Doctrine and Covenants Commentary - Section 64

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
             SECTION 64

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to the elders of the Church, at Kirtland, Ohio, September 11, 1831. HC 1:211—214. The Prophet was preparing to move to Hiram, Ohio, to renew his work on the translation of the Bible, which had been laid aside while he had been in MIssouri. A company of brethren who had been commanded to journey to Zion (Missouri) was earnestly engaged in making preparations to leave in October. At this busy time, the revelation was received.

    1—11, The saints are commanded to forgive one another, lest there remain in them the greater sin;
    12—22, The unrepentant are to be tried in church courts;
    23—25, He that is tithed shall not be burned at the Lord's coming;
    26—32, The saints are warned against debt;
    33—36, The rebellious shall be cut off out of Zion;
    37—40, The Church shall judge the nations;
    41—43, Zion shall flourish.
 1 BEHOLD, thus saith the Lord your God unto you, O ye elders of my achurch, hearken ye and hear, and receive my will concerning you.
 2 For verily I say unto you, I will that ye should aovercome the world; wherefore I will have bcompassion upon you.
 3 There are those among you who have sinned; but verily I say, for this once, for mine own aglory, and for the salvation of souls, I have bforgiven you your sins.
 4 I will be merciful unto you, for I have given unto you the akingdom.
 5 And the akeys of the mysteries of the kingdom shall not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., through the means I have appointed, while he liveth, inasmuch as he obeyeth mine bordinances.
 6 There are those who have sought occasion against him without cause;
 7 Nevertheless, he has sinned; but verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, aforgive sins unto those who bconfess their sins before me and ask forgiveness, who have not csinned unto ddeath.
 8 My disciples, in days of old, sought aoccasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this bevil they were cafflicted and sorely dchastened.
 9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to aforgive one another; for he that bforgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.
 10 I, the Lord, will aforgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to bforgive all men.
 11 And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God ajudge between me and thee, and breward thee according to thy cdeeds.
 12 And him that arepenteth not of his sins, and bconfesseth them not, ye shall bring before the cchurch, and do with him as the dscripture saith unto you, either by commandment or by revelation.
 13 And this ye shall do that God may be glorified—not because ye forgive not, having not compassion, but that ye may be justified in the eyes of the law, that ye may not aoffend him who is your lawgiver—
 14 Verily I say, for this cause ye shall do these things.
 15 Behold, I, the Lord, was angry with him who was my servant Ezra Booth, and also my servant Isaac Morley, for they akept not the law, neither the commandment;
 16 They sought aevil in their hearts, and I, the Lord, bwithheld my Spirit. They ccondemned for evil that thing in which there was no evil; nevertheless I have forgiven my servant Isaac Morley.
 17 And also my servant aEdward Partridge, behold, he hath sinned, and bSatan seeketh to destroy his soul; but when these things are made known unto them, and they repent of the evil, they shall be forgiven.
 18 And now, verily I say that it is expedient in me that my servant Sidney Gilbert, after a few weeks, shall return upon his business, and to his aagency in the land of Zion;
 19 And that which he hath seen and heard may be made known unto my disciples, that they perish not. And for this cause have I spoken these things.
 20 And again, I say unto you, that my servant Isaac Morley may not be atempted above that which he is able to bear, and counsel wrongfully to your heart, I gave commandment that his farm should be sold.
 21 I will not that my servant Frederick G. Williams should sell his farm, for I, the Lord, will to retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years, in the which I will not overthrow the wicked, that thereby I may save some.
 22 And after that day, I, the Lord, will not hold any aguilty that shall go with an open heart up to the land of Zion; for I, the Lord, require the bhearts of the children of men.
 23 Behold, now it is called atoday until the bcoming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of csacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is dtithed shall not be eburned at his coming.
 24 For after today cometh the aburning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the bproud and they that do wickedly shall be as cstubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not espare any that remain in eBabylon.
 25 Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called atoday.
 26 And it is not meet that my servants, aNewel K. Whitney and Sidney Gilbert, should sell their bstore and their possessions here; for this is not wisdom until the residue of the church, which remaineth in this place, shall go up unto the land of Zion.
 27 Behold, it is said in my laws, or forbidden, to get in adebt to thine enemies;
 28 But behold, it is not said at any time that the Lord should not take when he please, and pay as seemeth him good.
 29 Wherefore, as ye are agents, ye are on the Lord's errand; and whatever ye do according to the will of the Lord is the Lord's business.
 30 And he hath set you to provide for his saints in these last days, that they may obtain an ainheritance in the land of Zion.
 31 And behold, I, the Lord, declare unto you, and my awords are sure and shall not bfail, that they shall obtain it.
 32 But all things must come to pass in their time.
 33 Wherefore, be not aweary in bwell-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of csmall things proceedeth that which is great.
 34 Behold, the Lord arequireth the bheart and a cwilling mind; and the willing and dobedient shall eeat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.
 35 And the arebellious shall be bcut off out of the land of Zion, and shall be sent away, and shall not inherit the land.
 36 For, verily I say that the rebellious are not of the blood of aEphraima, wherefore they shall be plucked out.
 36a the blood of Ephraim Other than specifiying that Moroni held the keys to the stick of Ephraim (D&C 27:5), this is the first location in the revealed scriptures of the restoration that Ephraim is so specified as pertaining to those who are rightfully heirs of the restoration. Or in other words, though it had been understood that it was through Ephraim that the Covenant of Abraham would be fulfilled unto the blessing of the nations of the earth, and thus the gospel fulness would needs be brought first and through the hand of Ephraim to the world, scripturally it had not been so plainly stated. Brigham Young so states that Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite and later the Doctrine and Covenants will verify that Joseph Smith had the heirship right to the covenant and the required priesthood as being that promised descendant from Joseph of Egypt. Thus the early saints that the gospel was taken to and who so responded to it were considered as being of the tribe of Ephraim and so the patriarchal blessing have confirmed that most all were of such. It is of a particular interest that Jesus Christ identifies these Ephraimite saints as 'his people' in seeming contrast to the Jews who had rejected him. In D&C 113, it will be further explored how Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ are both linearly descended from Jesse as will as from Joseph and Ephraim (See also Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph).
 37 Behold, I the lord, have made my church in these last days like unto a ajudge sitting on a hill, or in a high place, to bjudge the nations.
 38 For it shall come to pass that the inhabitants of Zion shall ajudge all things pertaining to Zion.
 39 And aliars and hypocrites shall be proved by them, and they who are bnot capostles and prophets shall be dknown.
 40 And even the abishop, who is a bjudge, and his counselors, if they are not faithful in their cstewardships shall be condemned, and dothers shall be planted in their estead.
 41 For, behold, I say unto you that aZion shall flourish, and the bglory of the Lord shall be upon her;
 42 And she shall be an aensign unto the people, and there shall come unto her out of every bnation under heaven.
 43 And the day shall come when the nations of the earth shall atremble because of her, and shall fear because of her terrible ones. The Lord hath spoken it. Amen.