THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS
SECTION 136
The word and will of the Lord, given through President Brigham Young at the Winter Quarters of the Camp of Israel, Omaha Nation, West Bank of the Missouri River, near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Journal History of the Church, January 14, 1847.
[ The only canonized revelation from Brigham Young. Despite being from a different “author” the syntax and rhetorical style of the language is the same as that of the other sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Thus indicating the true source of the revelation.]
1 THE Word and Will of the Lord [ Or in other words this is the command form the lord to them. ] concerning the Camp of Israel in their journeyings to the West:
2 Let all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those who journey with them, be organized into companies, with a covenant and promise to keep all the commandments and statutes of the Lord our God.
3 Let the companies be organized with captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, and captains of tens, with a president and his two counselors at their head, under the direction of the Twelve Apostles.
4 And this shall be our covenant— [ a
contract or agreement between two parties, God and his people in which
God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in
return. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word _berith_ is always thus
translated. _Berith_ is derived from a root which means "to cut," and hence a
covenant is a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing
of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them,
in making a covenant (Gen. 15; Jer. 34:18, 19) so in other words just as those
who are covenanted to the other shepard so to are we covenanted or belong
to a new master. The members of the
Church must “covenant and promise to keep all the commandments
and statutes of the Lord our God ] that
we will walk in
all the ordinances of
the Lord. [ and then...walk in all the ordinances? The Church fears her enemies, those who are persecuting her,
and they have become entirely too caught up in temporal things.
Here, the Lord reminds them He is the Deliverer of Israel
anciently (v. 22) and He is still Israel’s Deliverer. But, He is
Israel’s deliverer because of the covenant, which covenant the
Church must not break. If they break it, then the Lord will not
be obliged to protect them temporally or eternally. He can
deliver them just as he did ancient Israel from Egypt, but they
have to be keeping the covenants in order to obtain the fullest
blessings of His protection. so, the Lord reminds them where the
real protection is, and how to get it. ]
5 Let each company provide themselves with all the teams, wagons, provisions, clothing, and other necessaries for the journey, that they can.
6 When the companies are organized let them go to with their might, to prepare for those who are to tarry.
7 Let each company, with their captains and presidents, decide how many can go next spring; [ Note that the Lord commands them to use their own judgement in making their own decisions. It is not all left up to the Lord to tell them what to do. How often in life are we paralized by wanting the Lord to tell us every move to make? I think there is a great lesson her for us that we do not need to ask or wait for everything to be spelled out for us. ] then choose out a sufficient number of able-bodied and expert men, to take teams, seeds, and farming utensils, to go as pioneers to prepare for putting in spring crops.
8 Let each company bear an equal proportion, according to the dividend of their property, in taking the poor, the widows, the fatherless, and the families of those who have gone into the army, that the cries of the widow and the fatherless come not up into the ears of the Lord against this people.
9 Let each company prepare houses, and fields for raising grain, for those who are to remain behind this season; [ In the Lords plan sometimes we must plant that which we will never sow. ] and this is the will of the Lord concerning his people.
10 Let every man use all his influence and property to remove this people to the place where the Lord shall locate a stake of Zion. [ "a stake of Zion" A stake not THE stake of zion - so the reference here is to Salt Lake City it is a stake it is a temporary stake a temporary headquarters the stake of Zion from which God will govern the Earth with his leaders. from Consecrate yourself's - live the Law of consecration. see D&C 42:30-39, D&C 51; D&C 97:21. ]
11 And if ye do this with a pure heart, in all faithfulness, ye shall be blessed; you shall be blessed in your flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, and in your houses, and in your families.
16 And let my servants that have been appointed go and teach this, my will, to the saints, that they may be ready to go to a land of peace.
17 Go thy way and do as I have told you, [ Be obedient - for when you are you have his promise when you are not you have no such promise. ] and fear not thine enemies; [ The real problem is yourselves, so focus on what I have asked you to do (v. 17-18, 22, 30-31),
the real problem is your own selves (v. 19-21, 23-29). When we begin to focus on our enemies then we are not focusing on God. The miracles in life come when we focus on God. Then Peter asks “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Maybe Peter was thinking that he would feel safer if he were closer to the Savior. Maybe it was an extension of what he had learned that day or the miracles that he had seen that provided him with extra faith on this occasion. The faith and the trust that really all things are possible, and so Peter leaves the boat and begins to walk toward the Savior on top of the water.
We do not know how long Peter sat in the boat contemplating should I stay or should I go, can I really do this thing, am I good enough, do I have enough faith? Did he try to rationalize everything or did he just go once the Savior beckoned. I suppose that really does not matter either, because he did get out of the boat he did exercise his faith.
