D&C 71 - 75 (2020 Repost)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome to the weekly Deep Dive podcast on the Add On Education Network. The podcast where we explore the weekly Come follow me discussion and try to add a little insight and unique perspective. I am your host, Jason Lloyd, here in the studio with my friend and this show's producer, Nate Titanium Pifer. [00:00:31] Speaker A: Titanium. [00:00:32] Speaker B: I am titanium. I don't know if it's getting any better. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Nate. [00:00:38] Speaker B: What? [00:00:40] Speaker A: I would like to apologize for last week's episode. Not because of my singing, because my singing was awesome. The audio was just a little weird. It was a little all over the place. So sorry if you ended up having to turn your car speakers or whatever you're listening to if you had to turn the volume up and down. It's my bad. I think we have remedied the problem this week, though, so nice. I'm not. I'm not at all apologizing for my singing, though. [00:01:06] Speaker B: Unapologetic. [00:01:07] Speaker A: Unapologetic. Because it's the best thing you've ever heard. Well, don't, don't, don't. [00:01:15] Speaker B: So this week we're discussing Doctrine and Covenant, Sections 71, 75. And this is. I mean, I think most people are familiar with 76, right? We know 76 is coming next. 76 is this vision, this idea. It comes from their translation of the New Testament. So as we are diving into 71 through 75, what is going on here is Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon are translating or preparing a translation of the Bible. They are working a lot in the New Testament. And in these sections, we have the Lord commanding him to translate, commanding him to hold off, commanding to go back and translate and to kick this off. It actually starts with a little bit of a hiccup. Issues caused from Ezra Booth. Ezra Booth is the first anti vocal, not anti vocal. The first very vocal anti Mormon, I guess we call anti Mormon. Do we need to say, like, anti Latter Day Saints or. [00:02:18] Speaker A: I think we all know what you mean if you say the word anti Mormon. I'm just going to go out on a limb there. [00:02:23] Speaker B: All right. It's a pretty safe limb. [00:02:24] Speaker A: Sorry, President Nelson. [00:02:27] Speaker B: So Ezra Booth wrote a series of letters that got published and he had a lot of impact. And maybe just. We'll take a second to talk about Ezra Booth. He was converted when he saw Joseph Smith perform a miracle. So he had his hopes up that because Joseph Smith was performing miracles and this was God's church and miracles are here on the earth, he was in turn going to turn around and start performing miracles and get all sorts of people to follow him. Because of all of these signs and miracles, that is what he was all about. When he went out on his mission and there were not a lot of miracles happening, he kind of got disillusioned and felt like things weren't true. He started to become a little bit critical. And so the church, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, they kind of censored him a little bit and asked him to stop preaching. He got offended, left the church and then published all of these articles just ranting about the problems that the church had to try to persuade people to turn away from the church or to ignore the church. And it was so convincing that people at that time had figured that Mormonism, if you will, was done with that. Booth had put it to rest that we would be hearing no more from Joseph Smith. And it was so convincing that Doctrine and Covenant, Section 71 is a revelation from God commanding Joseph and Sidney to stop working on the translation of the Bible in order to combat the falsehoods that were going around the letters and the impact that Booth was having. So if you go back and you look at some of the letters that were written in this time period, there was a guy that had written home about the Mormons and he references Booth's letter and talking about them. So it was very impactful at the time, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. But if you don't mind, I am going to take a slight tangent. As I was looking at some of these letters and this guy had written home at this time and he mentions this letter. He said some things that I kind of found fascinating. A little bit off topic. He is talking to his family about how he was, and he says that he had gotten the fever and so he was sick for four weeks with this fever off and on. Four weeks sounds like a long time to be sick, right? And then he says he got better, but then he got it again and then he was sick for eight weeks. And I was thinking about this 12 weeks to be down with this fever that keeps coming and going. Like even Covid today. I don't think it's a 12 week process or recovery to get over it. I don't know. It kind of highlighted for me some of the differences and some of the benefits, what we live in. It was a different world. And he writes to his family and says, this last season was rough. A lot of people got sick, but fortunately we were really blessed. As far as deaths, there were only three deaths in our town last summer. And I can't even imagine writing somebody and saying, you know what, there were only three deaths in our ward last summer from just illnesses. We're not even talking about a plague or any large pandemics. We're just talking about normal frontier living. Like, yeah, we had three people die last season. And in his letter, he says, I haven't heard from you guys for eight months. Will you tell me who died over there from sickness? And I just think of a mission. How many missionaries are riding home in an 18 month span or however long, and just saying, hey, can you update me on everyone that passed away from sickness in the ward this last year? It's a completely different world for me. And I don't know, just reading those letters, it kind of caught my attention. Maybe because we're just coming out of COVID And as bad as Covid is, it just seems like almost on par with what normal everyday everything was for them without even having a