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SECTION 3Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Harmony, Pennsylvania, July 1828, relating to the loss of 116 pages of manuscript translated from ' the first part of the Book of Mormon, which was called the "Book of Lehi." The Prophet had reluctantly allowed these pages to pass from his custody to that of Martin Harris, who had served for a brief period as scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon. The revelation was given through the Urim and Thummin. HC 1:2123. See also Section 10. |
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5—15, Joseph Smith must repent or lose the gift to translate; 16—20, The Book of Mormon comes forth to save the seed of Lehi. | ||
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D&C 3:1 The aworks and the designs, and the purposes cannot
be bfrustrated, neither can they come to naught.
D&C 3:2 For God doth not awalk in crooked paths, neither doth he bturn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his ccourse is one eternal round.
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D&C 3:3 Remember, remember that it is not the awork of God
that is frustrated, but the work of men;
D&C 3:4 For although a man may have many arevelations, and have bpower to do mighty works, yet if he cboasts in his own dstrength, and sets at naught the ecounsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and fcarnal desires, he must fall and incur the gvengeance of a hjust God upon hima.
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4a the vengeance of a just God upon him The judgement and justice of God is of no little consequence. Though not 'vengeance' in a 'mean' and 'revengeful' frame of reference, God's justice can seem harsh to those who do not under stand that it is the just consequences of wickedness and disobediance to the commandments of God. Jardon, the prophet who delivered the message of the birth of Josiah to King Jeroboam (1 Kings 13), treated the commandment of God lightly, was persuaded by a lying spirit to disobey God's directions and ended up paying the consequences of being slain by a lion. If Jadon had remained faithful to God's commandment and had remained in tune with the promptings of the guiding Holy Ghost, he would not have gone astray and been killed. Joseph's and Martin's consequence was not unto death, but those aquainted with Church History understand that Joseph suffered even greater pains than death as a result of his taking lightly the commandments of God, even to the consideration that his soul had been damned and that God's calling and the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from him completely. Joseph suffered the pains of a 'lost soul' for a season before much sorrow and repentance returned him to the good graces of God. | |
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D&C 3:5 Behold, you have been aentrusted with these things,
but how strict were your commandments; and remember also the promises which
were made to you, if you did not transgress them.
D&C 3:6 And behold, how aoft you have btransgressed the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in cpersuasions of men.
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D&C 3:7 For, behold, you should not have afeared man more
than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and
bdespise his words—
D&C 3:8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and asupported you against all the fiery bdarts of the cadversary; and he would have been with you in time of dtrouble. D&C 3:9 Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt afall.
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D&C 3:10 But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou
hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave to you, and thou
art still chosen, and art aagain called to the work;
D&C 3:11 Except thou ado this, thou shalt be delivered up and become as other men, and have no more gift.
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D&C 3:12 And when thou hast deliveredst up that which God had given thee
sight and power to atranslate, thou deliveredst up that
which was bsacred into the hands of a wicked
cman,
D&C 3:13 Who has set at naught the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgment and aboasted in his own wisdom. D&C 3:14 And this is the reason that thou hast lost thy privileges for a season— D&C 3:15 For thou hast suffered the counsel of thy adirector to be trampled upon from the beginning.
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D&C 3:16 Nevertheless, my awork shall go forth, for
inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the
btestimony of the Jews, even so shall the
cknowledge of a Savior come unto my
peoplea—
D&C 3:17 And to the aNephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathersa— D&C 3:18 And this atestimony shall come to the knowledge of the bLamanites, and the Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites, who cdwindled in unbelief because of the diniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their ebrethren the Nephites, because of their finiquities and their abominations.
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16a my people Who are the
Lord's people. This reference may not totally eliminate the Jews, but the
thought line is that apart and separate from the Jews who have born testimony
of the Savior in both the Old and New Testaments, there are others who are
the Lord's people. Two possibilities of application come to mind. The Lord's
people are those who do accept the testimony of Jesus, come unto Him and
take his name upon them in the proper order of the gospel. This in this
latter-day in which the Doctrine and Covenant was given, first applied to
those called out from Ephraim in the fulfillment of the covenant of Abraham
to take the gospel of God, after receiving the knowledge of it, to the world.
That Christ identifies Ephraim as the 'firstborn' in Israel and here in the
opening of the despensation of the fulness of times has identified them as
'my people', could very well have further significances relative
to the fact that Christ himself was legally and righfully the hier of Ephraim
and the true Messiah, even Messiah ben Joseph/Messiah ben Ephraim. 17a through the testimony of their fathers Long have the hearts of certain of the fathers been turned to their children in providing the continuation of the promises of the fathers, which is the everlasting covenant of God, both by direct covenant with God and by the works of providing through their recorded righteous lives and recorded testimonies of God found in the scriptural records (both in the Bible and the Book of Mormon as well as in our other scriptures). |
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D&C 3:19 And for this very apurpose are these
bplates cpreserved, which contain these
records—that the dpromises [to the fathers] of the Lord might be
fulfilled, which he made to his epeople;
D&C 3:20 And that the aLamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, that they might know the bpromises of the Lord, and that they may cbelieve the gospel and drely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be eglorified through faith in his name, and through their repentance they might be saved. Amen.
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