Cover image: Kirtland Temple gathering place.

With the new and mysterious Enoch revelation of Moses 6-7 fresh on Joseph’s mind, it is no wonder that after introducing Himself, the Savior refers to Zion, using Joseph’s new understanding to focus on the great disparity that exists on the earth now.  Skipping over topics that could be articles by themselves on God’s existence outside of our mortal time[i] and the explanation of how Christ is both the first and the last in the Hebrew context,[ii] let’s skip right to verse eleven in Doctrine and Doctrines 38:

11…all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven—

12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              13 And now I show unto you a mystery, a thing which is had in secret chambers, to bring to pass even your destruction in process of time, and ye knew it not; DC 38

The wheat and tares grow together and look identical until the “fruit” is born.  We do not live in a “tare-free zone!”  Hindsight tells us that those powers of darkness are not only coalescing into mobs with hate, lawsuits, and guns, but long-term plans from an evil world that prevail upon the earth, working secret devices to destroy the growing kingdom.  If there were music playing as these verses were being read, it would elicit a growing and frightening mood.  But Christ follows this new and alarming “bad news” with the “good news” solution.  However, if not carefully read, linking cause to effect, it is easily missed.

He first reminds us that the Kingdom is ours; we are responsible for asking the questions that will elicit the revelatory information upon which decisions will be based, so that we learn to manage kingdoms[iii], rather than just puppet instructions.  Only then does He begin to unveil the solution that will counter the enemy in secret chambers and protect us during attempted destruction.

“And for your salvation I give unto you a commandment,” DC 38:16

Perhaps, we miss it because we don’t connect His use of the word commandment with His intent.  We see commandments as orders that sometimes limit our choices, but He sees them as protection, blessings, compensation for weakness that sometimes only He can see, and a manifestation of His reciprocating love.[iv] So what follows are the basis for a commandment that would otherwise seem impossible and even unrelated to the destructive secret plans.

But before giving the solution, He gives the basis for uttering this commandment, yet to be mentioned:

38:16

  1. for I have heard your prayers, and
  2. the poor have complained before me, and
  3. the rich have I made, and
  4. all flesh is mine, and
  5. I am no respecter of persons.

These early saints were well aware of growing opposition, but this disclosure that God makes some rich while others are left as complaining poor, will be linked to the hidden danger of the methods to be used against the saints even today.  Most rich take personal pride in their capacity to succeed, in their expertise and education that has resulted in their fortune.  To them the poor are often seen as suffering the consequences of their own choices.  Pride naturally results. Yet here God takes responsibility for the yield of the rich because He wants to require something from them.[v]

Then, from verses 17-22, God assures the saints of His intent to prosper them, to enrich them[vi], because He is about to give them a commandment that will seem sacrificial rather than protective.  Verses 23-26 follow with instructions that will capacitate them in receiving that prosperity as a people, not just as individuals. They are to:

  1. “teach one another according to the office wherewith I have appointed you” (teach each other but honor stewardships) vs 23
  2. “let every man esteem his brother as himself” (Why the word “let?” This will require a complete rebirth which is a process requiring transformation.)  vs 24
  3. “practice virtue and holiness before me.” (needing practice?) vs 24
  4. He repeats the principle from vs 24 upon which the behavior must be practiced. vs 25

Since this whole transformation from a mortal paradigm to a divine paradigm is impossible without celestial assistance, it is essential that we see things from God’s point of view.  Mortality ingrains the value of becoming “the fittest” while God prizes something completely and otherwise improbable among mortals.  As He prepares us for the “commandment for our salvation,” He uses a parable that again may seem unrelated to our being protected from the secret combinations that would otherwise block this transformation.

26 For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just?

27 Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am.

Note that the parable is a question.  Since verse 27 tells us that this is about God and we know that God is completely just[vii], then the sentence that follows in verse 27 should come thundering to us as His means of providing that justice or fairness; equality for His precious children who live in disparate circumstances that they neither chose nor caused.  Were we to be allowed to choose which side of this disparity we wanted to be on, it would be important to point out that the rich are actually in more danger than the poor.[viii]

With riches comes responsibility.  In all the greatness of divine wisdom, we must grasp that mortal success is not measured by our altitude on the vertical ladder of cultural class distinction as indicated by individual possessions, status, or education, but in our unity with each other, on the horizontal reality of the second great commandment.  It is interesting and insightful that the infinitely wise plan of unity begins with disparity of circumstance including even the spreading of differing spiritual gifts[ix] so that we are all different.[x] The work of the Atonement of Christ is to bring unity to more than just our relationship with God, for that is not even possible without unity with all our brothers and sisters.  Joseph had just learned that Zion was a cause (DC6:6) for which all prophets have labored that was to lead to a condition (Moses 7:18) consisting of those who were at-one in four ways: mind, heart, behavior, and economics.  This is at-one-ment.  So, in this context, verse 27 thunders saying, “if ye are not one, ye are not mine!”  This isn’t just a statement of how to belong but is also the solution to the destructive secret plans.  And in case we missed the connection, the following verses identify a key component of these nefarious above-mentioned plans:

28 And again, I say unto you that the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh your lives.

29 Ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land.