pandemic to fight with. So I guess I'm grateful that modern medicine and advancements and understanding and how germs work, I don't think we have that fight so much anymore. But anyways, sorry, that was kind of a tangent. But getting back into the subject. The Lord commands them to stop. He says, let's see, let's read a few of these verses. Verse 7. Wherefore confound your enemies, call upon them to meet you both in public and in private, and inasmuch as you are faithful, their shame shall be made manifest. Wherefore let them bring forth their strong reasons against the Lord. And so he's telling them to call them out. He's telling them to talk about it and try to focus attention so that the church at this vulnerable stage isn't entirely squashed by the impact that Booth was having. And he says, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, there is no weapon that is formed against you that shall prosper. And that is kind of the whole, I guess, message of this lesson. And come follow me. That is the line that they pull out of it. The highlight of the lesson for them is that there is no weapon formed against you that shall prosper. And at this time, it probably seemed like Booth was very much prospering. According to George A. Smith, the culminating event of Booth's apostasy was the mob that tarred and feathered Joseph, which later led to the death of one of his kids. You probably remember seeing that in the movie, right? When they break in and whatnot. And as I was looking at the description of this here, we got a quote On Saturday, March 24, Joseph was dragged from his bedroom in the dead of night. His attackers strangled him until he blacked out, tore off his shirt and drawers, beat and scratched him, jammed a vial of poison against his teeth until it broke. After tarring and feathering his body, they left him for dead. Joseph imped back to the Johnson's house and cried for a blanket through the night. His friend scraped off the tar until his flesh was raw. I think most of us are somewhat familiar with this event. The vial of poison that they were jamming against his teeth actually chipped one of his teeth. And he spoke with a lisp from that point on, kind of a whistle for the rest of his life because of this event. Another account of it says, according to accounts, the event the mob broke down the front door, took Smith's oldest surviving adopted child from his arms, dragged Smith from the room, leaving his exposed child on the trundle bed and forcing Emma and the others from the house. The mob threatened her with rape and murder. The child was knocked off the bed onto the floor in the doorway of the home. As Smith was forcibly removed from his home, the child died from exposure, many accounts say pneumonia, five days after the event. From the condition that doctors said he developed the night of the mob violence. So talking about weapons that are formed against you, I mean, this was very overwhelming. This tarring and feather hadn't happened yet. They say this was the culminating event from what Booth's letters and what started with Ezra Booth's apostasy. But as we look at it afterwards, if these weapons are not going to have any impact against us, it seems like it had an impact. And maybe let me go back and read how he says that there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. And that prosper word, I think, is kind of key here, because what happened to Booth, who knows anything about Booth afterwards? Very little is known about him. He became disillusioned. He actually started his own church based on the same principles of the LDS Church, minus Joseph Smith being a prophet and minus the Book of Mormon. He tried to do the same thing that Joseph Smith did. And where is his church today? If we're going to be talking about prospering, it didn't even survive a year. [00:10:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:10:45] Speaker B: And the only thing we know about Booth is really his apostasy and kind of the impact that he has. But his history, it's almost kind of a shameful history versus what do we know? I mean, you compare Booth, you compare the people that enacted the mob violence. You talk about a lot of these individuals, what fame or renown do they have today? What reputation have they built? How have they prospered in contrast to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the church and where the church has come from that point, these churches didn't even survive their period, let alone into today. So I think that is what the Lord is trying to drive here at this point. Sometimes it seems like our enemies are prospering against us, or sometimes we have a hard time seeing past right in front of us. But vindication comes over time. It is hard to be patient. It is hard to wait. And it is hard to see that. It is almost even harder to hear people just tell you, oh, this too shall pass. But in the end it does. It always works out all right. There was another verse in here that I thought was pretty cool. And this is verses 5 and 6. Now behold, this is wisdom. Whoso receiveth. Excuse me? Whoso readeth, let him understand and receive also. For unto him that receiveth it shall be given more abundantly, even power. And so there's two things that I thought were really interesting. One is this idea that he that receiveth is going to receive more abundantly. And what does that remind you of, Nate? I think you know the parable of talents, your favorite, right? [00:12:34] Speaker A: What is this you say? [00:12:36] Speaker B: Yeah. And the one that takes it and does something with it that you know, the talents being the money in this case, right. They're taking this. Not only are they blessed because they took it and made more from it, but they're blessed in that they receive what was taken away from the one that didn't do anything with. And as I look at this, as he's applying it to knowledge, those who receive this knowledge receive more knowledge. And you also see those that do not receive receive less knowledge. I think the converse is true. Just like the parable that was taken away from the guy that hid his talent. I see it in people that reject