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Revelation, 8 March 1833 [D&C 90]

Source Note

Revelation,
Kirtland Township

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
, Geauga Co., OH, 8 Mar. 1833; copied [ca. Mar. 1833]; handwriting of
Frederick G. Williams

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

View Full Bio
; three pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes docket and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 12⅜ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm). The document was trifolded both lengthwise and width-wise. A docket was added by
Newel K. Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

View Full Bio
in ink, with a later addition in graphite: “Revelation relative to | the Bishops Search. for | an agent | 8 March 1833. <​also | to have our families Small​>”.
This and several other revelations, along with many other personal and institutional documents kept by
Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

View Full Bio
, were inherited by his daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who married Isaac Groo. This collection was passed down in the Groo family and donated by members of the family to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University during the period 1969–1974.
1

Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Andrus, Hyrum L., Chris Fuller, and Elizabeth E. McKenzie. “Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 1825–1906,” Sept. 1998. BYU.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., Chris Fuller, and Elizabeth E. McKenzie. “Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 1825–1906,” Sept. 1998. BYU.

Historical Introduction

Marking a significant development in the church’s chief governing body, this revelation announced that the counselors in the
presidency of the high priesthood

Both the office of the president of the high priesthood and the body comprising the president and his counselors; the presiding body of the church. In November 1831, a revelation directed the appointment of a president of the high priesthood. The individual...

View Glossary
were equal with JS “in holding the
keys

Authority or knowledge of God given to humankind. In the earliest records, the term keys primarily referred to JS’s authority to unlock the “mysteries of the kingdom.” Early revelations declared that both JS and Oliver Cowdery held the keys to bring forth...

View Glossary
of this Last Kingdom.” The presidency of the high priesthood had its beginnings sixteen months earlier, on 11 November 1831, when a revelation established the office of the president of the high priesthood. That revelation called the office of the high priesthood “the greatest of all” and said that “it must needs be that one be appointed of the
high Priest hood

The authority and power held by certain officers in the church. The Book of Mormon referred to the high priesthood as God’s “holy order, which was after the order of his Son,” and indicated that Melchizedek, a biblical figure, was a high priest “after this...

View Glossary
to preside over the Priest hood & he shall be called President of the high Priest hood of the Church” and have the duty to “preside over the whole church.”
1

Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:64–65, 91].


At a church
conference

A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

View Glossary
in
Amherst

Located in northeastern Ohio on southern shore of Lake Erie. Area settled, ca. 1810. County organized, 1824. Formed from Black River Township, Dec. 1829. Population in 1830 about 600. Population in 1840 about 1,200. Parley P. Pratt settled in township, Dec...

More Info
, Ohio, held on 25 January 1832, JS was
ordained

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

View Glossary
as president of the high priesthood by
Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

View Full Bio
.
2

Three months later, on 26 April 1832, a conference of high priests in Jackson County, Missouri, also acknowledged him as president. (Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832.)


The 11 November 1831 revelation also gave the president authority to appoint twelve counselors to form a disciplinary court, introducing the idea that a body of counselors was to support the president.
3

Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:78–80].


Precedent for forming a leadership body of three people came earlier in 1831 when
Edward Partridge

27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...

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was designated as the church’s first
bishop

An ecclesiastical and priesthood office. JS appointed Edward Partridge as the first bishop in February 1831. Following this appointment, Partridge functioned as the local leader of the church in Missouri. Later revelations described a bishop’s duties as receiving...

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with “two of the
Elders

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
” appointed to assist him in attending to the temporal and spiritual concerns of the church.
4

Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:31]; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.


On 8 March 1832, JS chose and ordained
Jesse Gause

Ca. 1784–ca. Sept. 1836. Schoolteacher. Born at East Marlborough, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Gause (Goss) and Mary Beverly. Joined Society of Friends (Quakers), 1806. Moved to Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, 1808; to Chester Co., 1811; and to Wilmington...

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and
Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

View Full Bio
to assist him as “councillers of the ministry of the presidency of th[e] high Pristhood.”
5

Note, 8 Mar. 1832.


