know. Had you do the fireside? I'm sure it's lovely. It's good stuff.
Gerrit All I know is we occasionally get missionaries calling in saying, hey, we're not supposed to listen to your podcast, but I was the one who was supposed to delete all of the podcasts out, and I listened to all of them.
Richard I think most of the missionaries come to us for sports betting picks.
Gerrit Which is an even bigger problem. I mean, we've got all kinds of obedience problems.
Richard I have been listening, let's see, I've been listening to the podcast since the beginning, and I think my daughter and I are the only ones in Northwest Arkansas who enjoy it. Not to say that others here, there aren't others here who listen to it, but I know we are the ones who like it. Now, first of all, I've actually spent a pretty decent amount of time in Northwest Arkansas. I'm a big fan of Northwest Arkansas. Eureka Springs specifically, it's beautiful, especially this time of year, as the leaves change and the Ozarks. I've eaten at Murty May's, at Carmen's Taco Food Truck. One of the things that Eureka Springs is-
Gerrit Wow, wow.
Richard It's very good, by the way. If I can give a plug-in for Carmen's Taco Food Truck, it's next level good. What?
Gerrit We should have really read this email right after the BYU Arkansas game.
Richard We should have. We should have. But that would require planning and being good at this, which we are not.
Gerrit And it would have been a little bit of spiking the football if he happens to be an Arkansas fan.
Richard Sure. I'm sure he's there because of, he works for Walmart, I assume. Isn't that the reason that anyone lives in Northwest Arkansas? Anyway.
Gerrit I don't know.
Richard Well, so one of the best things about Northwest Arkansas, by the way, if I could get a plug-in, we are here sponsored by the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce. We're excited to promote all things Arkansas. Anyway, they have an enormous statue that's called Christ of the Ozarks. It's this enormous, enormous statue that is pretty impressive. It's a little smaller than the Rio statue, but I think it's the second largest one that exists. And it's pretty spectacular. And what's especially cool is they've got what's called the Great Passion Play. They kind of have this village that looks like Jerusalem with huge stadium seating. And they do the passion of Christ in that, kind of going through the life and then obviously the death and resurrection. And what's fantastic is I've participated. I've gone to this.
Gerrit Yeah, I'm going to say, maybe we need to talk to your bishop. Get Brady on the line.
Richard So I've gone to this play, and it's incredibly well done. And at the end, when Jesus is resurrected, then when he ascends into heaven, they put, you know, they shine the light on the character that is Jesus. And then he's on like some sort of line that flies up over the entire stadium crowd. It's how it goes. It's incredible. So again, I can't believe I got so excited about Northwest Arkansas.
Gerrit Yeah, I feel like maybe you wanted Arkansas to beat BYU at this point.
Richard Well, I just wanted them to cover. That's all I'm saying.
Gerrit Right, because good teams win.
Richard Good teams win, great teams cover. I'm kidding. President Hinckley, 2005 spring gambling. Don't do it. Not to say that there are others, blah, blah, blah. Okay, I was prompted to write, again, I can't believe I got so excited about Northwest Arkansas. I was prompted to write because of a visit I had to Liberty Jail in which the sister missionary introduced the recorded narration by clarifying and updating some of the assertions mentioned in the narration, such as the conditions they were held in and the visitors they were allowed to receive. Knowing that you have been there with your tour and assuming Dream Crusher Dirkmaat had spoken with them and pointed out some inaccuracies. I will say, Gerrit, in the church, I've now been to many, many, many of these sites with Gerrit. Gerrit generally holds his tongue, I mean, generally, I mean, always holds his tongue at the sites because the missionaries are wonderful and they're serving and they're doing the best they can and not all have a...
Gerrit Yeah, no one needs to be that person, right? Where someone is like going off of what they've prepared and someone in the back is like, hey, how come you didn't quote 2nd Evo 14, huh? I mean, like it's bad play. I mean, I know it, look, I assume that I would say something if the sister missionary was like, yeah, so, I mean, I don't even think Jesus exists, you know? And then I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Richard Have you been to the Christ of the Ozarks?
Gerrit Exactly, if you've gone to the same, but yeah, I mean, there are times people ask, oh, what do you want to add to it? But yeah, I very much try never to say anything. I do the same thing in my Sunday school and other school. Yeah, I mean, if someone asks me something, I'll say, but I mean, you don't want to undermine people. I mean, that doesn't help anyone learn, you know? I mean, now occasionally someone's teaching false doctrine, and the next thing you know, you're holding seances, and there's a problem, okay? So then you hope that someone else will step in, but...
Richard I will say, Gerrit is a dream crusher, but respectful one. That's one of his best...
Gerrit Angie would disagree. She would say, no, it was nothing respectful.
Richard So thank you for correcting the record. I am grateful for your testimony, inspiring history lessons, and lampooning certain documentaries. To this day, whenever anyone mentions Willard Richards, I see Danny DeVito with a pair of revolvers in the... So anyway, I started blasting meme. That's a very funny meme. He had detached a picture and it is very funny. It always brings a chuckle and a lot of weird looks from everyone wondering what I'm laughing about. Sunday school can be awkward sometimes, but I digress, which there's no place for digression in this podcast.
Gerrit The only thing we do is we are laser-focused.
Richard Despite what Rex's elders quorum president said, we do not mess around. We get straight to it. I did have a question that I would love to get your wisdom on. Our temple is scheduled to be dedicated soon. And we were at...
Gerrit Probably by the time we answered this email, it was already dedicated. It's been dedicated for months.
Richard Yeah, Arkansas has three new temples since we...
Gerrit Christian's been working in the temple presidency since then.
