10/18/2018 - Section 117:1-7

October 18, 2018

Section 117:1-7

Obedience, Do it Do it Now, Follow the Prophet, Draw Near Unto Him, Endure to the End,

Interesting background here:             “This revelation in the D&C is the first of four revelations that were all given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on 8 July 1838 at Far West, Missouri. Smith and Sjodhal Commmentary says: ‘The Lord had commanded the Saints to gather and build up Far West speedily (115:17). A company of 515 souls, known as the Kirtland Camp left Kirtland on the 6^th of July 1838 for Zion. On the 14^th of Sept, it appears only 260 members were left, the other having been scatterred ‘to the four winds’ . The camp arrived in Adam-ondi-Ahman on the 4th of October. Netiher Marks, Whitney, nor Granger were members of this company. [Granger was already in Far West. He carried this revelation to Marks and Whitney in Kirtland and was instructed to return speedily to the land of Zion] Joseph Smith at Far West had no means of knowing, at that time, who had, or who had not, left for Zion; but the Lord knew. Hence this Revelation in which He…calls William Marks and Newel K Whitney to come to Zion and instructs the Saints concerning the property in Kirtland.’”

V’s 1-6 are directed to William Marks and Newel K Whitney. They were lingering in Kirtland because they were reluctant to sacrifice their temporal interests. In v 4 the Lord instructs them to let the property be “turned out for debts”. The Lord asks them to make the move “before I the Lord send again the nows upon the earth”(v 2), and then warns that if they tarry, it will not be well with them (v 3). He reminds them that made the earth and holds “the destinies of all the armies of the nations of the earth” (v 6). The Lord then promises them in v 7 that he will “make solitary places to bud and to blossom and to bring forth in abundance.” (v7) It is interesting as I look at this time line and the time line to follow. I see that they will move to Far West, and that they will move again to Nauvoo, and that there will be plenty of hard times ahead, and they will move yet again to Salt Lake City. The Lord knows our ends from our beginnings, and He knows the things that are most important to us in our spirtual lives and our eternal lives.

Elder John Taylor said: “In relation to events that will yet take place, and the kind of trials, troubles and sufferings which we shall have to cope with, it is in the hands of God, he dictates the affairs of the human family and directs and controls our affairs, and the great thing that we, as a people, have to do is seek after and cleave unto our God, to be in close affinity with him, and to seek for his guidance, and his blessing and Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the right path. Then it matters not what it is nor who it is that we have to contend with. God willl give us strength according to our day.” (Journal of Discourses, 18:28)

I find it interesting that 515 people headed the call immediately, but that within 2 months half of them did not continue with their original attempt. Where am I in following the Lord. Not long ago, I knew that I had under-calculated the tithing I needed to pay on a monthly sum from Met Life. Since that discovery, I have been slowly making up that missing difference in my tithing each month. But his month, I will make up the full amount. Will this make a difference to the Church? Not at all. Will this make a different to me? Absolutely. I spoke yesterday about ‘when my mother calls me,  quickly I obey’. Today’s reading simply reinforces yesterday’s and gives me a chance to show the depth of my commitment to following Heavenly Father and all of His commandments, and I am very grateful for that.

10/13/2021 – D&C 117

First, some background information: 

Joseph was in Far West, Missouri when he received this revelation directed to William Marks, Newel K Whitney, and Oliver Granger. When Joseph and Sidney Rigdon left Kirtland in January of 1838, and had arrived at Far West, William Marks was appointed to oversee the Church in Kirtland and to settle both Joseph’s and Sidney Rigdon’s business affairs there in Kirtland. Newell K Whitney was the bishop in Kirtland. Both of these men understood that they were to “quickly settle the church’s affairs and then move to Missouri according to the 12 January 1838 revelation directing faithful Saints to relocate there”. (Joseph Smith Papers) 

On July 6, 1838, a large group of Saints left Kirtland, Ohio for Missouri, but William Marks and Newel K Whitney stayed in Kirtland.

Oliver Granger was in the Kirtland high council and he served as a financial agent for the Church. He had made the trip to Far West and had arrived there by July 8—the day this revelation was received.

V’s 1-9 are directed specifically to William Marks and Newel Whitney, telling them to get up and get going, and if they “tarry it shall not be well with them”. (v2) That is followed up by the Lord’s command to them to “repent of all their sins, and of all their covetous desires” (v 4) And to “let the properties of Kirtland be turned out for debts…Let them go, saith the Lord, and whatsoever remaineth, let it remain in your hands…” (v 5) The Lord is not happy that those men “should covet that which is but the drop [the things they are leaving in Kirtland], and neglect the more weighty matters. Therefore, come up hither unto the land of my people…” (v’s 8 & 9) These men had not completed their jobs quickly, as they had been asked to do. Basically, they were following only a part of what the Lord had commanded of them.  They were not to “neglect the more weighty matters” (which were ministering to the Saints in Missouri and building up the Lord’s kingdom—by focusing on insignificant matters). 

As I read this, and thought of  ‘insignificant matters’, I reminded myself that I should not bother to waste time on slights that I might feel—whether real or imagined, but to push on with what I have been given to do, and do that with both great care and love.

The Lord then tells William Marks, who has just arrived in Far West, to “be faithful over a few things, and he shall be a ruler over many.” The Lord helps us grow bit by bit.  It seems William Marks must have gone ‘beyond the mark’, and not for the Lord’s purposes.

The Lord specifically tells Newel K Whitney that he should “be ashamed of the Nicolaitane band and of all their secret abominations, and of all his littleness of soul before me…” (v 11)

The Nicolaitans area is spoken of in Revelation 2:6, 15. They were a sect in Asia Minor that claimed license for sensual sin. They were permissive Christians who claimed that the grace of God freed them from having to obey the commandments. Bruce R McConkie explained that they were “members of the Church who were trying to maintain their church standing while continuing to live after the manner of the world…”

Then in v’s 10-16 all three of these men are told to “forsake littleness of soul” with the promise that if they do that “their sacrifices shall be sacred unto the Lord.” He tells them to handle their jobs “not in name but in deed”.

Oliver Granger had completed his work in Kirtland within 2 months of Joseph’s and Sidney’s departure. He was already in Far West. The Lord speaks to him in v 12 saying “behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.” And then the Lord gave Oliver another difficult job.

In the Oct 2004 General Conference, Boyd K Packer spoke of Oliver and the promises Oliver received from the Lord: “Oliver Granger was a very ordinary man. He was mostly blind having ‘lost his sight by cold and exposure’ (History of the Church, 4:408). The First Presidency described him as ‘a man of the most strict integrity and moral virtue; and in fine, to be a man of God’ (History of the Church, 3:350). When the Saints were driven from Kirtland, Ohio, in a scene that would be repeated in Independence, Far West, and in Nauvoo, Oliver was left behind to sell their properties for what little he could. There was not much chance that he could succeed. And, really, he did not succeed! …The Lord did not expect Oliver to be perfect, perhaps not even to succeed. ‘When he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord’ (D&C 117:13) We cannot always expect to succeed, but we should try the best we can. …Today we fulfill the prophecy ‘that [Oliver Granger’s] name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever’ (D&C 117:12). He was not a great man in terms of the world. Nevertheless, the Lord said, ‘Let no man despise my servant Oliver Granger, but let the blessings … be on him forever and ever’ (D&C 117:15). To me that means: let no one underestimate the power of faith in the ordinary Latter-day Saints.”