or turn away. They kind of lose what they had. They don't understand. There's a drop, I guess. And I think you understand what I'm saying, but it's hard to really describe what I'm saying. [00:13:34] Speaker A: Would maybe give us an example? Just give us a for example, like in our day to day lives. Yeah. [00:13:44] Speaker B: I'm just thinking, you know, it's good. [00:13:49] Speaker A: I mean, I have, I have. Tell me if this is like off or not. But it's interesting because I think that a lot of that light that we gain when we attend church meetings regularly and go to the temple regularly and things like that. Right. It is interesting because there are times that I have not been probably as good as I need to have been in both church attendance and, for sure, temple attendance. Right, right. And it's the times where I am and have in the past regularly attended those things. I feel like every time I go, I'm learning something. Not just. Not just from the information being given, but really on, like, a much, much deeper level. Some things that we've even talked about in some of our podcasts, some of the profound symbolisms in, like, the temple ceremony. Right. And it's funny, the flip side of that, at least for me, is when I haven't done a good job of my regular attendance to those things. When I come back after those long droughts, it's like I almost have to remember and even relearn kind of the basics again, almost. You know what I mean? So instead of going and receiving these really profound, fulfilling, enriching, you know, like eternal truths or whatever you want to call them, instead of. Instead of getting to go and really enjoy doing that, I feel like it's almost kind of having to clumsily remember all of just like the very, very, very basics again. [00:15:45] Speaker B: I like what you said, especially with the relearn, because. Yeah. You know, in your mission, if you're studying the scriptures regularly, religiously, every morning, I don't know, you're learning a lot of things. And sometimes if you go through a period where you're giving it a break and then you go back and you start reading some of the scriptures that you had once been extremely familiar with, it is. It's like you're relearning. You're like, I used to know that. I knew that. It's like you forgot somewhere along the line it wasn't as important to you or you didn't realize it and you're rediscovering it again, almost as if you discovered it for the first time and you're thinking, man, how much further would I be if I didn't have to go back and make that progress again? If I didn't. [00:16:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm with you. I think that it can also. And again, for me, at least, what it makes me think of is you've had times in your life where you're having. You've had, you know, a couple pivotal, profound experiences that really help you become converted or convicted. You know what I mean? Like, really lock you in. Right. I can still remember a handful of times in my life that I lean on when sometimes my skepticisms and doubts and Whatever creep in. I mean, I have some anchors. Right. It's interesting though because even those experiences, I consider those the value or the, the things that the master in this case of this parable gives us to use to magnify and to, to be a good steward over. Right. So I look at a couple of these profound like anchor experiences in my life and, and when I am building from those and sharing those with people or, or not even sharing the exact experiences, but, but using what that has led me to believe deeply to, to, you know, do my part in being a good disciple. Right. When I'm doing that, I feel like those anchors become even more solidified. Right. And you, you look at our own lives or the lives of friends and family that have maybe had similar experiences but have, you know, chosen a different path in life. Right. And maybe don't, don't share the same religious path that we're on. Right. I'm trying to think of the best way to say this because again it's, I'm not going to judge that as good or bad, but it's just different than ours. Right? Right. But it's interesting because I don't think that, I don't think that those experiences that they had were any less profound than the experiences that we have. But I do think that now when we talk about those experiences with somebody that has since chosen, you know, to do a different thing, it's almost like they have, they have been able to explain those away as, oh, maybe that wasn't as profound as I thought it was at the time, or maybe that wasn't as big of a deal as I, maybe I just convinced myself that that was, you know, I mean, it's like there's so many ways that you can kind of explain away in some cases like the miracles that they saw, right? [00:19:28] Speaker B: Yes. [00:19:29] Speaker A: And so when I look at this in context of the parable, I think that those profound like life altering experiences are things that absolutely can be built upon or taken away also. [00:19:49] Speaker B: And as you said that I think about the talents being increased or being reduced and this idea, I mean initially we're talking about this as knowledge. As you receive knowledge, you receive even more. As you turn away from light and knowledge, you start to forget or remember less or it has less of an impact in your life. And as you were saying that, I can't help but think maybe the value of those experiences, like you say, maybe we value them more, the worth of them, almost like inflation, right? Or I guess inflation reduces the. Almost the opposite. Maybe that's A bad example. But this idea that the value increases to us of those experiences, they become more important or worth a lot more. Their value increases. So maybe the idea of those who receive, receive more is that even what they have, not counting everything else that they're earning, but even what they have is increasing in value for them. [00:20:50] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:20:51] Speaker B: Where for those that don't treasure it, it's losing that value. And like you say, it becomes very easy to start questioning or wondering, you