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Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 November 1832
Source Note
Source Note
JS, Letter, , OH, to , [, Jackson Co., MO], 27 Nov. 1832. Retained copy, [ca. 27 Nov. 1832] in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–4; handwriting of JS and ; includes JS copy of signature of JS; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
After returning to , Ohio, on 6 November 1832 from his trip with to and New England, JS answered letters he had received from “the brethren” in . The present letter, which was written by JS to on 27 November 1832, may have been written in response to an earlier letter from Phelps, but no such communication has been located. The letter presented here reflects the continuing difficulties between JS and leaders in Missouri. Although JS expressed consternation about some of the leaders, he also conveyed satisfaction about Phelps’s devotion. Such praise was in stark contrast to a 31 July letter that chastised Phelps for his “cold and indifferent manner.”
JS began the letter anticipating a question on the part of . JS imagined Phelps wondering what was to be the fate of those church members who came to but did not “receive an by ” from the . Why such individuals may not have received an inheritance is unclear from JS’s letter, but Phelps discussed this subject in the November 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star. After noting that a total of 810 individuals had migrated to Zion “since the gathering commenced” in 1831, Phelps posed several questions, including, “Have you all fulfilled the law of the church, which saith: Behold thou shalt consecrate all thy properties, that which thou hast, unto me, with a covenant and deed that cannot be broken?” Apparently, at least some individuals had not followed the to consecrate their properties and had consequently not received an inheritance.
In writing to , JS highlighted the need for the church to maintain the system of consecration in that previous revelations had established. He explained to Phelps that the Lord’s clerk, , was to keep a “Book of the Law of God” to record the names of those who consecrated their property and received their inheritance. Individuals who did not comply with the consecration commandment were not to be listed. In this way, the church could keep an orderly record of consecration and of inheritance distributions.
Record keeping was of great concern to JS at this time. After sending and to in November 1831 with a record book containing copies of his revelations, JS purchased another record book in February or March 1832, into which he and began copying revelations that had been dictated since November 1831. Probably only a few months before writing this November letter to , JS composed his first history, “A History of the life of Joseph Smith Jr. an account of his marvilous experience . . . and also an account of the rise of the church of Christ in the eve of time.” In his July 1832 letter to the Missouri Saints, JS instructed Phelps to remind Whitmer of the need “to keep a history of the church & the gathering.” Moreover, the same day that JS composed the November letter to Phelps, JS purchased a record book and began his first journal “for the purpose to keep a minute acount of all things that come under my obsevation &c.” Instructing Phelps and Whitmer about keeping a “Book of the Law of God” fits with this general pattern of maintaining records. However, if Phelps or Whitmer kept such a record at this time, it is not extant.
The original letter JS sent to has not been located. JS and copied it as the first letter in JS’s first letterbook, likely before sending it to . The letter appears in the letterbook immediately after JS’s 1832 history, which is the first item in the book. After Phelps received the letter, he published a portion of it in the January 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, prefacing it by saying, “In relation to consecrating, and continuing worthy, and faithful to the end, we make the following extract of a letter.” The extract commenced with the words, “It is the duty of the Lord’s clerk” and ended after quoting from Ezra 2:61–62.
Footnotes
- [1]
JS History, vol. A-1, 240.
- [2]
- [3]
Saints were expected to “consecrate” their property to the Church of Christ and then receive property—called an “inheritance” or “stewardship”—back from the bishop. (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–36]; Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:35–36].)
- [4]
“The Gathering,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [5].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
- [5]
“To the Saints,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [6]. Phelps was quoting “the Laws of the Church of Christ,” a February 1831 revelation. John Whitmer brought a copy of the revelation to Missouri in late 1831. (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in Revelation Book 1, p. 64 [D&C 42:30].)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
- [6]
See Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–38]; and Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:35–36].
- [7]
See Historical Introduction to Revelation Book 2; and Whitmer, History, 38.
- [8]
- [9]
- [10]
JS, Journal, 27 Nov. 1832.
- [11]
JS’s letter referenced Ezra 2:61–62 without quoting the verses, but Phelps reproduced the referenced verses in the publication. This extract was later published in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants as section 85. (“Let Every Man Learn His Duty,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1833, [5]; JS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–4 [D&C 85].)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
the Lord of hosts yea thus saith the still small voice which whispereth through and pierceth all things and often times it maketh my heart bones to quake while it maketh manifest saying and it shall come to pass that I the Lord God will send on[e] mighty and strong holding the scepter of power in his hand clothed with light for a covering whose mouth shall utter words Eternal words while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth to set in order the house of God and to arange by lot the of the saints whose names are found and the names of their fathers and of their children enroled in the Book of the Law of God while that man who was called of God and appointed that puteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God shall fall by the shaft of death like as a tree that is smitten by the vived shaft of lightning and all they who are not found write [written] in the book of remmemberance shall find none inheritence in that day but they shall be cut assunder and their portion shall be appointed them among unbelievers where is wailing and gnashing of teeth these things I say not of myself therefore as the Lord speaketh he will also fulfill and they who are of the whose names are not found writen in the book of the Law or that ar[e] found to have appostitized or to have been cut off out of the as well as the or the members in that day shall not find an inheritence among th[e] saints of the most high therefore it shall be done unto them as unto the children of the Priest as you will find recorded in the second Book chapter and sixty first and second verses of Ezra now if what I say have said is true how careful then had men aught to be what they do in the last days lest they are cut assunder short of their expecttations and they that think [they?] stand should fall because they keep not the Lords whilst you who do the will of the Lord and keep his commandments have need to rejoice with unspeakable Joy for such shall be exalted very high and shall be lifted up in [p. 3]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Frederick G. Williams handwriting ends; JS begins.
- [9]
See 1 Kings 19:12.
- [10]
TEXT: Word runs off the page.
- [11]
See Isaiah 28:2.
- [12]
According to the Bible, the Lord told Moses to divide the land of Canaan among the children of Israel by lot. (Numbers 26:52–56; 34:13.)
- [13]
No such record kept by Whitmer or Phelps during this period is extant. In the early 1840s, however, JS directed the keeping of “the Book of the Law of the Lord,” which contained both his journal entries and tithing donations for the construction of the Nauvoo, Illinois, temple. (JS, Journal, Dec. 1841–Dec. 1842; Smith, “Book of the Law of the Lord,” 131–163.)
Smith, Alex D. “The Book of the Law of the Lord,” Journal of Mormon History 38 (Fall 2012): 131–163.
- [14]
Writing about this passage in January 1834, Oliver Cowdery explained, “Brother Joseph says, that the item in his letter that says, that the man that is called &c. and puts forth his hand to steady the ark of God, does not mean that any one had at the time, but it was given for a caution to those in high standing to beware, lest they should fall by the shaft of death as the Lord had said.” (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to John Whitmer, [Liberty, MO], 1 Jan. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 15.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
- [15]
See Malachi 3:16. JS’s revisions to Genesis that became known as the Book of Moses discussed a book of remembrance written “in the Language of Adam.” (Old Testament Revision 1, pp. 11–13 [Moses chap. 6].)
- [16]
TEXT: Word runs off the page.
- [17]
TEXT: Word runs off the page.
- [18]
JS used similar language in his 31 July 1832 letter to Phelps, stating, “Now this is a warning to all to whom this knowledge may come, and he that thinks he stands, let him take heed least he fall.” (Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832.)
- [19]
See 1 Peter 1:8.