Church History
Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 90

“Doctrine and Covenants 90,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (2020)

“Doctrine and Covenants 90,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers

Doctrine and Covenants 90

Revelation, 8 March 1833

Source Note

Revelation, Kirtland Township, OH, 8 Mar. 1833; copied [ca. Mar. 1833]; handwriting of Frederick G. Williams; three pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes docket and archival marking. For more information, see the source note on the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Historical Introduction

Marking a significant development in the church’s chief governing body, this revelation announced that the counselors in the presidency of the high priesthood were equal with JS “in holding the keys of this Last Kingdom.” The presidency of the high priesthood had its beginnings sixteen months earlier, on 11 November 1831, when a revelation established the office of the president of the high priesthood. That revelation called the office of the high priesthood “the greatest of all” and said that “it must needs be that one be appointed of the high Priest hood to preside over the Priest hood & he shall be called President of the high Priest hood of the Church” and have the duty to “preside over the whole church.”1 At a church conference in Amherst, Ohio, held on 25 January 1832, JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood by Sidney Rigdon.2

The 11 November 1831 revelation also gave the president authority to appoint twelve counselors to form a disciplinary court, introducing the idea that a body of counselors was to support the president.3 Precedent for forming a leadership body of three people came earlier in 1831 when Edward Partridge was designated as the church’s first bishop with “two of the Elders” appointed to assist him in attending to the temporal and spiritual concerns of the church.4 On 8 March 1832, JS chose and ordained Jesse Gause and Sidney Rigdon to assist him as “councillers of the ministry of the presidency of th[e] high Pristhood.”5 A revelation dictated around the same time affirmed that the president of the high priesthood had “authority to preside with the assistence of his councellers over all the Concerns of the church.”6 On 15 March 1832, JS dictated another revelation that elevated the counselors to positions of authority, second only to JS, in managing the affairs of the church. It formally called Gause “to be a high Priest in my church and councellor unto my servant Joseph,” explained the duties of the counselors, and affirmed that “the keys of the Kingdom” belong “always to the prisidency of the high Priesthood.”7 Gause was excommunicated from the Church of Christ on 3 December 1832, and a month later, on 5 January 1833, Frederick G. Williams was called to replace Gause in serving as “Councillor & scribe unto my servant Joseph.”8 Williams probably assumed his new role immediately; he was identified as a counselor in the presidency of the high priesthood in the minutes of a conference held on 22 January 1833, though he was not ordained to this position until 18 March 1833.9 The structure of the presidency remained unchanged until December 1834.10

Before the revelation featured here was dictated, JS was assisted by his counselors as he had been previously by Oliver Cowdery, who had been called in 1830 to support JS as “second elder.”11 The minutes of a conference of high priests that assembled on 22 January 1833 likewise indicated a hierarchy in the presidency, with JS as “President,” Sidney Rigdon as “cheif scribe and high counceler,” and Williams as “assistant scribe and counceler.”12 The following revelation, however, directed that JS’s counselors, Rigdon and Williams, be made “equal” with the president in holding the keys of the kingdom. It likewise authorized the three men to labor together to “set in order all the affairs of this Church and kingdom.” Though JS retained presiding authority, the governing body of the church now had three presidents. Following this revelation, the members of the presidency of the high priesthood signed some letters and official documents with their names in the order of JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams and with the associated title of “Presidents of the High Priesthood.”13 By 1835 this presidency was also known as the “first presidency” of the church.14

In addition to giving instructions regarding the presidency of the high priesthood, this revelation expressed displeasure with some church members in Missouri. JS’s interactions with Missouri leaders in spring 1832, his series of letters with William W. Phelps and Sidney Gilbert from June 1832 to January 1833, and a revelation dated 22 and 23 September 1832 emphasized that Missouri church leaders needed to repent of ongoing disputes and perceived backbiting against JS.15 These interactions and documents likewise reveal a continuing discord between the leaders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, and those in Independence, Missouri. Some Missouri leaders believed that if JS would move to Independence, his presence would help alleviate many of the misunderstandings and hard feelings that had existed for months between church officials in the two locations. On 14 January 1833, Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith penned a letter on behalf of a conference of high priests and elders held in Kirtland to inform the Missouri Saints in a united voice “that Br J. will not settle in Zion until she repent and purify herself & abide by the new covenant, and remember the commandments which have been given her, to do them as well as say them.”16 The revelation featured here reiterated displeasure with specific Missouri leaders for unrepentant behavior. It also clarified that JS would be called to preside over the church in Independence in the Lord’s “own due time.”

