The Lord gave the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 94 on August 2, 1833, and directed the Saints to lay out the city of Kirtland, Ohio, similar to the city of Zion in Missouri. The Lord also commanded the Saints to build a house (a Church administration building) for the First Presidency and a house for printing, in addition to the temple, which He had previously commanded the Saints to build. Two months earlier, on June 1, 1833, the Prophet Joseph Smith had received the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 95, in which the Lord chastened the Saints for delaying construction of the temple. Doctrine and Covenants 96 contains the Lord’s instruction to appoint Newel K. Whitney “to take charge of” (D&C 96:2) the property on which the temple in Kirtland would be built.
The Lord commands the Saints to construct two houses and reaffirms the need to build the temple
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building Kirtland Temple
Imagine that you have the opportunity to travel through a country with many cities. As you travel, you notice that there is a sports arena at the center of every city. What might this suggest about the people of this country?
If you were going to design a large city, what would you place at the center of the city? Why?
Read Doctrine and Covenants 94:1–2, looking for how the Lord directed the city of the stake of Zion in Kirtland, Ohio, to be designed.
What does this say about the importance of the temple to the Lord?
Read Doctrine and Covenants 94:3, 10, and identify the two other buildings the Lord commanded the Saints to construct in Kirtland.
The commandment to construct these buildings shows the importance the Lord places on temple ordinances, the work of the First Presidency in obtaining revelation and ministering to the Church, and the publishing of scriptures and other works the Lord commands.
The Lord instructed Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter to form a building committee for the buildings mentioned in this revelation (see D&C 94:13–17).
Read Doctrine and Covenants 94:16, looking for what the Lord told the Saints concerning the construction of the buildings for the First Presidency and for printing.
Consider why it was important for the temple to be built before the other two buildings. What can this teach us about the importance of temples?
The Lord chastens the Saints for delaying construction of the temple
The Lord first issued the commandment to build the Kirtland Temple in Doctrine and Covenants 88:119, which was recorded on December 27–28, 1832.
Search the section introduction to Doctrine and Covenants 95 for the date when this revelation was given. Approximately how much time passed between these two dates?
During this time, Church leaders had acquired property in Kirtland on which to build the temple. However, by June 1, 1833, the Saints had not begun constructing the temple or even preparing the foundation.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 95:1–3, and identify what the Lord told the Saints concerning their delay in building the temple.
Refer to verse 1 to complete the following statement: God chastens .
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father and son
To chasten means to discipline or correct. In verse 1, you may want to mark reasons why God chastens those He loves.
Consider how you tend to respond when you are chastened or corrected. As you read the following narrative, look for ways some of the brethren responded to the Lord’s chastening:
After the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 95, Church leaders held a conference to discuss the construction of the temple. “Some were in favor of building a frame house, but others were of a mind to put up a log house. Joseph reminded them that they were not building a house for a man, but for God; ‘and shall we, brethren,’ said he, ‘build a house for our God, of logs? No, I have a better plan than that. I have a plan of the house of the Lord, given by himself; and you will soon see by this, the difference between our calculations and his idea of things’” (Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, ed. Preston Nibley [1958], 230). After the Prophet explained the full pattern of the temple, all of the brethren were excited. They traveled to the building site, removed a fence, and leveled a field of wheat that had previously been planted by the Smith family. After the grain was cleared, Hyrum Smith “commenced digging a trench for the wall, he having declared that he would strike the first blow upon the house” (Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, 231).
In your scripture study journal, write what you can learn from these brethren about how to respond to correction or discipline. In addition, write about a time when you were chastened and responded by seeking to improve.
Notice that the Lord described the Saints’ delay in building the temple as “a very grievous sin” (D&C 95:3). Why do you think the Lord would consider the delay in building the temple as a serious sin? Search Doctrine and Covenants 95:6 to see what the Lord compared this very grievous sin to.
Consider how ignoring the Lord’s commandments—particularly the commandment to build a temple—might be like walking in darkness at noonday.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 95:4, 8–9, and identify reasons why the Lord commanded the Saints to build the Kirtland Temple. (The phrase “that I may bring to pass my strange act” [D&C 95:4] refers to the Lord’s latter-day work and how people who do not believe in revelation, heavenly visitations, and other spiritual matters might consider the Restoration of the gospel to be strange.)
From these verses we learn that in temples, the Lord prepares His servants to do His work and endows them with power.
The word endow means to provide someone with a gift. To be endowed in the temple means to receive spiritual power and knowledge. In the Kirtland Temple, the Lord would restore the priesthood keys essential to perform the saving ordinances that today we can receive only in temples: the temple endowment and the temple sealing (see D&C 110).
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President Thomas S. Monson
President Thomas S. Monson spoke about the importance of receiving these temple blessings: “Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God” (“The Holy Temple—a Beacon to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 93).
Write in your scripture study journal about some things you can do now to prepare to receive the ordinances and blessings of the temple.
Building the Kirtland Temple was an enormous task for the Saints. In the early part of 1833, there were fewer than 200 members of the Church in Ohio, and most of them were poor. Read Doctrine and Covenants 95:11–12, looking for what the Lord promised if the Saints would keep His commandments.
The Saints in Ohio proceeded with faith in the Lord’s promise and constructed the temple. From Doctrine and Covenants 95:11, we learn that if we keep the commandments, we will have power to do what the Lord asks us to do. You may want to write this principle in the margin of your scriptures.
Answer the following questions in your scripture study journal:
What are some situations you might face in which this principle could apply?
When have you felt that you have received the Lord’s help to do something because you have kept the commandments?
Notice the phrase “the love of the Father shall not continue with you” in Doctrine and Covenants 95:12. When we fail to obey the commandments of the gospel, we lose blessings, such as light and knowledge, which are fruits of the Father’s love for those who show their love for Him by being obedient.
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Kirtland Temple interior
In Doctrine and Covenants 95:13–17, we read that the Lord gave the brethren instructions on the dimensions and the functions of specific rooms of the Kirtland Temple. Read verse 14, looking for one way the Lord indicated He would fulfill His promise to give His people power to build the temple.
The three men whom the Lord promised to show how to build the temple were the First Presidency. The following information will help you see how this promise was fulfilled:
Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams prayed together and saw the temple in vision. After viewing the exterior in detail, “the building seemed to come right over [them]” and they saw the interior of the building as if they were actually inside of it (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 271). Later, when the temple was nearing completion, Frederick G. Williams said that it looked like the model he had seen in vision to the smallest detail and that he could not tell the difference.
Newel K. Whitney is designated to take charge of the temple property for the Church
In Doctrine and Covenants 96, we read that the Lord instructed that Bishop Newel K. Whitney should take charge of the property on which the temple would be built. The Lord also commanded Bishop Whitney to divide the property into lots for those who seek an inheritance. Some of the lots were designated for Church leaders responsible for the publication of the revelations. Receiving this inheritance would help them devote their time to doing the work of the Lord. Read Doctrine and Covenants 96:4–5, and identify how publishing the word of God would help the Saints.
In this revelation the Lord also directed that John Johnson should be admitted as a member of the United Firm, which oversaw the Church’s financial, publishing, and business operations.
Write the following at the bottom of today’s assignments in your scripture study journal: