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Revelation, 19 January 1841 [D&C 124]

Source Note

Revelation, [, Hancock Co., IL], 19 Jan. 1841. Featured version copied [between 19 Jan. and 7 Apr. 1841] in Book of the Law of the Lord, pp. 3–15; handwriting of ; CHL.
Book of the Law of the Lord, Record Book, 1841–1845; handwriting of , , , and ; 477 pages; CHL. Includes shorthand, redactions, and use marks.
“The Book of the Law of the Lord” is a large, leather-bound blank book made with thick paper. The paper bears a star-shaped watermark in the middle of each leaf and was printed with forty-seven blue lines on each side. The text block was originally formed with thirty gatherings of eight leaves each. The second gathering, however, has only six leaves. This six-leaf gathering was the result of either a binding error or one sheet coming loose from the binding before the book was inscribed (the book’s inscription and pagination run through this gathering without any missing text or skipped page numbers). The gatherings were sewn all along. Each set of endpapers consisted of a gathering of four leaves of unlined paper, but only two leaves are now extant in the back gathering. The trimmed pages measure 16¼ × 10½ inches (41 × 27 cm). Headbands were sewn onto the text block. The exterior pages of the endpapers are joined to the pasteboards with strips of pink cloth. Marbled papers featuring a shell pattern with green body and veins of red and yellow are glued to the inside covers of the boards and to the exterior page of each gathering of endpapers. The leaf edges are stained green. The text block is bound in ledger style to the boards. The spine was constructed with four false raised bands demarcating five panels. The boards and spine are covered in suede with additional leather strips that cover the top and bottom of the book, including the first and fifth panels of the spine. The suede was blind tooled on the outside covers, the raised bands of the spine, and the turned-in edges on the inside cover. The additional leather strips are embossed with dual lines and vegetal designs along the borders and have gold line filling. The spine is further embossed with the number “6” in twenty-point type on the fifth panel. The second and fourth panels have black-painted squares of paper glued to them. These feature gold lining and decoration at the top and bottom. The completed volume measures 17 × 11 × 2¼ inches (43 × 28 × 6 cm) and includes 244 free leaves. A penciled inscription at the inside top corner of page [ii]—the verso of the front marbled flyleaf—gives what appears to be an expensive price for this high-quality blank book: “bth | 10.00”.
inscribed nine revelations in the book on the first twenty-three pages of lined paper. made minor revisions to these revelation texts. Apparently either Richards or Thompson inscribed page numbers on pages 3–18, beginning at the first page of lined paper, in a stylized script. Richards inscribed page numbers on pages 19–25 as well as on the next several dozen pages. At some point, page [1], the recto of the last leaf of unlined endpaper in the front of the book, was inscribed with a title: “THE | BOOK | of the | LAW | of the | LORD”. Because these words are hand lettered in various ornate styles, the handwriting cannot be identified. A matching title appears on the spine of the volume: the square of black paper on the second panel of the spine bears a smaller rectangular label of white paper with a hand-lettered inscription: “LAW | — of the — | LORD.” Revelations were inscribed only on the first twenty-five pages of the volume, except in a couple of instances where they were copied into journal entries that were later inscribed in the volume. The bulk of the volume comprises records of donations in cash and in kind for the construction of the . Journal entries for JS are inscribed on intermittent pages from 26 to 215. Willard Richards inscribed pages 26–126 of the book, with help from on pages 27–28 and 72–87. Clayton inscribed the rest of the volume, pages 127–477, with help from on pages 168–171 and from on pages 189–190 and 192–201. These clerks and scribes generally paginated the book and inscribed dateline page headers along the way as they inscribed its texts.
The “Law of the Lord” is listed as such in inventories of church records made in Salt Lake City in the 1850s. These show that the volume reposed for a time in the office of church president . At some point, the book was marked on the spine with an archival sticker, which was later removed. The book eventually was housed with the papers of Joseph Fielding Smith, apparently during his tenure as church historian and recorder (1921–1970), and then became part of the First Presidency’s papers when he became church president in 1970. In 2010 the First Presidency gave custody of the book to the Church History Library.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. G. S. L. City April 1. 1857,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory G. S. L. City March 19. 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [11], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  2. [2]

    “Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970, First Presidency, General Administration Files, CHL.

