Joseph Smith Biography

Twenty-Seven (1832)

authority and blessings that you do not understand, nor do you deserve. This

vanity and unbelief in the things you have received has caused the whole

church to come under condemnation. This condemnation rests upon the

children of Zion, all of you. And you shall remain under this condemnation

until you repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon

and the commandments given by the voice of the Lord himself.^46

Brethren, you cannot expect to establish Zion [and have it] prosper when

you cannot abide by the covenant,^47 even the new and everlasting covenant

we have received from the Father. You must be willing to bring forth works

meet for the Father’s kingdom, according to the peaceable things that abide

in you; otherwise, Zion shall not be established and a scourge and judgment

shall be poured out upon the children of Zion, even the members of this

Church. The children of the kingdom cannot pollute the land and expect the

Lord to bless them. But if we listen to the voice of the Lord and do the

things that he has commanded us under the new covenant, then we shall

establish Zion and be called a blessed people of the Lord.^48

Joseph’s scribes took notes, as they usually did when he spoke. From their
notes of the preceding transcription of what Joseph actually said (in part), section 84 of
the current D&C became a “revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith,
Jun., and six elders, as they united their hearts and lifted their voices on high.”^49

Predictably, the Mormon Leadership Heard Only What They Wanted to Hear

After thus addressing those present (above), incredibly (but predictably, because it is
often the case with most people), the elders heard what they wanted to hear. Joseph did not
address their concerns about understanding and indoctrinating priesthood authority. He
did not talk about Zion being established in Missouri, which he had prophesied the year
before.^50 To his amazement, after he finished speaking, the men, in almost a sullen stupor,
began to discuss their views and questions on the priesthood and Independence, Missouri,
where they were sure the Saints (the Gentile Saints) would gather unto the City of Zion.
Joseph sat there for a moment completely dumbfounded. Once again, he groaned within
himself. He was greatly troubled because of the wickedness of the LDS people.^51
Nevertheless, he gave them what they wanted. He allowed the men who were in
attendance to haggle among themselves on how the priesthood should be defined.
Verses 1 through 42 of section 84 were composed from the notes of the meeting. Joseph
wrote verses 43 through 102 based on the notes his scribes provided him on what he said
to the brethren (which was retold from the mouth of the resurrected Joseph above).
Joseph broke up the “revelation” with the words, “And I now give unto you a
commandment,”^52 and ended it with the “Song of Moses,”^53 which he had learned from
John, and which was recorded in his (John’s) book of Revelation, chapter 15. Verses 103
to 120 were added later, after the elders read the whole revelation and still had
questions about their missionary work.
So it was that throughout his lifetime, Joseph continually hid the real truth among
the stumbling blocks formed from the people’s desire to know things that they could not
understand. They continually looked beyond the mark of the new covenant—the everlasting