Richard Our temple is... First of all, no members of any temple presidency are listening to this podcast. Our temple is scheduled to be dedicated soon, and we were asked to prepare for the dedication by reviewing the dedication of the Kirtland Temple and learning about the Hosanna Shout. How did the Hosanna Shout come to be, and what is its significance? I know you'll find a way to not answer this, but I still kick my... That is very funny, but I still kick myself for not taking the Lions over Green Bay. You know what, that's not a sucker's bet. We didn't know what love could do, and even though we have fine friends in Vegas, have the Lions over 10 and a half on the over-under for wins, I don't think that that was the bad play, Christian. Again, don't gamble. If I had, I could have paid for the premium podcast instead of asking for it as a Christmas present. Thanks again for all you do. I look forward to every Thursday, and yours is one of the only podcasts. I do not listen at two times speed.
Richard God bless you both. Christian and Gerrit, I will say also, you know, in the great state of Utah and all over the world with the number of temples that are announced and are being dedicated. I mean, just in Utah, there's going to be tons. I live in Layton. We're about to get a temple. Syracuse is going to be done relatively soon as well. Lots and lots of temples. And so I think this has significance for lots of members.
Gerrit I don't know when those dedications are happening. So I don't know whether we're coming in a little bit late on this, but this is a fascinating question, honestly, in part, because it seems to have changed a little bit over time, even though it still maintains some aspects of the original reason why, the reason why it began, or at least what it's traced to. So, this idea of Hosanna and shouting is something that is, you can find, rooted in the Feast of the Tabernacles in late pre-Jesus Judaism, right before Jesus and at the time of Jesus. The idea was to kind of replicate the experience of the Jews as the children of Israel, as they're fleeing Israel.
Gerrit Where do they stay? Well, they have to stay in the wilderness. They stay in tents. So, when people do this, the Feast of the Tabernacles, they create these, and it's supposed to be a time of rejoicing at the end. And so, this idea of rejoicing at the end of this is often linked to this prayer in Psalm 118. I don't want to get into all of that, and that goes beyond my ability.
Richard Well, so, Gerrit, if I could give a plug, this will come out after or right around. The Feast of Tabernacles is now Sukkot, and so, if you're going to be celebrating it, it starts soon, right? September 29th of this year.
Gerrit I was going to say, it's next week, I think.
Richard Yeah. September 29th through October 6th. I think this will drop in the middle of what is the Feast of Tabernacles.
Gerrit So, do you build a little tent?
Richard I don't. I don't build a tent. We generally do, I mean, we play the hits here at the LeDuc House as we celebrate certain holidays. So, we'll do some Passover. We do Hanukkah with our kids and friends. That's a fun one. We do a little Purim because you get the noisemakers. Those are always a good time. Who doesn't love Esther, obviously?
Gerrit But you take a big pass on Yom Kippur, makes sense.
Richard Well, I mean, so we're actually recording this episode on Yom Kippur.
Gerrit On Yom Kippur, yeah.
Richard Yeah.
Gerrit Which kind of demonstrates what kind of a practicing Jew you are.
Richard We do Rosh Hashanah, though. Rosh Hashanah is a fun one as well. So we don't do Sukkot, but my uncle in New Jersey, he got his tent on Amazon. He paid a thousand bucks.
Gerrit Oh, yeah.
Richard Oh, no, it's great.
Gerrit So you go.
Richard Well, I mean, it's some assembly required. So, but it comes with like palm fronds and stuff that you can.
Gerrit Oh, it's a giant Lego set.
Richard It's yeah. I mean, so it's so it was like a thousand bucks. And he bought it and it came mostly preassembled. It snaps a couple of things, puts a couple of palm fronds on top, and fees the tabernacles. Here we go. Anyway, just want to get my plug in for Sukkot.
Gerrit So did he send you a picture of it assembled or was it him assembling?
Richard Oh yeah, no, they use it every time. And they would have dinner in it, and it was kind of a fun thing.
Gerrit Yeah, and you know, it's a great memory of, you know, the sacrifice of the children of Israel. But the last day of it is meant to be exultant, that God has saved you, essentially, right? Well, for Mark chapter 11 in the New Testament, you get this exultant cry at the same time that Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, right? And many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches, as Mark 11, 8 and 9, cut down branches off of trees and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they followed, cried, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, blessed be the kingdom of our father, David, that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. This terminology, which is variously rendered, essentially as save us, I beseech thee, basically.
Gerrit So, Hosanna, what better thing to call out to the Lord, than save us? It is something that finds its way into early Latter-day Saint scripture, and frankly, in enough places that I really wouldn't be able to go to all of them. But early on, before we even have a church in what is now Doctrine and Covenants section 19. So that's received in the summer of 1829. And the context of it is Martin Harris has refused to pay this enormous amount of money that it's going to cost to print the Book of Mormon. He's agreed to do it. He said he was going to do it. He met with a bunch of printers, and it's a huge amount of money. And all of these printers are saying, you are going to lose everything that you have. And so he hesitates and he balks, and the Lord gives this revelation to him, Doctrine and Coven, Section 19, which tells him to impart a portion of thy property, even a part of thy lands, and all save the support of thy family, to pay the debt that thou hast contracted with the printer and release thyself from bondage.
