2014, Mike Parker http://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Doctrine and Covenants

Week 22: D&C 9497, 109110
1) [SLIDE 2] D&C 95.
a) On 27 December 1832 Joseph Smith received by revelation a commandment to
establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of
learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God (88:119120).
b) Were now up to early June 1833; five months have passed, and theres been no work on
building a temple in Kirtland.
c) 95:13. The Prophet and other Church leaders chastened for not acting on the earlier
commandment.
i) [2.1] Note how the directive to build the temple is called the great commandment
(95:3).
(1) The Saints had underestimated the importance of the temple then, just as some
underestimate it today.
ii) The cornerstones of the temple were laid on 23 July 1833, less than two months after
the revelation in section 95 was received.
d) [SLIDE 3] 95:7.
i) 95:7a. Call your solemn assembly.
(1) In the Old Testament, Israel met in solemn assembly on the seventh day of the
Feast of the Passover
1
and the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
2

(The dedication of Solomons Temple occurred during the latter feast.
3
)
(2) Today we meet in solemn assembly after the death of Church president to sustain
his successor,
4
to dedicate temples, and for other occasional important meetings
of instruction.
(3) They are solemn assemblies because there we follow the commandment of the
Lord to cease from all your light speeches, from all laughterand light-
mindedness. (88:121).
5

ii) 95:7b. What does Lord of Sabaoth mean?
(1) Sabaoth (not to be confused with Sabbath) is an English transliteration of a
Hebrew word meaning armies ( / tsaba). In the King James Bible it is
typically translated hosts or armies in the Old Testament, where it appears
485 times.
6


1
See Exodus 23:1417; Deuteronomy 16:8, 16.
2
See Leviticus 23:3336; Nehemiah 8:18.
3
See 2 Chronicles 5:23;7:911.
4
For a recent example, see the remarks of Dieter F. Uchtdorf at the opening of the April 2008 General Conference, in
which Thomas S. Monson was sustained as the 16th President of the Church. President Uchtdorf identified the first session of
that conference as a solemn assembly. (http://www.lds.org/ensign/2008/05/the-sustaining-of-church-officers)
5
See notes for week 20, page 11 (https://sites.google.com/site/hwsarc/home/dc/week20).
6
The English transliteration sabaoth does not appear in the King James Version of the Old Testament, but it does appear
twice in the New Testament, where it is a translation of the Greek (sabaoth), which itself is derived from Hebrew. See
Romans 9:29; James 5:4. See also D&C 87:7; 88:2; 98:2.
Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class Doctrine and Covenants Sections 9497, 109110 Week 22, Page 2
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(a) When it appears as a description of God (LORD of hosts), the armies or hosts
indicated are the heavenly hostsangels who serve God and fight his battles
for him on behalf of Israel.
(2) The unique translation of Sabaoth in D&C 95:7 is based on Genesis 2:1, which
speaks of God creating the heavens and earth and all the host of them.
e) 95:1317.
i) 95:14. Let it be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you.
(1) [SLIDE 4] According to temple architect Truman O. Angell, Joseph Smith
received the plan for the Kirtland Temple by revelation, and then presented it to
his two counselors who also saw it in vision:
[Second counselor Frederick G. Williams] related the following: Joseph
received the word of the Lord to him to take his two counselors, Williams and
[Sidney] Rigdon, and come before the Lord, and He would show them the plan
or model of the house to be built. We went upon our knees, called on the Lord,
and the building appeared without viewing distance, I being the first to
discover it. Then we all viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at
the exterior, the building seems to come right over us, and the makeup of the
[completed Assembly] Hall seemed to coincide with that I there saw to a
minutiae.
7

ii) 95:15. Exact measurements for the temple.
(1) The finished measurements of the first floor assembly room came very close to
this: Not counting the vestibule, the room is 55 feet wide and 64 feet long.
iii) [SLIDE 5] 95:1617. Functions for upstairs and downstairs.
(1) 95:16. Per divine instruction the first floor assembly room was for sacrament
meetings, preaching, fasting, praying, and other devotional purposes.
(2) 95:17. The second floor was for training and preparation of the apostles and other
church leaders, a continuation and expansion of the School of the Prophets.
8

(3) The purpose of the Kirtland Temple was different than the Nauvoo Temple and
others that followed.
(a) Baptism for the dead and the endowment had not be revealed yet, so these
ceremonies were not performed there, and there are no special rooms set
aside for those purposes.
(i) Some early ordinances, like washing of feet, were performed.
9


