Church History
Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 43

“Doctrine and Covenants 43,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (2020)

“Doctrine and Covenants 43,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers

Doctrine and Covenants 43

Revelation, February 1831–A

Source Note

Revelation, Kirtland Township, OH, [Feb.] 1831. Featured version, titled “45th. Commandment AD 1831,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 67–70; 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 following his arrival in Kirtland, Ohio. It clarified JS’s position as the only person authorized to “receive commandments & Revelations” for the Church of Christ.1 Before JS’s arrival in Kirtland, the converts in the area were left for several months without any experienced leadership. Sidney Rigdon and many of his followers in Ohio had been baptized into the church in November 1830, and Rigdon then left Ohio to meet JS in New York while Oliver Cowdery and other missionaries who had baptized the Ohio believers left for the western borders of the United States. Concerned about the lack of leadership, JS sent John Whitmer to Ohio with copies of the revelations “to comfort and strengthen my brethren in that land.” When Whitmer arrived in mid-January, the conduct of the Ohio members surprised and concerned him. He wrote, “The enemy of all righteous had … made them think that an angel of God appeard to them, and showed them writings on the outside cover of the Bible, and on parchment, which flew through the air, and on the back of their hands, and many such foolish and vain things, others lost their strength, and some slid on the floor, and such like maneuvers, which proved greatly to th[e] injury of the cause.” Whitmer concluded that it was “ne[ce]ssary that this people should have instruction, and learn to decern between the things of God and the works of Satan.”2

In this atmosphere of religious excess came a specific challenge to JS’s authority. In February 1831, the same month that JS and other members arrived from New York,3 a woman referred to as Mrs. “Hubble” claimed to receive revelations, which she shared publicly with other members.4 As John Whitmer explained in his later history: “About these days there was a woman by the name of Hubble who professed to be a prophetess of the Lord. and professed to have many revelations, and knew that the Book of mormon was true; and that she should become a teacher in the Church of Christ. She appeard very sanctimonious and deceived some, who were not able to detect her in her hypocracy.” According to Whitmer, “The Lord gave [this] Revelation that the saints might not be decived.”5 Similarly, the introduction to this revelation in JS’s history notes that “a woman came with great pretentions to revealing commandments, laws and other curious matters” and that JS felt it was “necessary to inquire of the Lord.”6

This revelation appears to have been dictated between 9 February and the end of the month. John Whitmer copied it into Revelation Book 1 directly after a 9 February 1831 revelation and before a revelation dated “Febu. 1831.” Sometime later a revelation dated 23 February was inserted on a loose sheet immediately following the 9 February 1831 revelation and before the revelation featured here.7

45th. Commandment AD 1831

given to the Elders of this Church at Kirtland Geauga Ohio8

[1]Oh hearken ye Elders of my Church & give ere [ear] to the words which I shall speak unto you [2]for Behold verily Verily I say unto you that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my Church9 through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments & Revelations from my hand [3]& this ye shall know asshuredly that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments & Revelations untill he be taken if he abide in me. [4]but Verily Verily I say unto you that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him for if it be taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead [5]& this shall be a law unto you that ye receive not the teachings of any that shall [p. 67]

Come before you with as Revelations or commandments [6]& this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me [7]for Verily I say unto you that he that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate & be ordained as I have told you before to teach those Revelations which you have received & shall receive through him whom I have appointed— [8]& now Behold I give unto you a commandment that when ye are assembled yourselves together ye shall note with a Pen how to act, & for my Church to act upon the points of my law10 & commandments which I have given [9]& thus it shall become a law unto you being Sanctified by that which ye have received that ye shall bind yourselves to act in all holiness before me [10]that in as much as ye do this glory shall be ad[d]ed to the Kingdom which ye have received, inasmuch as ye do it not it shall be taken even that which ye have received, [11]purge ye out the iniquity which is among you11 Sanctify yourselves before me [12]& if ye desire the glories of the Kingdom appoint ye my Servent & uphold him before me by the prayer of faith [13]& again I say unto you that if you desire the mysteries of the Kingdom provide for him food & raiment & whatsoever is thing he needeth to accomplish the work which I have commanded him12 [14]& if ye do it not he shall remain unto them that have received him that I may reserve unto myself a pure People before me—