Gerrit So he's commanded by God to give up all of his property in order to do it. And shortly after that, right after that, in fact, verses 36 and 37 of D&C 19, leave thy house and home, except when thou shalt desire to see thy family, and speak freely to all. Yea, preach, exhort, declare the truth, even with a loud voice, with a sound of rejoicing, crying, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord God. So you get this, again, this reference to it is with a sound of rejoicing, crying out, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord God. Similar to what you have, as Jesus is triumphally entering into Jerusalem, as the palm fronds are being cut down in front of him, and people are saying Hosanna to God. Well, in later times in church history, look, the phrase will come up in other revelations as well, but I thought this is an interesting thing to share.
Gerrit In January of 1836, so they are building the Kirtland Temple. In fact, they're almost done finishing the Kirtland Temple. They're actually meeting in the temple in order to create these various quorums and to set them apart. This is from Joseph's Journal. I assisted in anointing the counselors of the presidents of the elders and gave them the instruction necessary for the occasion, and I left the president and his counselors to anoint the elders. While I should go to the adjoining room and attend to the organizing and instructing of the quorum of the Seventy, I found the Twelve Apostles assembled with this quorum, and I proceeded with the quorum of the Presidency to instruct them and also the seven presidents of the Seventy elders to call upon God with uplifted hands and to seal the blessings which had been promised to them by the Holy Anointing.
Gerrit As I organized this quorum with the Presidency in this room, President Sylvester Smith saw a pillar of fire rest down and abide on the heads of the quorum as we stood in the midst of the Twelve. When the Twelve and the Seven, these are the seven presidents of the Seventy, when they were through with their sealing prayers, I called upon President Sidney Rigdon to seal them with uplifted hands. And when he had done this and cried, Hosanna, that all the congregation should join with him and shout Hosanna to God and the Lamb and glory to God in the highest. And it was done so. So that's kind of a pretty cool thing, right? I think we usually think of the Hosanna shout as being something associated with a temple being dedicated, right?
Gerrit Here, it is in consequence of the calling and sealing of these leaders of the church, the Quorum of the Twelve and the Seventy. But of course, at the actual temple dedication, we're going to have an awful lot of that as well, where you have this shouting out, this dedication of the temple. Now, the minutes of this are pretty long, so I'm not going to read all of them. I know you're thinking, no, no, I want you to read all of the minutes of a meeting. Those are always the best. But this is a pretty spectacular thing to hear what it is that the Lord has to say to them. Now, of course, they're going to sing multiple songs, and in those songs, they're singing the song to the tune, Hosanna, and there are multiple references in these songs to Hosanna.
Gerrit But this is how this dedication went. Oh, hear, oh, hear, oh, hear us, oh, Lord, and answer these petitions. This is the end of that dedicatory prayer. And accept the dedication of this house unto Thee, the work of our hands, which we have built up unto Thy name, and also this church, to put upon it Thy name, and help us by the power of the Spirit, that we may mingle our voices with those bright shining seraphs around Thy throne with acclamations of praise, singing Hosanna to God and the Lamb, and let these Thine anointed be clothed with salvation, and Thy saints shout aloud for joy. So you'll notice that in that initial dedication, in the prayer itself, this singing of Hosanna to God and the Lamb, and then the saints to shout aloud for joy. Now, of course, you all know the Spirit of God, the song Spirit of God, the hymn, which is sung at the dedication, which, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God and the Lamb.
Gerrit That is the prayer, and then they sing that song, but it's not yet that Hosanna shout, right? There's a lot of things gearing up to it, but they haven't done the shout yet. President Sidney Rigdon, so there's a couple other things that happened, but I mean, boy, that was pretty flipping. Wasn't it? Because, like, I mean, Oliver Cowdery gets up and testifies of the truth of the Book of Mormon and the work of the Lord in the last days. There's a couple other things that happened. Fr. Williams says that an angel from God came in and sat down between him and Joseph Smith Sr. while the house was being dedicated.
Richard Well, in fairness, that happened, and you said things happened. I don't know. I feel like you're on point.
Gerrit There was a bunch of stuff. There was some completely immaterial stuff. Just the passing of the sacrament, Joseph Smith bearing his testimony, Oliver Cowdery testifying in the Book of Mormon, an angel flying in. There was relatively nothing that occurred, so I skipped to the chase. President Sidney Rigdon then made a few appropriate closing remarks. Notice it's the end. And a short prayer was ended with loud acclamations of Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God and the Lamb. Amen, Amen, and Amen. Three times. So you have that from that earliest dedication. Now, I could just say, you know, and a lot of other stuff happened. But given the fact that we just talked about speaking in tongues, I think I need to read the next line.
Gerrit Elder Brigham Young, one of the twelve, then gave a short address in tongues. So after that, was that a shout? Everyone is so exultant that Brigham Young begins to speak in tongues. Elder David W. Patton interpreted and gave a short exhortation in tongues himself, after which President Joseph Smith Jr. blessed the congregation in the name of the Lord, and at a little past 4 p.m. the whole exercise closed and the congregation dispersed. So you get this powerful explanation of what happens, what transpires at the dedication of the First Temple, of the original Kirtland Temple. The shout is explained, Hosanna, hosanna, to God and the Lamb, amen, amen, and amen, and it's given three times. Now, you'll notice that there is absent from there a discussion of waving handkerchiefs, right?
Gerrit You don't have that. Now, sometimes, at least historically, with the Feast of the Tabernacles, there's the waving of these palm fronds at the exultant celebration at the end. So I can't say to you for certain at what point that changes. Is it possible that they wave handkerchiefs? It certainly is possible, but we don't have any record of it. Now, Heber C. Kimball in 1862 is going to explain this initial Hosanna shout. He is, first of all, not only are they going to explain that initial Hosanna shout, they actually are going to do it in the meeting.
