10/28/2018 - Section 121:1-25

October 28, 2018

Section 121:1-25

Trials, Tribulations, Endure to the End, Liberty Jail, Peace from the Lord, Blessings of Trials Tribulations and Hardships,

Joseph Smith wrote this revelation, as well as Section 122 and 123 when he was in-prisoned in Liberty Jail for some months, in terrible conditions, and under terrible treatment. President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote of these as “one of the greatest letters that was ever penned by the hand of man. In fact it was the result of humble inspiration . It is a prayer and a prophecy and an answer by revelation from theLord. None other but a noble soul filled with the spirit of love of Christ could have written such a letter. Considering [their sufferings], it is no wonder that the Prophet cried out in the anguish of his soul for relief. Yet, in his earnest pleading, there breathed a spirit of tolerance and love for his fellow man.” (Church Hisotry and Modern Revelations, 2-176.)

So Joseph is living for months in mean and inhumane conditions. He is confined in this cold awful prison illegally, and the guards are mean and degrading. He and his friends are fed only small amounts of food which is often spoiled and at times poisoned. He has been in this situation for a month when he cries out asking how long these wrongs will go on. He then states his firm faith that God can change anything and Joseph even asks for the Lord’s anger against these people who are doing wrong. And all this time, Jospeh knows the saints are in danger and are being hurt and run out of Missouri. But the Lord’s  reply carries no anger, only love and explanations and peace and reminding Joseph how to find that peace: “v 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment. 8. And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high…9. They friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.” And then the Lord reminds him (v 10) that Job had things much harder as his wife and his friends no longer supported him.

The Lord then goes on in this section to explain to Joseph the problems that are in store for the wicked…often in this life, and most certainly in the next life—it’s like the Lord is establishing priorities—and very often our priorities are based only on earthly things. But this earth is an earthly experience that can lead us to heavenly lives. The important thing in our lives is to keep or thoughts and actions and desires such that the Holy Ghost can continue to continually be our help and out guide.

So when we are burdened by adversity and affliction—whether it was caused by someone else, or whether it was caused by our own actions, or whether is just happened: Marion G Romeny, from the Oct 1969 Gen Conf gave this advice: “All…who are being tried in the crucible of adversity and affliction: Take courage, revive your spirits, and strengthen your faith. In these lessons so impressively taught in precept and example by our great exemplar, Jesus Christ, and his Prophet of the restoration, Joseph Smith, we have ample inspiration for comfort and for hope. If we can bear our afflictions with the understanding, faith, and courage, and in the spirit in which they (Joseph and the other men in liberty jail) bore theirs, we shall be strengthened and comforted in many ways. We shall be spared the torment which accompanies the mistaken idea that all suffering comes as chastisement for transgression…We can draw assurance from the Lord’s promises that ‘He that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven. Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes for the present time, {he said} the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter and the glory which shall follow much tribulations. For after much tribulation come the blessings….”

10/18/2021 – D&C 121:1-26

On October 27, 1838 Governor Lilburn W Boggs authorized the extermination, or the expulsion, of all Latter-day Saints from all of Missouri. On October 30, 1838 Hawn’s Mill, just 12 miles east of Far West, was attacked by approximately 240 men. 17 men and boys were killed, 13 were wounded.  On October 31, 1838, Missouri state militia troops came to Far West and took Joseph and other Church leaders prisoner. They were eventually imprisoned in Liberty Jail in Clay County MO for four months of confinement in terrible conditions. It is now March 20, 1839 and they are still in confinement. Joseph has written several letters to the members of the Church, he also includes prayers which he has written asking the Lord to have compassion on him and all the “suffering Saints (v’s 4 & 6). AND he includes the Lord’s response to those prayers, and then some counsel to the Church members who had been driven from their homes there in Missouri. Portions of these letters are in also in sections 122 & 123.

Joseph is worried not only about himself and the other men in these terrible conditions at Liberty Jail, but also about the saints who had thought they were safe in those two counties the state had allotted them, but were now in harms way. He pleads with the Lord for His help AND for the Lord to “avenge us of our wrongs”. (v 5)

And then, starting in v’s 7-10, the Lord speaks to Joseph:” My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment.; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee. …Thou art not yet as Job.” That certainly emphasizes the importance of good friends.

Then the Lord speaks of those who have worked to hurt the saints in every way they could imagine. He tells Joseph of these people whose “hearts are corrupted”, who “love to have others suffer”, who “cry transgression” and who “swear falsely against my servants”. “Woe unto them because they have offended my little ones they shall be severed from the ordinances of mine house.” (v’s 13-19)

Elder Holland had an article in the Sept 2009 Ensign entitled “Lessons from Liberty Jail”:

“But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through it. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace”

We must remind ourselves that we think in earthly terms, but the Lord thinks in eternal terms. The Lord is speaking of His eternal time line, and telling Joseph that he will continue to feel the Lord’s comfort, and that he is to continue on in his work to establish the Lord’s church and to spread the Lord’s gospel. What a huge task! But what words the Lord leaves with Joseph: “Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment.”  “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost…” (v 26) If we work to be close to the Lord, He WILL fill our hearts with peace. We only need to seek Him, to follow Him, and to be patient—for the time will come when we return to our eternal home and we will once again think, and live, in eternal terms.