    “Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970. First Presidency, General Administration Files, 1921–1972. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Letter of Transfer, Salt Lake City, UT, 8 Jan. 2010, CHL.

    Letter of Transfer, Salt Lake City, UT, 8 Jan. 2010. CHL.

Historical Introduction

On 19 January 1841, JS dictated a revelation in , Illinois, designating the city as the new place for the . The revelation initially addressed JS personally before instructing other individuals and the Saints generally. Over the coming years, the lengthy revelation would function as a sort of sacred charter for the Saints in Nauvoo in much the same way as the recently passed act to incorporate the city served as a secular charter.
Since their expulsion from northern in winter 1838–1839, the Saints had devoted much of their time to resettling in the area of , Illinois, where they cleared the heavily forested peninsula, drained the swampy flats along the , planted crops, and built homes for the rapid influx of church members. Consequently, winter 1840–1841 provided church leaders the first real opportunity after the disruptive expulsion from Missouri to formally organize the new community and to restructure the church. The timing and content of the January revelation came after a series of efforts over the preceding months to seek incorporation of both the city and church from the legislature.
While the city charter signaled the church’s lasting presence in , this revelation assured church members that relocating to did not entail abandoning their efforts to establish in . The revelation stated that Nauvoo was to be “a corner stone of Zion” (or a “” of Zion) but not Zion itself. The city was not intended to be merely a temporary refuge either, as indicated by the revelation’s commandment to build a there. The revelation directed that a proclamation be written to the “kings of the world” inviting them to come to Nauvoo “with your gold and your silver, to the help of my people.” The proclamation’s prescribed contents (references to the “glory” of Zion and the invitation to leaders of the earth to come bearing gold, silver, and other precious materials), along with other elements of the revelation regarding the welcoming of visitors to the city, directly echoes the prophetic language in Isaiah chapters 60 and 62.
In order to have somewhere to host the anticipated distinguished visitors, the “weary traveler,” or anyone coming to to “contemplate the word of the Lord,” the revelation directed that a boardinghouse be built. The revelation devoted more space to the subject of building this “” than to any other topic. Because JS and were to donate the land on which the hotel would be built, the Smith family was to live there and serve as the hosts, a role in which JS and Emma had been serving since their arrival in the area. The revelation gave specific instructions to a number of individuals in Nauvoo, frequently recommending that they donate to the construction of the Nauvoo House by buying shares of stock. It concluded by officially reorganizing the church’s government, naming appointments to various ecclesiastical offices and quorums.
In some cases, rather than giving new instruction, the revelation provided formal approval and authority to earlier decisions and actions. The commandment to build a in , for instance, gave divine mandate to an instruction that JS had been voicing publicly for over half a year. The revelation underscored the importance of building a temple in Nauvoo by declaring that certain —like for the dead—were appropriately performed only in the temple. The revelation described Nauvoo as the cornerstone of Zion; an October 1839 of the church had already designated the city as a new gathering place for the Saints. Similarly, most of the church leadership assignments identified in the revelation reflected prior appointments.
One of the few revelations from the period to be later canonized by the church, the 19 January revelation served as divine direction for the Saints for the duration of their time in . Mayor read it at the general conference of the church in Nauvoo on 7 April 1841. The text was published in the 1 June issue of the church’s Nauvoo newspaper, Times and Seasons, as well as in the September 1841 issue of the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, printed in , England. The Saints in Illinois referred to the revelation frequently in print and in public settings.
The version featured here is the earliest extant copy of the revelation, inscribed by in the Book of the Law of the Lord sometime between 19 January and 7 April 1841, when read the revelation publicly from this source. The absence of editorial revisions and the presence of some inadvertently duplicated passages indicate that Thompson was copying the version in the Book of the Law of the Lord from an earlier draft that is no longer extant.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

  2. [2]

    Scribe Willard Richards recorded in JS’s history that when the Saints arrived in Hancock County, Illinois, in early June 1839, “there were 1 stone house 3 frame hou[s]es & two block hou[s]es which constitu[t]ed the whole city of commerce. Between Commerc[e] And Mr Davi[d]son Hibbards there was 1 stone & 3 Log houses, including the one I live in, & these were all of the houses in this vicinity, & the place was literally a wilderness.” JS later estimated that Nauvoo had three thousand citizens by early August 1840. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 11 June 1839, 58–59; Letter to John C. Bennett, 8 Aug. 1840.)