This revelation also directed members of the presidency of the high priesthood to set their houses in order, gave instructions concerning the residences of Joseph Smith Sr. and Sidney Rigdon, and emphasized the need to continue the ongoing translation of the Old Testament. It also directed the relocation of Vienna Jaques—a church member who had recently consecrated a significant amount of money to the church—from Kirtland to Jackson County, Missouri.17 How or when church members in Kirtland or Missouri learned of this revelation is unknown, as no extant contemporary sources mention it.


Vienna Jaques.

Vienna Jaques. Circa 1867. After being baptized into the Church of Christ in 1831, Jaques left her Massachusetts home in 1832 to join other Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. She was there only a brief time before a March 1833 revelation instructed her to move to the newly founded city of Zion in Missouri. Before she departed, Jaques made a large monetary contribution to the church. In a letter thanking her, Joseph Smith wrote, “I have often felt a whispering since I received your letter like this Joseph thou art indebted to thy God for the offering of thy Sister Viana which proved a Savior of life as pertaining to thy pecunary concern therefor she should not be forgotten of thee.” (Church History Library, Salt Lake City. Photograph by Edward Martin.)

18Kirtland 8th of March 1833

A Commandment given unto Joseph saying [1]thus saith the Lord verily verily I say unto you my son thy sins are forgiven thee according to thy petition for thy prayers and the prayers of thy brethren have come up into my ears [2]therefore thou art blessed from henceforth that bear the keys of the kingdom19 given unto you20 which kingdom is coming forth for the Last time21 [3]verily I say unto you the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you whilst thou art in the world neither in the world to come22 [4]never[the]less through you shall the oricles23 be given unto another yea even unto the church [5]and all they who receive the oricles of God let them be aware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing and are brought under condemnation thereby24 and stumble and fall25 when the storms descend <&> the winds blow and the rains descend and beat upon their house26 [6]and again verily I say unto thy brethren Sidney [Rigdon] and Fredrick [Frederick G. Williams] there27 sins are forgiven them also and they are accounted as equal with thee in holding the keys of this Last Kingdom [7]as also through your administration the <keys of the> School of the prophets which I have commanded to be organized [8]that thereby they may be perfected in their minstry for the salvation of Zion and of the Nations of Israel and of the Gentiles28 as many as will believe [9]that through your administration they may receive the word and through their administration the word may go forth unto the ends of the earth unto the Gentiles first and then behold and Lo they shall turn unto the Jews29 [10]and then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be reveiled in power in convincing the nations the heathen nations the house of Joseph of the Gospel of their salvation30 [11]for it shall come to pass in that day that evry man shall hear the fulness of the Gospel31 in his own Tongue32 and in his own Language through thou who are ordained unto this power [p. [1]] by the administration of the comforter shed forth33 upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ34 [12]and now verely I say unto you I give unto you a commandment that you continue in this ministry and presidency [13]and when you have finished the translation of the prophets35 you shall from them <thence> forth preside over the affairs of the Church and the School [14]and from time to time as shall be manifest by the comfoter36 receive revelations to unfold the mystres [mysteries] of the kingdom37 [15]and set in order the churches and study and Learn and become acquainted with all good books and with Languages tongues and people &c &c38 [16]and this shall be your business and mission in all your Lives39 to preside in council and set in order all the affairs of this Church and kingdom [17]be not ashamed neither confounded but be admonished in all your high mindedness and pride for it bringeth a snare upon your souls40 [18]set in order your houseses keep slothfulness and uncleanliness far from you41 [19]now verily I say unto you let there be a place provided as soon as it is possable for you for the family of thy councellor & scribe even Frederick42 [20]and <let> mine Aged servant Joseph [Smith Sr.] continue with his family upon the place <where he now lives> and let it not be sold untill the mouth of the Lord shall name43 [21]and let thy councellor even Sidney remain where he now resides untill the mouth of the Lord shall name44 [22]<and> let the Bishop45 search dilligently to obtain an agent and let it be a man who has got riches in store a man of God and of strong faith [23]that thereby he may be enabled to discharge evry debt that the store house of the Lord may not be brought in to disrepute before the eyes of the people46 [24]search diligently pray always and be believing and all things shall work together for your good if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant where with ye have covenanted [p. [2]] one with another [25]let your families be small especially my mine aged Servant Joseph as pertaining to thou who do not belong to your families [26]that those things that are provided for you to bring to pass my work are not taken from you and given to those that are not worthy [27]and thereby you are hindred in accomplishing <those things which> I have commanded you47 [28]and again verely I say unto you it is my will that my hand maiden Viana [Vienna Jaques] should receive money to bear her expences and go up unto the Land of Zion [29]and the residue of her money I will consecrate unto myself and reward her in mine own due time [30]verely I say unto you <that> it is meet in mine eyes that she should go up unto the Land of Zion and receive an inheritance48 from the hand of the Bishop [31]that she may settle down in peace49 <in as much as she is faithful> and not be Idle in her days from thenceforth50 [32]and behold verely I say unto you that ye shall write this commandment and say unto your brethren in Zion in Love greeting that I have called you also to preside over Zion in mine own due time [33]therefore let them cease wear[y]ing me51 concerning this matter52 [34]behold I say unto you that your brethren in Zion begin to repent53 and the Angels rejoice over them [35]nevertheless I am not well pleased with many things and I am not well please[d] with my servant William E McLel[l]in neithe[r] with my servant sidney Gilbert and the Bishop also and others have many things to repent of54 [36]but verely I say unto you that I the Lord will contend with Zion55 and plead with her strong ones56 and chasten her untill she overcome and are clean before me [37]for she shall not be moved57 out of her place I the Lord have spoken it— Am[en]— [p. [3]]