[15]Again I say hearken ye Elders of my Church whom I have appointed ye are not sent forth to be taught but to teach the Children of men the things which I have put in your hands by the power of my Spirit [16]& ye are to be taught from on high Sanctify yourselves & ye shall be endowed with power from on high that ye may give even as I have spoken13 [17]hearken ye for Behold the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand [18]for the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of [p. 68] Heaven the Hevens shall shake & the Earth shall tremble & the Trump of God shall sound both long & loud & shall say to the sleeping Nations ye saints arise & live ye sinners stay & sleep untill I shall call again14 [19]Wherefore gird up your loins lest ye are found among the wicked [20]lift up your voices & spare not call upon the Nations to repent both old & young both bond & free saying prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord [21]for if I who am a man do lift up my voice & call upon you to repent & ye hate men what will you say when the day cometh when the Thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the Earth speaking in the ears of all that live saying repent & prepare for the great day of the Lord [22]yea & again when the lightning shall streak forth from the East unto the west & shall utter forth their voices unto all that live & make the ears of all tingle that hear saying these words repent ye for the great day of the Lord is come [23]& again the lord shall utter his voice out of Heaven saying hearken O ye Nations of the Earth & hear the words of that God who made you [24]O ye Nations of the Earth how often would I have gethered you as a hen gethereth her chickens under her wings15 but ye would not [25]how oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my Servents & by the ministering of Angels & by the voice of lightnings & by the voice of tempests & by the voice of Earthquakes & great hailstorms & by the voice of famines & pestilences of evry kind & by the great sound of a trump & by the voice of Judgements & by the voice of mercy all the day long & by the voice of Glory & honour & the riches of eternal life & would have saved you with an everlasting salvation but ye would not [26]Behold the day has come when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full [27]Behold verily I say unto you that these are the words of the Lord your God [28]Wherefore Labour ye Labour ye in my vineyard for the last time for the last time call ye upon the inhabitants of the Earth [29]for in mine [p. 69] Own due time will I come upon the Earth in Judgement & my People shall be redeemed & shall reign with me on Earth [30]for the great Millenial which I have spoken by the mouths of my Servents shall come [31]for satan shall be bound & when he is loosed again he shall only reign for a little Season & then cometh the end of the world [32]& he that liveth in righteousness shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye16 & the Earth shall pass away so as by fire17 [33]& the wicked shall go away into unquinchable fire & their end no man knoweth on Earth nor ever shall know untill they come before me in Judgement [34]hearken ye to these words Behold I am Jesus Christ the saveiour of the World treasure these things up in your hearts & let the Solemn[i]ties of Eternity rest upon your minds [35]be sober keep all the commandments even So amen

Notes

  1. For an earlier event that resulted in similar clarification, see Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28], herein; and Minutes, 26 Sept. 1830, in JSP, D1:190. The instruction in the September 1830 text was a response to revelations that Hiram Page had received from a seer stone and that Oliver Cowdery and others had accepted as divine communications. The September revelation stated that only JS had “the keys of the mysteries of the Revelations which are sealed until I shall appoint unto him another in his stead.” (Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7], herein.)

  2. Whitmer, History, 10–11, in JSP, H2:22; “Mormonism,” Painesville (OH) Telegraph, 18 Jan. 1831, [3]; see also Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50], herein.

  3. Sidney Rigdon apparently arrived in Kirtland 1 February 1831, and JS arrived three days later. ([Matthew S. Clapp], “Mormonism,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 15 Feb. 1831, [1] –[2]; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 92.)

  4. Whitmer, History, 18, in JSP, H2:29. This was possibly Laura Fuller Hubbell, older sister of Edson Fuller, who had joined the church and been ordained an elder, but the woman was more likely “Mrs. Louisa Hubbell,” who had converted from the Disciples of Christ and later rejoined the Disciples in May 1831. (Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 472; Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 79–80, 111–114.)

  5. Whitmer, History, 18, in JSP, H2:29. Critic Ezra Booth reported that Hubbell “so ingratiated herself into the esteem and favor of some of the Elders, that they received her, as a person commissioned to act a conspicuous part in Mormonizing the world.” Booth added, “Rigdon, and some others, gave her the right hand of fellowship, and literally saluted her with what they called the kiss of charity. But Smith viewing her as encroaching upon his sacred premises, declared her an impostor, and she returned to the place from whence she came.” (Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 8 Dec. 1831, [1].)

  6. JS History, vol. A-1, 101.

  7. Revelation Book 1, pp. 62–70, in JSP, MRB:95–113. Although the insertion of the 23 February 1831 revelation immediately after the 9 February 1831 revelation may indicate that Whitmer thought the text featured here was written after 23 February, it is equally plausible that Whitmer simply meant to bring together the 9 and 23 February revelations, which were later published as a single text. (Revelation, 9 and 23 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42], herein.)

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

  9. Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:1–72], herein; Revelation, 23 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:74–93], herein. At least the portion written 9 February preceded the text featured here.

  10. Here the usage suggests that this instance of “my law” may refer not only to the 9 February 1831 revelation but to the revelations of God more broadly. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:1–72], herein.)

  11. See Letter to Hyrum Smith, 3–4 Mar. 1831, in JSP, D1:270.

  12. This repeats earlier injunctions for the church members to provide for the temporal needs of JS’s family. (See Revelation, July 1830–A [D&C 24:3, 18], herein; and Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:7], herein.)

  13. See Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32–33], herein.

  14. See Revelation 20:4–5.

  15. See Matthew 23:37; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 474 [3 Nephi 10:6]; Revelation, Spring 1829 [D&C 10:65], herein; and Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:2], herein.

  16. See 1 Corinthians 15:52.

  17. See Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:23], herein.