7
Truman O. Angell Journal (http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/TAngell.html).
8
Son Ahman, a name-title of Jesus Christ, appears in D&C 78:20 and 95:17. Its meaning is found in an uncanonized
revelation entitled A Sample of pure Language given by Joseph the Seer, received between 420 March 1832 and found in
Revelation Book 1, 144 (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/revelation-book-1?p=132). According to this
revelation, Ahman is the name of God in pure Language, and means the being which made all things in all its parts,
signifying the Fathers role as Creator, and Christs role as the Son of the Creator (or a creator himself). Ahman is a component
of the place-name Adam-ondi-Ahman, where the Lord visited Adam and administered comfort to him and where Adam
prophesied concerning whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation (D&C 107:53-57; cf. 116:1; 117:8). See
also Zephaniah 3:9 and Orson Pratts remarks in Journal of Discourses 2:342
(http://en.fairmormon.org/Journal_of_Discourses/2/50#342).
9
See notes for week 20, pages 1011.
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(b) 97:1216. The earliest temples were designed to be places of thanksgiving
and instruction.
10

2) [SLIDE 6] D&C 94.
a) In addition to the temple, other buildings were commanded to be built in Kirtland:
i) 94:39. On the first lot south of the temple was to be a two-story building
functioning as the headquarters of the First Presidency.
11

(1) It was to be the same dimensions as the temple (55'65').
ii) 94:1012. On the second lot south of the temple was to be built a house for printing
Josephs translation of the Bible and other Church materials.
12

(1) It, too, was to be the same dimensions as the temple.
3) [SLIDE 7] D&C 96.
a) 96:1. Something weve overlooked until now is the origin and meaning of the word
stake, as it applies in the Church to an organizational unit.
i) Its first use in modern scripture appears in November 1831 (68:2526).
13

ii) Ancient prophets envisioned Zion as a metaphorical tent, with stakes and cords
keeping the structure upright and functional (Isaiah 33:20; 54:2).
(1) This symbolism was used again in D&C 82:14: Zion must increase in beauty, and
in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened.
iii) At the time this revelation (D&C 96) was given, there were two stakesKirtland and
Zion (Missouri)composed of individual branches of the Church.
14

4) Notes on the construction of the Kirtland Temple.
a) [SLIDES 811] The Kirtland Temple, like many that were built after it, faces east.
15

i) East is the direction of the rising sun, which represents new light, revelation, and
inspiration. The light in the east grows, dispelling the darkness of nighttime.
ii) Joseph Smith had even received a revelation as to the order of laying cornerstones:
Years later, at the laying of the cornerstones of the Manti Temple, Brigham Young
arranged (and he said this was according to instruction) that the first stone be laid
at the southeast corner, the point of greatest light, and at high noon, the time of
the greatest sunlight. All that is to remind us, we would assume, that the temple is
indeed a house of light where the heavenly and the earthly combine.
16

b) The temple cost between $40,000 and $60,000 to build, an enormous sum in those
days.
17


10
This temple referred to in this (Zion, Jackson County, Missouri) was never built. Compare D&C 84:4 with 124:4951.
11
To the best of my knowledge, this building was never constructed.
12
The Kirtland reprint of the Missouri newspaper Evening and Morning Star was done in this building.
13
The word also appears in D&C 82:1314; 94:1; 101:21; 104:40, 48; 107:3637, 74; 109:39, 59; 115:6, 18; 119:7; 124:2, 36,
134, 142; 125:4; 133:9; 136:10.
14
As of 31 December 2012, there are 3,005 stakes in the Church. Brook P. Hales, Statistical Report, 2012, General
Conference, April 2013 (http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/statistical-report-2012).
15
Contrary to popular belief, not all LDS templesor their Moroni statuesface east. The Los Angeles Temple faces south,
and the Nauvoo Temple (and its angel Moroni) faces west.
16
Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1989), 70.
17
Those sums in 1836 equates to $823,0001,235,000 in 2012 dollars, per the Consumer Price Index (calculated by
http://www.westegg.com/inflation).
Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class Doctrine and Covenants Sections 9497, 109110 Week 22, Page 4
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i) Considering desperate poverty that many of the Kirtland Saints lived in, it could be
considered the most expensive religious building in American history, based on the
measurement of the widows mite, or what the Saints had.
ii) The men worked on the temple construction project,
18
and the sisters fed and clothed
the laborers, and worked on the veils, carpets, and other interior furnishings. To give
the exterior glaze a sparkling appearance, the women contributed glassware to be
broken in bits and applied to the plaster.
iii) In his dedicatory prayer, Joseph Smith referred to the sacrifices made by the Saints
in building the temple:
For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of
our poverty we have given of our substance to build a house to thy name, that the
Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people. (D&C 109:5.)
c) [SLIDE 12] The painstaking craftsmanship of the early Saints can be seen throughout
the interior of the temple, especially on pillars, doorways, and windows.
d) Layout of the temple:
i) The Kirtland Temple has three stories.
ii) [SLIDE 13] First (church) floor:
(1) This is what we would refer to today the temples assembly hall.
(a) Many of the larger temples constructed after this have the same type of room,
typically on the top floor.
(2) [SLIDES 1418] The pulpits on the east end were built for the Melchizedek
Priesthood; the ones of the west for the Aaronic Priesthood.
(3) The initials on the pulpits:
19