A revelation dictated around the same time affirmed that the president of the high priesthood had “authority to preside with the assistence of his councellers over all the Concerns of the church.”
6

Revelation, between ca. 8 and ca. 24 Mar. 1832.


On 15 March 1832, JS dictated another revelation that elevated the counselors to positions of authority, second only to JS, in managing the affairs of the church. It formally called Gause “to be a high Priest in my church and councellor unto my servant Joseph,” explained the duties of the counselors, and affirmed that “the keys of the Kingdom” belong “always to the prisidency of the high Priesthood.”
7

Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:1–2].


Gause was excommunicated from the
Church of Christ

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
on 3 December 1832, and a month later, on 5 January 1833,
Frederick G. Williams

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

View Full Bio
was called to replace Gause in serving as “Councillor & scribe unto my servant Joseph.”
8

JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1832; Revelation, 5 Jan. 1833. Likely because of his excommunication, Gause’s name was struck through in the version of the 15 March 1832 revelation written in Revelation Book 2 and Williams’s name was inserted in its place. Williams’s name, not Gause’s, appears in the earliest published version of the 15 March 1832 revelation. (Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832; Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 79:1, 1835 ed. [D&C 81:1]; see also Woodford, “Jesse Gause,” 362–364.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Woodford, Robert J. “Jesse Gause, Counselor to the Prophet.” BYU Studies 15 (Spring 1975): 362–364.

Williams probably assumed his new role immediately; he was identified as a counselor in the presidency of the high priesthood in the minutes of a conference held on 22 January 1833, though he was not ordained to this position until 18 March 1833.
9

Minutes, 18 Mar. 1833. The minutes of the 22 January conference offer the earliest firm dating of Williams serving as a counselor to JS in the presidency of the high priesthood. Williams also identified himself as “assistant scribe and councellor” when he recorded three revelations in Revelation Book 2. Though these revelations were dictated on 6 December 1832, 27–28 December 1832, and 3 January 1833, respectively, they were probably not recorded by Williams until sometime later. (Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833; Revelation Book 2, pp. 32, 46, 48; see also License for Frederick G. Williams, 20 Mar. 1833.)


The structure of the presidency remained unchanged until December 1834.
10

On 5 December 1834, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams ordained Oliver Cowdery “to the office of assistant President of the High and Holy Priesthood in the Church of Latter-Day Saints.” (JS History, 1834–1836, 17; see also JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1834.)


Before the revelation featured here was dictated, JS was assisted by his counselors as he had been previously by
Oliver Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

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, who had been called in 1830 to support JS as “second elder.”
11

See Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21]; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:3]; and JS History, vol. A-1, 18.


The minutes of a conference of high priests that assembled on 22 January 1833 likewise indicated a hierarchy in the presidency, with JS as “President,”
Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

View Full Bio
as “cheif scribe and high counceler,” and
Williams

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

View Full Bio
as “assistant scribe and counceler.”
12

Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833.


The following revelation, however, directed that JS’s counselors, Rigdon and Williams, be made “equal” with the president in holding the
keys

Authority or knowledge of God given to humankind. In the earliest records, the term keys primarily referred to JS’s authority to unlock the “mysteries of the kingdom.” Early revelations declared that both JS and Oliver Cowdery held the keys to bring forth...

View Glossary
of the kingdom. It likewise authorized the three men to labor together to “set in order all the affairs of this Church and kingdom.” Though JS retained presiding authority, the governing body of the church now had three presidents. Following this revelation, the members of the presidency of the high priesthood signed some letters and official documents with their names in the order of JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams and with the associated title of “Presidents of the High Priesthood.”
13

See, for example, Minutes, 2 May 1833; Letter to the Church in Thompson, OH, 6 Feb. 1833; and Letter to Church Leaders in Eugene, IN, 2 July 1833.


By 1835 this presidency was also known as the “first presidency” of the church.
14

Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A, in “Revelations,” Evening and Morning Star, Oct. 1832 (June 1835), 73 [D&C 68:15].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.

