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Revelation, 3 November 1831 [D&C 133]

Source Note

Revelation, , OH, 3 Nov. 1831. Featured version, titled “72 A Revelation Recd. Nov 3, 1831,” copied [ca. Nov. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 116–121; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.

Historical Introduction

According to a later history, JS dictated this revelation on 3 November 1831 in answer to ’ questions about “the ” and “preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of the earth.” The history indicates that this revelation was dictated following the two-day in , Ohio, which focused on the publication of JS’s revelations in the Book of Commandments. This revelation, which was later designated as the “appendix” to the Book of Commandments, followed the 1 November dictation of the “preface” to that book. The preface placed JS’s revelations in a millenarian context, and this 3 November revelation continued in that millenarian theme. Beginning with a call for the Saints to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ by leaving Babylon and gathering to , the revelation then extended this message to all people. It warned of Christ’s imminent return to the earth in power and glory and of the events that would precede and accompany that return. It also provided an explicit statement that God wanted JS’s revelations to go to the world to prepare the inhabitants of the earth for Christ’s return.
Because two early copies of this revelation bear different dates, there is some uncertainty about the exact date of this revelation. When copied it into Revelation Book 1, likely before leaving for on 20 November 1831, he dated it 3 November. JS’s later history also places this revelation after the 1–2 November conference. However, another copy of the revelation in ’s handwriting was inserted into Revelation Book 1 as a loose copy, bearing the endorsement “s Nov 2 1831” in unidentified handwriting, suggesting it may have been written during the 1–2 November conference, which Johnson attended. Because Rigdon transcribed this copy on loose leaves, it is difficult to determine exactly when the copy was made. It may have been placed into Revelation Book 1 before Whitmer left for Missouri, but it could have been inserted much later as well. Whitmer, on the other hand, likely copied the revelation into the bound book before Whitmer and took the book to Missouri on 20 November 1831. Whitmer’s copy is apparently an earlier transcript than the Rigdon copy and therefore more reliable regarding the date—a conclusion corroborated by the fact that the 1–2 November conference minutes do not mention this revelation, and no other sources confirm its presentation on either 1 or 2 November.
Although the 3 November revelation does not refer to itself as an “appendix,” it may have been dictated specifically to serve as an appendix to JS’s revelations—much like the 1 November revelation was presented as the preface. The copy contains the endorsement “An appendix to Revelation,” suggesting an early designation of the revelation as an appendix. When the revelation was first published in the May 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, explained that it was known as “the close” or “the Appendix,” indicating it had received that designation at least by the spring 1833. According to a later JS history, it was called the appendix because of “its importance, and for distinction.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 166.

  2. [2]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 166; Minutes, 1–2 Nov. 1831.

  3. [3]

    Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1].

  4. [4]

    Whitmer, History, 38.

  5. [5]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 166.

  6. [6]

    Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831, [5], in JSP, MRB:403 [D&C 133]. The date of the revelation’s dictation is also given as 2 November at another location in this document, although an unknown scribe later changed that date to 3 November.

    Revelation Book 1 / “A Book of Commandments and Revelations of the Lord Given to Joseph the Seer and Others by the Inspiration of God and Gift and Power of the Holy Ghost Which Beareth Re[c]ord of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost Which Is One God Infinite and Eternal World without End Amen,” 1831–1835. CHL.

  7. [7]

    See “Proposed Sixth Gathering of the Book of Commandments.”

  8. [8]

    Historical Introduction to Revelation Book 1; Whitmer, History, 38.

  9. [9]

    See Minutes, 1–2 Nov. 1831.

  10. [10]

    “Revelations,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1833, [1]; Appendix 1: Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831, [6], in JSP, MRB:405 [D&C 133].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

    Revelation Book 1 / “A Book of Commandments and Revelations of the Lord Given to Joseph the Seer and Others by the Inspiration of God and Gift and Power of the Holy Ghost Which Beareth Re[c]ord of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost Which Is One God Infinite and Eternal World without End Amen,” 1831–1835. CHL.