Notes

  1. Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:64–65, 91], herein.

  2. Three months later, on 26 April 1832, a conference of high priests in Jackson County, Missouri, also acknowledged him as president. (Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832, in JSP, D2:231–233.)

  3. Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:78–80], herein.

  4. Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9], herein; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:31], herein; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831, in JSP, D1:327.

  5. Note, 8 Mar. 1832, in JSP, D2:204.

  6. Revelation, between ca. 8 and ca. 24 Mar. 1832, in JSP, D2:221.

  7. Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:1–2], herein.

  8. JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1832, in JSP, J1:10; Revelation, 5 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:361. Likely because of his excommunication, Gause’s name was struck through in the version of the 15 March 1832 revelation written in Revelation Book 2 and Williams’s name was inserted in its place. Williams’s name, not Gause’s, appears in the earliest published version of the 15 March 1832 revelation. (Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832, in JSP, D2:208; Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:1], herein; see also Woodford, “Jesse Gause,” 362–364.)

  9. Minutes, 18 Mar. 1833. The minutes of the 22 January conference offer the earliest firm dating of Williams serving as a counselor to JS in the presidency of the high priesthood. Williams also identified himself as “assistant scribe and councellor” when he recorded three revelations in Revelation Book 2. Though these revelations were dictated on, 6 December 1832, 27–28 December 1832, and 3 January 1833, respectively, they were probably not recorded by Williams until sometime later. (Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:380–382; Revelation Book 2, pp. 32, 46, 48, in JSP, MRB:477, 505, 509; see also License for Frederick G. Williams, 20 Mar. 1833, in JSP, D3:43.)

  10. On 5 December 1834, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams ordained Oliver Cowdery “to the office of assistant President of the High and Holy Priesthood in the Church of Latter-Day Saints.” (JS History, 1834–1836, 17, in JSP, H1:32; see also JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1834, in JSP, J1:47–48.)

  11. See Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21], herein; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:3], herein; and JS History, vol. A-1, 18, in JSP, H1:294 (Draft 2).

  12. Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:380–381.

  13. See, for example, Minutes, 2 May 1833, in JSP, D3:81; Letter to the Church in Thompson, OH, 6 Feb. 1833, in JSP, D3:6; and Letter to Church Leaders in Eugene, IN, 2 July 1833, in JSP, D3:174.

  14. Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68:15], herein.