know, was it just coincidence? Or maybe it was just because of this and I was putting too much weight into it to where even the value of that one thing that you still have, that you can still hold on to is decreasing over time and eroding away to where it's not a very impactful event or, or thing for you. So, yeah, I like what you said. The other key word that stood out to me in this verse was that the idea that right here at the end, for unto him that receiveth, it shall be given more abundantly, even power. And I like, because it sounded like we were talking about knowledge. Those who receive it will receive more. And those who, who don't. Well, they didn't say that. I'm kind of implying that part in there. But then it says they shall receive in abundance even power. And I love the connection between knowledge and power. I think we've heard it stated before, knowledge is power. Joseph Smith, I think, put it very eloquently. He said, a man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge. For if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world. As evil spirits will have more knowledge and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us and give us knowledge of the things of God. And this idea that as we learn, it gives us power and that power is what allows us to conquer our enemies or put them below us. And he says that's how God did it. The reason why God rules over all of his enemies and put them under his feet is because he knows more than all of his enemies. So this idea that knowledge is powerful and the more that we learn, the more that we understand, the greater the advantage, the greater the capability, the greater the understanding, the greater the flexibility or freedom that we have. This idea that all of that wraps up into this concept of power and power to me in Spanish Poder, this idea to be able to be capable of doing something, you're increasing your capability. [00:23:10] Speaker A: I love it. The capability to withstand when life throws the various Things in your path that make you question things and that make you, you know, worry about certain things and maybe even, you know, question your own faith and beliefs and things like that. Like, I think that. I think that knowledge is key to be able to withstand those things. Because he says it in the scripture that it's the battle is against the evil spirits who have much more knowledge and more power and experience. Really, in kind of doing this and. [00:23:50] Speaker B: Even kind of hinting back on parenting as we talked last week, this idea that talking to your child and educating them, a kid that knows, don't touch the stove or don't run into the street, and that's all they know is don't do that. They might question or might not think it's a big deal, or maybe they've run into the street before and nothing happened and they begin to wonder or question if that's even a deal. But if they understand the consequences associated with it and why behind the nos or the don'ts, then they become much more capacitive being able to make that decision. Or more often than not, they make a more rational decision because they understand more fully the picture. Like you said, the more knowledge gives us a greater capacity to resist evil as we start to understand we don't fall so easily to the traps that Satan lays for us. [00:24:34] Speaker A: Love it. [00:24:35] Speaker B: Okay, Next up, section 72. And here, you know, kind of building on the parable of talents even. It's just something that I can't quite get away from for whatever reason. I think you've heard it's such a dope parable. [00:24:51] Speaker A: Dude, it's dope. [00:24:53] Speaker B: It is. Verse 3. For verily, in this thing ye have done wisely. For it is required of the Lord at the hand of every steward to render an account of his stewardship both in time and in eternity. This idea of accountability, it's not going anywhere. And we think maybe, maybe when I'm the boss, I don't have to be accountable anymore, or I've earned the right to not be accountable, or maybe when I get resurrected or I've passed the test or I'm whatever, accountability goes away. And God is here telling us that accountability is a key part both in time and in eternity, not just temporary, temporal here on earth. And we see that in the creation account, when God saw that he was obeyed, and you go to the temple and you see this accountability and this accounting long before you return and report, return and report, return and report. It's critical. And as I was reading verse four, it gave me a Different perspective. And I know I'm taking this the wrong way, if you will. I'm not taking this literal, but it spoke to me in a different sort of way. It says, for he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my father. And I think literally what this is saying is in time refers to our mortal existence, while eternity refers to pre. Post mortal. All of that. Right? So those who are worthy in time here on earth receive greater over there. But I took this differently. He who is wise in time. And I thought about time. I know a talent is a unit of money, Nate, but if you can forgive me for a second, I'll always forgive you. [00:26:43] Speaker A: As long as you don't say it's about singing in church. [00:26:48] Speaker B: God gives us the time. You know, you think about people that die inexplicably at a young age, and why did they not? And why are some people alive when some don't? And survivor's guilt, or how long will we be here? And every day is a gift from God. But I almost think of that. You talked about that parable, Nate, and you said that the talents were a responsibility and that there is an accounting for the responsibility that God gives us. And time is money. This idea that God is giving us time and that time as a talent, if you will, what are we doing with our time? And what kind of accounting are we having with our time? And I'm not saying that we have to be productive every second of the day and never rest and never sleep. I mean, obviously there's a balance in life. Obviously there's a balance we have to fill. But you have to wonder, what am I