This week I am undertaking the monumental task of likening these three sections of the Doctrine and Covenants unto ourselves. Sections 3-5 are filled with some powerful doctrines (specific teachings or truths we receive from the Lord). I recognize that all of the verses of these sections are speaking directly to the calling and office of Joseph Smith, Jr., the prophet of the restoration, for God is speaking directly to and about what is going on with Joseph (and in parts with Martin Harris) in this period of his life. But I also recognize that much of what is said to him is also being said to each of us. My task this week is to walk that line between his calling and ours, without mixing them up. Wish me luck.
Doctrine and Covenants 3
Joseph Smith had lost the 116 pages he had already translated. More correctly, he had allowed them to become lost by giving them to Martin Harris after the Lord told him not to twice. The third time Joseph asked the Lord he was told yes, but with strict rules. Martin didn’t follow the rules. The manuscript was lost. This is the first real conversation Joseph and the Lord had about what had happened. The Lord needed to teach Joseph about how revelation works, how priesthood responsibility works, and how personal responsibility in spiritual things works. This was very humbling for Joseph, for he feared he might lose his gift of translating, and might possibly be punished by God for what had happened.
This section demonstrates how direct and also how merciful the Lord is with us when we mess up. He doesn’t beat around the bush for fear of upsetting us, for He knows full well that someone needs to tell us the absolute unvarnished truth about what we have done and how it will effect us. We also need to understand that there is always hope for the repentant soul. God wants us to repent so He can bless us. He knows we will make mistakes. It is because of the Savior’s work in our behalf that God is able to forgive our sins and give us the blessings He wants for us. This pleases Him to no end.
As I read these verses I am thinking to myself, “Why is God saying this? What good is supposed to come from it? How does He hope Joseph Smith, and the rest of us will respond to this knowledge?” I have to remind myself that these words aren’t opinion, but fact. This is information straight from the creator of all things that will help me model better behavior and attitudes that will bless my life and the lives of those around me. I say “me” instead of Joseph Smith, because in my mind I am reading these sections with the thought that I need to liken them to me and my own situation in life. We already know how they played out in Joseph Smith’s life.
1 The , and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be , neither can they come to naught.
God thinks and acts in absolutes. His promises are absolute promises. Anything he promises comes to pass. Anything he states is absolutely correct, not partially or conditionally correct. Absolutely. God has but to open His mouth and say something and the universe obeys the command that follows. He is very careful about his words, for they carry great power.
2 For God doth not in crooked paths, neither doth he to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his is one eternal round.
Verse 2 talks about how completely we can trust anything that comes from the mouth of God. He never changes His mind, waffles about what He said, or goes back on what was promised. Anything He says will come to pass unless we repent. We find that each time a people are told that they will be destroyed because of their behavior, they are, unless they repent. God always points to our behavior and says, ‘This is the path you are on, and this is where it ends. If you don’t like the end result then you need to change what you are doing to change the end result.’ Have you noticed that this is how He addresses us in the scriptures? He always looks at current behavior and says where that current behavior leads.
3 Remember, remember that it is not the of God that is frustrated, but the work of men;
We have such a difficult time with this. Remember that Joseph respected Martin Harris. Martin was his friend when almost no one else treated him with any respect. I think Joseph felt in many ways indebted to Martin for all his help. Yes, the Lord had told Joseph not to give the manuscript to Martin, but Joseph was having difficulty not having anything to show to Martin for all the faith Martin had already shown Joseph. The Lord is telling Joseph that no matter what we want, or how much we want it, God’s work is not influenced by our personal desires, but by His greater wisdom. When God does what we ask for it is because the Spirit helped us ask for what is right in the sight of God, not because God likes us more than someone else and wants to curry our favor. He has no favorites. He is able to bless those who are obedient, and no one else. God lives by His own rules. And God wanted Martin to demonstrate more faith than he had already demonstrated, which is something Joseph didn’t understand or see. This kind of thing happens to us as well.
4 For although a man may have many , and have to do many mighty works, yet if he in his own , and sets at naught the of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and desires, he must fall and incur the of a God upon him.
Verse 4 is a wonderful piece of doctrine. This is an absolute truth of eternity. We don’t have the wisdom God has. It doesn’t matter how much we have been blessed, how much we have accomplished, or how much spiritual power we have garnered. When we set aside the commandments of God we will pay the penalty for that sin, for sin it is. God’s wisdom is always the final standard by which all things are measured, not ours.
5 Behold, you have been with these things, but how strict were your commandments; and remember also the promises which were made to you, if you did not transgress them.