  15. Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832, in JSP, D2:261–272; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832, herein; Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:365–368; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76], herein. Because of Missouri leaders’ “dark” insinuations and accusations that JS was seeking after “Monarchal” or “Kingly power,” Sidney Rigdon and other church leaders in Kirtland accused leaders in Missouri of rebellion. (Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:372–378.)

  16. JS received separate letters from Sidney Gilbert and William W. Phelps in December 1832 that prompted him to respond in a letter to Phelps on 11 January 1833. JS wrote, “Our hearts are greatly greaved at the spirit which is breathed both in your letter & that of Bro G—s [Sidney Gilbert] the wery spirit which is wasting the strength of Zion like a pestalence,” and exhorted them to repent. Two days after JS wrote to Phelps, a conference of high priests and elders assembled in Kirtland to address the upheaval in Missouri. Fulfilling a commandment given in September 1832 to exhort Missouri members to repent for their rebellion against JS, the conference assigned Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith to compose a letter to church leaders in Missouri to curtail the perceived spirit of rebellion. (Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:367; Minutes, 13–14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:370–371; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76], herein; see also Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:372–378.)

  17. Shortly before this revelation was dictated, Jaques arrived in Kirtland, having traveled from Boston. (George Hamlin, “In Memoriam,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Mar. 1884, 12:152; see also Letter to Vienna Jaques, 4 Sept. 1833, in JSP, D3:288.)

  18. TEXT: It is likely that the punctuation found in this manuscript was added after its initial inscription; however, it is possible that the punctuation is contemporaneous with the document’s initial creation. In the transcript featured here, all punctuation has been omitted.

  19. The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants expanded the text of a previously published revelation, originally dictated in summer 1830. The expanded text, which refers to the “keys of the kingdom,” reported the voice of the Lord speaking to JS about many of the angelic visitations JS had received by mid-1830: “Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry: and of the same things which I revealed unto them: unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times.” (Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830 [D&C 27:12–13], herein.)

  20. See Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:4–5], herein; Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:2], herein; and Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:2], herein.

  21. See Luke 11:2; 1 John 2:18; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 137 [Jacob 5:62]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:84], herein; see also Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:5–6], herein.

  22. See Matthew 16:19. Regarding JS’s receipt of divine keys, see Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7], herein; and Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:5], herein.

  23. Webster’s 1828 dictionary states that “among christians, oracles … denotes the communications, revelations or messages delivered by God to prophets.” (“Oracle,” in American Dictionary [1828], italics in original; see also 1 Peter 4:11.)

  24. A JS revelation dictated the previous September similarly declared, “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received which vanity and unbelief hath brought the whole church under condemnation … and thay shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant even the book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them not only to say but to do according to that which I have writen.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:54–57], herein; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 446, 583–584 [Helaman 14:19; Moroni 9:6].)

  25. See Isaiah 8:15; Romans 11:11; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 94 [2 Nephi 18:15].

  26. See Matthew 7:27.

  27. TEXT: Possibly “their”.

  28. Two months earlier, a revelation called for the establishment of an “Elders school” to help educate the men of the church in doctrinal, social, and political matters. It was intended that through instruction, study, fasting, and prayer, church elders would “be prepared, in all things … that you may be perfected, in your ministry to go forth among the gentiles, for the last time.” The School of the Prophets was organized 22–23 January in Kirtland and met thereafter until late March, when many of the elders were sent on missions. (Revelation Book 2, Index, [1], in JSP, MRB:413; Revelation, 3 Jan. 1833 [D&C 88:127–137], herein; Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:372–378; Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:380–382; Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A, in JSP, D3:46; Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 23 Mar. 1833; see also Samuel Smith, Diary, 8 May 1833.)

  29. The theology of the Church of Christ envisioned that in the last days, in an apparent reversal of the New Testament sequence given in Romans 2:9–10, the Jews would receive the gospel only after the “times of the Gentiles” were fulfilled. A revelation in November 1831, therefore, exhorted the church to “send forth the Elders of my Church” to “call upon all nations firstly upon the gentiles & then upon the Jews.” (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:25], herein; Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:8], herein; see also Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84], herein; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 32 [1 Nephi 13:42].)