accomplishing with the time that God has given me? And if I get carried away in social media or looking at my phone or playing a game or watching tv. [00:27:53] Speaker A: Hold on. Easy there. It took a lot of time to become as good as I am at Mario Kart. We just got to. Don't cross any lines with this. What you're about ready to say here, Jason, but continue. Just keep that in mind. It takes time to become great at something. [00:28:08] Speaker B: It does take time to be great. And I'm not saying there's no time and place for it. I think that maybe that's one of the greatest if only lessons we get from Ecclesiastes. This idea that there is a time for this, there is a time for fun, a time for relaxation. But when you have a time to be accountable, a time to get work done, if you were supposed to be if you were on the clock and getting paid to provide your time for a service, and instead of providing that time, you are crossing your relaxation into your effectiveness, or if you have a time that you should be giving to your children or to your family, or if you have a time or responsibility to be turning in school work and answering and accountability on that, and you're letting some of these other times bleed over into each other, then we're not being as accountable with our time. [00:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah, we're probably not being good sorts. And to be fair, if you were to ask most people in my life, I probably have spent too much time becoming great at something that is probably not that important, but I love it. [00:29:11] Speaker B: Okay, Jason, I want to get this straight. I'm not saying it's wrong or bad. [00:29:16] Speaker A: Well, you're making me feel bad, Jason. [00:29:19] Speaker B: For the record, maybe you're not. [00:29:20] Speaker A: Maybe somebody else's. [00:29:22] Speaker B: Anyone knows me, I've always grown up playing games and balancing. That's always been somewhat of a challenge, but now I don't even have time for it. But I think there's value there. I think there's value in taking time for yourself. [00:29:38] Speaker A: Yes, I agree. [00:29:40] Speaker B: And if you're always stressed out to the max, what happens to a bow that's always under tension if you never pull the string off of it? [00:29:47] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:29:48] Speaker B: It becomes less effective. [00:29:49] Speaker A: Exactly right. [00:29:50] Speaker B: You have to sharpen the axe. You have to take time for yourself. [00:29:53] Speaker A: And not only that, I think that it's also the idea of the two lumberjacks that went out into the forest. Right. To see who could cut down the most trees. And the one worker worked really, really, really hard, and he just kept whacking at trees. And he. Every time he'd look over, the other guy was just sharpening his ax, right? [00:30:20] Speaker B: Yes. [00:30:20] Speaker A: And then at the end of the day, obviously, the idea is the guy who was spending time resting and sharpening his axe was able to get much more done in the long run because of all of the other things that have, you know, to do with surviving. So for whatever it's worth, I luckily. And people talk about, like, oh, it's a balance between those things. I'm like, yeah, good luck. Everybody talks about that all the time. I don't know anybody. I don't know anybody in life that's like, yeah, I have realized the perfect balance in this. But it's. I feel like it's more of like a pendulum. Right. Sometimes we may be swinging a little too far, you know, leaning into something and neglecting other things a little Bit too much, and then you swing back the other way and you probably, you know, overcompensate in that area. You know what I mean? It's like. [00:31:10] Speaker B: Yes. [00:31:11] Speaker A: I think it's more. Instead of trying to be, like, finding perfect balance, just being aware and being honest and adjusting, being flexible. [00:31:21] Speaker B: I love what Bednar, Elder Bednar said. He said there's no such thing as balance. And he said he saw a circus performer when he was a kid, and the guy would be spinning all of the plates. [00:31:29] Speaker A: Right. [00:31:30] Speaker B: You have a stick and a plate on this one and a stick and a plate on that one. And he said the key was he can't spin all of the plates at the same time. And maybe that's what he was saying when he was saying there's no such thing as a balance, is you can't just do a little bit of everything at the same time. You have to stop focusing on one thing to be able to focus on the other. And you focus on whatever plate's going slowest. You got to go spend some time and get that plate back up to speed so that you can take your attention off of that and go put it on something else that requires your attention. [00:32:02] Speaker A: Well, thanks now for making me feel bad again that somebody said what I was trying to say. Way better. I mean, that's basically what I was trying to say. No. [00:32:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it's exactly what you said. [00:32:15] Speaker A: My analogy sucked. [00:32:16] Speaker B: No, it didn't. And the axe cutter, Perfect. [00:32:20] Speaker A: I'm just borrowing that from something I heard. But. [00:32:23] Speaker B: But the idea that being more effective with each swing, you know, taking time to sharpen yourself. And yes, it's important that you study. Yes, it's important that learn. But if you're never taking the tension off the bow, the bow is going to stop working. It's becoming. The axe is going to get dull, you're going to be less effective, and. [00:32:44] Speaker A: Then you're going to give up because you're going to be frustrated. I think that's the point that I was trying to make. It's like if you just work yourself to death with whatever it is that you're trying to do, is that it's incredibly easy to. At a certain point, just like when actual hard things happen, you just go, okay, honestly, I'm just tired. [00:33:02] Speaker B: Take time for yourself and try to. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Beat me at Mario Kart if you dare. [00:33:08] Speaker B: The Gauntlet's throne. [00:33:10] Speaker A: Higheeclydeepdive.com Just email me your Nintendo Switch gamertag. All right, let's keep going. [00:33:18] Speaker B: And you know, President Nielsen, A few years back, before he was President Nielsen, when he was Elder Nielsen. I remember when his wife passed away, and he talked about it in conference. And I don't remember much about what he said in the talk, but I do remember he said that he had been folding laundry with his wife, sitting on the couch, and they were watching TV together. And so here you have this apostle of the Lord who is busy, who is engaged, who is always trying to represent the church, to represent the Lord, to represent himself, to be a family man. He's got all sorts of kids, grandkids, but at the same time, the guy watches TV or the guy goes skiing. The guy makes sure that he takes time for himself. And it's not all about being holy 24 7. Perfected in all of this study, like you said, so better earlier on, Nate, it's doing those important things, but also making sure that you're not doing them all the time. You're shifting your attention or your focus to all things matter. All right? And I know that verse wasn't even saying that, but I thought it was powerful in how it did say. I think it's applicable. For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my father. [00:34:45] Speaker A: I like it. [00:34:46] Speaker B: Okay, next up. Now, 73 and 75 kind of go with each other. 73. The elders are kind of wondering, what's God's will concerning me, or what should I do? And Joseph Smith receives this revelation that says, here is the pattern for the elders, Just teach round about you. You don't need to go serve a mission or anything. Just teach in the land round about you until conference comes. And at conference, the Lord will reveal what calling you have, where you're supposed to be going, what your mission is. And so this idea of all them coming and saying, okay, where's my mission? Where's my mission? Where's my mission? No, just wait. Teach in the land round about you. And the Lord will call you, and he'll call you to the mission. And I think it's kind of cool as we're reading these sections and they have these conferences. So 73 is the pattern. Teaching the land roundabout until conference. At conference, I'll call you. 75 is the conference. The elders get their callings. McClellan, because he was disobedient, he had been called to the eastern states, but now his call is revoked. So sometimes callings get revoked, but he is reassigned to the southern states. And he says, okay, here is a call from the Lord. I have forgiven you don't worry about that now. Go serve in the Southern states. But as we are reading about these callings, I think the important thing, at least for me, what I got out of this is callings come from God, and they are called individually. You by name is called to go serve in this mission as a revelation from God through his prophet. And that process, over 200 years, so much of the church has changed, but that process has not changed. When you get your call to serve a mission, you open it up. It is the first presidency of the church. It is the prophet that is calling you to serve based on inspiration, where God wants you to serve. So I think that's especially neat for those that are serving missions, for those that will serve missions, for those that have served missions. As you're reading these sections in Doctrine and Covenants, and you see these people called by name, and it's important enough to be included in the Doctrine and Covenants, think that's how your call works as well. So I thought that was kind of neat. [00:37:02] Speaker A: Yeah, it's great. [00:37:05] Speaker B: Kind of the last thing I think. [00:37:06] Speaker A: I have here in the notes, you have gird up your loins and be sober. Don't just blow by this. Don't you have some. Don't you have some cool, like, here's what this means in Hebrew thing or something for this? [00:37:19] Speaker B: No. [00:37:20] Speaker A: What? [00:37:23] Speaker B: I just thought that was a super cool statement. [00:37:26] Speaker A: I know, but gird up your loins, man. Nothing. You got nothing for us on this. I mean, this is your playground, Jason. [00:37:36] Speaker B: This playground's been played in. [00:37:38] Speaker A: All right, whatever. Keep going. [00:37:40] Speaker B: No, I mean, I. I did. [00:37:43] Speaker A: I'll tell you what. We're talking about this. We're talking about this next week. I want some. I want. I need to know. I need to know the language history of gird up your loins. [00:37:53] Speaker B: Well, you know. [00:37:54] Speaker A: You know, a weird thing to say. [00:37:56] Speaker B: It is kind of a weird thing to say in today's world, right? Particularly when we walk around with our loins all girded up anyways. But that wasn't necessarily the case back then, right? This idea that you'd be wearing cloth, almost like a dress or a skirt, like material, and to help you run without that getting in your way, without slowing you down, the sense that you can tie it up almost like shorts or pants instead, to allow for freedom of movement, flexibility, to be ready, I guess. And this idea that, I don't know, it was the very end of 73. I did make a note of it, and it does kind of stand out to Me more than anything. Just because I don't know. Here it is. Verse 6. Now I give no more unto you at this time. Gird up your loins and be sober. Even so. Amen. I don't know, I just love the idea. Gird up your loins and be sober. And for me, growing up as a kid, I wore tennis shoes all the time. Hated sandals, couldn't stand them. And for me, it was because I always wanted to be ready to run if I ever needed to. Not that I ever had to run as a kid, but I just. That was my mindset. Like, I wanted to feel like if somebody decided to chase me, I had the best gear on to be able to be best equipped. [00:39:20] Speaker A: I like that. [00:39:21] Speaker B: To run. And. [00:39:24] Speaker A: And it's easier to run when you're sober. [00:39:26] Speaker B: It's definitely easier to run when you're sober. [00:39:29] Speaker A: I wouldn't know. [00:39:30] Speaker B: At