Gerrit Orson Hyde, he speaks in this conference, and he says, among other things, that I prophesy in the name of the Lord God of Hosts that if we continue to walk in the light of truth, to labor, to build up Zion, that the cup of trembling spoken of by the prophet Isaiah shall never return to your lips, nor to our habitations, but we will float along, increasing in power and strength from day to day, continually rejoicing in the truths of our holy religion. So Orson Hyde got up and prophesied that if people continue to be righteous, if the saints continue to be righteous, that they wouldn't suffer again the way they had suffered before. Well, that's a pretty cool prophecy. And you might think, well, who's Orson Hyde to prophesy? Well, Orson Hyde is the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. So, I mean, he's not just, you know, chopped liver. My mom loves liver, by the way.
Richard Really?
Gerrit Yeah. I mean, I don't know if she eats it all the time, but when we were kids, she was like, oh, let's get liver and onions. I'm like, oh, my goodness gracious.
Richard My number one fear is gout. And so I steer clear of it because of that.
Gerrit Primarily gout?
Richard Well, I mean, when you look at me, I'm obviously really into CrossFit and training.
Gerrit He says this, but this guy is, he's looking svelte lately. He stopped eating or had a gastric bypass. I'm not sure what happened.
Richard Well, so it's the financial, I believe I mentioned this before, the financial incentive of hitting an aspirational weight that I said that I was back in May that I actually had to get to by the time of the physical.
Gerrit In order to, couldn't you just have gone the other way and just have told them that you ate a lot?
Richard Yes, I could have gone the other way where I have to dial a phone with a stick.
Gerrit With a special dialing wand? Yeah.
Richard But I chose the other way. Anyway, it's been good. I'm starving. I've been starving for three months, but my physical was on Friday, and then I went to Crown Burger.
Gerrit Oh, how did your body react to that?
Richard Very poorly, actually. If you starve yourself for three months, and then you go and get one of those fantastic pastrami Crown Burgers with onion rings and fries, I know it's delicious.
Gerrit They aren't sponsors, don't worry. We don't have any sponsors, okay? That was probably a product placement right there.
Richard Other than the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, Best Western of the Ozarks.
Gerrit I guarantee that they are not sponsors. I guarantee. I'm working on it. We should organize a tour to go watch that passion play. That sounds fun.
Richard It is actually remarkable. I've got to imagine Christian's gone to it, and if he hasn't, he's got to, because it is incredible.
Gerrit What were we talking about? Yeah.
Richard Crown Burger, I believe. Anyway, so...
Gerrit Now we're talking about Crown Burger, because that's the only thing I can think of right now.
Richard Let me tell you something. You cannot go wrong with almost anything that they got. For some reason, they've got the pastrami burger, and then you've got a Souvlaki. They've got a whole Greek menu that's also fantastic. You can't go wrong with Crown Burger. Anyway, sorry.
Gerrit Well, so... Just like they gave that Hosanna shout when they were organizing the seven Presidents of the Seventy, when they were calling them, brethren and sisters, President Young and his brethren kind of feel as though they would like to have a Hosanna upon the prediction of Elder Hyde and all the true predictions that have been declared. And then, so, you know, I don't know, so I don't know if they actually do it. Maybe they did shout it out. I don't know. That's not in my source. But he goes on and says, I don't suppose you understand the principle of it. It is a prayer that God revealed to Joseph in the endowment in Kirtland. Which endowment that transpired in Jerusalem with the ancient apostles and prophets, that same transpired in Kirtland, Ohio. And in the winding up scene of the endowment after the twelve apostles received their anointing, beginning at the first, confirmed by the First Presidency of the church, after they all got through receiving their anointing, every one as fast as they were anointed, they laid hands on for the anointing, and then all the assembly of the Church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God was there in its position.
Gerrit The First Presidency, the 12th, the 70s, the different quorums of high priests and other quorums of 70s, the elders and the priests and the teachers and the deacons, all in their respective places, then the cry of Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God and the Lamb, to God and the Lamb, to God and the Lamb. Amen, amen, and amen. So notice the way he describes it. Actually gives us a little bit more detail. It wasn't that they shouted the Hosanna because they just finished with the 70, like the 70 were the most important. It was because they had just finished doing it for all of the quorums, and the 70s were the last ones. Everyone was in their respective places, and then they cried out for that Hosanna shout. So that is a pretty interesting tidbit of someone who was there explaining the origin of this. Now, once again, they don't talk about using white handkerchiefs at the time.
Gerrit The source has a few missing holes in it, but he says, you know, essentially a lot has transpired since then. Talking about the ceremony, he says, you may think that it is kind of a novel, meaning a novel thing, a unique thing. If it is a novel, it is as true a one as you ever have performed. And it will have an effect of an endowment on every one of you that live faithfully. And you will see it will have a good effect upon this people, for it actually concentrates our feelings in one. And we manifested to God and his son and to the Holy Ghost, and before his holy angels and his angels will bless this people. They will defend this people, and you will see a power manifested in behalf of this people from that time that you never saw. This I know. Why? Because it has been revealed to me not from flesh and blood, but my Father and the Spirit of God that is in me.