  3. [3]

    Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Bill to Incorporate the Church, 14 Dec. 1840.

  4. [4]

    The revelation’s injunction to rulers of the world to come and “give heed to the light and glory of Zion, for the set time has come, to favor her” closely mirrored Isaiah’s prophetic statements: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. . . . And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” The revelation specifically directed rulers to bring “the box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree,” paralleling Isaiah’s statement that “the glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together.” A circa 1841 draft of the proclamation by Robert B. Thompson contains the parenthetical note “(Isaiah—LX, LXI, LXII.),” indicating that the Nauvoo Saints recognized the connection between Isaiah’s prophecy and the 19 January revelation. (Isaiah 60:1, 3, 13; “A Religious Proclamation,” JS Collection, CHL.)

  5. [5]

    JS spoke of the need to build a temple in Nauvoo in a discourse around 19 July 1840 and reportedly made similar comments in April and May.

  6. [6]

    Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.

  7. [7]

    “Minutes of the General Conference,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:386.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  8. [8]

    “Extracts,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1841, 2:424–429; “Revelation to J. Smith,” LDS Millennial Star, Sept. 1841, 2:67–69.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 19 January 1841 [D&C 124] *The Book of the Law of the Lord Revelation, 19 January 1841, Extract, as Published in Times and Seasons [D&C 124:1–110] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 13

be agreed among themselves as pertaining to the price thereof, and let every man who pays stock bear his proportion of their wages, if it must needs be, for their support saith the Lord, otherwise their labors shall be accounted unto them for stock in that even so, Amen.
Verily I say unto you, I now give unto you the offices belonging to my that ye may hold the thereof even the , which is after the order of my only begotten son. First, I give unto you to be a unto you to hold the blessings of my , even the holy spirit of promise, whereby ye are sealed up unto the day of redemption, that ye may not fall, notwithstanding the hour of temptation that may come upon you.
I give unto you my servant Joseph to be a over all my Church, to be a Translater, a Revelator, a , and Prophet; I give unto him for Councillors Counsellors my servant and my servant that these may constitute a and to receive the oracles for the whole church.
I give unto you my servant to be a over the travelling council which twelve hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth and after that to send my word to every creature, they are , , , , , , , , ; 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.
And, again, I say unto you, I give unto you I give unto you a a for the corner stone of viz , , , , , , , , I have taken unto myself, no man taketh his priesthood, but another may be appointed unto the same priesthood in his stead (and verily I say unto <​you​> let my servant be ordained unto this calling in his stead) , , .
And again I give unto you [p. 13]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 19 January 1841 [D&C 124]
ID #
4671
Total Pages
13
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:510–529
Handwriting on This Page
  • Robert B. Thompson

Footnotes

  1. [59]

    JS had earlier prepared an “Instruction on Priesthood” outlining the duties and functions of different offices of the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthoods. (Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107].)

  2. [60]

    See Ephesians 1:13; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:53]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:3].

  3. [61]

    See Revelation 3:10.

  4. [62]

    Young was the de facto leader of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after David W. Patten’s death and Thomas B. Marsh’s excommunication. He was formally appointed as president by a vote of the quorum on 14 April 1840. (“Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15; Heber C. Kimball, Clitheroe, England, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Commerce, IL, 2 May 1840, CHL.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Kimball, Heber C. Letter, Clitheroe, England, to Vilate Kimball, Commerce, IL, 2 May 1840. CHL. MS 22018.

  5. [63]

    In a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve on 27 February 1835, JS instructed that the “twelve apostles who are called to a travelling high council” were to “hold the keys of this ministry— to unlock the door of the kingdom of heaven unto all nations and preach the Gospel unto every creation.” (Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835; see also Revelation, 23 July 1837 [D&C 112:21].)

  6. [64]

    At a 5 September 1840 meeting, the Nauvoo high council appointed Austin Cowles to replace Brunson on the council. Based on this January 1841 revelation, the high council replaced Cowles with Johnson at their 6 February 1841 meeting. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, draft, 5 Sept. 1840; 6 Feb. 1841, 17, 25.)

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

  7. [65]

    With the exception of Johnson’s appointment in place of the deceased Brunson, these men were the same as those appointed to the Nauvoo high council at the October 1839 general conference of the church. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)

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