least you're running a straighter line, I assume. [00:39:32] Speaker A: I wouldn't know any different is what I should say. I'm always sober. [00:39:35] Speaker B: But this idea of sober, I don't know. [00:39:40] Speaker A: I like it. I'm not trying to put you on the spot here. I'm just saying you had it in your notes. [00:39:44] Speaker B: I had it. My notes. Because I just love that. That mindset. [00:39:47] Speaker A: It's a cool phrase. [00:39:48] Speaker B: Always be ready and be sober. [00:39:52] Speaker A: Have your wits about you. Be on guard, man. [00:39:56] Speaker B: And Moroni is noted as being. Hey, was it Moroni or Mormon? He was called and chosen. It was Mormon, right? Because he was sober even at a young age. And people described as being of a sober mind. It just, I don't know, kind of rings of wisdom, this idea that we should be prepared, we should be composed and, I don't know, wise. Like a soldier on the ready. Who's on the lookout, who's ready at an instant's notice. Hey, you. I need you to go do this. Kind of how it says in the New Testament, Be prepared to always answer. Having a reason. For now, I'm just butchering. [00:40:39] Speaker A: No, I like it. No, I'm with you. You're doing good. I threw you the curve ball, man. You hit it out. It's all good. [00:40:47] Speaker B: Well, thanks for. Thanks for catching that. Thanks for seeing that. [00:40:50] Speaker A: Also, just by the way, when you said as a kid, you always need to run. What are you talking about? You're like, in case I ever need to run. I'm like, dude, kids always need to run. I don't know what it is about childhood, but that is a necessity. [00:41:06] Speaker B: Yes, unfortunately, sometimes. [00:41:08] Speaker A: Unfortunately, sometimes. But it's also kind of rad. I wish I was in any shape in my life to just run everywhere I was going. [00:41:15] Speaker B: A lot of times we were running from things that we shouldn't have had to run from, though, in a sense that we created a lot of problems, of course. [00:41:23] Speaker A: Or we imagined we were getting chased by, like the skeleton monsters down first west of Logan, Utah in 1986. [00:41:32] Speaker B: Or when you light fireworks on someone's porch and ring the doorbell. I mean, there was definitely some running there. [00:41:40] Speaker A: That's the best part of childhood, is. [00:41:41] Speaker B: That we definitely made some mistakes. We were not of sober mind. I was not a Mormon growing up. All right, 74. This is an interesting verse or section. I think it sets the stage for 76 and where we're headed because. So first Ezra Booth incident happened, and Joseph Smith and Signe are commanded to kind of pause, to do everything they can, damage control mode, to call people out to talk about the issues and to be very transparent and help as much as they can to preserve the church in its kind of young, vulnerable stage. Now the Lord is saying, okay, thanks for taking care of that. Things have calmed down a little bit. I want you to focus back on the translation. And as they're translating in the New Testament. And this is how a lot of revelations come. This idea that as you're reading the Scriptures, as you're pondering them, you're receiving inspiration and answers and taking you further than even what you would normally gain on its own. This idea that revelation comes. I love this idea that people say, if you need answers, if you want to talk to God, you pray. If you want to hear him, you read the Scriptures. But I think of the Scriptures not as a place to receive answers, but more as a conversation starter, as a place to go to, to receive questions. And as you start reading the Scriptures, you start wondering, what in the world is this talking about? And I think a lot of times the Lord is intentionally ambiguous or unclear. And this idea that it's not easy to understand all the time, and we're saying, what is he talking about? Or really the Godhead, this whole one and three and why is not so clear. Why don't I understand? I think as we turn to the Scriptures and we have questions, that's one of the most beautiful things about this world. And the idea that as we come to the Lord with questions, the Scriptures is the starting point, the jumping off point, that that's where we start to receive inspiration. That's where we start to receive revelation. That's where we start to receive these answers. And so 76 is all of this because they were translating the New Testament. And I can't wait as we talk about that next week. But I saw the manuscripts from Signe Rigdon, translating doctrine, excuse me, translating the New Testament. And as Joseph Smith was dictating and he was scribing, all of a sudden his pen. As they're talking about the kingdoms of glory. And what is this that they are referencing in the New Testament? Their eyes are open and they have this glorious vision. You see the pen mark just drag all the way down to the bottom of the page as he just stops what he's doing and he's not even looking at the page anymore. And it just this line all the way down the bottom of the page because now he's having a vision. It's cool to physically see the evidence of the revelations that they were having. [00:44:42] Speaker A: You've seen this? Yeah, I want to see this. [00:44:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I might have it on my computer. Kent Jackson, professor at byu, was working on a project with the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible. And he had prints of all of the original translations. And he had it in a computer program that he had compiled. And it was at the time I was going to byu, he asked for some testers, some beta testers. So I got the program, the software for free to kind of look for bugs and help them through the process. And so I got to see these documents and I'll see if I can't track it down. I'll send it to you. Maybe I can even post it on our website. [00:45:25] Speaker A: That sounds incredible. [00:45:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really neat to see. So that section 74 is very similar to 76. It's just not as, I don't know, impressive a Revelation as 76. So in this