Gerrit It says, you need not be troubled about this people anymore. Trouble yourselves about yourselves, for it is for every one of us to prepare ourselves and to do our duties, honor our calling, and we will honor God and God will honor us and he will defend us. So that's a pretty powerful sermon as he talks about this, that there's actual power in participating in that Hosanna shout and that the way that we receive it is by way of revelation that Joseph received in Kirtland. Now let's maybe fast forward a little bit. I know you don't like to listen to us on two times speed, but Christian, we'll fast forward just a little bit to talking about when we next get a really big exposition here. And this is in 1892.
Gerrit When they are preparing the capstone exercise of the Salt Lake Temple. In this same meeting, by the way, Lorenzo Snow says, The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith this great truth, As man now is, God once was, As God now is, man may become. So, you know, if you're looking for it, this is a great conference if you're looking for some meat. This is the April 1892 conference. So, they're meeting, and then Lorenzo Snow is called to the stand. At the request of President Cannon, Lorenzo, Apostle Lorenzo Snow, instructed the congregation as to the order of the ceremony at the laying of the capstone of the temple. The words of the shout, Hosanna, he said, to be uttered upon or after the laying of the capstone today were introduced by President Joseph Smith at the Kirtland Temple and were there used at a solemn assemblage where the power of God was manifested and the vision of the Almighty was opened up to the brethren.
Gerrit This was no ordinary order, but is and we wish it to be distinctly understood, a sacred shout, and employed only on extraordinary occasions like the one before us. We wish it also to be distinctly understood that we want the brethren and sisters not only to express the words, but their hearts shall be full of thanksgiving to the God of heaven, who has accomplished through our agency this mighty and extraordinary labor. Thirty-nine years ago today, the foundation stone, the cornerstone of this temple was laid. And in reflecting and meditating upon the wonderful blessings that God has bestowed upon us, His people, during this number of years that have passed since that time, we wish the saints to feel when they pronounce this shout that it comes from their hearts. Let your hearts be filled with thanksgiving. The speaker then gave out the following words.
Gerrit Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, to God and the Lamb. Amen, amen, amen. And continued. Now, when we go before the temple, and this shout goes forth, we want every man and every woman to shout these words to the very extent of their voices. So that every house in this city may tremble, the people in every portion of this city hear it, and that it may reach the eternal worlds. President Snow then proceeded to train the people in the hosanna shout, the effect of which was thrilling and grand. Now, that's pretty awesome, isn't it? Yeah, that's great. Now, what came to my mind as, now look, Lorenzo Snow at this point is, he's a member of the presidency, but he's not the prophet, but he will be the prophet, so I'm still going to call him President Snow, right?
Gerrit President Snow is training them how to do it, telling them how important it is, telling them, hey, you guys better yell. I want everybody in this town to hear it. And then he trains them how to do it. All that could come to my mind was, do you remember when President Hinckley trained everybody how to do the Hosanna shout for the conference center?
Richard Yeah.
Gerrit Do you remember that?
Richard I do. I do remember.
Gerrit We were young. I mean, we were young back in those days.
Richard Right.
Gerrit Before you were trying to drop weight for a life insurance, over any days.
Richard Right off our missions. There were a couple. It's actually pretty cool. I remember that for the conference. There's a couple of these Hosanna shouts that I remember. The conference center one, for the dedication of the new Nauvoo Temple and the new Palmyra temple. And I remember even just a couple years ago, on the 200 year anniversary of the First Vision that President Nelson did that. I just remember such a cool experience to be part of. And especially so growing up in a place where, I mean, the Boise temple was dedicated far before I would have been able to remember anything. And we certainly weren't invited and it wasn't broadcast. And so, I remember these early times when I'm like, this is such a cool thing to be a part of for these really sacred and special occasions.
Gerrit So, shall I read more of the conference here?
Richard Oh yeah, this is fascinating, yeah.
Gerrit Yeah, so President Woodruff, now this is not word for word, okay? So the scribe got a little lazy here. Because it says, President Woodruff said, in substance. So, I've had people quote me in substance too, and it doesn't always what I said. If there is any scene on the face of this earth that will attract the attention of the God of heaven and the heavenly host, it is the one before us today. The assembling of this people, the shout of Hosanna, and the laying of the top stone of this temple in honor to our God. That's a pretty powerful statement right there. There's any scene that will attract the attention of God. My brethren, sisters and friends, we want to finish this temple. We want to dedicate it unto God as soon as we can, so that when the vast host who dwell in this region of country may go into it and attend to the ordinances for their living and for their dead, I hope we shall all lay this to heart and try to furnish means so far as we can in order that the building may be speedily completed.
Gerrit We are able as a people to do this. I realize that there are many calls upon the Latter-day Saints for the work and purposes of the Church and Kingdom of God upon the earth, but this work now before us is the most important event, the most important that we have on our hands. I will remember the day and the hour when this first revelation for the redemption of the dead was received by the mouth of the Prophet of God. Who can comprehend this? Where is the man or woman who can comprehend this principle? That we have the power to go into these temples of our God and redeem our progenitors, our fathers and our mothers, from whom we've descended. They never heard the Gospel. They never enjoyed the blessings which you and I have in our day and time through the mercy of God. We are their posterity. They are on the other side of the veil, shut up in prison and will remain there until their sons and daughters go into these holy places and redeem them. As Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison three days and three nights, while his body lay in the tomb, some of them have laid there a long time, thousands of years, up to the time when Christ was crucified and his spirit went to see them in prison.
