Worth the Riches of the Whole Earth

Yesterday evening my son was reading in his bed and he came out to find me and said, “Dad, I need you. I don’t understand the verse I’m reading.” I was thrilled to hear this, since he did not normally go off and read scriptures on his own without prodding, let alone ask for help in understanding them. He has been reading the Doctrine and Covenants on and off for a long time now, and he was on this verse that he was wondering about: “Nevertheless, inasmuch as they receive more than is needful for their necessities and their wants, it shall be given into my storehouse” (Doctrine and Covenants 70:7). He told me he really liked it but wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, and so I taught him a little about consecration and that when we have more than what we need we should give it away to help others like we do with fast offerings.

               I have since been looking into this section a little more and studied the context here. This revelation was given at the end of several conferences in which it was decided to publish Joseph Smith’s revelations up to that point in the Book of Commandments. Here in this revelation there were six men listed as stewards over the revelations and this publication process: Joseph Smith Jr., Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, Sidney Rigdon, and William W. Phelps. According to the student manual, “These stewards were not only responsible for publishing the revelations but also for managing the revenue generated from the sale of the Book of Commandments. The Lord commanded them to use the profits to provide for their families and to consecrate what was left to the Lord’s storehouse for the benefit of the people in Zion.” So apparently those involved in the significant task of getting the book published were to receive wages for their work to care for their own families, but, as verse 7 indicates, anything additional that they received from the sale of the book beyond their needs was to be given into the Lord’s storehouse.

               There are at least two important messages from this section. The first is simply the importance of the revelations of God and the need for all to have access to them. We can see from this and other revelations that the Lord was serious about making His word available to the Saints. As the preface to this section records, at the conference the men “voted that the revelations were ‘worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth.’” That is certainly how we should hold and consider the revelations we now have in the Doctrine and Covenants specifically and our scriptures in general. The other message, related to that statement, is that we should consecrate our own riches to do these two things: provide for our family’s necessities and then give to help others. If we truly value the Lord’s revelations more than the riches of the earth like these men did, then we will not be concerned about amassing great amounts of wealth for ourselves. Rather, we will use what is needed for us and then consecrate what we can to the Lord. But we will still be rich no matter how much we give away, for we have the revelations of God worth more than all the wealth the world has to offer. These are principles that I hope my son will truly take to heart all his life, for they will keep him on the gospel path and spiritually protect him from the deceitful enticements of the world.