6 And behold, how you have the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in the of men.
Let’s break these verses down. Verse 5 says that Joseph had been given or entrusted with certain things, and along with that responsibility came very strict commandments. Think back on the demands God made to Joseph about keeping the plates safe. He not only demanded Joseph do everything physically in his power to keep them safe from prying eyes, but He also included the punishments Joseph would face if he failed in his calling, and the blessings Joseph would receive if he lived up to his assigned responsibilities. The Lord always shows us both sides of the coin when He gives us a commandment. We are shown the punishments for not obeying and the blessings for strict obedience. This pattern is all throughout the scriptures.
In verse 6 the Lord proceeds to chastise Joseph for giving preference to the desires, the persuasions of men. This is very displeasing to God, for this means that Joseph’s loyalty is still to those who demonstrate various forms of power in mortality rather than to Him whose power is absolute and universal.
7 For, behold, you should not have man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and his words—
8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and you against all the fiery of the ; and he would have been with you in every time of .
9 Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt .
We face punishment from God when we “despise” His words. To despise those words means to count them as being unimportant when compared to another mortal’s words or desires. Whenever we demonstrate preference to another mortal over God’s words, God accuses us of despising His words. This is why we “set at naught the counsels of God.” We aren’t trusting in God more than we trust in those around us. He needs us to always put Him first in our lives, for He is the only one who can show us how to return home to His presence. It doesn’t matter how much pressure we feel to do otherwise, or how many people may plead or demand we do otherwise. Our loyalty to God must always have the final say in all things.
Notice that in verse 9 God is telling Joseph what the end result will be if Joseph continues on down this path of listening to someone other than God for his own course in life. This is another example of God speaking in absolute terms. If Joseph doesn’t change his own course and correct his behavior then he will fall.
10 But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art called to the work;
11 Except thou this, thou shalt be delivered up and become as other men, and have no more gift.
God wants to forgive us when we do wrong. He doesn’t hold a grudge against us for the slights we give Him. It is His pleasure to see us improve and become better people by obeying His commandments. In our obedience God finds great joy. In verse 11 God reminds us that unless we repent then we are no better than the common man who ignores God’s commandments, and we will lose the gifts God has given us.
12 And when thou deliveredst up that which God had given thee sight and power to , thou deliveredst up that which was into the hands of a wicked ,
13 Who has set at naught the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgment and in his own wisdom.
14 And this is the reason that thou hast lost thy privileges for a season—
15 For thou hast suffered the counsel of thy to be trampled upon from the beginning.
General comments about these verses – What God gives us is sacred. When we don’t live by the standards God gives us, or when we don’t keep His commandments, in His eyes we are wicked. That is how wickedness is defined. Both Joseph and Martin felt they had done what they thought prudent and right, yet in both cases they disobeyed God’s direct commandments in doing so. Reread these verses and see how they apply in our own life. We do that as well. We make excuses for bending God’s word to suit our wants, or we ignore parts of God’s commandments because it is uncomfortable for us to be so strict about our obedience. We fear the opinion of others more than we fear the opinion of God. God is supposed to be our director, not those around us.
16 Nevertheless, my shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the of the Jews, even so shall the of a come unto my people—
17 And to the , and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—
18 And this shall come to the knowledge of the , and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who in unbelief because of the of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their the Nephites, because of their and their abominations.
19 And for this very are these , which contain these records—that the of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his ;
20 And that the might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the of the Lord, and that they may the gospel and upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved. Amen.
God states in these last verses that His word is absolute. His will is absolute. It doesn’t really matter what Joseph or Martin, or for that matter what you or I do or don’t do. God’s will will be fulfilled, because nothing can prevent His promises from being fulfilled in the day, the time, and the way in which He has promised it will be done. It is our responsibility to make sure we are obedient enough to be included in the fulfillment of His promises. The last thing we should want is to be a hinderance that God has to work around, because we can’t get our act together. That only hurts us, not Him.
Doctrine and Covenants 4
I include all of section 4 only because it makes it easier for you to look at what I am talking about and reread whatever portion suites your fancy.
I have been guilty of dismissing section 4 as applying to missionaries and not to me. It is almost as if it no longer applies to me, because I am no longer a missionary. For this lesson I invite you to try to see beyond this section as being just a missionary section and look at it through a new lens. This section defines the nature of this last dispensation of time. Unlike all other dispensations, God is inviting all of His children to join Him in the work of salvation for His whole family. No longer is the gospel something that is just for the prophet and his family or for just the descendants of Israel (Jacob, son of Isaac). As mentioned in the last part of the book of Jacob in his allegory of the olive tree, the Master of the vineyard, God, has called a few trusted people to come and help Him prepare His vineyard for the final time before everything is gathered in and the rubbish burned. Those trusted few servants are us of the latter day.