  30. Early church members believed that the “house of Joseph” referred to American Indians. When chronicling the first appointments of missionaries to go to the American Indians, JS’s history described the native peoples as “remnants of the house of Joseph—the Lamanites residing in the west.” (“The Elders in the Land of Zion to the Church of Christ Scattered Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [5]; JS History, vol. A-1, p. 60, in JSP, H1:458 [Draft 2]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28], herein; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 485, 566 [3 Nephi 15:12; Ether 13:7–8].)

  31. See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 23, 36 [1 Nephi 10:14; 15:13].

  32. See Acts 2:6–8; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 303, 565 [Alma 29:8; Ether 12:39].

  33. See Acts 2:33.

  34. See Galatians 1:12; 1 Peter 1:13; and Revelation 1:1.

  35. A note in Minute Book 1 suggests that JS completed his review and translation of the New Testament on 2 February 1833. Having completed that work, JS, with the assistance of Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, turned to revising the Old Testament. In March 1833, JS and Williams were translating books “of the prophets” in the Old Testament, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They completed that work on 2 July 1833. (Minute Book 1, 2 Feb. 1833; Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832, in JSP, D2:261–267; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 2 July 1833, in JSP, D3:166; see also Old Testament Revision 2, p. 119; for more information on JS’s Bible translation, see Historical Introduction to Visions of Moses, June 1830 [Moses 1], in JSP, D1:151; and Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 6, 72.)

  36. See John 14:21–26.

  37. See, for example, Matthew 13:11; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 131, 333–334 [Jacob 4:18; Alma 40:3].

  38. A previous revelation spoke of the need to seek out the “best books” for learning and to take the “everlasting gospel” to “all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.” (Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:80, 84, 118], herein.)

  39. At this point, the revelation transitions to addressing the entire presidency of the high priesthood, not just JS.

  40. See Proverbs 18:7; 22:25.

  41. Two months before this revelation was dictated, an editorial comment in the church’s newspaper encouraged readers to “be cleanly; no matter what condition yours may be, cleanliness is a virtue, that will be required in Zion. Heaven shines with glory, and the Lord clothes his angels with white robes: How necessary, then, that his saints should be decent.” (“Let Every Man Learn His Duty,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1833, [5], emphasis in original; see also Ecclesiastes 10:18; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 537 [Mormon 9:28].)

  42. Since early 1831, Williams had allowed JS to use 144 acres of land in Kirtland for church purposes. This revelation seems to be reiterating a decision made by a conference in October 1831 that “Br Frederick G Williams’ family be provided with a comfortable dwelling by this Church.” (Minute Book 2, 10 Oct. 1831; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, 15 May 1831, in JSP, D1:309–312.)

  43. In January 1833, a revelation directed Williams to “let thy farm be consecratd f[o]r bringing forth of the revelations.” In early May 1834, after a revelation gave JS stewardship over the farm and lot “upon which his father now resides,” Williams formally deeded the title to JS. Williams’s property was immediately south of the planned location for future church buildings in Kirtland. (Revelation, 5 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104:43], herein; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 18, pp. 477–478, 5 May 1834, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 17; regarding the lodgings of Joseph Smith Sr. and his family in relationship to Frederick G. Williams’s property, see Historical Introduction to Revelation, 15 May 1831, in JSP, D1:309–312.)

  44. In his journal entry for 26 May 1832, Reynolds Cahoon recorded that Sidney Rigdon had just returned from Jackson County, Missouri, and moved to the Kirtland flats. (Cahoon, Diary, 26 and 31 May 1832.)

  45. Newel K. Whitney, the bishop in Kirtland.

  46. A September 1832 revelation similarly directed that Bishop Newel K. Whitney employ “an agent for to take charge and to do his [Whitney’s] seccular business as he shall direct.” The identity of this agent remains unknown. An agent would have been needed in part because the revelation indicated that Whitney would be away from Kirtland, traveling “round about and among all the churches searching after the poor.” If Whitney did not travel as extensively as the revelation directed, he may not have employed such an agent at all and may have taken care of such matters himself. (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:112–113], herein.)

  47. This sentence likely refers to Joseph Smith Sr.’s arrangement to live and work on Frederick G. Williams’s farm. Lucy Mack Smith later wrote that “on this farm my family were all established with this arrangement, that we were to cultivate the farm and from the fruit of our labor we were to receive our support; but all over and above this was to be used for the comfort of strangers or brethren, who were travelling through the place.” (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 206; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, 15 May 1831, in JSP, D1:309–312.)

