Revelation, 2 January 1831 [D&C 38]

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Revelation, 2 January 1831 [D&C 38]
Source Note

Revelation,
Fayette Township
Located in northern part of county between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Area settled, by 1790. Officially organized as Washington Township, 14 Mar. 1800. Name changed to Fayette, 6 Apr. 1808. Population in 1830 about 3,200. Population in 1840 about 3,700. Significant...
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, Seneca Co., NY, 2 Jan. 1831. Featured version, titled “41st Commandment Jan 2nd AD 1831,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 49–52; handwriting of
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
Historical Introduction
This revelation, dictated at a church
conference
A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...
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in
Fayette
Located in northern part of county between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Area settled, by 1790. Officially organized as Washington Township, 14 Mar. 1800. Name changed to Fayette, 6 Apr. 1808. Population in 1830 about 3,200. Population in 1840 about 3,700. Significant...
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, New York, came three days after a 30 December 1830 revelation commanded the church to “assemble together at the
Ohio
French explored and claimed area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut...
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.”
1
Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:3].
The 2 January 1831 revelation elaborated on the earlier commandment by reiterating the call to gather and promising the members they would be thereafter endowed with “power from on high.”

In his later history,
John Whitmer
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wrote that as JS addressed the conference on 2 January and discussed the
commandment
Generally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of Deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...
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to move to
Ohio
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as a group, those present “desired to know somewhat more concerning this matter.” In response, “the Seer enquired of the Lord in the presence of the whole congregation, and thus came the word of the Lord.”
2
Whitmer, History, 6.
Recalling the conference later,
Newel Knight
13 Sept. 1800–11 Jan. 1847. Miller, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Knight Sr. and Polly Peck. Moved to Jericho (later Bainbridge), Chenango Co., New York, ca. 1809. Moved to Windsor (later in Colesville), Broome Co., New...
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noted that “we were instructed as a people, to begin the gathering of Israel, and a revelation was given to the Prophet on this subject.”
3
Knight, History, 268–269.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.

Some church members were reticent to leave their homes and relocate to
Ohio
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, and a few, according to
Whitmer
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, even wondered if “Joseph had invented it [the revelation] himself to deceive the people that in the end he might get gain.”
4
Several weeks later, a resident of Waterloo, New York, wrote that “this command was at first resisted by such as had property, (the brethren from the neighboring counties being all assembled by special summons,) but after a night of fasting, prayer and trial, they all consented to obey the holy messenger.”
5
Waterloo, NY, 26 Jan. [1831], Letter to the Editor, Reflector (Palmyra, NY), 1 Feb. 1831, 95.
Reflector. Palmyra, NY. 1821–1831.
JS’s
mother
8 July 1775–14 May 1856. Oilcloth painter, nurse, fund-raiser, author. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Solomon Mack Sr. and Lydia Gates. Moved to Montague, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, 1779; to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, 1788...
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saw the revelation in a positive light. She wrote to her brother Solomon Mack to explain that after they gathered together, God would “come and reign on ea[r]th with them a thousand years.” She also indicated, “We expect to go away to the Ohio early in the spring.”
6
Lucy Mack Smith, Waterloo, NY, to Solomon Mack, Gilsum, NH, 6 Jan. 1831, CHL.
Smith, Lucy Mack. Letter, Waterloo, NY, to Solomon Mack, Gilsum, NH, 6 Jan. 1831. CHL. MS 3468.
Footnotes
[1]
Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:3].
[2]
[3]
Knight, History, 268–269.
Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.
[4]
[5]
Waterloo, NY, 26 Jan. [1831], Letter to the Editor, Reflector (Palmyra, NY), 1 Feb. 1831, 95.
Reflector. Palmyra, NY. 1821–1831.
[6]
Lucy Mack Smith, Waterloo, NY, to Solomon Mack, Gilsum, NH, 6 Jan. 1831, CHL.
Smith, Lucy Mack. Letter, Waterloo, NY, to Solomon Mack, Gilsum, NH, 6 Jan. 1831. CHL. MS 3468.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 2 January 1831 [D&C 38] Revelation Book 1 Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833 Book of Commandments, 1833 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Revelations printed in Evening and Morning Star, January 1835–June 1836 John Whitmer, History, 1831–circa 1847 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith” Doctrine and Covenants, 1844
Page 51
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Riches even a land of promise a land flowing with milk & Honey upon which there shall be no curse & I will give it unto you for the land of your enheritance
7
At this time, JS apparently viewed Ohio as the land for his followers’ inheritance; in February 1831, he directed that all elders “who can be spared will come here [Kirtland] without delay if possable this by Commandment of the Lord as he has a great work for them all in this our inheritence.” (Letter to Martin Harris, 22 Feb. 1831.)
if you seek it with all your hearts & this shall be my covenant with you ye shall have it for the land of your inheritence & for the inheritance of your Children forever while the Earth shall stand & ye shall Possess it again in eternity no more to pass away But Verily I say unto you that in time ye shall have no King nor Ruler for I will be your King & watch over you Wherefore hear my voice & follow me & ye shall be a free People & ye shall have no laws but my laws for I am your Law giver & who can stay my hand But Verily I say unto you teach one another according to the Office wherewith I have appointed you & let evry man esteem his brother as himself & practice Virtue & Holyness before me & again I say unto you let evry man esteem his Brother as himself for what man among you having twelve sons & is no respector to them & they Serve him obediently & he saith unto the one be thou clothed in Robes & sit thou here & to the other be thou clothed in Raggs & sit thou there & looketh upon his sons & saith I am Just Behold I have given unto you a Parable & it is even as I am I say unto you be one & if ye are not one ye are not mine
8
An account of Enoch from JS’s Bible revision provided this description of Enoch’s Zion: “They were of one heart and of one mind and dwelt in righteousness and there was no poor among them.” (Old Testament Revision 1, p. 16 [Moses 7:18].)
& again I say unto you that the Enemy in the Seecret Chambers seek<[e]th> your lives ye hear of wars in far Countries & you say in your hearts there will soon be great wars in far Countries but ye know not the hearts of they in your own Land I tell you these things because of your prayers Wherefore treasure up Wisdom in your bosoms lest the wickedness of men reveal reveal these things in your unto you by their wicke[d]ness in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the Earth but if ye are prepared ye need not fear & that ye might escape the power of the enemy & be gethered unto me a Righteous people without spot & blameless
9
Four months earlier, a revelation declared that God’s “Elect” would be “gethered in unto one place upon the the face of this land to prepare their Hearts & be prepared in all things against the day of tribulation.” (Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:7–8].)
Wherefore for this cause I gave unto you [p. 51]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 2 January 1831 [D&C 38]
ID #
6497
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:229–233
Handwriting on This Page
John Whitmer
Footnotes
[7]
At this time, JS apparently viewed Ohio as the land for his followers’ inheritance; in February 1831, he directed that all elders “who can be spared will come here [Kirtland] without delay if possable this by Commandment of the Lord as he has a great work for them all in this our inheritence.” (Letter to Martin Harris, 22 Feb. 1831.)
[8]
An account of Enoch from JS’s Bible revision provided this description of Enoch’s Zion: “They were of one heart and of one mind and dwelt in righteousness and there was no poor among them.” (Old Testament Revision 1, p. 16 [Moses 7:18].)
[9]
Four months earlier, a revelation declared that God’s “Elect” would be “gethered in unto one place upon the the face of this land to prepare their Hearts & be prepared in all things against the day of tribulation.” (Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:7–8].)