Monday, November 23, 2015

D&C 124 - promised blessings, penalties, and what actually happened

Requirements:
  • Build a Temple in the allotted time:
    • 31 But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me.
Promised Blessings:
  • God would restore the fulness of the Priesthood, which He had already taken away
    • 28 For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood.
  • God would restore mysteries hidden from before the foundation of the world:
    •  41 For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times.
  • If the Temple is completed in time the Saints will be able to stay there (in Nauvoo):
    •  45 And if my people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place.
  • Ordinances would be revealed in the Temple
    •  40 And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;
Promised Penalties:
  • Church would be rejected if the Temple is not completed in the allotted time:
    •  32 But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God.
  • Baptisms for the Dead would not be acceptable:
    •  35 And after this time, your baptisms for the dead, by those who are scattered abroad, are not acceptable unto me, saith the Lord.
  • Curse will last 3-4 generations (Eldred Smith just died - 4th generation from Hyrum Smith):
    • 50 And the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work, unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not, and hate me, saith the Lord God.
  • Promised blessings won't be given:
    •  47 And it shall come to pass that if you build a house unto my name, and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfil the promises which ye expect at my hands, saith the Lord.

What happened:
  • Joseph Smith  died almost exactly 3 1/2 years after this revelation was received
    • January 19, 1841 - June 27, 1844
  • Joseph gave the endowment in the Red Brick Store, but it was a ceremonial enactment of what was really supposed to happen in the Temple.  The veil wasn't pierced in reality but merely in ceremony.
  • When Joseph died the Temple had not yet been completed to the second floor
  • When the Twelve prayed in the Temple on February 8, 1846 that the Lord would bless the Saints to be able to complete the Temple, the Temple caught fire the next day.
  • On April 29, 1846 the Nauvoo Temple was complete enough to dedicate.
  • In June of 1847 the Temple was almost sold to the Catholic church for $75,000 but the sale failed.
  • On October 9, 1848 an arsonist destroyed the Temple.
  • On May 27, 1850, the north wall was blown down by a storm.  The rest of the building was then torn down.
What didn't happen:
  • The Lord never came to this Temple
  • The saints were not allowed to stay in Nauvoo as promised but had to flee
  • Mysteries hidden from before the foundation of the world were not restored

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