Come Follow Me Personal Thoughts: Doctrine & Covenants Lesson # 13 “This Generation Shall Have My Word through You”

Doctrine & Covenants Lesson # 13

“This Generation Shall Have My Word through You”

Introduction

I am writing this the day after the first General session of the April 2017 conference where, for the first time, Pres. Monson wasn’t present, and the conference lasted just over an hour and 10 minutes. I am wondering what was left out. More important, however, is what was put in. As I start working on this lesson, resonating in my mind and spirit is the admonition from Sis. Roberts for us to be "certain" [men and] women. Poignant stories illustrated her point and, as the sisters always scour the Priesthood session to learn, so I would encourage the brothers to do the same with this first session. My hope for all of us is that our study of the scriptures, especially the Doctrine and Covenants this year, will make us more “certain.”

This week’s lesson focuses on the immense library that constitutes restoration scripture. I have said before that it is impossible to remember what it was like not to know what we know now, but, nevertheless, I was frankly amazed at the list of revealed doctrine that was no longer on the earth before the Lord restored it through Joseph (the list is at the end of this blog post with scriptural references).

And in addition to all that, for example, “latter-day scriptures, priesthood ordinances, the organization of the priesthood, and temple building have come from the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”[1]

1. The Lord declared that the people in this dispensation would receive His word through Joseph Smith.

This comes from D&C 5:10. Elder Tad Callister tells us:

In many ways the gospel of Jesus Christ is like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. When Joseph Smith came on the scene, perhaps 100 pieces were in place. Then Joseph Smith came along and put many of the other 900 pieces in place so that people could say, “Oh, now I understand where I came from, why I am here, and where I am going.” As for Joseph Smith’s role in the Restoration, the Lord defined it clearly: “This generation shall have my word through you”[2]

It is now Sunday 2nd April and the first 4 sessions of Conference are behind us with the last two to come. How many of those talks referred to His word through Joseph Smith? I am struggling to put into words what that means to me. For no other reasons than now, through the restored Gospel, I am sealed to my parents; I have a purpose; Christ and Heavenly Father are real to me; I keep learning new things from the scriptures; the Lord has seemingly infinite patience with me, for which I am exceedingly grateful. It would be nice if you could think about this before next Sunday and offer some of your insights.

2. Many ancient and latter-day scriptures have come through Joseph Smith.

So let’s talk about the scriptures. I remember being in a class with the immortal Hugh Nibley when he said that Joseph had revealed, through his translation of the Bible in Moses 6:21–68 and Moses 7:1–69, more about Enoch than any other ancient source. It caused Nibley to write a whole tome showing just how much had been revealed about Enoch. We know from Moses 7:4 that Enoch “Saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face.” And from it we have another book written by Elder Maxwell on the City of Enoch.[3]

Equally ground-breaking is the Book of Abraham, to which Nibley devoted a lot of his study. It has come under a lot of criticsm, but the many studies undertaken at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute have borne out its authenticity. For instance, with Michael Lyon, I embarked on a study of hypochephali, the round papyrus fragment shown in Facsimile 2, we found about 30 of them in various Egyptian texts. A couple of them have the same themes as ours.

The books of Abraham and Moses and the translation of Matthew in the Pearl of Great Price are just some of the revealed plain and precious truths. Together with Joseph Smith—History and the Articles of Faith, we can see why it truly is a pearl of great price.

Transcendent, of course, is the Book of Mormon. One wonders what Joseph must have thought when he translated 2 Nephi 3:11–15. Did he know that he was the seer referred to? I’m asking a lot of you, and myself come to that, this week, but what impact is the Book of Mormon having in your life? Would you be willing to share something? Or at least record your feelings in your journal, or maybe just tell someone this week.

In the additional material at the end of this post, there is a link to “Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation.” This is well worth the click! I didn’t realize that Joseph started this work soon after the Church was organized. And that many of the revelations in the D&C had to do with this task. Here’s a quote from that link:

But the translation also had a significant influence on the Church in the way it shaped the content of the Doctrine and Covenants. More than half of the current Doctrine and Covenants consists of revelations received during the three-year period in which Joseph Smith labored over the Bible translation. Many revelations were received as direct answers to questions Joseph was inspired to ask as his understanding of the gospel expanded during the effort to restore plain and precious parts of the Bible.

Finally, the Doctrine and Covenants themselves. Even if we had the temerity to dismiss ancient scripture as not pertinent to our modern life, the Doctrine and Covenants was given for us specifically in this, the last dispensation of the fullness of times. As I said at the beginning, hopefully we can gain a great testimony of the Lord’s desire to shape us into true disciples by studying and applying the principles given us in this volume of scripture.

3. Plain and precious doctrines of the gospel have been restored through Joseph Smith.

The lesson manual has a chart of just some of these plain and precious doctrines. I will post it here and hope that we have time in class to look at a couple of them. But, quite honestly, can you imagine what it would be like not to know this?

Subject	Scriptures in the Bible	Scriptures Given through Joseph Smith
Physical nature of the Godhead	Matthew 3:16–17; John 4:24; Acts 7:55	Joseph Smith—History 1:17; D&C 130:1, 22
Our creation in God’s image	Genesis 1:27	Moses 6:8–9
Apostles and prophets	Ephesians 2:20; 4:11–16	D&C 107:23, 33, 35, 39, 58; 112:30–32
Melchizedek Priesthood	Hebrews 6:20; 7:17	D&C 84:19–25; 107:1–8, 18–19
Aaronic Priesthood	Hebrews 7:11	D&C 13; 84:18, 26–27, 30; 107:1, 13–14, 20
Mode of baptism	Matthew 3:16	3 Nephi 11:22–26; Moroni 8:8–12; D&C 20:71–74
The gift of the Holy Ghost	Acts 8:17	D&C 20:41, 43; 35:6; 121:46
Premortal existence	Jeremiah 1:4–5	D&C 93:29; Abraham 3:22–26
Baptism for the dead	1 Corinthians 15:29	D&C 128:16–18
Resurrection	Job 19:25–26; John 5:28–29; 1 Corinthians 15:22	Alma 11:42–45
The three kingdoms of glory	1 Corinthians 15:40–42	D&C 76:50–112; 131:1
Eternal marriage	Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 11:11	D&C 131:1–4; 132:19
Our potential to become like Heavenly Father	Romans 8:17	D&C 88:107; 93:20; 132:20–24

Additional resources for this lesson

“Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation”: This article discusses the translation process and the ways in which different sections of the Doctrine and Covenants relate to the Bible translation.
“William McLellin’s Five Questions”: This article discusses William McLellin as a witness to revelation through Joseph Smith.

“Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham”: This Gospel Topics essay discusses the book of Abraham, addressing questions that have been raised about the relationship between the papyri Joseph Smith obtained and the text we have today.
“Old Testament Revision 2”: This page from the Joseph Smith Papers website introduces Joseph Smith’s Bible translation.
“Revelation and Family: Joseph and Emma’s Five Ohio Homes” Explore five places in and around Kirtland, Ohio, where Joseph and Emma Smith lived—homes that became places of revelation.