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Kirtland Developments

Kirtland Developments. D&C 94-96. Section 95 Origin.

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Kirtland Developments

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  1. Kirtland Developments D&C 94-96

  2. Section 95 Origin • "A conference of High Priests assembled in Kirtland" to discuss how to keep the commandment in Section 88 and 90:13-16 to establish a House of the Lord including a school for prophets. The brethren appointed Jared Carter, Hyrum Smith, and Reynolds Cahoon as a committee to oversee fundraising and construction. They went to work and drafted a letter to the saints, inviting them to contribute: "Unless we fulfill this command, namely establish an house, and prepare all things necessary whereby the elders may gather into a school, called the School of the Prophets, and receive that instruction which the Lord designs they should receive, we may all despair of obtaining the great blessing that God has promised to the faithful of the Church of Christ; therefore it is as important as our salvation that we obey." • It is not clear whether Section 95 came before or after the building committee drafted this letter, but it came the same day to rebuke the saints for procrastinating the temple. • Kirtland Minute Book, 4 May 1833, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. • Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, Jared Carter to the Church of Christ, 1 June 1833, Joseph Smith, Letterbook 1829-1835, 36-38, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

  3. Section 95 Outcomes • The saints in Kirtland got the point and went to work on the temple at enormous cost and sacrifice • In verse 15 the Lord promised to show three of the saints how to build it. Joseph and his counselors later knelt in prayer to seek a fulfillment of this promise and the Lord revealed the building in a vision. Frederick G. Williams testified: “We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the Building appeared within viewing distance: I being the first to discover it. Then all of us viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us, and the Makeup of this Hall seems to coincide with what I there saw to a minutia.” • Hyrum Smith broke ground on June 5, 1833 in a wheat field on the bluffs above the Chagrin River. Everyone helped. Saints consecrated funds, labor, expertise but "the project was far out of proportion to the Church's pitiful resources." They had to rely on the Lord's promise of power to build it if they kept his commandments. • Joseph borrowed money to finance the construction "but the economic realities gave Joseph no pause." He understood the "great and last promise" better than anyone (D&C 88:68-69). He had tried to get the saints to understand. A few months before Section 95's rebuke he had written of Section 88's imperative to build the temple: “The Lord commanded us in Kirtland to build an house of God, & establish a school for the Prophets, this is the word of the Lord to us, & we must--yea the Lord helping us we will obey, as on conditions of our obedience, he has promised <us> great things, yea <even> a visit from the heavens to honor us with his own presence, we greatly fear before the Lord lest we should fail of this great honor which our master proposes to confer n us, we are seeking for humility & great faith lest we be ashamed in his presence.” • Section 95 motivated the saints in Kirtland to action. After it they no longer walked in darkness at noon. "Beginning in Kirtland," wrote historian Richard Bushman, "temples became an obsession. For the rest of his life, no matter the cost of the temple to himself and his people, [Joseph] made plans, raised money, mobilized workers, and required sacrifice" (see Section 97).

  4. Section 96 Origin • In the spring of 1833, High Priests in Kirtland met to strategize how they could acquire several farms in the area and especially a farm and brick tavern owned by an early settler named Peter French. The saints hoped to build a stake of Zion surrounding the House of the Lord, which they intended to build on French's farm. They sent a committee to ask the farm owners the terms on which they would be willing to sell. The committee returned with news that the farms could be bought for around $11,000, and the council decided to buy, appointed agents to negotiate the sale, and called the elders out of school to go raise funds among the saints. The funds were raised and the farms purchased, leading to another council on June 4. This council disagreed about who should steward the French farm "but all agreed to inquire of the Lord." • Zebedee Coltrin, Journal, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. Kirtland Minute Book, 3 [4] June 1833, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

  5. Peter French Farm

  6. Section 96 Outcomes • Bishop Whitney became steward of the farm and acted on the revelation's instructions to divide it and to finance the church's publications with it. John Johnson moved from Hiram to Kirtland, joined the United Firm, became steward of the tavern, and tried to obey the revelation by paying the Firm's debts. • First Presidency to Brethren, 25 June 1833, Joseph Smith, Letterbook 1829-1835, pages 44-50, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

  7. Section 94 Origin • Early manuscripts show that Section 94 is actually the last part of the revelation in Section 97. It was given August 2, 1833. The May 1833 date in Joseph's history is an error. Section 94 makes most sense when read as an extension of Section 97. It addresses similar concerns and says that the Lord had already revealed the pattern for the House of the Lord in Kirtland, which he did in Section 95. Moreover, on August 6, 1833, the First Presidency wrote to church leaders in Missouri and included Sections 97 and 94 in the letter. They explained that having received some letters from the leaders in Missouri, "according to your request we inquired of the Lord and send in this letter the communication which we received from the Lord concerning the school in Zion It was obtained August 2nd and reads thus," and Sections 97 and 94 follow. • Book of Commandments and Revelations, 171-73; Kirtland Revelation Book, 64, Church History Library, Salt Lake City

  8. Section 94 Outcomes • In the letter to Missouri church leaders that included Section 94, the First Presidency explained that the saints in Zion should build similar buildings for meetings and printing the scriptures. But the saints in Zion were already being forced from their land and homes and those in Kirtland struggled to muster the resources to build, besides the temple already underway, the two buildings called for in Section 94. They scaled down the revealed instructions and built one building instead of two and used it as a printing office, a school, and office space for the First Presidency. • First Presidency to church leaders in Missouri, 6 August 1833, Church History Library,Salt Lake City.

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