case, in the New Testament, First Corinthians 7:14, it says, for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. And I think this is pretty clear. I think most of us understand that. I don't think there's a lot of question there. This idea that some people say, well, if you marry outside of the church or if your spouse leaves the church, do you need to divorce? No, you've committed, you've made a covenant, you're going to be with this person, love the person, sustain the person, and you don't know, a lot of times that person who's struggling because of their wife, because of the supportive spouse, whether it's husband or wife, helps sanctify them or bring them back to understanding the example. The strength helps them along the way. Right. We understand that. I think fairly well. It's this next line that this whole section is about. Else, were your children unclean? And now they are holy? And I read that and I'm like, wait, what? Your children were unclean? What do you mean? They were unclean and now they are holy. And I think that is kind of the question here. And Joseph Smith is receiving this revelation and is very clear. It says now, in the days of the apostles, the law of circumcision was had among the Jews who believed not the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it came to pass that there arose a great contention among the people concerning the law of circumcision. For the unbelieving husband was desirous that his children should be circumcised and become subject to the law of Moses. And the law was fulfilled. And it came to pass that the children being brought up in subjection to the law of Moses gave. Gave heed to the tradition of their fathers and believed not the gospel of Christ, wherein they became unholy. And it goes through this idea. I think the critical parts of this is the last two verses. And their children might remain without circumcision. And that the tradition might be done away, which saith that little children are unholy, for it was had among the Jews. But little children are holy, being sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And this is what the Scripture means. So going back, Else, were your children unclean, but now they are holy. This idea that you used to think that your children were unclean, but you realize that that was a mistake in how you were viewing it. And now you see your kids as holy because they are sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ. So the same thing, I think he is using that example to the spous spouses. You used to think that your spouse was unclean just because they're not a member of the church or just because they're not active. You look at them as unholy or less than what they are. But just as you viewed your children as that before, it's because you didn't fully understand. But now they become. It's not. I don't know. [00:48:36] Speaker A: I think it's an incredible revelation. Are you kidding me? [00:48:40] Speaker B: I think it's pretty neat. I love. I love the clarity it adds there. Because that last line to me, even as I was just first reading it, but your children were unholy, and now they are Holy. What is that? I have read some of the Bible commentaries on this and people. It is interesting because they would look at this and say, this is referring to the Jews that were marrying pagans and that their pagan children were unclean because they were dedicated to this God or they were dedicated to that God and that automatically made them unclean. And that's what it's talking about. But when you baptize them, they become holy. And so I think the commentators really got this wrong. I think the clarity that God gives through the prophet in understanding this verse brings it to light to me and helps me to understand it more. So it's neat. A lot of doctrine and covenants as we're going to go through this year come as a revelation to help us understand the word that we already have. And I think that's a big part of this section, this message as we discussed. Come follow me this week. If you want to know more, start by learning. Start by reading he that receiveth, receiveth more. As you turn into your scriptures and start reading, just like section 74, which comes as a revelation, God starts to open your understanding, open your mind and bless you with more knowledge, more understanding. And it just fills it. Wisdom Cleaveth to wisdom. Light cleaveth to light. [00:50:11] Speaker A: Killer. [00:50:13] Speaker B: I guess there's just one last verse that I almost missed. Just like the other verse 75 towards the end. Sorry, I almost skipped my attention altogether. It says, and the idler shall not have place in the church except he repent and mend his ways. So I think if we were to tie this all together with that, this idea that, that parable of the talents and accountability for time. Use your time. If you're not using your time, you're going to lose. You're going to lose out. If you're not gaining knowledge, you're going to be losing more knowledge. The idler will not prosper. Be productive. It's not to say you can't have downtime. Not to say you can't take care of yourself. In fact, that's very critical. But balance your time and make sure that you're still being productive, that you know how to shut off that switch and not get carried away spending so much time staring at your phone that at the end of the day you have nothing to account for. [00:51:08] Speaker A: Love it. What are we talking about next week? [00:51:10] Speaker B: Next week we dive into Doctrine Covenants 76, talking about the vision. And this is the Three Kingdoms of Glory. To me, this brings back drawings of the plan of salvation, you know, and this never quite sat well with me. [00:51:27] Speaker A: Oh, here we go. Are we doing that now, or are we doing this next week? [00:51:31] Speaker B: We can. We can do it next week. [00:51:33] Speaker A: Let's do it next week. Let's end off on a good note. [00:51:35] Speaker B: Yeah, it's great. Doctrine Covenant 76. It'll be fun. One of my favorite sections of the doctrine. [00:51:40] Speaker A: Good ones. All right. Until next week. [00:51:42] Speaker B: See ya, Sam.