November 10–16: “I Have Seen Your Sacrifices in Obedience”: Doctrine and Covenants 129–132
“November 10–16: ‘I Have Seen Your Sacrifices in Obedience’: Doctrine and Covenants 129–132,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Doctrine and Covenants 2025 (2025)
“Doctrine and Covenants 129–132,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: 2025
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Joseph Smith teaching
Detail from Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, 1840, by Theodore Gorka
November 10–16: “I Have Seen Your Sacrifices in Obedience”
Through Joseph Smith, the Lord took some of the mystery out of eternity. The greatness of God, the glory of heaven, and the vastness of eternity can seem almost familiar in the light of the restored gospel, even to finite minds like ours. The revelations in Doctrine and Covenants 129–32 are a good example. What is God like? He “has a body … as tangible as man’s.” What is heaven like? “That same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22, 2). In fact, one of the most joyous truths about heaven is that it can include our cherished family relationships, if sealed by the proper authority. Truths like these can make heaven feel less distant—glorious yet reachable.
But then, sometimes God may ask us to do things that seem uncomfortable and unreachable. For many early Saints, plural marriage was one such commandment. It was a severe trial of faith for Joseph Smith, his wife Emma, and almost everyone who received it. To make it through this trial, they needed more than just favorable feelings about the restored gospel; they needed faith in God that went far deeper than that. The commandment no longer stands today, but the faithful example of people who lived it still does. And this example inspires us when we are asked to make our own “sacrifices in obedience” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:50).
There are many things we don’t know about exaltation or life in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom—the kind of life God lives. Much of it may be beyond our current ability to understand. But God has revealed a few precious clues, and many of them are found in Doctrine and Covenants 130–32. You might read with questions like these in mind: What do I learn about God? What do I learn about the life after mortality? How does this information about eternal life bless my life now?
How would you state, in your own words, what the Lord teaches in Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21 and 132:5? Ponder how this principle has been demonstrated in your life.
Sometimes, even when we are obedient to God, the blessings we hope for don’t come right away. How do you maintain your faith and hope when this happens? Look for insights in Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s message “Our Relationship with God” (Liahona, May 2022, 78–80).
Heavenly Father made it possible for families to be eternal.
Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord restored the truth that marriage and family relationships can be eternal. As you read Doctrine and Covenants 132:13–21, look for phrases that help you understand the difference between what will “remain” eternally and what will not. What do you think it means for a marriage relationship to be “by [the Lord]”? (verse 14).
In his message “In Praise of Those Who Save,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf contrasts eternal marriage relationships with “disposable” things (Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 77–78). What does this contrast teach you about how to nurture—or prepare for—a marriage relationship? Think about your family relationships—now and in the future—as you read Elder Uchtdorf’s message. What do you find there that gives you hope in Christ for your family relationships?
President Henry B. Eyring shared this counsel he received when he was worried about his family situation: “You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine” (in “A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 25). How could this counsel help you or someone you know?
Plural marriage is acceptable to God only when He commands it.
Many people who read the Old Testament wonder about Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and others marrying multiple wives. Were these servants of the Lord committing adultery? Did God approve of their marriages? Joseph Smith had similar questions. Look for the answers God gave in Doctrine and Covenants 132:1–2, 29–40.
Marriage between one man and one woman is God’s standard of marriage (see the section heading to Official Declaration 1; Jacob 2:27, 30). However, there have been times when God has commanded His children to practice plural marriage.
Perhaps a simple comparison could teach your children about obeying God’s commandments. For example, you could ask them to give you directions to walk somewhere, like to a school or Church building. What happens when we don’t follow the directions? Then you could read Doctrine and Covenants 130:21 and compare these directions to the commandments God has given us.
You might also sing together a song about obedience, such as “Keep the Commandments” (Children’s Songbook, 146–47), and look for words in Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21 and 132:5 that are similar to those in the song. How does God bless us as we strive to keep His commandments?
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have immortal physical bodies.
After reading Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 together, you and your children could look at a picture of Jesus Christ and point to His eyes, His mouth, and other parts of His body. Your children could point to those same parts of their own bodies. Tell them why it’s important to you to know that our bodies look like Heavenly Father’s and Jesus’s bodies.
Heavenly Father made it possible for families to be together forever.
Help your children find examples of things that do not last forever—food that spoils, flowers that wilt, and so on. Then look at Doctrine and Covenants 132:19 together and find key phrases like “everlasting covenant,” “sealed,” “through all eternity,” and “forever and ever.” (See also “Chapter 55: A Revelation about Marriage,” in Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 198, or the corresponding video in Gospel Library.) You could also look at pictures of your family and testify that the Lord has made it possible, through the ordinances and covenants of the temple, for families to last forever.
Be sensitive to family situations. “Children today find themselves in many different and complex family configurations. … [We] need to reach out to [those] who feel alone, left behind, or outside the fence” (Neil L. Andersen, “Whoso Receiveth Them, Receiveth Me,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 49, 52).
For more ideas, see this month’s issue of the Friend magazine.