In addition; we don’t know what went through Peters mind during that period when he walked on the water. However; I suspect it was something like this. I really can do all things, this is pretty cool I have more power within me then I ever understood, and so Peter continued to walk toward Jesus with his eyes firmly fixed on the master, step by step getting closer and closer. And then for some reason Peter takes his eyes off the Savior and begins to focus on the waves. They are some pretty big waves, they are coming at him from every direction. The sea can be an unforgiving place when it is driven by fierce winds.
But the waves were there when Peter left the boat, they are not bigger than they were, but they now have his attention. As Peters attention becomes more focused on the waves and the power of the water surrounding him he begins to become fearful, and begins to doubt how this is all possible. How can he be walking on water? It defies the laws of nature and yet it is true. As he begins to doubt he also begins to sink, and the more he begins to sink the more he doubts.
Within a short period of time the Savior has to rush over and save Peter from becoming a casualty in the violent storm.
] for they shall not have power to stop my work. [ Compare v. 30, 34-40, and D&C 122:9 ]
19 And if any man shall seek to build up himself, [ Is proud ] and seeketh not my counsel, [ Is not humble, if we are not humble enough to ask then the Lord will not violate the law of agency. ] he shall have no power, and his folly shall be made manifest.
21 Keep yourselves from evil to take the name of the Lord in vain, [ When we enter into a covenant with the Lord and then do not live up to that covenant we are in essence taking the name of the Lord in vain. It is the same when we enter into a covenant without the real intent of doing it. See D&C 41:1; 63:61-62 ] for I am the Lord your God, even the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.
22 I am he who led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; and my arm is stretched out in the last days, to save my people Israel. [ Borrowing from the examples of the miracles that the Lord performed in leading the children of Israel during the Exodus ( The miracle of the quails, parting the red sea, manna... ), he draws a parallel here that he will do the same for the modern day saints. ]
24 Cease drunkenness; [ The word of wisdom was given 14 years earlier (D&C 89) but the people were still generally not adhering to its principles. ] and let your words tend to edifying one another.
25 If thou borrowest of thy neighbor, thou shalt restore that which thou hast borrowed; and if thou canst not repay then go straightway and tell thy neighbor, lest he condemn thee.
26 If thou shalt find that which thy neighbor has lost, thou shalt make diligent search till thou shalt deliver it to him again.
27 Thou shalt be diligent in preserving what thou hast, that thou mayest be a wise steward; [ All that we have is simply on loan to us from God since everything really belongs to him. As such we will be held accountable for what we have done with those things that we were held in stewardship over. ] for it is the free gift of the Lord thy God, and thou art his steward.
28 If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
29 If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful.
31 My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom. [ Compare with Mosiah 23:21-24; 24:13-15 ]
32 Let him that is ignorant [ this is to those are ignorant because they are deliberately ignoring. Hence they need to humble themselves so that they might be taught. ] learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear; [ Drawing upon the symbolism found in Isa. 6:9-10 those that are rebellious will not open their eyes that they might see or really listen with true intent, so those that do not or will not try to understand Gods message. See also D&C 131:6, and vs 17-31 of this section. ]
33 For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly.
34 Thy brethren have rejected you and your testimony, even the nation [ if this were translated into Hebrew as “ha goyim”, which term is translated to both “nation” and “Gentiles” in the KJV. The former rendition being more literal physical and the latter having obvious spiritual connotations. The latter reading would be supported by the Exodus theme from v. 22 where they are likened to Israel fleeing from the Egyptians, who were
Gentiles. ] that has driven you out; [ The nation has rejected Joseph Smith as a prophet and the message that he has been sent to deliver. So the Lord is explaining that in the murdering of Joseph Smith his innocent blood will stand as a witness against them. ]
35 And now cometh the day of their calamity, even the days of sorrow, like a woman that is taken in travail; [ a Semitism for great agony referring to the pain a woman experiences at childbirth, cp. Isa.
13:8, Isa. 66:7, Micah 4:10, John 16:21. The imagery is interesting because their physical suffering is likened to birth pains because they are wicked, however if they would repent and be born again (cf. John 3) spiritually (which in itself would be spiritually trying) they would not have to endure this physical suffering.] and their sorrow shall be great unless they speedily repent, yea, very speedily.
36 For they killed the prophets, and them that were sent unto them; and they have shed innocent blood, which crieth from the ground against them.