In addition to giving instructions regarding the presidency of the high priesthood, this revelation expressed displeasure with some church members in
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
. JS’s interactions with Missouri leaders in spring 1832, his series of letters with
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

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and
Sidney Gilbert

28 Dec. 1789–29 June 1834. Merchant. Born at New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Eli Gilbert and Lydia Hemingway. Moved to Huntington, Fairfield Co., Connecticut; to Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, by Sept. 1818; to Painesville, Geauga Co...

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from June 1832 to January 1833, and a revelation dated 22 and 23 September 1832 emphasized that Missouri church leaders needed to repent of ongoing disputes and perceived backbiting against JS.
15

Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832; Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76]. Because of Missouri leaders’ “dark” insinuations and accusations that JS was seeking after “Monarchal” or “Kingly power,” Sidney Rigdon and other church leaders in Kirtland accused leaders in Missouri of rebellion. (Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833.)


These interactions and documents likewise reveal a continuing discord between the leaders of the church in
Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
, Ohio, and those in
Independence

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Latter-day Saint population...

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, Missouri. Some Missouri leaders believed that if JS would move to Independence, his presence would help alleviate many of the misunderstandings and hard feelings that had existed for months between church officials in the two locations. On 14 January 1833,
Orson Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

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and
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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penned a letter on behalf of a conference of high priests and elders held in Kirtland to inform the Missouri Saints in a united voice “that Br J. will not settle in
Zion

A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...

View Glossary
until she repent and purify herself & abide by the new covenant, and remember the
commandments

Generally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of Deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...

View Glossary
which have been given her, to do them as well as say them.”
16

JS received separate letters from Sidney Gilbert and William W. Phelps in December 1832 that prompted him to respond in a letter to Phelps on 11 January 1833. JS wrote, “Our hearts are greatly greaved at the spirit which is breathed both in your letter & that of Bro G—s [Sidney Gilbert] the wery spirit which is wasting the strength of Zion like a pestalence,” and exhorted them to repent. Two days after JS wrote to Phelps, a conference of high priests and elders assembled in Kirtland to address the upheaval in Missouri. Fulfilling a commandment given in September 1832 to exhort Missouri members to repent for their rebellion against JS, the conference assigned Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith to compose a letter to church leaders in Missouri to curtail the perceived spirit of rebellion. (Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833; Minutes, 13–14 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76]; see also Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833.)


The revelation featured here reiterated displeasure with specific Missouri leaders for unrepentant behavior. It also clarified that JS would be called to preside over the church in Independence in the Lord’s “own due time.”
This revelation also directed members of the presidency of the high priesthood to set their houses in order, gave instructions concerning the residences of
Joseph Smith Sr.

12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...

View Full Bio
and
Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

View Full Bio
, and emphasized the need to continue the ongoing translation of the Old Testament. It also directed the relocation of
Vienna Jaques

10 June 1787–7 Feb. 1884. Laundress, nurse. Born in Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Henry Jaques and Lucinda Hughes. Lived in Boston, 1827–1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by E. Harris, 12 July 1831. Moved to ...

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—a church member who had recently
consecrated

The dedicating of money, lands, goods, or one’s own life for sacred purposes. Both the New Testament and Book of Mormon referred to some groups having “all things common” economically; the Book of Mormon also referred to individuals who consecrated or dedicated...

View Glossary
a significant amount of money to the church—from
Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
to
Jackson County

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

More Info
, Missouri.
17

Shortly before this revelation was dictated, Jaques arrived in Kirtland, having traveled from Boston. (George Hamlin, “In Memoriam,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Mar. 1884, 12:152; see also Letter to Vienna Jaques, 4 Sept. 1833.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

How or when church members in Kirtland or
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
learned of this revelation is unknown, as no extant contemporary sources mention it.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:64–65, 91].

  2. [2]

    Three months later, on 26 April 1832, a conference of high priests in Jackson County, Missouri, also acknowledged him as president. (Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832.)

  3. [3]

    Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:78–80].

  4. [4]

    Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:31]; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.

  5. [5]

    Note, 8 Mar. 1832.

  6. [6]

    Revelation, between ca. 8 and ca. 24 Mar. 1832.

  7. [7]

    Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:1–2].

