August 2, 1833 – D&C 97 was received

[Hemidakota]

August 2, 1833— Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph Smith received D&C 97, a revelation about the Saints in Jackson County, Missouri, who were suffering great persecutions. (History of the Church, 1:400–2)

Historical Setting:

Parley P. Pratt – In the latter part of summer and in the autumn [1833], I devoted almost my entire time in ministering among the churches; holding meetings; visiting the sick; comforting the afflicted, and giving counsel. A school of Elders was also organized, over which I was called to preside. This class, to the number of about sixty, met for instruction once a week. The place of meeting was in the open air, under some tall trees, in a retired place in the wilderness, where we prayed, preached and prophesied and exercised ourselves in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Here great blessings were poured out, and many great and marvelous things were manifested and taught. The Lord gave me great wisdom, and enabled me to teach and edify the Elders, and comfort and encourage them in their preparations for the great work which lay before us. I was also much edified and strengthened. To attend this school I had to travel on foot, and sometimes with bare feet at that, about six miles. This I did once a week, besides visiting and preaching in five or six branches a week. (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 1950, pp. 93-94.)

The revelation [sec. 97] was not complied with by the leaders and Church in Missouri, as a whole; notwithstanding many were humble and faithful. Therefore, the threatened judgment was poured out to the uttermost, as the history of the five following years will show. (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt,1950, p. 96.)

Joseph Smith, Jun. - On the second day of August 1833, the Prophet received a revelation [Kirtland, Ohio] concerning Zion. While he was aware of the fact that trouble was brewing in Jackson County and the spirit of opposition was very great he did not know that the mob had risen and had destroyed and violently handled some of the brethren.(CHMR,1948, 2:189)

Background Narration:

Hyrum Smith:

In Kirtland, the work on the Temple had commenced. On the 5th of June, 1833, George A. Smith hauled the first load of stone for that sacred building...

On the 25th of June 1833, the First Presidency sent letters of instruction to William W. Phelps, Edward Partridge, and the brethren in Zion, and enclosed plans for the future city of Zion and its temples…

In the month of July, however, a mob in Jackson County, led by a Rev. Pixley, began to move against the Saints.

On the 20th of July, the mass meeting convened. Inflamed by falsehood strewn broadcast by religious fanatics and political office-seekers, the meeting demanded the discontinuance of the printing office, the closing of the store, and the cessation of all mechanical labor. When the brethren refused to comply with this law-defying dictum, the mob broke down the printing establishment, seized Edward Partridge and Charles Allen, daubed them with tar from head to foot and covered them with feathers, on the public square. Others were frightened from their homes by threats and yells. On the 23rd, the very same day on which the corner stones of the Kirtland Temple were laid, the brethren in Missouri, in order to prevent bloodshed, signed an agreement with the mob leaders to leave the country before the 1st of April, 1834. The brethren immediately sent Oliver Cowdery to Kirtland to report to the First Presidency. He arrived there early in September, 1833.

The Revelation in Sec. 97 was received before the arrival in Kirtland of Oliver Cowdery, and, consequently, before the Prophet knew any particulars of the storm of persecution that raged in the land of Zion. (DCC, pp. 608-609)

Joseph Fielding Smith

"On the second day of August 1833, the Prophet received a revelation concerning Zion. While he was aware of the fact that trouble was brewing in Jackson County and the spirit of opposition was very great he did not know that the mob had risen and had destroyed property and violently handled some of the brethren. In this revelation the Lord said that he desired to make known his will concerning the brethren in Zion. Many of them had truly humbled themselves and were seeking wisdom. Because of their repentance they would be blessed, for the Lord was merciful to the meek, and all who will not humble themselves will be brought to judgment." (Joseph Fielding Smith, CHMR 1:430)

Dean Garrett, Stephen E. Robinson

Almost no information concerning the reception of Doctrine and Covenants 97 is found in Joseph Smith's History of the Church. However, in a letter dated 6 August 1833, Joseph wrote to "Beloved Brethren" in Missouri and included with that letter copies of Doctrine and Covenants 94, 97, and 98. In Joseph's letter to Missouri, the date of Doctrine and Covenants 97 is given as August 1833. Exactly one month earlier, on 2 July 1833, Joseph had noted in another letter to Missouri that he had finished his translation of the Bible (Joseph Smith Translation, or JST), although he continued to make adjustments to the manuscript after that time. In Kirtland, Joseph was greatly relieved that the Joseph Smith Translation had been completed and took some time to rejoice and relax. Nevertheless, a little more than two weeks after completion of that manuscript, and less than two weeks before Doctrine and Covenants 97 was received, the ax of disaster was to fall on the Church in Missouri (see v. 7).

