Doctrine and Covenants Commentary - Section 34

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
             SECTION 34

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Orson Pratt, at Fayette, New York, November 4, 1830. HC 1:127-128. Brother Pratt was nineteen years old at the time. He had been converted and baptized when he first heard the preaching of the restored gospel by his older brother, Parley P. Pratt, six weeks before. This revelation was received in the Peter Whitmer, Sen., home.

    1—4, The faithful become the sons of God through the atonement;
    5—9, Preaching of the gospel prepares the way for the Second Coming;
    10—12, Prophecy comes by the power of the Holy Ghost.
D&C 34:1 MY son aOrson, hearken and hear behold what I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus Christ your Redeemer;
D&C 34:2 The alight and the life of the world, a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not;
D&C 34:3 Who so aloved the world that he bgave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the csons of God. Wherefore you are my son;
D&C 34:4 And ablessed are you because you have believed;
D&C 34:5 And more blessed are you because you are acalled of me to preach the gospel—
D&C 34:6 To lift up your voice as with the sound of a atrump, both long and loud, and bcry repentance unto a crooked and perverse generation, cpreparing the way of the Lord for his second dcoming.
D&C 34:7 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, the atime is soon at hand that I shall bcome in a ccloud with power and great glory.
D&C 34:8 And it shall be a agreat day at the time of my coming, for all nations shall btremble.
D&C 34:9 But before that great day shall come, the asun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood; and the stars shall refuse their shining, and some shall fall, and great destructions await the wickeda.
 9a some shall fall, and great destructions await the wicked Here it ought to be noted that the 'destructions' of the wicked are plural, meaning that they are varied and more than one. While at the time of the Lord's coming the wicked will burn, the immediate times just prior to the Second Coming will also be filled with various destructions, many of which will destroy the wicked such as war, pestilence, famine and earthly upheaval and termoil similiar to the time of the coming of the Lord to the Nephites of the Book of Mormon. In fact that record, the Book of Mormon', is given as a type to prepare us for that which is to come at the second coming of Christ. We must be faithful and 'stand in holy places' and not let the events remove our faith in Christ from us.
D&C 34:10 Wherefore, lift up your voice and aspare not, for the Lord God hath spoken; therefore bprophesy, and it shall be given by the cpower of the Holy Ghost.
D&C 34:11 And if you are faithful, behold, I am with you until I come—
D&C 34:12 And verily, verily, I say unto you, I come aquickly. I am your bLord and your Redeemer. Even so. Amen.