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1832; Revelation, 5 Jan. 1833. Likely because of his excommunication, Gause’s name was struck through in the version of the 15 March 1832 revelation written in Revelation Book 2 and Williams’s name was inserted in its place. Williams’s name, not Gause’s, appears in the earliest published version of the 15 March 1832 revelation. (Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832; Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 79:1, 1835 ed. [D&C 81:1]; see also Woodford, “Jesse Gause,” 362–364.)

    Woodford, Robert J. “Jesse Gause, Counselor to the Prophet.” BYU Studies 15 (Spring 1975): 362–364.

  9. [9]

    Minutes, 18 Mar. 1833. The minutes of the 22 January conference offer the earliest firm dating of Williams serving as a counselor to JS in the presidency of the high priesthood. Williams also identified himself as “assistant scribe and councellor” when he recorded three revelations in Revelation Book 2. Though these revelations were dictated on 6 December 1832, 27–28 December 1832, and 3 January 1833, respectively, they were probably not recorded by Williams until sometime later. (Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833; Revelation Book 2, pp. 32, 46, 48; see also License for Frederick G. Williams, 20 Mar. 1833.)

  10. [10]

    On 5 December 1834, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams ordained Oliver Cowdery “to the office of assistant President of the High and Holy Priesthood in the Church of Latter-Day Saints.” (JS History, 1834–1836, 17; see also JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1834.)

  11. [11]

    See Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21]; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:3]; and JS History, vol. A-1, 18.

  12. [12]

    Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833.

  13. [13]

    See, for example, Minutes, 2 May 1833; Letter to the Church in Thompson, OH, 6 Feb. 1833; and Letter to Church Leaders in Eugene, IN, 2 July 1833.

  14. [14]

    Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A, in “Revelations,” Evening and Morning Star, Oct. 1832 (June 1835), 73 [D&C 68:15].

    Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.

  15. [15]

    Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832; Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76]. Because of Missouri leaders’ “dark” insinuations and accusations that JS was seeking after “Monarchal” or “Kingly power,” Sidney Rigdon and other church leaders in Kirtland accused leaders in Missouri of rebellion. (Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833.)

  16. [16]

    JS received separate letters from Sidney Gilbert and William W. Phelps in December 1832 that prompted him to respond in a letter to Phelps on 11 January 1833. JS wrote, “Our hearts are greatly greaved at the spirit which is breathed both in your letter & that of Bro G—s [Sidney Gilbert] the wery spirit which is wasting the strength of Zion like a pestalence,” and exhorted them to repent. Two days after JS wrote to Phelps, a conference of high priests and elders assembled in Kirtland to address the upheaval in Missouri. Fulfilling a commandment given in September 1832 to exhort Missouri members to repent for their rebellion against JS, the conference assigned Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith to compose a letter to church leaders in Missouri to curtail the perceived spirit of rebellion. (Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833; Minutes, 13–14 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76]; see also Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833.)

  17. [17]

    Shortly before this revelation was dictated, Jaques arrived in Kirtland, having traveled from Boston. (George Hamlin, “In Memoriam,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Mar. 1884, 12:152; see also Letter to Vienna Jaques, 4 Sept. 1833.)

    Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Revelation, 8 March 1833 [D&C 90]
Revelation Book 2 Revelation Book 1 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

1

TEXT: It is likely that the punctuation found in this manuscript was added after its initial inscription; however, it is possible that the punctuation is contemporaneous with the document’s initial creation. In the transcript featured here, all punctuation has been omitted.


Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
8th of March 1833
A Commandment given unto Joseph saying thus saith the Lord verily verily I say unto you my son thy sins are forgiven thee according to thy petition for thy prayers and the prayers of thy brethren have come up into my ears therefore thou art blessed from henceforth that bear the
keys

Authority or knowledge of God given to humankind. In the earliest records, the term keys primarily referred to JS’s authority to unlock the “mysteries of the kingdom.” Early revelations declared that both JS and Oliver Cowdery held the keys to bring forth...