(a) [SLIDE 19] Melchizedek (east), starting at the top:
(i) MPC = Melchizedek Presiding Council (Presidency of the Church, which
also served as presidency of the Kirtland stake).
(ii) PMH = Presiding Melchizedek High Priesthood (quorum of the twelve or
stake high council).
(iii) MHP = Melchizedek High Priesthood (high priests quorum
presidency).
(iv) PEM = Presiding Elder Melchizedek (elders quorum presidency).
(b) [SLIDE 20] Aaronic (west), starting at the top:
(i) BPA = Bishop Presiding Aaronic (presiding bishopric).
(ii) PAP = Presiding Aaronic Priest (priests quorum presidency).
(iii) PTA = Presiding Teacher Aaronic (teachers quorum presidency).

18
Among the many people involved in the construction project was Artemus Millett, a mason from Upper Canada who was
baptized by Brigham Young in January 1833 and came to Kirtland in April 1834. For an examination of the stories that have
circulated about Milletts conversion, see Keith A. Erekson and Lloyd D. Newell, The Conversion of Artemus Millet and His
Call to Kirtland, BYU Studies 41/2 (2002), 77105 (https://byustudies.byu.edu/showtitle.aspx?title=6785).
19
Milton V. Backman Jr., The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 18301839 (Salt Lake City,
Utah: Deseret Book, 1983), 160.
Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class Doctrine and Covenants Sections 9497, 109110 Week 22, Page 5
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(iv) PDA = Presiding Deacon Aaronic (deacons quorum presidency).
(4) The room could be divided into halves or quarters by lowering veils from the
ceiling; this would facilitate smaller groups who wanted to meet simultaneously.
(a) The pulpits also had veils that could be lowered to seal off each of the four
tiers individually.
(5) [SLIDE 21] The bench seats can be moved to seat people facing in either
direction.
iii) [SLIDE 22] Second (apostolic) floor:
(1) The second floors layout was similar to the first floor, only to a slightly smaller
scale.
(2) This was used for the School of the Prophets and priesthood meetings.
iv) [SLIDES 2325] Third floor:
(1) The top floor contains five connected rooms for administrative offices and
smaller class meetings.
5) [SLIDE 26] The temple dedication.
20

a) The temple was dedicated on Sunday, 27 March 1836, which was Palm Sunday that year
(one week before Easter).
b) Nearly 1,000 people attended the dedication, with 500 to 600 gathering before the
doors opened at 7:00 AM.
i) The Prophet had said that children could come and sit on their mothers laps; this
was taken to heart by adults, and when the meeting commenced there were two
people in every seat.
c) The meeting opened at 9:00 AM and lasted for over seven hours, concluding just after
4:00 PM. There was a single, 20-minute intermission mid-day.
d) There were congregational hymns, scripture readings, sermons by Sidney Rigdon and
Joseph Smith, and a lengthy sustaining of Church officers. After the dedicatory prayer
the choir sang The Spirit of God, and the sacrament was administered. The meeting
ended with the hosanna shout, which sealed the proceedings of the day.
21

e) [SLIDE 27] At the conclusion of the meeting, there was a great outpouring of the spirit,
and several people, including Brigham Young, spoke in tongues. There were reports of
angels being seen inside the temple and standing on the roof. Many felt and even saw
lightsome used the term fireemanating from the building.
22

6) [SLIDE 28] D&C 109. The dedicatory prayer.
a) This prayer was a revelation. It was received, written, and read by Joseph Smith.
i) This has become the pattern for all successive temple dedicatory prayers.

