The Church was definitively headquartered in the newly chartered city of Nauvoo in 1841, when this revelation was received. It was a time for establishing, building, and organizing, and that’s the topic of Doctrine and Covenants 124. The Lord specifically instructed Church members to do the following:
- Write a proclamation to leaders of nations and states (v. 1-14).
- Build two sacred structures: a boarding house called the Nauvoo House (v. 22-24, 55-61) and a temple (v. 25-55).
The revelation also provides specific instructions for numerous named individuals, and it reaffirms leadership roles, including assigning Hyrum Smith to replace his father as patriarch. (See v. 91-96, 124.) In all, the revelation names 60 individuals, far more than any other revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Joseph Smith never completed or published the proclamation (although he did produce a draft). The Nauvoo House was never completed. The Nauvoo Temple was dedicated in 1846, just in time for church members to begin their long migration west. What’s the lesson for us? God’s instructions may not always be fulfilled in the way we expect. The building process may be more important than the completed product, and people are always more important than accomplishments.
Embedded in the revelation is a reassurance in this regard:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:49
That passage was about the planned city of Zion and temple in Indepdence, Missouri, which was no longer within church members’ power to build. But it might have applied to any of the new instructions in this revelation, as well as any instructions we receive from the Lord today. Work diligently, and don’t lose faith if you’re unable to accomplish the task. Your efforts are not wasted. Progress may be non-linear, but it will come with God’s help.
Here are some of my favorite passages from these revelations with relevant blog posts and Book of Mormon connections.
Scripture Highlights and Related Blog Posts
1. The Lord loves integrity.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:15
And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.
Blog Posts
📄 Integrity
To live with integrity, we should look for small flaws in our lives and repair them quickly.
Book of Mormon connection: Mosiah 2:27; Mosiah 3:21-22; Alma 5:27; Alma 7:3, 22; Moroni 10:33
2. We need to be willing to receive guidance and direction from other people.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:16, 61
Again, let my servant John C. Bennett help you in your labor in sending my word to the kings and people of the earth, and stand by you, even you my servant Joseph Smith, in the hour of affliction; and his reward shall not fail if he receive counsel.
That he may receive also the counsel from those whom I have set to be as plants of renown, and as watchmen upon her walls.
Blog Posts
📄 Receive Counsel
Remember that your perspective is limited and that you can benefit from the wisdom and guidance of other people.
Book of Mormon connection: Jacob 4:10; Alma 39:10
3. Holy places are designated for specific worship activities.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:29-30
For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead–
For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me.
Blog Posts
📄 “There Shall Be a Place”
Some kinds of worship are limited to sacred places.
Book of Mormon connection: 1 Nephi 11:1; 1 Nephi 17:7; 1 Nephi 18:3; 2 Nephi 5:16; Mosiah 18:24-25; Alma 34:38
4. Temple ordinances enable us to make offerings to God in righteousness.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:39
Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.
Blog Posts
📄 What Offering Will the Sons of Levi Make in Righteousness?
God allows His children to participate in His work of salvation on behalf of the living and of the dead.
Book of Mormon connection: 3 Nephi 24:1-3
5. We should advocate on behalf of those less fortunate.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:75
And let him lift up his voice long and loud, in the midst of the people, to plead the cause of the poor and the needy; and let him not fail, neither let his heart faint; and I will accept of his offerings, for they shall not be unto me as the offerings of Cain, for he shall be mine, saith the Lord.
Blog Posts
📄 “Plead the Cause of the Poor and Needy”
If we have the means to help the poor, we are obligated to do so.
Book of Mormon connection: 2 Nephi 20:1-2; Mormon 8:37
6. Share the gospel wholeheartedly, holding nothing back.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:101
Therefore, let my servant William cry aloud and spare not, with joy and rejoicing, and with hosannas to him that sitteth upon the throne forever and ever, saith the Lord your God.
Blog Posts
📄 Spare Not
Don’t be timid in fulfilling your God-given responsibilities.
Book of Mormon connection: 3 Nephi 22:2
7. We earn God’s trust by fulfilling our current responsibilities.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:113
And when he shall prove himself faithful in all things that shall be entrusted unto his care, yea, even a few things, he shall be made ruler over many;
Blog Posts
📄 Entrusted
Sometimes the Lord gives us a limited responsibility so that we can demonstrate that we can be trusted with a greater one.
Book of Mormon connection: Alma 37:14-16
8. Priesthood power is not limited to this life.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:130
David Patten I have taken unto myself; behold, his priesthood no man taketh from him; but, verily I say unto you, another may be appointed unto the same calling.
Blog Posts
📄 A Priest Forever
The priesthood is God’s eternal power which He shares with His children.
Book of Mormon connection: Alma 13:9
9. Priesthood ordinances prepare us to receive gifts from God.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:134
Which ordinance is instituted for the purpose of qualifying those who shall be appointed standing presidents or servants over different stakes scattered abroad;
Blog Posts
📄 Earning vs. Qualifying
God has promised us blessings which we can’t earn, and He teaches us what actions we need to take in order to prepare ourselves to receive those blessings.
Book of Mormon connection: 2 Nephi 2:5, 8; 2 Nephi 32:6; Mosiah 2:20-24
Questions to Ponder
Here are some questions and topics I intend to study this week:
- How could a boarding house be a holy place? What is the meaning of the phrases “healthful habitation” (v. 24) and a “delightful habitation” (v. 60)?
- Why would the Lord dedicate so much time to specifying fundraising guidelines for the Nauvoo House? (v. 62-82, 111, 117, 119-122)
- What can we learn from the specific counsel given to individuals in this revelation?
- What is the purpose of a proclamation? (v. 1-14)
- Where in my life has the Lord accepted my offering even if the outcome is not what I had hoped for? (v. 49)
- How can I develop more integrity? (v. 15, 20)
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