View Glossary
of the kingdom
2

The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants expanded the text of a previously published revelation, originally dictated in summer 1830. The expanded text, which refers to the “keys of the kingdom,” reported the voice of the Lord speaking to JS about many of the angelic visitations JS had received by mid-1830: “Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry: and of the same things which I revealed unto them: unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times.” (Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 50:3, 1835 ed. [D&C 27:12–13].)


given unto you
3

See Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:4–5]; Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:2]; and Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:2].


which kingdom is coming forth for the Last time
4

See Luke 11:2; 1 John 2:18; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 137 [Jacob 5:62]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:84]; see also Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:5–6].


verily I say unto you the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you whilst thou art in the world neither in the world to come
5

See Matthew 16:19. Regarding JS’s receipt of divine keys, see Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7]; and Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:5].


never[the]less through you shall the oricles
6

Webster’s 1828 dictionary states that “among christians, oracles . . . denotes the communications, revelations or messages delivered by God to prophets.” (“Oracle,” in American Dictionary, italics in original; see also 1 Peter 4:11.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

be given unto another yea even unto the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
and all they who receive the oricles of God let them be aware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing and are brought under condemnation thereby
7

A JS revelation dictated the previous September similarly declared, “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received which vanity and unbelief hath brought the whole church under condemnation . . . and thay shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant even the book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them not only to say but to do according to that which I have writen.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:54–57]; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 446, 583–584 [Helaman 14:19; Moroni 9:6].)


and stumble and fall
8

See Isaiah 8:15; Romans 11:11; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 94 [2 Nephi 18:15].


when the storms descend <​&​> the winds blow and the rains descend and beat upon their house
9

See Matthew 7:27.


and again verily I say unto thy brethren
Sidney [Rigdon]

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

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and
Fredrick [Frederick G. Williams]

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

View Full Bio
there
10

TEXT: Possibly “their”.


sins are forgiven them also and they are accounted as equal with thee in holding the keys of this Last Kingdom as also through your administration the <​keys of the​>
School of the prophets

A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...

View Glossary
which I have
commanded

Generally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of Deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...

View Glossary
to be organized that thereby they may be perfected in their minstry for the salvation of
Zion

A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...

View Glossary
and of the Nations of Israel and of the
Gentiles

Those who were not members of the House of Israel. More specifically, members of the church identified gentiles as those whose lineage was not of the Jews or Lamanites (understood to be the American Indians in JS’s day). Certain prophecies indicated that ...

View Glossary
11

Two months earlier, a revelation called for the establishment of an “Elders school” to help educate the men of the church in doctrinal, social, and political matters. It was intended that through instruction, study, fasting, and prayer, church elders would “be prepared, in all things . . . that you may be perfected, in your ministry to go forth among the gentiles, for the last time.” The School of the Prophets was organized 22–23 January in Kirtland and met thereafter until late March, when many of the elders were sent on missions. (Revelation Book 2, Index, [1]; Revelation, 3 Jan. 1833 [D&C 88:127–137]; Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833; Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833; Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A; Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 23 Mar. 1833; see also Samuel Smith, Diary, 8 May 1833.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

Smith, Samuel. Diary, Feb. 1832–May 1833. CHL. MS 4213.

as many as will believe that through your administration they may receive the word and through their administration the word may go forth unto the ends of the earth unto the Gentiles first and then behold and Lo they shall turn unto the Jews
12

The theology of the Church of Christ envisioned that in the last days, in an apparent reversal of the New Testament sequence given in Romans 2:9–10, the Jews would receive the gospel only after the “times of the Gentiles” were fulfilled. A revelation in November 1831, therefore, exhorted the church to “send forth the Elders of my Church” to “call upon all nations firstly upon the gentiles & then upon the Jews.” (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:25]; Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:8]; see also Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84]; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 32 [1 Nephi 13:42].)


and then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be reveiled in power in convincing the nations the heathen nations the house of Joseph of the Gospel of their salvation
13

Early church members believed that the “house of Joseph” referred to American Indians. When chronicling the first appointments of missionaries to go to the American Indians, JS’s history described the native peoples as “remnants of the house of Joseph—the Lamanites residing in the west.” (“The Elders in the Land of Zion to the Church of Christ Scattered Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [5]; JS History, vol. A-1, p. 60; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28]; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 485, 566 [3 Nephi 15:12; Ether 13:7–8].)