20
Minutes of the dedication can be read in HC 2:41028 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/2/31.html).
21
History of the Church 2:427 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/2/31.html#427). The shout, which has been part of every
Latter-day Saint temple dedication since then, is done by the congregation standing and shouting hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
to God and the Lamb! three times, and concluding with amen, amen, amen! Hosanna is an English transliteration of the
Hebrew (hshan), a plea to God to save his people.
22
Madsen, 7677.
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b) It is filled with direct quotes and allusions to passages in the Bible and in modern
revelation.
i) In particular, it has many parallels to Solomons dedicatory prayer of the Jerusalem
temple (1 Kings 8).
c) To whom was the prayer addressed?
(1) Lord or Lord God or Lord God Almighty (21 times).
23

(2) God or Mighty God of Jacob (2 times).
24

(3) Holy Father (7 times).
25

(4) Jehovah (4 times).
26

ii) Why does the prayer refer to the Father as Jehovah? Isnt Jehovah Jesus Christ, the
Son?
(1) The identification of the name-title Jehovah more fluid and interchangeable in
early LDS usage.
(2) [SLIDE 29] Its reference only to the Son was not consistent until 1916, when the
First Presidency issued a doctrinal exposition that affirmed that Jehovah was
the premortal Jesus Christ.
27

(3) But keep in mind that the identification of Jesus as Jehovah is more of a rule of
thumb than a hard and fast rule that can apply to every scriptural passage.
(a) [SLIDE 30] Take, for example, Psalm 110:1
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool.
(i) In Hebrew the first LORD (in all capitals) is Jehovah ( / yhwh). The
second Lord (in lowercase) is adoni (), which means my lord or
my master.
1. So here we have Jehovah saying to the Psalmists lord (King David),
Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool
(New English Translation).
(ii) [30.1] The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews identified the
first Lord as the Father, and the second lord as Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:13;
8:1; 10:1213; 12:2).
28

1. This means that, according to Hebrews, Jehovah in Psalm 110:1 should
be identified as God the Father.

23
D&C 109:1, 3, 4, 31, 33, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54, 60, 68, 69, 71, 72, 77, 78.
24
D&C 109:68, 70.
25
D&C 109:4, 10,14, 22, 24, 29, 47.
26
D&C 109:34, 42, 56, 68.
27
The Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve, Improvement Era 19/10
(August 1916), 93442 (http://archive.org/stream/improvementera19010unse#page/934). The text of this declaration was
written by Apostle James E. Talmage. Jehovah is identified as Jesus Christ on pages 935, 940, and 941.
28
In Hebrews 1:13 the writer rhetorically asks But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy footstool?, with the intent of showing the Jesus is superior to the angels because God the Father told
him, and no one else, to sit at his right hand. See New Testament lesson 26, page 3
(https://sites.google.com/site/hwsarc/home/nt/week26).
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(b) So while the majority of scriptural passages that mention Jehovah can rightly
be interpreted to mean Jesus Christ, we need to make sure we dont overstress
this rule, or require the early Latter-day Saints to interpret it the same way we
do today.
29

d) [SLIDE 31] 109:2223. Spiritual power for the missionary effort.
i) Back in January 1831 the Lord promised that the Saints would go to Ohio and there
[they] shall be endowed with power from on high (38:32).
ii) It was after the Kirtland Temple dedication and the attendant spiritual blessings that
the missionary work began to really bear fruit. Many of the Twelve were called on
missions to Great Britain and Scandinavia, and tens of thousands of converts from
those areas joined the Church over the next few decades.
iii) Its also for this reason that we endow young men and women in the temple before
sending them out for full time missionary service.
e) 109:2930. Latter-day temples have always been persecution magnets.
i) Sometimes the persecution has been with physical violenceworkers at the Kirtland
and Nauvoo Temples had to arm themselves while they worked, and often slept at
the construction site to keep vandals from destroying the work during the night.
ii) More recently persecution has been in the form of intolerance, and attempts to keep
temples out of certain areas with zoning laws and neighborhood protests.
iii) [SLIDE 32] Brigham Young:
If you wish [the Salt Lake] Temple built, go to work and do all you can this season.
Some say, I do not like to do it, for we never began to build a Temple without the
bells of hell beginning to ring. I want to hear them ring again. All the tribes of
hell will be on the move, if we uncover the walls of this Temple.
30

f) [SLIDE 33] 109:4951. Redemption of Zion; mercy for the mob.
i) Despite all that the Saints had suffered, Joseph pled with the Lord for forgiveness
and mercy on behalf of the mob.
ii) To make bare thine arm is a Hebrew idiom for preparing to strike.
31
Its similar to
how in our culture we think of someone rolling up his shirt sleeves before punching
an offender.
g) 109:6164. The restoration of the gospel and dedication of the temple prepared the
way for the gathering of Jews to Israel.
i) Part of this petition was answered a week later when Moses came to deliver the keys
of the gathering of Israel (see below).
ii) Five years later, Apostle Orson Hyde visited Jerusalem and dedicated it for the
return of the Jewish people.
32