By the time Doctrine and Covenants 97 was received, the Church had had a presence in Independence, Missouri, for about two years. While little more than one hundred Saints remained behind in Kirtland, the number of Latter-day Saints in Independence and the surrounding country rose from zero to around one thousand members, or about 25 percent of the total population, in that same period of time. These rapidly rising numbers and the public designation of Independence as "the city of Zion" (D&C 57:2) and a gathering place for an ever-increasing number of Saints (see D&C 57:1) caused great alarm among the non–Latter-day Saint population there.

Fearing to become eventually a religious, political, or economic minority in a Latter-day Saint majority, the original settlers of Jackson County banded together in a "secret combination" with the stated intention of driving the Mormons from their society "peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must." Hundreds of these earlier settlers of Jackson County, including judges, constables, and justices of the peace, signed a document stating the mob's illegal agenda for the expulsion of the Saints and setting 20 July 1833 as the day for the mob to gather to achieve that end.

On 20 July, leaders of the mob delivered their demands to Church leaders in Independence, who were caught somewhat off guard. When the Saints understandably refused to leave the county immediately, the mob, variously estimated at three hundred to five hundred men, descended upon the Latter-day Saint printing office and destroyed the press, together with most copies of the 1833 Book of Commandments, which was then being printed. Some copies of the printed text were bravely rescued by two teenaged sisters. The mob also demolished the brick home of W. W. Phelps, in which the press was located. They then ransacked the Gilbert and Whitney store and tarred and feathered Bishop Edward Partridge and Charles Allen. Temporary peace was restored on 23 July when several leading Church members, under threat of violence from the mob, signed an agreement to leave Jackson County by 1 January 1834. In the meantime, the Saints in Missouri sent word to Joseph Smith in Kirtland requesting his aid and instructions. Oliver Cowdery, the special messenger, left Missouri on 25 or 26 July 1833. (Oliver signed the agreement with the mob on 23 July and left Missouri two or three days thereafter).

It is possible that Joseph Smith learned of anti-Mormon feelings in Missouri from a now-lost letter from Oliver Cowdery dated 9 July 1833. Receipt of such a letter is mentioned by Joseph in his 6 August letter to Missouri. Yet Joseph makes no allusion in that letter to persecutions in Missouri. While there had been anti-Mormon feelings in Jackson County for some time, the immediate catalyst for mob action there had been an article in the July issue of The Evening and the Morning Star entitled "Free People of Color," which was distorted by non-Mormons who claimed falsely that the Saints were "tampering with [their] slaves." When the Saints in Missouri realized what the reaction to the article had been, they immediately published an "extra" edition of the Star, dated 16 July, to set the record straight. But this is a full week after Oliver's 9 July letter to Joseph, so Oliver may not have known the true mood of his non-LDS neighbors on 9 July. Even if Oliver had written about trouble brewing in Missouri, it was humanly impossible for Joseph Smith to have known about the mob activities of 20–23 July by 2 August when Doctrine and Covenants 97 was received, or even by 6 August, when Doctrine and Covenants 98 was received and sections 94, 97, and 98 were sent to Missouri. Joseph first learned of these events when Oliver arrived in Kirtland from Missouri sometime in mid-August (the Painesville Telegraph stated in its 16 August edition that Oliver had just arrived in Kirtland). Nevertheless, Doctrine and Covenants 97 and 98 already contained exactly the divine counsel and instructions the Missouri Saints were seeking in their perilous circumstances. In other words, the answers were sent to Missouri before the questions were received in Kirtland. If the body of the Saints were to remain in Missouri, it was critical that they should receive, hear, and obey these revelations. (A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, Vol. 3, by H. Dean Garrett, Stephen E. Robinson)

Section Header Notes: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, August 2, 1833. HC 1: 400–402. This revelation deals particularly with the affairs of the saints in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, in response to the Prophet’s inquiry of the Lord for information. Members of the Church in Missouri were at this time subjected to severe persecution, and on July 23, 1833, had been forced to sign an agreement to leave Jackson County.

1–2, Many of the saints in Zion (Jackson County, Missouri) are blessed for their faithfulness; 3–5, Parley P. Pratt is commended for his labors in the school in Zion; 6–9, Those who observe their covenants are accepted by the Lord; 10–17, A house is to be built in Zion in which the pure in heart shall see God; 18–21, Zion is the pure in heart; 22–28, Zion shall escape the Lord’s scourge if she is faithful.

Versus amount: 28

Suggested link: D&C 59, 84, 94, 95, & 98

Summary and Conclusion: The principle of obedience is stressed by the Lord in this revelation. The key to Zion's future, salvation, and prosperity was and is this first law of heaven. When saints are obedient in erecting and properly using temples of the Lord, they have the assurance of having the power of the Lord in their midst. (Sacred Truths of the Doctrine and Covenants, vol. 1 by L. G. Otten, C. M. Caldwell, p.261)