The Lord had paused the translation project after JS and Martin Harris had misplaced the first manuscript extracts of the Book of Mormon. JS learned in D&C 3 that he would still be called to the work if he entered a new relationship with the Lord, one in which he trusted in God more than in men. About six months later, JS ostensibly prepared to resume the translation and he received four revelations in rather short order: D&C 4–5, 10, and 6. I will discuss D&C 6 next week, but really this whole group of revelations assert important details about the work Jesus Christ was pursuing in 1829: a “marvelous work” of which Isaiah had prophesied.
Isaiah 29 was undoubtedly on JS’s mind at the time. He had interpreted Martin Harris’s consultations with scholars like Charles Anthon as fulfilling part of the prophecy that predicted a book being delivered to one who was learned and to one who was unlearned. In consequence of the “vision of all” becoming as the words sealed up in a book neither the learned nor unlearned could decipher, the Lord would “proceed to do a marvellous work among [such] people, even a marvellous work and a wonder” (Isa. 29:11–14 KJV). Now, in early 1829, the project to translate the plates was supposed to recommence, and JS proceeds from where he left off: a controversial attempt to solicit the help of scholars and the loss of the manuscript. It’s as if he were standing right in the “therefore” of verse 14, in the moment of the Lord proceeding to do the marvelous work.
Sure enough, his very next revelation opens with this reference to Isaiah 29: “now behold a marvelous work is about to come.” I’m struck by D&C 4’s use of “ye that embark in the service of God.” Despite being occasioned by Joseph Smith Sr. asking his son for the mind of the Lord regarding his involvement in helping JS with the work, the Lord addresses the plural “ye,” rendering the revelation in a wide, universal scope. All who embark in the service of God, they are the ones who have a message from the Lord, and that message is essentially that their heart is needed, their intention, mind, strength are needed for the harvest. I notice the Lord centering the qualifications for such service not on professional credentials or even skill or capacity, but on virtuous living. This departs significantly from the custom of the time and region for ministers, itinerant preachers, circuit riders, and missionaries—those who embarked in service as opposed to remaining at home—to possess an inventory of training and experience before being selected for service. Desires to serve God are good enough; virtuous behavior is the qualification.
D&C 5 addresses Martin Harris with some wisdom about gaining a “further witness” of the work of Christ in the latter days. The revelation does quite a bit of explaining the quality of witness and how a promised group of three witnesses would be given an exclusive witness that no one else would have. They would be required to testify in a very specific way. And Martin is told that a testimony of the Book of Mormon is predicated not on the book itself, but rather on the revelation D&C 5 represented. “These words” in D&C 5 were the vehicle for someone to accept JS’s translation—they would not believe if Martin could show them all things unless they could believe that D&C 5 represents the word of God, the words given through a miraculous gift of the Spirit to JS. I’m struck by this model for testimony and wonder how differently it might run among proselytes who, instead of being invited to read the Book of Mormon and pray about its veracity, are invited to read revelations in the first-person voice of the Lord addressed to them and encouraging them toward a new relationship with Jesus Christ—and then they are invited to seek a witness that those words are, in fact, the words of the Lord. Maybe D&C 5 offers an important message for our missionaries just like D&C 4.
D&C 10 engages the issue of a lost manuscript then in the possession of JS’s enemies. We know the main force of the revelation: JS was told not to retranslate what had been written in that manuscript but instead press forward and trust that the Lord would provide the necessary material, which ends up being Nephi’s record. But what we sometimes don’t notice about this revelation is how the Lord articulates what his work entails. Along with D&C 4 and 5, the “marvelous work” presented by D&C 10 includes a covenantal restoration, something that would “build up” the church, not tear it down. And the Lord makes one of the strongest emphases and strictest definitions anywhere to be found in the Doctrine and Covenants: the meaning of his church. “Behold this is my doctrine: whosoever repenteth, and cometh unto me, the same is my church: whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me: therefore, he is not of my church.” It’s not very often that the Lord places such a stricture on a statement. But here, there isn’t any room for departing from such a succinct and clear definition of Jesus’s doctrine and Jesus’s church. The church of Jesus Christ is “whosoever” that repents and comes unto him; that’s it. We aren’t at liberty to expand or contract this definition without disqualifying ourselves. It appears that to play with the definition of the church of Jesus Christ is not to come unto him.
I say more about the historical settings behind these revelations and some other observations about their passages. Please check out the audio discussion on the podcast feed or by downloading this file for more along those lines:
Work of Christ—A Marvelous Work Is about to Come Forth
And, as before, don’t miss the lesson outlines:
Next week: Revelation of Christ, Part 1—As Often as Thou Hast Inquired (D&C 6)