  11. [11]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 166. The revelation was never published in the Book of Commandments, probably because it was to be one of the last items printed and the printing of the book was halted by violence in Missouri. The revelation was labeled as the appendix in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. (See “Proposed Sixth Gathering of the Book of Commandments;” Doctrine and Covenants 100, 1835 ed., 247–250.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 3 November 1831 [D&C 133] Revelation Book 1 Appendix 1: Revelation, 3 November 1831, Sidney Rigdon Copy [D&C 133] Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Revelations printed in Evening and Morning Star, January 1835–June 1836 Revelation, 3 November 1831, as Published in Times and Seasons [D&C 133] History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 120

reas[o]ning in plainness & simplisity to prepare the weak for those things which are coming upon the earth & for the Lords Errand in the days when the <​weak should confound the wise​> & [illegible] little one become a strong nation & two should put their tens of thousands to flight by the weak things of the Earth the Lord should thresh the Nations of the Earth by the power of his spirit & for this cause these were given they were commanded to be kept from the world in the day <​that​> they were given but now are to go forth unto all flesh & this according to the mind & the will of the Lord who reigneth of over all flesh & unto him that repenteth & sanctifieth himself before the Lord shall be given eternal life & they that harken not to the voice of the Lord shall be fulfilled that which was written by the Prophet Moses & also that they should be cut off from among the people & also that which was written by the Prophet M◊lichi◊ for Behold the day cometh that burneth as an Oven & all the proud & they that do yea & all that do wickedly shall be stuble & the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of hosts that it shall l[e]ave them neither root nor branch wherefore this shall be the answer of the Lord in that day when I come unto my own no man among you received me & ye are driven out when I called again there was none of you to answer yet my arm was not shortened at all that I could not redeem neither my power to deliver Behold at my rebuke I dry up the Sea is I make the rivers a wilderness their fish stinketh & dieth for thirst I Cloth[e] the Heavens with blackness & make sackloth their covering & this shall have at of my hand ye shall lay down with sorrow Behold & Lo there is none to deliver you for ye obeyed not my voice when I called unto you all out of the Heavens ye believed not my Servants & when they were sent unto you ye received them not wherefore they sealed up the testimony & bound up the Law & ye were delivered up unto darkness these shall go away into outer [p. 120]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 3 November 1831 [D&C 133]
ID #
6532
Total Pages
6
Print Volume Location
JSP, D2:114–121
Handwriting on This Page
  • John Whitmer

Footnotes

  1. [34]

    Both the Sidney Rigdon copy and the version published in The Evening and the Morning Star have “the” here. (Appendix 1: Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831, [4]; “Revelations,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1833, [2].)

    Revelation Book 1 / “A Book of Commandments and Revelations of the Lord Given to Joseph the Seer and Others by the Inspiration of God and Gift and Power of the Holy Ghost Which Beareth Re[c]ord of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost Which Is One God Infinite and Eternal World without End Amen,” 1831–1835. CHL.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  2. [35]

    See Deuteronomy 32:30; Isaiah 60:22; and 1 Corinthians 1:27.

  3. [36]

    TEXT: “s” possibly inserted.

  4. [37]

    See Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:18–23]; and Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:13].

  5. [38]

    For examples of prohibitions against sharing the revelations, see Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19:21]; and Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:72].

  6. [39]

    Fifty years after the conference approving the publication of the revelations, David Whitmer claimed that he had opposed publication because he believed “that it was not the will of the Lord that the revelations should be published.” (Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 54–55.)

    Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.

  7. [40]

    See Deuteronomy 18:15, 18–19; Acts 3:22–23; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:14].

  8. [41]

    TEXT: Final “◊” possibly “,” or “s”.

  9. [42]

    See Malachi 4:1; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 505 [3 Nephi 25:1].

  10. [43]

    See Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:8].

  11. [44]

    TEXT: Possibly “in”.

  12. [45]

    See Isaiah 50:2–3; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 76 [2 Nephi 7:2–3].

  13. [46]

    See Isaiah 50:11; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 76 [2 Nephi 7:11].

  14. [47]

    See Isaiah 8:16; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 94 [2 Nephi 18:16].

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