Church History
Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 35

“Doctrine and Covenants 35,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (2020)

“Doctrine and Covenants 35,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers

Doctrine and Covenants 35

Revelation, 7 December 1830

Source Note

Revelation, [Fayette Township, Seneca Co., NY], to Sidney Rigdon, 7 Dec. 1830. Featured version, titled “38th Commandment AD 1830. Dec.m. 7th,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 46–48; 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

The conversion of Sidney Rigdon and others in northeastern Ohio in fall 1830 transformed the new Church of Christ geographically and demographically. Within a few weeks after missionaries arrived in Ohio, more than one hundred individuals were baptized,1 and by the end of December church members in New York were commanded to move to Ohio.2 Kirtland, where the first baptisms in Ohio took place, became an important gathering place for church members for the next seven years. The visit of Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge to New York only a few weeks after Rigdon’s baptism helped bring about this transition.3 According to John Whitmer’s history, Rigdon made the trip because he had “much anxiety to see Joseph Smith Jr. the Seer whom the Lord had raised up in these last days.”4 Rigdon and Partridge arrived in early December 1830, and shortly thereafter JS dictated a revelation for each of them. This revelation, for Rigdon, praised his previous ministerial labors and positioned him as JS’s scribe for JS’s inspired translation of the Bible. Rigdon remained in New York with JS for the next two months until they both moved to Ohio.

Sidney Rigdon.

Sidney Rigdon. In the fall of 1830, missionaries converted Sidney Rigdon, the leader of a large congregation of reformed Baptists in Ohio. Rigdon began recording Joseph Smith’s inspired revision of the Bible in December 1830 and quickly became an important leader in the church. (Church History Library, Salt Lake City.)t

38th Commandment AD 1830. Dec.m. 7th

A Commandment to Joseph & Sidney [Rigdon]. Sidneys call to writing for Joseph &c5

Saying [1]Listen to the voice of the Lord your God even Alpha & Omega the begining & the end whose course is one6 eternal round the same to day as yesterday & for ever [2]I am Jesus Christ the son of God who was crusified for the sins of the World even as will believe on my name that they may become the sons of God even one in me as I am in the Father as the Father is one in me that we may be one7 [3]Behold Verily Verily I say unto my Servent Sidney I have looked upon thee & thy works8 I have heard thy prayers & prepared thee for a greater work [4]thou art blessed for thou shalt do great things Behold thou wast sent forth even as John to prepare the way before me & Elijah which should come & thou knew it not9 [5]thou didst Baptize by water unto Repentance but they received not the Holy Ghost [6]but now I give unto you a commandment that thou shalt Baptize by water & give <& they shall receive> the Holy Ghost by <the> laying on of hands even as the Apostles of old10 [7]& it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land even among the gentiles for their folly their abominations shall be made manifest in the eyes of all People [8]for I am God & mine arm is <not> shortened & I will shew miricles signs & wonders unto all those who believe [p. 46] who believe on my name [9]& whoso shall ask it in my name in faith they shall cast out Devils they shall heal the sick they shall cause the blind to receive their sight & the deaf the to hear & the dumb to speak & the lame to walk11 [10]& the time speedily cometh12 that great things are to be shewn forth unto the Children of men [11]but without faith not any thing shall be shewn forth except desolations upon Babylon the same which has made all Nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication13 [12]& there are none that do good except they that are ready to receive the fulness of my Gospel which I have sent forth to this generation [13]Wherefore I have called upon the weak things of the world they that are unlearned & dispised14 to thresh the Nations by the Power of my spirit [14]& their arm shall be mine arm & I will be their shield & their Buckler & I will gird up their loins & they shall fight manfully for me & their enemies shall be under their feet15 & I will let fall the sword in their behalf & by the fire of mine indignation will I preserve them16 [15]& the poor & the meek shall have the Gospel preached unto them17 & they shall be looking forth for the time of my coming for it is nigh at hand [16]& they shall learn the Parible of the figg tree for even now already summer is nigh18 [17]& I have sent forth the fullness of the <my> Gospel by the hand of my servent Joseph & in weakness have I blessed him [18]& I have given unto him the Keys of the mystery of those things which have been sealed even things which was from the foundation of the world & the things which shall come from this time until the time of my coming if he abide in me & if not another will I plant in his stead [19]Wherefore watch over him that his faith fail not19 & it shall be given by the comforter (the Holy Ghost) Which knoweth all things [20]& a commandment I give unto you that thou shalt write for him & the scriptures shall be given even as they are in mine own bosom20 to the salvation of mine own elect [21]for th[e]y will hear my voice & shall see me & shall not be asleep & shall abide the day of my coming for they shall be purified even as I am pure21 [22]& now I [p. 47] Say unto you tarry with him & he shall Journey with thee forsake him not & shurely these things shall be fulfilled22 [23]& in as much as ye do not write behold it shall be given him to prophecy & thou shalt Preach my gospel & call on the Holy Prophets to prove his words as they shall be given him23 [24]keep all the commandments & covenants by which ye are bound & I will cause the Heavens to shake for your Good & satan shall tremble & Zion shall rejoice upon the Hills & florish [25]& Israel shall be saved in mine own due time & by the Keys which have shall been given shall they be led & no more be confounded at all[.] [26]lift up your hearts & be Glad your redemption draweth nigh [27]fear not little flock24 the Kingdom is yours untill I come Behold I come quickly25 even so amen

Notes

  1. Pratt, Autobiography, 50; Anderson, “Impact of the First Preaching in Ohio,” 478.

  2. See Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:2–3], herein; and Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32], herein.

  3. See [Matthew S. Clapp], “Mormonism,” Painesville (OH) Telegraph, 15 Feb. 1831, [1]–[2]; Knight, Reminiscences, 8; and Walter Scott, “Mormon Bible.—No. V,” Evangelist, 1 June 1841, 132–136.

  4. Whitmer, History, 1, in JSP, H2:13.

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

  6. The version published in the Ohio Star in January 1832 has “an.” (“Mormonism,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 5 Jan. 1832, [3].)

  7. See John 1:12; 17:21.

  8. During Rigdon’s nearly decade-long ministry in association with Alexander Campbell, he gained a reputation as a powerful preacher. One early follower recalled, “His action was graceful, his language copious, fluent in utterance, with articulation clear and musical.” (Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 192; see also Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, 47; and Chase, “Sidney Rigdon—Early Mormon,” 24–32.)

  9. An early follower of Alexander Campbell wrote that prior to the arrival of missionaries from the Church of Christ, Rigdon “was travailing with expectancy of some great event soon to be revealed to the surprise and astonishment of mankind” and “preparing others for the voice of some mysterious event soon to come.” Painesville, Ohio, Telegraph editor Eber D. Howe wrote in 1834 that Rigdon had so thoroughly “prepared the minds in a great measure, of nearly a hundred of those who had attended his ministration to be in readiness to embrace the first mysterious ism that should be presented” that surreptitiously he must have been “the original ‘author and proprietor’ of the whole Mormon conspiracy.” (Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 209; Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 290, italics in original.)

  10. See Acts 8:18–19.

  11. See Mark 16:17–18. A similar promise was given in Revelation, July 1830–A [D&C 24:13], herein.

  12. For “the time speedily cometh,” the Ohio Star version has “this speedily cometh.” (“Mormonism,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 5 Jan. 1832, [3].)

  13. See Revelation 14:8.

  14. See 1 Corinthians 1:27.

  15. See 1 Corinthians 15:25.

  16. The Ohio Star version has “pursue them.” In August 1830, JS and John Whitmer wrote to the church members in Colesville, New York, “Brethren be not dis-couraged when we tell you of perilous times, for they must shortly come, for the sword, famine, and pestilence are approaching, for there shall be great destructions upon the face of this land … and the Lord hath said that a short work will he make of it, and the righteous shall be saved if it be as by fire.” (“Mormonism,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 5 Jan. 1832, [3]; Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 Aug. 1830, in JSP, D1:176.)

  17. See Matthew 11:5.

  18. See Matthew 24:32. One of JS’s contemporaries recalled that the Saints “gained many proselytes … even among persons of intelligence, who had been filled with vague expectations of a speedy millennium.” (Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, 347.)

  19. An 1828 revelation reprimanded JS for the loss of the first part of the Book of Mormon manuscript, warning him that if he did not repent, he would “be delivered up & become as other men & have no more gift.” The command here to Rigdon to “watch over” JS acknowledges JS’s gifts but also his fallibility. Similarly, an earlier revelation admonished Oliver Cowdery to “stand by my servant Joseph faithfully in whatsoever difficult circumstances he may be, for the word’s sake. Admonish him in his faults and also receive admonition of him.” (Revelation, July 1828 [D&C 3:11], herein; Revelation, Apr. 1829–A [D&C 6:18–19], herein.)

  20. This passage refers to JS’s revision of the Bible, a project he commenced earlier in 1830. By December he had reached Genesis 5. Pursuant to this revelation, Rigdon promptly commenced his scribal labors, writing JS’s dictation of a lengthy expansion of Genesis 5:22–24. (See Old Testament Revision 1, pp. 12–19 [Moses 6:26–8:4].)

  21. See Malachi 3:2–3; and 1 John 3:2–3.

  22. Decades later, David Whitmer described Rigdon’s impact on JS: “He soon worked himself deep into Brother Joseph’s affections, and had more influence over him than any other man living. He was Brother Joseph’s private counsellor, and his most intimate friend and brother for some time after they met. Brother Joseph rejoiced, believing that the Lord had sent to him this great and mighty man Sydney Rigdon, to help him in the work.” (Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 35.)

  23. Eber D. Howe, a vocal critic of JS, interpreted the revelation in this way: “[Rigdon was] very intimate with the scriptures, a close reasoner, and … was forthwith appointed to promulgate … Mormonism, ‘and call on the Holy Prophets to prove’ all the words of Smith.” An early account of JS prophesying and Rigdon “proving” his words from the Bible is found in John Whitmer’s history. Whitmer wrote that after this revelation was dictated, “Joseph prophesied saying: God is about to destroy this generation, and Christ will descend from heaven in power and great glory, with all the holy angels with him, to take vengeance upon the wicked, and they that know not God: Sidny preached the gospel and proved his words from the holy prophets: and so powerful were thier words, that the people who heard them speak were amazed, and trembled, and knew not whereunto this thing would grow.” (Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 110; Whitmer, History, 5, in JSP, H2:17–18.)

  24. See Luke 21:28; 12:32.

  25. See, for example, Revelation 3:11; 27:7, 12, 20. This phrase was also used in the October 1830 revelation commanding specific church members to evangelize. (Revelation, Oct. 1830–B [D&C 33:18], herein; see also Revelation, 4 Nov. 1830 [D&C 34:12], herein.)