37 Therefore, marvel not at these things, for ye are not yet pure; ye can not yet bear my glory; but ye shall behold it if ye are faithful in keeping all my words that I have given you, [ Is this not the testimony of those who came across the plains. That as hard as it was they would not trade what they learned and the miracles that they had for anything - they were grateful for how close they came to the Lord in their journey. "some years after the Martin company made their journey to Salt Lake City, a teacher in a Church class commented how foolish it was for the Martin company to come across the plains when it did. The teacher criticized the Church leaders for allowing a company to make such a journey without more supplies and protection.
An old man sitting in the classroom listened for a few moments and then spoke out, asking that the criticism be stopped. He said, “Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it. … We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities [difficulties].
“I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. … I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.
“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company” (quoted in David O. McKay, “Pioneer Women,” p. 8; emphasis in original).] from the days of Adam to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to Jesus and his apostles, and from Jesus and his apostles to Joseph Smith, whom I did call upon by mine angels, my ministering servants, and by mine own voice out of the heavens, to bring forth my work;
39 Many have marveled because of his death; [ The church as a whole did not understand why the Prophet needed to die, or if he was a real prophet why he did not escape death, just as they did in the days of the Savior. ] but it was needful that he should seal his testimony with his blood, that he might be honored and the wicked might be condemned.
40 Have I not delivered you from your enemies, [ Are not all of you protected from death at this point - I have only allowed Joseph and Hyrum to be murdered, have I not? ] only in that I have left a witness of my name? [ Joseph and Hyrum were offered as a sacrifice to seal their testimonies with their blood as had been the design from the beginning. The question that might have been on the mind of the members of the Church here was “If Joseph and Hyrum were murdered, are we next?”
Those fears would range from the self-deprecating
“Are we so wicked the Lord will not protect us and we
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will die like Joseph and Hyrum?” all the way to the fault-finding
apostate “Joseph and Hyrum were wicked and that is why the Lord
allowed them to be killed”. Perhaps in such a time of turmoil
some were even questioning their belief in God at all.
The Lord wants the Church to set aside all of their
irrational fears of temporal enemies and focus on the concrete
reality of His previously delivering them, and his continuing
efforts to deliver them.
The historical record indicates there were attempts by the
Church’s enemies at Nauvoo to massacre all of the inhabitants and
not just Joseph and Hyrum (cf. B. H. Roberts, Comprehensive
History of the Church, Volume 2, pages 309-310 and 475). These
attempts were always foiled, and the Lord is pointing this out to
them. ]
41 Now, therefore, hearken, [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] , O ye people of my church; and ye elders listen together; you have received my kingdom.
42 Be diligent in keeping all my commandments, lest judgments come upon you, and your faith fail you, and your enemies triumph over you. so no more at present. [ That is all I will say on that matter at this time. ] Amen and Amen.
[ Historical Material Pertaining to Doctrine & Covenants 136
Below are three excerpts, placed in roughly chronological
order. The first details the events that forced the Saints from
Nauvoo. The second recounts the events that surrounded the
revealing of the text of section 136. The last is a summation
that indicates it was Joseph’s intent some time before the exodus
from Nauvoo to establish the Saints out West in the Rocky
Mountains.
Excerpt from History of Utah
Brigham Young succeeded Joseph Smith as leader of the
Latter-day Saints. Sidney Rigdon claimed the leadership. It was
to secure it that he came from Pittsburgh on learning of the
Prophet’s death. Being his first counselor in the Presidency,
though Joseph, distrusting his fidelity, had long since virtually
cast him off, Elder Rigdon believed, or affected to believe that
this entitled him to the succession. A small fraction of the
Saints felt likewise.
But the hearts of the people, as a rule, were not with
Sidney...Sidney’s claim, though plausible, was not valid
according to Church policy. The First Presidency to which he had
belonged was no more. Death had dissolved that council. The
Prophet in life had taught that “where he was not there was no
First Presidency over the Twelve.” [HC 2:374.] Next in order
stood the Twelve the Apostles with Brigham Young as their
President. Instinctively the people turned to Brigham, for they
loved and trusted him, and by that “right divine,” no less than
of seniority and succession in the Priesthood, he became their
President and spiritual guide.
Sidney Rigdon, after his rejection by the Saints, returned
to Pittsburgh. soon afterward he was excommunicated....
In January, 1845, the Legislature of Illinois, yielding to
long-continued popular pressure, repealed the Nauvoo charter....
At a Mormon settlement called Morley, a few miles from
Nauvoo, a band of incendiaries, on the night of September 10th,
began operations. Deliberately setting fire to the house of
Edmund Durfee they turned the inmates out of doors and threatened
them with death if they did not at once leave the settlement.