It used to be that God had to specifically call you to do His work in order to be authorized to do the work of salvation. In this dispensation we are all invited to share in the blessings of doing the saving work God has revealed for the salvation of everyone from the days of Adam to the end of days. This is the whole purpose of giving us the priesthood covenants we enjoy.
We are fulfilling scripture by starting our daily efforts with those around us and working our way backwards through time through our work in the holy Temples. Never in the whole history of humanity has all of God’s children been invited to share in His ultimate work of leading God’s children back into His presence. We are a people blessed with God’s own priesthood authority to perform His work for the spiritual welfare of all the generations of mankind. All it takes on our part is to have a desire to be a part of this great work. If we have even so much as a desire to help, He calls us to the work.
From the days of Adam until now, God has been planting, pruning, cultivating, and preparing His vineyard for His final harvest. This is the beginning of that harvest, this is why He says “the field is white already to harvest.”
1 Now behold, a is about to come forth among the children of men.
2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the of God, see that ye him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand before God at the last day.
3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are to the work;
4 For behold the is white already to ; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;
5 And , , and , with an single to the of God, him for the work.
Unlike every other generation since Adam and Eve, our salvation is based on our willingness to participate in the work of salvation for all of God’s children. When we exercise “faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God” that is what makes us qualified to do this work for others.
6 Remember faith, , knowledge, , , , , charity, , .
7 , and ye shall receive; , and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.
The last two verses tell us which of the Godly virtues we need to cultivate in order to accomplish this work of salvation for the souls of all mankind. God finishes this short section with the promise that all of us who ask shall receive. All of us who knock will have it opened unto us.
I started this part of the lessons by saying that this isn’t just a missionary section, but I misspoke. All efforts to help another save his or her soul is missionary work. That is the whole focus of this dispensation. We are missionaries from start to finish, because God is doing missionary work to save our own soul. We are being told to do what Jesus does, and that is missionary work. There is no other kind of work that saves a soul.
Doctrine and Covenants 5
In some ways Martin Harris was like doubting Thomas who wouldn’t believe in Christ’s resurrection until he saw him for himself. In 1828 Martin Harris allowed the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript to be lost. Great misery was endured both on the part of Martin and Joseph over this. Section 3 of the Doctrine and Covenants was the first revelation given to Joseph after this event. Now it is 1829, March, and Martin is back at Joseph asking to see the plates he had been denied a view of several times before. He just couldn’t give up his lingering doubts until he saw them with his own eyes.
Section 5 is supposed to be all about Martin. He specifically requested that Joseph go and enquire of the Lord one more time. Notice as you read through the section that the Lord only addresses Martin directly at the end of the section. Earlier on in the verses he refers to Martin Harris, but God is focused on Joseph in the first two thirds of these verses. This revelation is a conversation God is having with His prophet. When He finishes telling Joseph what he needs to know then, and only then does God address Martin’s concern.
Following are selected verses from section 5, accompanied by a discussion of their relevance to our lessons this week. We are looking at both the calling and work of Joseph Smith as the Lord’s prophet, as well as how these verses might apply to us in our daily life.
4 And you have a gift to the plates; and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; for I will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished.
5 Verily, I say unto you, that shall come unto the inhabitants of the earth if they will not unto my words;
6 For hereafter you shall be and go forth and deliver my unto the children of men. [emphasis added]
The underlined parts above stood out to me. Up to this point Joseph had been given but one gift from God, and that was to be able to translate. The Lord makes it very clear that no other gift will be given until Joseph has successfully completed his present assignment to translate the Book of Mormon. When that is successfully done he will be given other gifts he will need to complete his new assignments. Gifts often come with offices in the priesthood. Bishops are given gifts when they are ordained, because their calling requires those gifts. Joseph at this point had not been ordained as a prophet, so he was lacking gifts he would need to fulfill that calling. But that was in the future, and he wasn’t ready for those responsibilities just yet.
The importance of these three verses in my mind is that the Lord has no problem with us seeking for spiritual gifts. He seems to encourage it. But He also wants us to use what we have already been given well during the time we have with our current callings. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves I guess is the message.
7 Behold, if they will not my words, they would not believe you, my servant Joseph, if it were possible that you should show them all these things which I have committed unto you.
Proof! We all want proof! The Lord is telling Joseph in verse 7 that proof is irrelevant, for were Joseph able to show all things to someone that wouldn’t guaranty that they would believe. Belief is a choice and cannot be forced upon us. No amount of proof can make us believe something if we don’t want to do it. This is a wonderful piece of doctrine we need to remember always. This is the basis for why God does all that He does. We are required to exercise belief and faith in all things precisely because proof doesn’t work. We must choose to be obedient, to believe, to act, and to remain faithful. All things are based on how much faith we demonstrate in God’s promises. The whole of the plan of salvation is centered around this use of belief and faith over tangible evidence.