Comprehensive Works Cited

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

for it shall come to pass in that day that evry man shall hear the fulness of the Gospel
14

See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 23, 36 [1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13].


in his own Tongue
15

See Acts 2:6–8; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 303, 565 [Alma 29:8; Ether 12:39].


and in his own Language through thou who are
ordained

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

View Glossary
unto this power [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 8 March 1833 [D&C 90]
ID #
1547
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:24–32
Handwriting on This Page
  • Frederick G. Williams

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    TEXT: It is likely that the punctuation found in this manuscript was added after its initial inscription; however, it is possible that the punctuation is contemporaneous with the document’s initial creation. In the transcript featured here, all punctuation has been omitted.

  2. [2]

    The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants expanded the text of a previously published revelation, originally dictated in summer 1830. The expanded text, which refers to the “keys of the kingdom,” reported the voice of the Lord speaking to JS about many of the angelic visitations JS had received by mid-1830: “Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry: and of the same things which I revealed unto them: unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times.” (Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 50:3, 1835 ed. [D&C 27:12–13].)

  3. [3]

    See Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:4–5]; Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:2]; and Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:2].

  4. [4]

    See Luke 11:2; 1 John 2:18; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 137 [Jacob 5:62]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:84]; see also Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:5–6].

  5. [5]

    See Matthew 16:19. Regarding JS’s receipt of divine keys, see Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7]; and Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:5].

  6. [6]

    Webster’s 1828 dictionary states that “among christians, oracles . . . denotes the communications, revelations or messages delivered by God to prophets.” (“Oracle,” in American Dictionary, italics in original; see also 1 Peter 4:11.)

    An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

  7. [7]

    A JS revelation dictated the previous September similarly declared, “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received which vanity and unbelief hath brought the whole church under condemnation . . . and thay shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant even the book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them not only to say but to do according to that which I have writen.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:54–57]; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 446, 583–584 [Helaman 14:19; Moroni 9:6].)

  8. [8]

    See Isaiah 8:15; Romans 11:11; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 94 [2 Nephi 18:15].

  9. [9]

    See Matthew 7:27.

  10. [10]

    TEXT: Possibly “their”.

  11. [11]

    Two months earlier, a revelation called for the establishment of an “Elders school” to help educate the men of the church in doctrinal, social, and political matters. It was intended that through instruction, study, fasting, and prayer, church elders would “be prepared, in all things . . . that you may be perfected, in your ministry to go forth among the gentiles, for the last time.” The School of the Prophets was organized 22–23 January in Kirtland and met thereafter until late March, when many of the elders were sent on missions. (Revelation Book 2, Index, [1]; Revelation, 3 Jan. 1833 [D&C 88:127–137]; Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833; Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833; Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A; Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 23 Mar. 1833; see also Samuel Smith, Diary, 8 May 1833.)

    Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

    Smith, Samuel. Diary, Feb. 1832–May 1833. CHL. MS 4213.

  12. [12]

    The theology of the Church of Christ envisioned that in the last days, in an apparent reversal of the New Testament sequence given in Romans 2:9–10, the Jews would receive the gospel only after the “times of the Gentiles” were fulfilled. A revelation in November 1831, therefore, exhorted the church to “send forth the Elders of my Church” to “call upon all nations firstly upon the gentiles & then upon the Jews.” (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:25]; Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:8]; see also Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84]; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 32 [1 Nephi 13:42].)

  13. [13]

    Early church members believed that the “house of Joseph” referred to American Indians. When chronicling the first appointments of missionaries to go to the American Indians, JS’s history described the native peoples as “remnants of the house of Joseph—the Lamanites residing in the west.” (“The Elders in the Land of Zion to the Church of Christ Scattered Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [5]; JS History, vol. A-1, p. 60; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28]; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 485, 566 [3 Nephi 15:12; Ether 13:7–8].)

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  14. [14]

    See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 23, 36 [1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13].

  15. [15]

    See Acts 2:6–8; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 303, 565 [Alma 29:8; Ether 12:39].

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