Church History
Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 33

“Doctrine and Covenants 33,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (2020)

“Doctrine and Covenants 33,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers

Doctrine and Covenants 33

Revelation, October 1830–B

Source Note

Revelation, Fayette Township, Seneca Co., NY, to Ezra Thayer and Northrop Sweet, Oct. 1830. Featured version, titled “35 & 36th Commandment AD Oct. 1830,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 44–45; handwriting of John Whitmer; CHL. Includes redactions. For more information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1 on the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Historical Introduction

JS dictated this revelation for Ezra Thayer and Northrop Sweet in early October 1830, within a month of their baptisms in the Church of Christ. The revelation appointed them to the ministry and provided instruction regarding their preaching. Later in his life, Thayer wrote that he was prepared for the revelation by a vision in which “a man came and brought me a roll of paper and presented it to me, and also a trumpet and told me to blow it. I told him that I never blowed any in my life. He said you can blow it, try it. I put it in my mouth and blowed on it, and it made the most beautiful sound that I ever heard. The roll of paper was the revelation on me and Northrop Sweet. Oliver [Cowdery] was the man that brought the roll and trumpet. When he brought the revelation on me and Northrop Sweet, he said, here is a revelation from God for you.”1

Thayer also recalled that, following this revelation, Sweet “soon left the church.” George A. Smith, JS’s cousin and later a church apostle, explained that Sweet and five others left the church and “organized the ‘Pure Church of Christ,’ as they called it, composed of six members, and commenced having meetings, and preaching, but that was the extent of the growth of this early schism.”2 Thayer, on the other hand, gathered “a large congregation” to hear JS preach. According to his own account, Thayer filled his barn—“and some could not get in”—where JS, Hyrum Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson preached “with great power.”3

35 & 36th4 Commands Commandment AD5 1830

A Commandment to Ezra [Thayer] & Northrop [Sweet] th[e]ir call to the ministery &c given at Fayette Seneca County State of New York6

[1]Saying I say unto you Ezra & Northrop open ye your ears & hearken to the voice of the Lord your God whose word is quick & powerfull sharper than a twoedged sword to the dividing asunder of the Joints & marrow Soul & spirit & is a decerner of the thoughts & intents of the heart7 [2]for Verily Verily I say unto you that ye are called to lift up voices as with the sound of a Trump to declare my Gospel unto a Crooked & a perverse generation8 [3]for Behold the field is white already to harvest & it is the Elvenenth hour & for the last time that I shall call labouerers into my vineyard9 [4]& my vineyard has become corrupted evry whit & there is none that doeth good save it is a few only10 <& they do err in many instances because of Priest crafts> all having corrupt minds [5]& Verily Verily I say unto you that this Church have I established & called forth out of the Wilderness [6]& even so will I gether mine elect elect from the four quarters of the Earth even as many as will believe in <on> my name & hearken unto my voice11 [7]yea Verily Verily I say unto you that the field is white already to harvest Wherefore thrust in thy sickles & reap with all thy mights mind & strength12 [8]open thy mouth & it shall be filled & thou shalt become even as Nephi of old who Journ[ey]ed from Jerusalem in the wilderness13 [9]yea open thy mouth & spare not & thou shalt be laden with Sheaves upon thy Back14 for lo I am with thee you [10]yea [p. 44] Open thy mouth & it shall be filled saying Repent repent & prepare ye the way of the Lord & make his paths strait for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand15 [11]yea Repent & be Baptized evry one of you for the remission of sins yea be baptized even by water & then cometh the Baptism of fire & the Holy Ghost16 [12]Behold Verily Verily I say unto you this is my Gospel & Remember they shall have faith in me or they can in no wise be saved [13]& upon this Rock I will build my Church yea upon this Rock ye are built & the gaits of Hell shall not prevail against you17 [14]& ye shall remember the Church Articles & Covenants to keep them [15]& whoso haveing faith ye shall confirm in my Church by the laying on of the hands & I will bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost upon them18 [16]& the Book of Mormon & the Bible is are given of me for thine instructio[n] & the power of my spirit quickeneth all things [17]Wherefore be faithful praying always having your lamps trimmed & burning & oil with you that ye may be Ready at the coming of the Bride groom19 [18]for Behold Verily Verily I say unto you that I come quickly20 even so amen

Notes

  1. “Testimony of Brother E. Thayre,” True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, Oct. 1862, 82.

  2. George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:4.

  3. “Testimony of Brother E. Thayre,” True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, Oct. 1862, 83. Thayer apparently organized another meeting in December at the Canandaigua courthouse, where JS or Sidney Rigdon likely preached. (“Credulity,” Pennsylvania Inquirer and Morning Journal [Philadelphia], 29 Dec. 1830, [2].)

  4. John Whitmer supplied consecutive numbering to the majority of the revelations in the first part of Revelation Book 1. This is the only case in which a single revelation has two numbers; earlier revelations given to two or more individuals did not receive two numbers. There is no other evidence that this revelation was originally two different texts.

  5. In preparation for publication of the Book of Commandments, John Whitmer inserted “Oct.” here.

  6. John Whitmer likely created this heading when he copied the text into Revelation Book 1.

  7. See, for example, Hebrews 4:12; Revelation, Apr. 1829–A [D&C 6:2], herein; and Revelation, June 1829–A [D&C 14:2], herein.

  8. See Philippians 2:15; and Deuteronomy 32:5.

  9. See Matthew 20:1–16.

  10. See JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 3, in JSP, H1:13.

  11. See Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:7], herein.

  12. See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 156 [Mosiah 2:11]; Revelation, Feb. 1829 [D&C 4:2], herein; and Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:31], herein.

  13. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi, the son of Lehi, journeys with his father’s family from Jerusalem through the wilderness and ultimately sails to the New World. (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 5–9, 38–50 [1 Nephi chaps. 1–2, 16–18].)

  14. See Revelation, Sept. 1830–F [D&C 31:5], herein.

  15. See Matthew 3:2–3.

  16. See Acts 2:38.

  17. See, for example, Matthew 16:18; Revelation, Spring 1829 [D&C 10:69], herein; and Revelation, June 1829–B [D&C 18:5], herein.

  18. Confirmation procedures are discussed in the church’s foundational “Articles and Covenants.” (See Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:41–43], herein.)

  19. See Matthew 25:1–13.

  20. See, for example, Revelation 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20; and Revelation, 4 Nov. 1830 [D&C 34:12], herein.