86 I give unto you this privilege, this once; and behold, if you proceed to do the things which I have laid before you, according to my commandments, all these things are mine, and ye are my stewards, and the master will not suffer his house to be broken up. [ Their failure to keep His commandments is resulting in His house being broken up, and He refuses to allow them to do that. ] Even so. Amen.

[Historical Material Pertaining to Doctrine and Covenants 104
Excerpt from History of the Church
Assembled in Council with Elders Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G.
Williams, Newel K. Whitney, John Johnson, and Oliver Cowdery; and
united in asking the Lord to give Elder Zebedee Coltrin influence
over Brother Jacob Myres, to obtain the money which he has gone
to borrow for us, or cause him to come to this place and bring it
himself. I also received the following:
[text of D&C 104 quoted]
(Joseph Smith, History of the Church, volume 2, page 54)
Excerpt from The Life of Heber C. Kimball
“Gather up the strength of my house, and go up and redeem
Zion!” Such was the burden of God's command to Joseph and his
brethren in Kirtland. Such was their interpretation of the divine
message and call.
Bidding farewell to his family and friends, whom he hardly
dared hope he would ever meet again in the flesh, Heber enrolled
himself in the little band of heroes who set out from Kirtland
early in May, 1834. They were about one hundred strong, well
armed and equipped, and were led by the Prophet Joseph in person.
Subsequently their number increased to two hundred and five
souls. But Heber will tell his own story of that eventful
pilgrimage. Says he:
Brother Joseph received a revelation concerning
the redemption of Zion, part of which remains to be
fulfilled. He sent messengers to the east and to the
west and to the north and to the south, to gather up
the Elders, and he gathered together as many of the
brethren as he conveniently could, with what means they
could spare, to go up to Zion, to render all the
assistance that we could to our afflicted brethren. We
gathered clothing and other necessaries to carry up to
our brethren and sisters who had been plundered; and
putting our horses to the wagons, [p.40] and taking our
firelocks and ammunition, we started on our journey;
leaving only Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon and a few
aged workmen who were engaged on the temple; So that
there were very few men left in Kirtland. Our wagons
were about full with baggage, etc., consequently we had
to travel on foot.
We started on the 5th of May (1834), and truly
this was a solemn morning to me. I took leave of my
wife and children and friends, not knowing whether I
would see them again in the flesh, as myself and
brethren were threatened both in that country and in
Missouri by enemies, that they would destroy us and
exterminate us from the land.
There were about one hundred brethren in our
company who started for Zion. These brethren were
nearly all young men, and nearly all Elders, Priests,
Teachers and Deacons. The second day we arrived at New
Portage, being about forty miles, at which place on the
7th we made regulations for traveling, and appointed a
paymaster, whose name was Frederick G. Williams, and
put all our monies into a general fund. some of the
brethren had considerable, and others had little or
none, yet all became equal.
(Orson F. Whitney, The Life of Heber C. Kimball, pages 39-40)
Excerpt from Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Section 104 is an important revelation giving instructions
to members of the United Firm. The headnote for section 104 in
the “Kirtland Revelation Book” states that the section is a
“revelation given April 23d 1834, appointing to each member of
the United firm their stewardships.”
Prior to the Prophet’s leaving for Missouri in May 1834, he
desperately sought to borrow or collect by donation two thousand
dollars to pay pressing debts incurred by the United Firm.
On 26 February 1834 Joseph Smith and others journeyed to New
York to seek volunteers to help redeem the Jackson County Saints
and to obtain money “for the relief of the brethren in Kirtland.”
While the Prophet’s group was in Avon, New York, a Church council
voted that several elders should “exert themselves to obtain two
thousand dollars for the present relief of Kirtland,” and that
Orson Hyde should “tarry and preach in the regions round about,
till the money should be obtained.” On 7 April 1834, having
returned to Kirtland unsuccessful in obtaining the needed money,
the Prophet met with Newel K. Whitney, Frederick G. Williams,
Oliver Cowdery, and Heber C. Kimball and prayed that the Lord
would “furnish the means to deliver the [United] Firm from debt.”
That same day, in a letter to Orson Hyde, Joseph Smith wrote that
unless the money could be obtained, he could not go to Missouri.
On 10 April 1834, unable to secure the needed funds, members
of the United Firm met and agreed that the “Order” should be
dissolved and each member have his stewardship set off to him.
