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Instruction, 2 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton [D&C 130]

Source Note

JS, Instruction, [, Hancock Co., IL, 2 Apr. 1843]. Featured version copied [between 2 Apr. 1843 and 24 Sept. 1844] in William Clayton, Journal, 27 Nov. 1842–28 Apr. 1843, [24] Sept. 1844–31 Mar. 1845, pp. 66–74; handwriting of ; William Clayton, Journals, Nov. 1842–Jan. 1846, CHL. Includes redactions, use marks, and archival markings. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to “Hands in the Stone Shop,” 21 Dec. 1842.

Historical Introduction

On 2 April 1843, JS responded to questions and instructed the Saints in , Illinois, about the nature of God, prophecies of the last days, and the afterlife. The previous day, he began a journey from , Illinois, to Macedonia and , Illinois. During this four-day trip, JS, accompanied by , , and , preached to members of the of the in Macedonia, visited JS’s sister , and conducted business at Carthage. After spending the night in the Macedonia home of church members and , JS spent Sunday, 2 April 1843, attending various public gatherings and private meetings.
Following a Sunday morning service in which preached on portions of the New Testament, JS corrected elements of Hyde’s sermon. He also answered theological questions and related a dream he had, which Hyde interpreted.
At some point “during the day,” JS made several “remarks on doctrine” relating to the timing of events prophesied to occur in the days leading up to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In the early 1840s, there was considerable interest in the prophecies relating to the latter days. Baptist minister , for example, predicted an approximate date for Christ’s second coming based on a close reading of the Bible. He claimed that his examination of the books of Daniel and Revelation had revealed the second advent of Christ to be imminent, and his message was accepted by thousands of Christians in the early 1840s. Perhaps in response to a belief held by some Millerites that 3 April was the day appointed for the return of Christ, JS addressed this topic twice on 2 April.
Later that day, during Sabbath meetings held at 1:00 p.m. and again at 7:00 p.m., JS preached on the meanings of several verses from the book of Revelation. The subject may have been of interest because of a meeting held two weeks earlier, in which church member was tried for teaching false doctrine because of his controversial interpretation of these same passages.
During his evening discourse, JS again corrected ’s morning sermon. At the close of the discourse, he offered Hyde a moment to respond. The stated that JS had said all that could be said and closed the meeting. JS spent the evening at the Johnsons’ home, where he provided private instruction on portions of the book of Revelation relating to the sealing of the 144,000.
, one of JS’s travel companions, recorded details of JS’s 2 April 1843 Sabbath-day teachings as he taught them. Clayton’s journal contains other entries for which an earlier text is also extant, and comparisons of these entries indicate that when he copied his notes, he often expanded or otherwise changed them. Consequently, it seems likely that Clayton expanded the entries for 2 April 1843 as well. After the trip, , who kept JS’s journal but was not present at the meetings, reconstructed a timeline for these teachings in JS’s journal, presumably relying on Clayton’s notes and conversations with people who were present. Because Clayton’s initial notes are apparently not extant, it is impossible to know the exact sources Richards used to create his entry. Therefore, both Clayton’s journal entry and the JS journal entry inscribed by Richards are featured here. Annotation that appears in Clayton’s version of the discourse is not repeated in corresponding locations in the version by Richards. Richards included some details of the day’s events that were not part of JS’s teachings. They have been left to stand in the transcription.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 1–4 Apr. 1843.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 1–2 Apr. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Rowe, God’s Strange Work, chaps. 4–7.

    Rowe, David L. God’s Strange Work: William Miller and the End of the World. Library of Religious Biography. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2008.

  4. [4]

    On 13 January 1843, the Christian Secretary reported that a prominent Millerite preacher, George Storrs, had identified 3 April 1843 as the date of the Second Coming. The belief caught on among some Millerites, although Storrs reportedly later denied he made this statement. JS seems to have believed that this date was universally accepted by the Millerites and their preachers. His journal entry for 3 April 1843 reads: “Millers’s [William Miller’s] Day of Judgment has arrived. but. tis too. pleas[a]nt. for false prophets.” (“The Time of the End,” Christian Secretary, 13 Jan. 1843, [3]; Notice, Signs of the Times, 18 Jan. 1843, 141; JS, Journal, 3 Apr. 1843; see also Editorial, Christian Secretary, 27 Jan. 1843, [3].)

    Christian Secretary. Hartford, CT. 1838–1896.

    Signs of the Times and Expositor of Prophecy. Boston. 1840–1844.

  5. [5]

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 19 Mar. 1843; Discourse, 8 Apr. 1843.

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  6. [6]

    See Revelation 7:4.

  7. [7]

    In a letter to the Deseret Evening News, Benjamin F. Johnson recalled that JS’s “instructions were drawn out through questions asked by those present, and Brother William Clayton, his private secretary, wrote down at the time his replies.” (Benjamin F. Johnson, “Sayings of the Prophet,” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City], 25 Nov. 1899, 4.)

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  8. [8]

    See Clayton, Journal, 25–28 Apr. 1843. Clayton inscribed entries for 25 through 28 April 1843 at the end of his 1842–1843 journal. He also inscribed revised versions of these entries at the beginning of his 1843–1844 journal.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  9. [9]

    Portions of the 2 April 1843 instruction as recorded by Willard Richards were later canonized in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. (Doctrine and Covenants 130, 1876 ed. [D&C 130].)

    The Doctrine and Covenants, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Containing the Revelations Given to Joseph Smith, Jun., the Prophet, for the Building Up of the Kingdom of God in the Last Days. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Office, 1876.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Instruction, 2 April 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards [D&C 130] Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843
*Instruction, 2 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton [D&C 130]
History Draft [1 March–31 December 1843] History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 66

P. M. Joseph preached on Revelations chap. 5. he called on me to open the meeting. He also preachd on the same subject in the evening. During the day Joseph made the following remarks on doctrine.
I was once praying very earnestly to know to the time of the comeing of the son of man when I heard a voice repeat the following ‘Joseph my son, if thou livest untill thou art 85 years old thou shalt see the face of the son of man, therefore let this suffice and trouble me no more on this matter.’ [p. 66]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Instruction, 2 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton [D&C 130]
ID #
1027
Total Pages
9
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:138–142
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Willard Richards’s account lays out JS’s discourses from this day in a clearer chronological order.

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