Ye Shall Receive My Law

The first revelation that Joseph Smith received in Kirtland recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants is section 41. One of the themes of this section is the need for the Saints to receive the words and commandments of the Lord. The Lord said, “Hearken, O ye elders of my church whom I have called, behold I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall assemble yourselves together to agree upon my word; And by the prayer of your faith ye shall receive my law” (v2-3). One of the major purposes of gathering the Saints together in Ohio was to receive His law and to understand His word. He taught them that to be His discples they had to receive and do His word: “He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple; and he that saith he receiveth it and doeth it not, the same is not my disciple” (v5). In this revelation He also instructed Sidney Rigdon that “he keepeth my commandments” and similarly to Edward Partridge he said, “I give a commandment” to serve as a bishop unto the church. Commandments and revelations, laws and scriptures, these would be major themes for the Saints as they spent several years in Kirtland building up His church.

               In this revelation the Lord also referred to the need for the Prophet Joseph to “translate,” a reference to his work on the inspired revision of the Bible. It is instructive to see that as soon as the Book of Mormon was completed, the Lord immediately had him continue work to reveal the words of the Lord in other scriptures and Kirtland was a place of revelation for the new church. Joseph Smith focused on the Bible translation for several years, and in addition to the enhanced understanding that what we now call the Joseph Smith Translation brought us in the words of the Bible, this also led to many new revelations now in the Doctrine and Covenants. In fact, over sixty revelations were given in Ohio which was far more than any other place. It was indeed where the Lord chose to reveal His law and commandments. During this Kirtland period as well Joseph was able to obtain the Egyptian papyri which led to the translation of the Book of Abraham. I believe the final verse of section 41 can be applied to all of these revelations and commandments that the Lord gave the Saints in Ohio: “These words are given unto you, and they are pure before me; wherefore, beware how you hold them, for they are to be answered upon your souls in the day of judgment” (v12). We will be held accountable for how we receive all of these marvelous revelations and commandments that the Lord gave the early Saints in these formative years of the church.