Durfee they subsequently killed. The mob continued its nefarious
work until Morley was in ashes, and its people homeless. Green
Plains and Bear Creek, localities also settled by the Saints,
were next visited by the house-burners, and in like manner
devastated. Such scenes continued for a week, during which nearly
two hundred houses, shops and sheds were destroyed and the people
driven away. A hundred and thirty-five teams went out from Nauvoo
to bring in the homeless refugees, with what grain had been saved
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from the flames.
Intense excitement now reigned, not only at Nauvoo, and in
the out-lying Mormon settlements that nightly anticipated attack,
but throughout Hancock County. Non-Mormons not of the radical
class disapproved of these deeds of vandalism, and Sheriff
Backenstos, of Carthage to his honor be it said did everything in
his power to quell the riots and punish the guilty parties. He
first issued a proclamation, demanding that they desist. This
order they ignored. He then called upon the posse comitatus the
power of the county to assist him in dispersing the rioters. But
there was no response. Finally he applied to the Mormons for a
posse, which was furnished him, and he proceeded at once against
the house-burners.
In the encounters that ensued two mobocrats were killed....
The Mormon settlements around Nauvoo were now evacuated, the
people fearing pillage and massacre, gathering into the city for
protection.
At this juncture Governor [Thomas] Ford put forth his hand
to restore order.... The result was an agreement by the Latterday
Saints to leave Illinois; the exodus to begin in the spring.
The demand came from a meeting of representatives of nine
counties of the State, assembled at Carthage....
Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, which satisfied
General Hardin and his associate commissioners, and appeased for
a time the anti-Mormons, preparations went forward all during the
fall and winter for the spring exodus. Houses and land in and
around Nauvoo were sold, leased or abandoned. Wagons by hundreds
were purchased or manufactured, and horses, mules, oxen, riding
draft and pack animals in general procured in large numbers.
Clothing, bedding, provisions, tents, tools, household goods,
family relics and camp equipage composed the lading, wherewith
animals and vehicles were packed and loaded until little or no
room remained.
At length, all being ready for a start, on the 4th of
February, 1846, the exodus of the Mormons from Illinois began....
By the middle of February a thousand souls, with their wagons,
teams and effects had been landed on the Iowa shore.
Sugar Creek, nine miles westward, was made the rendezvous
and starting point of the great overland pilgrimage. Here the
advance companies pitched their tents, and awaited the coming of
their leaders. The weather was bitter cold, the ground snowcovered
and desolate as to have dismayed souls less trustful in
Providence, less inured to hardship and suffering than they. It
was February 5th that the first camp formed on Sugar Creek. That
night a bitter night, nine wives became mothers; nine children
were born in tents and wagons in that wintry camp. How these
tender babes, these sick and delicate women were cared for under
such conditions, is left to the imagination of the sensitive
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reader. How these Mormon exiles, outcasts of civilization,
carrying their aged, infirm and helpless across the desolate
plains and prairies, were tracked and trailed thereafter by the
nameless graves of their dead, is a tale which though often
attempted, has never been and never will be fully told....
At various points between the Mississippi and the Missouri
the Mormons founded temporary settlements, or, as they called
them, “traveling stakes of Zion,” fencing the land, building log
cabins, and putting in crops for their own use or for the benefit
of their people who came after them. Two of these “stakes” were
named Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah; the former on the east fork
of Grand River, one hundred and forty-five miles from Nauvoo, and
the latter near the middle fork of the Grand, twenty-seven miles
farther west. Mount Pisgah was on the Pottawatomie Indian lands.
A thousand west-bound wagons of the Saints were now rolling
over the prairies of Iowa....
some of the Mormons had early crossed to the west side of
the [Missouri] river, constructing a ferry-boat for that purpose,
and settled, by permission of the Indians Omahas upon the lands
set apart for their use by the Federal Government....
As the season advanced the settlers on the west side were
instructed to congregate in one place, and a site being chosen
for that purpose they there founded their celebrated Winter
Quarters. This place is now Florence, Nebraska, five miles above
the city of Omaha.... Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah were still
inhabited; their numbers now swelled by the refugees from Nauvoo.
Here in these humble prairie settlements, surrounded by Indians,
hopeful and even happy, though enduring much sickness and
privation, which resulted in many deaths, the pilgrim Mormons
passed the winter of 1846-7.... “The word and will of the Lord
concerning the Camp of Israel in their journeyings to the West,”
was issued by President Young at Winter Quarters [Iowa] on the
14th of January 1847. A few paragraphs of this manifesto the
first of its kind, penned by the Prophet’s successor will convey
some idea of the nature of the preparations for the continued
exodus: [Sec. 136:2-11, 20-31, quoted.]
Agreeable to these instructions the Saints went to work with
a will, and as spring opened all was life, bustle and stir at
their camps on the Missouri, and at their other settlements on
the prairies of Iowa. (Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, volume
1, pages 233-299)
Excerpt from Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith
After the Saints’ exodus from Nauvoo in 1846, Mormon
settlements soon spanned the state of Iowa and dotted the west
bank of the Missouri River in Nebraska. Section 136 was received
by Brigham Young in January 1847 after Church leaders had
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discussed and deliberated upon the “best manner of organizing
companies for emigration.” On Thursday, 14 January 1847, members
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met at Heber C. Kimball’s
dwelling, where
President Young proposed that letters be written to
instruct brethren how to organize companies for
emigration.... President Young commenced to give the
Word and Will of God concerning the emigration of the
Saints and those who journeyed with them. At 4:30 P.M.
the council adjourned.
At seven, the Twelve met at Elder Benson’s. President Young
continued to dictate the word and will of the Lord. Council
adjourned at ten P.M., when President Young retired with Dr.
Richards to the Octagon and finished writing the same.
At a meeting of the Twelve Apostles and the Winter Quarters
high council on 16 January 1847, the following discussion
transpired:
Present of the Twelve
Brigham Young H.C. Kimball Willard Richards
present of the [High] Council
George W Harris President Reynolds Cahoon C.P.
Lott Ezra Chase Daniel Russel Alonzo Eldrige Thomas
Grover Isaac Morley Winslow Farr
Council was opened by Prayer by G.W. Harris ....
The mind and will of God as written by the Twelve of the
14th of January 1847 was read by Dr. Richards
Co[uncilo]r Reynolds Cahoon moved that the communication
be received as the mind = will of God as it
purports. Second by Isaac Morley
Co[uncilo]r A Eldrige approved it Come to his understanding
Co[uncilo]r Morley approved it
Co[uncilo]r Cahoon said it was the same voice as all
other righteous come from.
Co[uncilo]r Farr Said it reminded him of the first
reading of the Book of Mormon, he was perfectly
satisfied that it was from the Lord
Co[uncilo]r Lott perfectly satisfied it give peace
Co[uncilo]r D. Russel feels as he did the first M[ormon]
sermon he ever head says that it is true and glories in them and means to stand and sustain all these things
Co[uncilo]r Chase is perfectly satisfied
President Harris was so well satisfied that he wanted to
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say Amen at once
Co[uncilo]r Grover felt that it was the voice of the spirit
has the same confidence as he has in every thing we have
called revelation.
Vote found to be unanimous
Horrace S. Eldrige... says he felt to receive it as the
word and will of the Lord and that it would prove our
salvation if carried out. Hosea Stout the Clerk says if
there is any thing in Mormonism that is the voice of the
Lord to this people and means to live up to it.
Alter much conversation and the second reading of the
word = will the council adjourned.
During the rest of the month of January 1847, the revelation
was presented to members of the church in Nebraska and Iowa,
where it was approved unanimously. (Lyndon W. Cook, Revelations
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 297-300)
Excerpt from Conference Report
In 1847 the Latter-day Saints, under the leadership of
President Brigham Young began to fulfill the prediction of the
Prophet Joseph who had declared, two years before his death, that
the Saints would “become a mighty people in the midst of the
Rocky Mountains” [see the full quotation below]. In the book of
Doctrine and Covenants there is a revelation entitled “The Word
and Will of the Lord,” to a people encamped upon the Missouri
river, who had left civilization behind, who had been driven from
their homes and were making preparation to cross the great plains
and mountains and settle in this then empty and desolate land.
That “Word and Will of the Lord” commanded the people of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to organize
themselves into companies of hundreds, fifties, and tens
preparatory to the long and wearisome ox-team journey to Salt
Lake Valley. (Orson F. Whitney, Conference Report, October 1916,
pages 54-55)
[Saturday, 6.—Passed over the river to Montrose, Iowa, in company
with General Adams, Colonel Brewer, and others, and witnessed the
installation of the officers of the Rising Sun Lodge Ancient York
Masons, at Montrose, by General James Adams, Deputy Grand-Master
of Illinois. While the Deputy Grand-Master was engaged in giving
the requisite instructions to the Master-elect, I had a
conversation with a number of brethren in the shade of the
building on the subject of our persecutions in Missouri and the
constant annoyance which has followed us since we were driven
from that state. I prophesied that the Saints would continue to
suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky
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Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by
our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or
disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making
settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty
people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. (Joseph Smith,
History of the Church, volume 5, page 85]