Gerrit President Woodruff then proceeded to enlarge upon the blessings enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints in regard to their work in temples and said that he rejoiced in the knowledge that the Prophet Joseph Smith, President Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and others formerly associated with them in this great Latter-day work on earth were rejoicing today at what they saw and heard. The shout of Hosanna would enter into the presence of God and they would rejoice there at. So far as we carried out the purposes of God that he had placed upon us and the responsibilities devolving upon us, when we got through there, we should have the privilege on the morning of the resurrection of sitting down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and those of our relatives who had already passed away in the family organization of the celestial world forever and ever. So President Woodruff also bringing it. Now, if we step down to the capstone being laid, so again, I'm skimming over, I'm not skimming over any angels appearing at this point, so at least that's not in the transcript.
Richard So some more stuff happened, yada, yada, yada, lobster bits. La, la.
Gerrit Most important event in early church history. And then the architect Joseph Don Carlos Young shouted from the top of the temple, the capstone is now ready to be laid. President Woodruff stepped to the front of the platform and said, Attention all ye house of Israel and all ye nations of the earth. We will now lay the top stone of the temple of our God, the foundation of which was laid and dedicated by the prophet Seir and revelator Brigham Young. President Woodruff was then pressed the button, thus opening an electric current to a contrivance connected with the capstone, the latter being thus released and placed in position. The Hosanna. The immense concourse of people led by President Lorenzo Snow shouted the Hosanna in concert. Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God and the Lamb.
Gerrit Amen, Amen, and Amen. This was done three times, each shout being accompanied by a waving of handkerchiefs, except when the names of God and the Lamb were uttered. So you wave it with Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. You don't wave it for God and the Lamb, and then you wave it for Amen, Amen. The spectacle and effect of the shout was grand beyond description. The emotions of the multitude being stirred up in the greatest intensity of devotion and enthusiasm. And then they sang, the Spirit of God like a fire is burning. We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God and the Lamb. What glory to them and the highest be given, henceforth and forever, Amen and Amen. That song is honestly, it's always been long before I knew anything about church history.
Gerrit And you might be saying, Oh, so you mean right now. I have always had a special place in my heart for that song. I don't know why it is, but there are a few hymns. There are a few sermons that I could listen to or read, and at any time, I will feel the Holy Spirit. And obviously you can feel the Spirit the whole time you sing that song. I don't know why it is, but my entire life, when you sing the fourth verse, that as Jesus descends in his chariot of fire, I feel the Holy Spirit every time. And I think in part, it's because I am certain of the knowledge that Jesus is our Redeemer, and that he is going to descend in that chariot of fire, and that this is not just folklore or bedtime stories.
Gerrit Angels really did appear. The shout from man to God in this shout really was received by God, and God really did bless them coming back the other direction. I do have one more thought on this, but Richard, you have thoughts. I've spoken too much.
Richard Well, no. So, there are two hymns, actually, where I get that feeling every time, and mine is very, very similar to the Spirit of God. I love that, and I feel very similar in that same part. It's funny, because I love that hymn, and I love that part. And then the other one is Press Forward Saints. There's something about the end of that. Thus saith the Lord, you have eternal life. Those two, for me, every time, chills. It is something that's interesting that my children don't understand, because they don't have the perspective of this. As a kid, growing up, the idea of even having a temple anywhere relatively... I grew up in Western Idaho, so we had one that was 45 minutes or so away. It wasn't too far away. But the idea of being able to be a part of any sort of dedication was something that wasn't even remotely possible.
Richard For my dad, certainly, right? That wasn't the case. And it has been a fantastic thing to behold as this happens over and over and over again. The same thing that you're describing in temples all over America. And it is America, the world. And it is cool every time. And even though we're doing more because more and more of these things are happening, it's still incredible and solemn and special. Like I said, three years ago when President Nelson did it, it was impactful, both to me and to our whole family. It was incredible.
Gerrit Well, the reality is temples, they really do bring a power about them. It is rare that you can attend the temple and still feel as if things aren't any better. And it's interesting, whenever Joseph was at a funeral sermon, and most funerals then were tragedies. I mean, it's always sad when someone dies, but there's a pretty big difference between when someone 104 dies and when someone who's 14 dies, right? There's a gap there in our understanding and our acceptance. But Joseph always seemed to believe that the way to help assuage grief was to teach people about the plan of salvation. That yes, this person is gone, but this person is simply still alive, and they are just that much closer to becoming an exalted being.