  48. See, for example, Numbers 34:14; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 565 [Ether 12:32].

  49. See Psalm 4:8; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 158, 332 [Mosiah 2:28; Alma 38:15].

  50. Jaques had recently “collected her means and gathered with the Saints, and by her liberality rendered such pecuniary assistance to the Church in its infancy.” The following month a conference of high priests decided that “Sister Vean Jaqush [Vienna Jaques] should not immediately procede on her Journy to Zion but to wait untill William Hobert gets ready and go in company with him.” On 2 July 1833, the presidents of the high priesthood wrote to church leaders in Zion, saying that “we rejoiced greatly to hear of the safe arival of Sister Viana and brother William and thank our heavenly father that their lives have been spared them till their arival.” JS wrote to Jaques in September 1833 thanking her for her financial contributions; he noted that he was indebted to her for her offering. (George Hamlin, “In Memoriam,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Mar. 1884, 12:152; Minutes, 30 Apr. 1833, in JSP, D3:71; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 2 July 1833, in JSP, D3:166; Letter to Vienna Jaques, 4 Sept. 1833, in JSP, D3:288.)

  51. See Isaiah 7:13; and Malachi 2:17.

  52. A reference to the ongoing disputes between church leaders in Kirtland, Ohio, and those in Jackson County, Missouri. (See Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:364–368; and Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:372–378.)

  53. JS soon learned that the letter calling the Missouri leaders to repentance, sent on 14 January 1833 from Kirtland, achieved its desired goal of effecting a reconciliation between church leaders in Independence and those in Kirtland. The Missouri elders sent a penitent and peace-proffering letter dated 26 February 1833, which was received by church officials in Kirtland with relief and delight. (Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:372–378; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 21 Apr. 1833, in JSP, D3:64.)

  54. A conference met in Kirtland on 3 December 1832 and excommunicated McLellin for reasons that were not specified but were likely related to either his earlier failure to complete several missions or his unauthorized immigration to Missouri. At the time of this revelation, McLellin was serving a mission with Parley P. Pratt in Illinois and eastern Missouri. Sidney Gilbert may have been chastised here because of failure to satisfactorily carry out instructions given him in a July 1831 revelation to serve as an agent for the church, to “establish a store” to obtain money for the “good of the Saints” in Missouri, and to do his business “in righteousness.” Gilbert also penned a letter, no longer extant, on 10 December 1832 to JS, which a conference of high priests and elders in Kirtland decided contained “low, dark, & blind insinuations.” In a letter to Missouri leaders on behalf of the conference, Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith encouraged Gilbert to “do his business in the spirit of the Lord” and to repent and do the work that the Lord commanded of him. In April, JS wrote, “We have learned of the Lord that it is his [Gilbert’s] duty to assist all the poor brethren that are pure in heart and that he has done rong in with holding credit from them as they must have assistence for the Lord established him in Zion for that express purpose.” The other individual reprimanded here is Edward Partridge, who was serving as bishop in Independence at this time. The specific reasons for the displeasure with Partridge remain unclear. Though Gilbert and Partridge had both been embroiled in intermittent tensions with JS and Ohio church leaders for more than a year and a half, they were also involved in the 26 February 1833 “special council of High Priests” in Missouri that “kneeled before the Lord & asked him to effect a perfect harmony” between them and their “brethren in Kirtland.” At the time of this revelation, however, JS had not yet learned of the spirit of reconciliation that had come out of that council. (JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1832, in JSP, J1:10; Revelation, 25 Jan. 1832–A [D&C 75:6–8], herein; Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832, in JSP, D2:261–271; McLellin, Journal, 8 Mar. 1833; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:6, 8], herein; Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833, in JSP, D2:372–378; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 21 Apr. 1833, in JSP, D3:68; Minute Book 2, 26 Feb. 1833.)

  55. See Isaiah 49:25; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 56 [2 Nephi 6:17].

  56. See Psalms 10:10; 35:1; and Jeremiah 8:16.

  57. See Psalm 46:5; see also 2 Samuel 7:10; and 1 Chronicles 17:9.