This means we won’t ever find proof of the truthfulness of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or any of the things of God that happened in the past. We either choose to believe or we don’t. It is that simple. Even if we see some evidence of the truthfulness of something, that doesn’t change anything, for all in the plan for our redemption is based on faith, not evidence.
11 And in addition to your testimony, the of three of my servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through you.
12 Yea, they shall know of a that these things are true, for from heaven will I declare it unto them.
This generation is granted four voices as witnesses of the Book of Mormon, according to this revelation. Joseph being the first witness, followed by three others whom the Lord will show from heaven that what Joseph said is true about the plates. This generation will have to accept that bundle of witnesses or reject it. The Law of Witnesses was given in the beginning to Adam’s generation and has been acknowledged and used through all generations of time. In the mouth of two or more witnesses will the truth of all things be established. We are required to live by it, and the Lord has always chosen to live by that law. That law is built into the plan of salvation as an integral part of our future judgment.
Read just the underlined parts of the following verses. It will save you a few moments.
15 And the testimony of three will I send forth of my word.
16 And behold, whosoever on my words, them will I with the of my ; and they shall be of me, even of water and of the Spirit—
17 And you must wait yet a little while, for ye are not yet —
18 And their testimony shall also go forth unto the of this generation if they their hearts against them;
The takeaway from these verses is that God has declared that the testimony of His three witnesses will be used to judge this generation. Those who accept their witness and believe will be born of Him (baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost) while those who reject their witness will be condemned, because of the hardness of their hearts. Having these three witnesses was not just some fluff part of the restoration of the gospel, but an essential part of it.
19 For a desolating shall go forth among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they , until the earth is , and the inhabitants thereof are away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my .
This verse caught my attention because of its reference to “a desolating scourge.” After having lived through the COVID mess, and seeing the destructions being unleashed upon the earth through famine, fire, and other natural disasters, I can see more clearly what the Lord is referring to. The desolating scourge isn’t just a one time event, but an ongoing process that will whittle down the population of the earth until Christ returns and burns the wicked with fire. Look up the scriptures on the events of the last days. We will lose one third of the life in the seas, on land, and among mankind. That is a lot of death. I find it interesting that God says this scourge will “continue to be poured out from time to time, if they repent not.” Do you see any signs of the world repenting? Didn’t think so.
The rest of this section is interesting in a couple of respects. First Joseph is promised eternal life if he remains faithful. The second is that God doesn’t speak to Martin Harris directly, but in the third person, referring to “the man that desires the witness.” Again, in my mind this revelation is more about God speaking with His prophet than it is about the Lord speaking to Martin Harris. Yes, Martin gets his answer, but only after the Lord is finished with His business with His prophet.
Finally, we need to remember that our timetable is not always (perhaps rarely) the Lord’s timetable. We may think we cannot hold out another week without the answer we desire. To us life will fall apart if we don’t get that answer by a certain date. To God, who sees the end from the beginning, our sense of urgency sometimes appears to be more petty than necessary. We need to learn patience in waiting for God to intervene when He sees the need for it. He promised Joseph that if he had just exercised a little more faith in Him he would have seen that God would have stood by him in all his trials and would have upheld him. Here is verse 8 from section 3.
8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and you against all the fiery of the ; and he would have been with you in every time of .
We may see life as always having an expiration date attached to everything, so we feel a sense of urgency about much of it. But God knows just how long everything will last and knows when the right time is to step in and intervene. It is we who must learn to continue on in faith until we see His hand revealed in our behalf. For those of us with very limited vision, that can be a difficult ask.
Using wisdom in our studies
Joseph was not raised with an understanding of how the gospel of Christ works. He knew nothing of the plan of salvation. All of these things were new revelations to him. He stumbled and fell on his face many times, but that is understandable and expected, considering that all of this was previously unknown to the world. It is a good thing he was a fast learner, and once learned that lesson rarely needed to be repeated.
We can learn a lot from Joseph’s life. His actions were based on his desire to be obedient. Sometimes the Lord had to school him as to how obedience worked, and occasionally the Lord needed to give Joseph encouragement and remind him about God’s mercy and God’s desire to bless and uplift His servants in their efforts to obey. We all need to take these lessons to heart and remember that they didn’t just apply to the prophet Joseph Smith, but to us as well.
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Thank you very much for your insights into the lessons puts a different perspective on what I presumed before.
Keep up the good work