Gerrit And that's part of his point in the King Follett sermon. Now, we often you'll have people say that, well, the waving of white handkerchiefs, that that took place at this temple capstone ceremony. But I don't know that that's the case. We certainly know from the source that they waved handkerchiefs. But here is another source from a newspaper. So, you know, maybe it's false. But here it is. The people shout. The crowd under the leadership of President Lorenzo Snow shouted, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God and the Lamb. Amen, amen, and amen. Each shout except to God and the Lamb was accompanied by the waving of their handkerchiefs. So that sounds pretty similar to what we just said, right? It was a novel sight to witness 40,000 people shouting all at the same time and waving their handkerchiefs.
Gerrit The coloring from an artistic point of view was beautiful. There were every color of handkerchiefs that one could possibly imagine. Although white predominated, there were blue handkerchiefs, red, yellow, black, purple, pink. The shout was repeated three times. So it seems that in this first shout, maybe not in the memo, a lot of them were white. But a lot of them were also different colors. So some Elder Corps president, someone was like, oh jeez, I forgot to tell these guys that they were white. Oh jeez, man. And then people will know whether or not you were giving the right instructions, because they could see the handkerchiefs that everyone was pulling out. And so I think this is when we first wave the handkerchiefs with the shout, and then those will eventually come to be instructed.
Gerrit And you'll notice President Nelson, he instructed it the way he instructed it. He said, you take a white handkerchief, and so there's more of a unison rather than a kaleidoscope of colors that maybe there was at the time there. It is awesome, though. I mean, I'm so glad you asked this question, Christian. And frankly, I don't know how long you've lived in Arkansas. I don't know if you grew up in Arkansas. I don't know if... I assume the number of child of record baptisms in Arkansas is somewhat slightly higher than Wisconsin's. I don't know, but it's probably something like that. But just think about this for a second, that in this state, there is going to be this temple where a hundred years ago, there wasn't even an opportunity to think about going to a temple, let alone how difficult it was to travel everywhere.
Gerrit And now there's going to be one that's right there. I think it's a good measure of the devotion that we have to our God, whether we take temple attendance and temple service seriously. Maybe we go to the temple because, you know, I like to just get away from the world, and I turn my cell phone off, and I really feel the spirit there, and that's all good. Look, I don't know why you're going to the temple. It's fine to go for whatever reason. Please go. But ultimately, the purpose of going to the temple is what President Woodruff outlined there, because there are men and women who have come before us who never had the opportunity to have what we have. Whether you are a lifelong member of the church, whether you're Jen at looking for another reason to come at Richard, or whether you are, you know, you're in your older ages, or whether you're someone who was just baptized last week, or whether you're, you know, a 13-year-old listening on some pirated premium content, all of us, all of us, regardless of where we're at, we have something that the vast, vast, vast majority, the 99.9999% of all the people who have ever lived on earth have never had.
Gerrit None of them got to have clear answers about who they really are, why they're here. None of them got to have clear answers about how salvation can extend to every single being that God ever placed on this earth. They had to live without the light of revelation that answered some of those most pressing questions. Joseph Smith at one point said, if you don't know God, then I would say you don't understand. If you don't understand the first principle, if you don't know God. And Latter-day Saints know God. We know that we're children of God, we know that God is our Father, we know that we have heavenly parents, something rejected by all other Christians.
Gerrit And why do we spend the billions of dollars building and maintaining temples all over the world? Because we really believe that there are millions, billions of departed spirits who are desperate to have their ordinance work done. It's very rare that you can do an act of service and know that you are actually making a real difference. When you go to the temple, when you serve there, there you are doing something that is selfless. Sure, you're going to get something out of it, but you are providing the opportunity for someone else to be able to have the same truths that I've taken for granted most of my life. Someone who would have been desperate to know about a pre-mortal life. Someone who would have been desperate to know that every single person can be saved.
Gerrit Someone who would have been desperate to know about exaltation. Someone who would have been desperate to know that every parent who has lost a child can raise them in the resurrection. We take for granted the truths that we have, and temple worship is a way of sharing that.
Richard I will say, Gerrit, there's something beautiful about just going through the temple that generally, after you have brought these saving ordinances to your deceased brother or sister, that then you enter into the celestial room. Obviously, you can go to the temple and go to the celestial room without going through an endowment, but typically, that's when that happens, and there's beautiful symbolism in that.
Gerrit I think so, and of course, Joseph is adamant about that, right? We cannot be made perfect without our dead. They need us to perform these ordinances. We need them so that we can become like our Savior by sacrificing for other people, people that we don't know. So it really is, what a great point. The symbolism of that is incredible. It kind of makes me want to just go run to the temple, but we're recording late at night, so I mean we could do a drive-by on it, but that's probably all we'd be able to do. But we really should be grateful. I challenge everybody listening to, if you haven't been to the temple in a while, even if you're just going to go for a little bit, go and feel that same spirit that's part of that Hosanna shout.
Intro Thank 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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I would like to think that the Standard of Truth is its own cryptocurrency on missions