29
For an interesting discussion of this issue, see Ronan J. Head, The Father and the Son are Jehovah,
ByCommonConsent.com, 9 March 2008 (http://bycommonconsent.com/2008/03/09/the-father-and-the-son-are-jehovah/).
30
Brigham Young, 3 March 1861. JD 8:35556 (http://en.fairmormon.org/Journal_of_Discourses/8/86#355).
31
See Isaiah 52:10.
32
See David B. Galbraith, Orson Hydes 1841 Mission to the Holy Land, Ensign, October 1991
(https://www.lds.org/ensign/1991/10/orson-hydes-1841-mission-to-the-holy-land). The text of his prayer can be found in
HC 4:45659 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/4/27.html#456).
Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class Doctrine and Covenants Sections 9497, 109110 Week 22, Page 8
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h) [SLIDE 34] 109:7880. Conclusion.
i) Oh hear, Oh hear, Oh hear us, O Lord! is a three-fold repetition, similar to the cry
holy, holy, holy made by heavenly beings in the presence of God (Isaiah 6:3;
Revelation 4:8).
(1) The connection is intentional, because Joseph mentions seraphim, which are
traditionally seen as the highest order or rank of angels (Isaiah 6:3).
7) [SLIDE 35] D&C 110. The Lords accepts the temple and delivers keys.
a) One week after the dedicationEaster Sunday, 3 April 1836the Lord himself appeared
in the Temple.
b) Five months earlier, Joseph had promised the Twelve that all who are prepared and are
sufficiently pure to abide the presence of the Saviour will see him when the temple is
dedicated.
33

c) Joseph wrote about the setting of this revelation:
Attended meeting in the Lords House, and assisted the other Presidents of the Church
in seating the congregation, and then became an attentive listener to the preaching
from the stand. Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten spoke in the [morning] to an
attentive audience of about one thousand persons. In the afternoon, I assisted the
other Presidents in distributing the Lords Supper to the Church, receiving it from the
Twelve, whose privilege it was to officiate at the sacred desk this day. After having
performed this service to my brethren, I retired to the pulpit, the veils being dropped,
and bowed myself, with Oliver Cowdery, in solemn and silent prayer. After rising from
prayer, the following vision was opened to both of us.
34

d) [SLIDE 36] 110:14. The description of the Savior here is very similar to the one given
by the apostle John in Revelation 1:1318. The description is highly symbolic and
metaphorical.
i) His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow;
his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun (110:3) all indicate the purity
and holiness of the resurrected Lord.
e) 110:7. The Lord accepted the temple as his house.
i) This was prayed for in dedicatory prayer (109:4, 78).
f) 110:9. Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in
consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out.
i) All of those belonging to this last dispensation of the gospel who hope to be exalted
in the celestial kingdom of God rely, among other things, upon the keys of the
priesthood delivered to Joseph and Oliver in this visitation.

33
Joseph Smith, remarks to the Twelve, 12 November 1835. Journal, 18351836, 35
(http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/journal-1835-1836?p=36). Compare HC 2:310
(http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/2/24.html#310); Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 92. See also D&C 67:10.
34
HC 2:434 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/2/32.html#434). This account was recorded in Josephs journal, written in
the third person by scribe Warren Cowdery; it was later converted into first-person for inclusion in the History of the Church.
See Journal 18351836, 19192 (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/journal-1835-1836?p=194).
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g) [SLIDE 37] 110:11. Moses was the prophet entrusted with the task of gathering ancient
Israel out of their bondage and establishing them in a promised land of their
inheritance. He holds the keys over that particular work, and that authority was restored
by him personally in the latter days.
i) These keys involve the literal gathering of Israelites to their ancient homeland in
Jerusalem (as discussed previously in 109:6164), as well as the metaphorical
gathering of those of the blood of Israel to Christs restored Church throughout the
world.
35