Section 104 gives the particulars of the division of the
United Firm among the members living in Kirtland, and also
directs the two branches of the firm (i.e., the Missouri branch
and the Kirtland branch) to become separate entities.
Focusing on the Kirtland branch of the United Firm, section
104, verses 20-45, explains the procedure of division:
1. Sidney Rigdon was to have the place where he resides plus
the lot of the tannery.
2. Martin Harris was to have the lot that John Johnson
received in exchange for his former inheritance.
3. F.G. Williams was to have the place where he dwells.
4. Oliver Cowdery was to have both the lot which adjoins the
printing house and the lot where his father dwells.
5. Oliver Cowdery and F.G. Williams were to have the
printing house and accessories.
6. John Johnson was to have the house in which he lives plus
“the inheritance” except for the lots which have been
designated for sacred buildings and the lots given to O.
Cowdery.
7. Newel K. Whitney was to have the houses and the lot where
he now resides plus the lot and building on which the
mercantile establishment stands, plus the lot which is on
the corner south of the mercantile establishment, plus the
lot on which the ashery is located.
8. Joseph Smith was to have the lot on which “my house” is
to be built: 40 rods long and twelve rods wide, plus the
inheritance upon which his father resides.
As a further step in the dissolution of the United Firm,
another revelation, received the same day (23 April 1834)
required “every one of what was then called the firm to give up
all notes & demands that they had against each other and all be
equal.”
A document in the Newel K. Whitney collection reveals the
amounts of the notes in question:
Amt. of Balances due from the following persons the 23d day of April. 1834 at which time Joseph said it was the will of the Lord the accounts v.s. [against] those persons should be balanced (up to the above date) in full without any value recd; amts as follows Viz.
Balance due from F.G. Williams & Co $ 584.14
Balance due from Joseph Smith Jr. 1151.31
Balance due from Oliver Cowdery 68.57
Balance due from Sidney Rigdon 777.98
Balance due from F.G. Williams 485.67
Balance due from Jno. Johnson 567.68
total $3635.35
Concerning the division of the Kirtland branch and the
Missouri branch of the United Firm, an unpublished revelation
dated Kirtland, 28 April 1834, further explains the nature of the
division:
Verily thus saith the Lord concerning the division and
settlement of the United Firm. Let there be reserved
three thousand Dollars for the right and claim of the
Firm in Kirtland for inheritances in due time, even
when the Lord will, and with this claim, to be had in
remembrance when the Lord shall reveal it for a right
of inheritance, ye are made free from the Firm of Zion,
and the Firm in Zion is made free from the Firm in
Kirtland: Thus saith the Lord. Amen.
Textual Note. The following lines, which follow verse 59 in the
“Kirtland Revelation Book,” are not part of the present text of
section 104 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
Therefore, a commandment I give
unto you, that ye shall take the books of Mormon and also the copy- right, and also the copy-right which shall be secured of the Articles and Covenants in which covenants all
my commandments which it is my will should be printed, shall be
printed, as it shall be made known unto you; and also the copy-right of the new translation of the scrip- ture; and this I say that others may not take the blessings away from
you which I have conferred upon you.
(Lyndon W. Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith)
Excerpt from Church History and Modern Revelation
The Church being in dire distress financially, brethren had
been sent out to see if they could not collect funds for its
relief, both in Kirtland and for Zion. A strong appeal to Orson
Hyde was issued April 7, 1834. (See D.H.C. 2:48.) In the minutes
of a conference held at Norton, Medina County, Ohio, the
deliverance of Zion was earnestly discussed. The Prophet Joseph
Smith who was present said in the course of his remarks that "if
Zion is not delivered, the time is near when all of this Church,
wherever they may be found, will be persecuted and destroyed in
like manner;" that is in the manner in which the saints in
Jackson County were destroyed. Destruction in this sense means to
be persecuted, mobbed and scattered, their property being lost to
them.
On the 10th of April, a council of the United Order was
held. It was there agreed that the Order, as it was then
organized, be dissolved, and each member have his stewardship set
off to him. Previously to this time, the United Order of Zion and
of Kirtland stood as one unit. On April 23, 1834, the Prophet
received an important revelation concerning the "Order of the
Church for the benefit of the poor." (Joseph Fielding Smith,
Church History and Modern Revelation, volume 3, page 23).]