GerritBanter

Isn't that the reason that anyone lives in Northwest Arkansas?

RichardBanter

I mean, that doesn't help anyone learn, you know? I mean, now occasionally someone's teaching false doctrine, and the next thing you know, you're holding seances, and there's a problem, okay?

GerritBanter

Which kind of demonstrates what kind of a practicing Jew you are.

GerritBanter

There was relatively nothing that occurred, so I skipped to the chase.

GerritBanter

If you starve yourself for three months, and then you go and get one of those fantastic pastrami Crown Burgers with onion rings and fries, I know it's delicious.

RichardBanter

And I think in part, it's because I am certain of the knowledge that Jesus is our Redeemer, and that he is going to descend in that chariot of fire, and that this is not just folklore or bedtime stories.

GerritInsight

Look, I don't know why you're going to the temple. It's fine to go for whatever reason. Please go.

GerritInsight

It's very rare that you can do an act of service and know that you are actually making a real difference.

GerritInsight

More from this episode

Claim checkThings people say, and what the episode shows.

Claim check

What critics say, and what the episode found
The Hosanna Shout has always been done exactly the same way, with white handkerchiefs, since Kirtland.
The Hosanna Shout is only for temple dedications.
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

"Hosanna" means "save us," the same cry the crowd gave as Jesus entered Jerusalem.

The Hosanna Shout began in the Kirtland Temple in 1836, after the quorums were anointed and at the temple's dedication, given three times.

In 1892 Lorenzo Snow taught that it is a sacred shout for extraordinary occasions, to come from hearts full of thanksgiving.

We build and attend temples because countless people who came before us need their ordinances; serving there is one of the rare times we know we're making a real difference.

Banter binThe funniest moments in this episode.

Banter bin

The running jokes, for people who skip ahead
Analope gangrenousThe antelope callback continues in the intro (0:38).
Premium as mission currencyZoom screen names "Dr. Dirkmaat" and "Almost Dr. LeDuc," and pirated episodes traded like Pokemon cards (1:45, 2:35).
Missionaries and sports picksEven bigger obedience problems, plus the Lions over (3:31, 10:21).
The Arkansas Chamber of CommerceRichard's surprise love for Eureka Springs, Carmen's taco truck and Christ of the Ozarks (3:42, 4:55, 29:47).
Good teams win, great teams coverFollowed immediately by President Hinckley's 2005 talk (6:37, 6:39).
The LeDuc holiday calendarPassover, Hanukkah, Purim, Rosh Hashanah, a thousand-dollar Amazon sukkah, and recording on Yom Kippur (13:53, 14:31).
Aspirational weight, achievedThree months of starving for the life insurance physical, then Crown Burger (28:26, 29:09).
Yada yada, lobster bitsGerrit skips past an angel and the sacrament as "relatively nothing" (24:01, 44:02).
Gerrit's mom and liverLiver and onions, and Richard's number one fear is gout (27:13, 28:20).
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.

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Deep dives the episode points toward
The Feast of Tabernacles, Psalm 118 and Hosanna in ancient Judaism (11:49).
The January 1836 anointings in the Kirtland Temple and the spiritual outpouring before the dedication (18:53).
The April 1892 conference, where Lorenzo Snow also taught "As man now is, God once was" (35:05).
Modern Hosanna Shouts: the Conference Center, the Nauvoo and Palmyra temples, and the 2020 bicentennial of the First Vision (39:15).
SOT Litner · S3E40.