30 I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.

We can immediately see that there is some kind of dangerous secret conspiracy and that it is generated in the hearts of what He will later call, “conspiring men in the last days.”[xi] But the component remains shrouded in scriptural metaphor from The Book of Mormon.  What do we see today where wickedness is revealed “by their wickedness,” not in some private way, but is flaunted publicly and in a very loud manner, like thunder?  And why would “thunder” improve the effectiveness of the message, anyway?  Please note the Lord’s use of that same phraseology in Mosiah:

11 … he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;

14 for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

15 And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth?

The angel came to convince Alma.  Alma’s father had tried to convince him without success because Alma, the younger, did not want to be convinced.  The angel addresses this reticence in terms that convinces Alma and elicits an emotion filled fear response changing his teachability. This earthshaking voice that convinces people even when they don’t want to be convinced could be used for good or evil.  Is there such a voice used today that is convincing even “the elect, if possible”[xii] when they don’t want to be convinced, to do the evil bidding of conspiring men?  The chilling answer is yes!  How? The one-word answer: media![xiii]  Volumes could be written, and statistics analyzed to show that today, even amongst the “faithful” there are behaviors now socially acceptable that would have been considered marginal to wicked in the past.  But how does God’s proffered solution protect against this bombarding profit driven persuasion?  He follows the call to unity with specific instructions that have historical context and empowering universal application:

31 And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless

A gathering has been God’s protective pattern from the beginning.  It certainly changes the persuasive power of the social media when the social milieu is upgraded.  We strengthen each other.  The prophet would later explain:

“There is no other way for the Saints to be saved in these last days, than by gathering…  This gathering together of all the Saints, must take place before the Lord comes to “take vengeance upon the ungodly,” and “to be glorified…” TPJS p183

And, there was another purpose for the gathering that this section reveals.  One that would have powerful implications in the protection of the saints:

32 Wherefore, for this cause, I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high;

The Prophet Joseph would later explain this new and saving power:

“The object of gathering the people of God, in any age of the world, was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.” TPJS p308

The rest of the section is the plea from a loving father for those of His children that know, to go forth to those that don’t know, not with a voice that shakes the earth but with a voice of “mildness and meekness,”[xiv] and then for all of them who know to,

“Go ye out from among the wicked. Save yourselves. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Even so. Amen.” DC 38:42

President Nelson has just taught us that Israel, the name for the people of God, means “God prevails.”  He invited us to let Him prevail in our lives.  Will “darkness prevail” or will we let God prevail by:

  1. Esteeming each other as ourselves
  2. Seeking the four unities of Zion: mental, emotional, behavioral, financial
  3. Gathering to the stakes of Zion
  4. Actually, being endowed with power from on high. For going to the temple is not the same as being endowed with power.

“No man or woman can come out of the temple endowed as he should be, unless he has seen, beyond the symbol, the mighty realities for which the symbols stand.”

“The endowment which was given by revelation can best be understood by revelation; and to those who seek most vigorously, with pure hearts, will the revelation be greatest.” [xv]

“If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.” President Russell M. Nelson, April 1, 2018

“Growing up in the Lord” as a sequel to our being “born again” also enhances the unity that will shield the saints as latter-day chaos and crises crescendo in an effort to call all who will to repentance.  The protection we seek as saints will result, as the Lord taught in this section and reverberated by the prophet when he said:

The endowment is calculated to unite our hearts, …that our faith may be strong, so that Satan cannot overthrow us, nor have any power over us here.

You need an endowment, brethren, in order that you may be prepared and able to overcome all things.  TPJS p 91

Notes:

[i] “The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes” D&C 38:2

The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. D&C 130:6-7

[ii]  See https://latterdaysaintmag.com/seeking-the-lords-sacred-signature-on-our-lives/

[iii] “I give unto you the kingdom” is mentioned in some form or another beginning in D&C 29, sixteen times in this restoration cannon.

[iv] Note these examples:

D&C 5:33 there are many that lie in wait to destroy thee from off the face of the earth; and for this cause, that thy days may be prolonged, I have given unto thee these commandments.

D&C 59:4 they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me.

D&C 1:24 these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness…

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

[v] D&C 42:30 And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken.

D&C 104:15 And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.

16 But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.

[vi] For example, verse 18: And I hold forth and deign to give unto you greater riches,

[vii] See Alma 42, especially vs 15… God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

[viii] D&C 104: 18 Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.

Matthew 19: 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

[ix] D&C 46:11 For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

12 To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

[x] D&C 46:8-12 Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given; For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me…I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church. For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

[xi] D&C 89:4 In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you…

[xii] PofGP; JSM 1:22 For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant.

[xiii] Persuasion is not new or modern, but the effectiveness of the techniques is magnified through media as seen by examining ten commonly used through advertising and social media.

Ten Persuasive Techniques for Sales [Updated 2020] https://www.yesware.com/blog/persuasive-techniques/

  • Reframe their mindset. …
  • Storytelling breathes life into something ordinary. …
  • Repetition grows familiarity. …
  • Specificity makes an argument more believable. …
  • Authenticity attracts trust. …
  • Social proof increases willingness to buy. …
  • Telling them “why” makes their decision easy. …
  • Metaphors make us process faster and stay engaged.

[xiv] See also a succeeding section that reveals a pattern by which one can recognize a divinely empowered messenger from a pretender.

14 And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—

15 Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances.

16 He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.

17 And again, he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you.

18 And again, he that is overcome and bringeth not forth fruits, even according to this pattern, is not of me.

19 Wherefore, by this pattern ye shall know the spirits in all cases under the whole heavens. (D&C 52)

[xv] (John A. Widtsoe, “Temple Worship,” The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Vol. XII, 1921, 49-64. Link.)