h) 110:12. Elias is the New Testament name for Hebrew prophet Elijah.
36
But the Savior
also used that name to apply to a forerunnerone who prepared the way for significant
events.
37

i) [SLIDE 38] Joseph Smith expanded on that idea by introducing the doctrine of
Elias:
The spirit of Elias is to prepare the way for a greater revelation of God, which is
the Priesthood of Elias, or the Priesthood that Aaron was ordained unto. And when
God sends a man into the world to prepare for a greater work, holding the keys of
the power of Elias, it was called the doctrine of Elias, even from the early ages of
the world.
38

ii) We do not know who this particular Elias was or when he lived,
39
although it seems
that he is in some way connected to Abraham.
iii) Likewise, we do not know exactly what the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham
is.
(1) It seems possible, though, that it includes the blessings and authority of the
Abrahamic covenant, which includes eternal posterity, eternal priesthood, the
promise of a land of inheritance, and the blessing of salvation and exaltation.
40

i) [SLIDE 39] 110:1315. Finally, in fulfillment of the prophecy given by Malachi,
41
the
Old Testament prophet Elijah returned and restored the sealing keys to Joseph and
Oliver.

35
For a discussion of the phrase land of the north (110:11), see lesson 11, page 3
(https://sites.google.com/site/hwsarc/home/dc/week11).
36
See, for example, Matthew 16:14; 17:3.
37
Jesus specifically called John the Baptist Elias (Matthew 17:1113; Luke 1:17). See New Testament lesson 7, pages 8,
1012 (https://sites.google.com/site/hwsarc/home/nt/week07).
38
Joseph Smith, discourse in Nauvoo, 10 March 1844. HC 6:250 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/6/11.html#250); TPJS
33536; Words of Joseph Smith 328 (http://bit.ly/wjs327328).
39
There are four main theories about the identification of the Kirtland Elias: (1) JST Mark 9:3 indicates that the Elias on
the Mount of Transfiguration was John the Baptist; see Kevin Barney, Who was the Elias of D&C 110?,
ByCommonConsent.com, 2 March 2006 (http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/03/02/who-was-the-elias-of-dc-110). (2) D&C
27:67 indicates that Elias was a title used by the angel Gabriel (Noah); see Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel
Questions 3:13841. (3) D&C 77:14 says of John the Revelator this is Elias, who, as it is written, must come and restore all
things. (4) The LDS Bible Dictionary claims that a man called Elias apparently lived in mortality in the days of Abraham, who
committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple (663 [1979
ed.]; 635 [2013 ed.]). See also Samuel Brown, The Prophet Elias Puzzle, Dialogue 39/3 (Fall 2006), 117
(https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V39N03_15.pdf).
40
See Edward J. Brandt, The Covenants and Blessings of Abraham, Ensign, February 1973, 4243
(http://www.lds.org/ensign/1973/02/the-covenants-and-blessings-of-abraham).
41
Malachi 4:56. Compare D&C 2:1.
Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class Doctrine and Covenants Sections 9497, 109110 Week 22, Page 10
2014, Mike Parker http://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication.
i) Elijahs authority is more than genealogy or vicarious work for the deadproxy
temple work wasnt something done in Elijahs day. He held the power to bind or seal
on earth and have it also bound or sealed in the heavens.
(1) Without this authority all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows,
performances, connections, associations, or expectationsare of no efficacy,
virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead (132:7).
(2) This authority includes the power to seal husbands and wives to God and to their
children in an eternal family covenant.
ii) This authority was so important that Elijah was translatedtaken into heaven
without tasting deathso that he could hold and preserve those keys down through
the ages.
iii) Since this time
the President of the Church holds and exercises the keys of sealing on earth. When
a man is ordained an apostle and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles, sealing is one of the powers bestowed upon him. Other General
Authorities of the Church, the presidencies of temples, and a limited number of
officiators in each temple receive this sealing power during their tenure. After one
is approved by the First Presidency to receive the sealing power, the President of
the Church, one of his counselors, or a member of the Twelve Apostles specifically
designated by the President confers the sealing power upon him by the laying on of
hands.
42

j) 110:16. Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by
this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.
8) [SLIDE 40] Next week:
a) Sections 9899, 102, 106, 108, 134.

42
Encyclopedia of Mormonism (New York, New York: Macmillan, 1992), s.v. Sealing: Sealing Power, 3:1288
(http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Sealing).