Sidney Rigdon

Joseph Smith said that the revelation was given, in his words, by an heavenly vision.

The revelation commands 14 pairs of elders, including Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, to travel all the way to Independence, Missouri, preaching the gospel along the way.

And then here's the big deal.

The Lord promised that upon their arrival, this is in verse 5 of the revelation, it shall be also, inasmuch as they are faithful, be made known unto them the land of your inheritance.

So that's kind of been simmering in the background there, Oliver Cowdery's kind of special mission.

Verse three calls them on this journey.

Verily I say unto you, let my servants, Joseph Smith Jr. and Sidney Rigdon take their journey as soon as preparations can be made to leave their homes and journey to the land of Missouri.

And as much as they are faithful unto me, it shall be known unto them what they shall do.

is out in Missouri right now.

And so it just so happens that Joseph and Sidney are about to leave for Missouri.

They've got, who else with them? Sidney Gilbert and maybe a couple others, Edward Partridge.

And so watch what the Lord does here in verse five.

He says, again, verily I say unto you for this cause, you shall take your journey with my servants, Joseph Smith Jr. and Sidney Rigdon, that you may be planted in the land of your inheritance to do this work.

It's So right away, Phelps is getting put to work with the skill set that he already has developed to be planted in the land of his inheritance in Zion to become a church printer.

And become a church printer he will.

And as much as my disciples are enabled to buy lands, behold, this is wisdom that they may obtain it for an everlasting inheritance.

And I think rightfully so.

If Joseph Smith didn't write them, Sidney Rigdon may have, but Joseph Smith certainly adopted them by approving them for publication in the Doctrine and Covenants.

So I have no problem with that.

There's going to be an irony here, and you've already hinted at it, is citing to the lectures on faith to show that you have to believe the right things about God and scoring one point while hiding the fact that Lecture 5 teaches something very different about God than the church teaches today or that Bruce R. McConkie believed.

I, I made a note that there's a point in your Brigham Young book where you note that Joseph Smith seemed to find fault with almost everyone.

He rebuked Rigdon and his scribes.

He chastised Emma for leaving a meeting early.

He made his own mom cry after bearing her testimony.

And, uh, and, and again, you, you mention in your Brigham Young book that Brigham Young pretty much never supported Joseph's critics, even in Joseph's worst moments.

Yeah.

He says, uh, "I never opened my mouth when they lambed it onto me." So whether it was Joseph or Thomas Marsh or Sidney Rigdon, I think Brigham said, said essentially, "I knew my place in the chain of ecclesiastical command, and if my superiors rebuked me and criticized me, I took it."

Now, you ...

All right, let's talk context for section 58 then.

In the summer of 1831, as a result of the Lord's commands to do so, in section 52 through 55, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, 14 companionships of elders listed in section 52, and then some recent converts like Sidney Gilbert and W.W. Phelps.

And finally, the around 60 people in the Colesville branch of the church all travel to Missouri.

And they arrived there, like we mentioned last time, in section 57.

So shortly after Joseph Smith and some of his traveling companions arrive in Jackson County, Missouri, Section 57 was received, which identifies Independence, Missouri, as the center place of the promised land of Zion and the land which was appointed, according to the section, for the gathering of the saints.

Now, during the following week, the Colesville branch, Sidney Rigdon, Sidney and Elizabeth Gilbert, and the first companionship of elders Isaac Morley and Ezra Booth arrive as well.

So people are starting to kind of trickle into this area and these revelations are going to address some of those needs.

Now, Some of those arriving expressed disappointment in what they found there.

You have to undo multiple other people as well, including his mother, his father, his brothers and sisters, Emma, his wife.

11 men whose testimonies are found in the preface of the Book of Mormon, people like Brigham Young, Parley Pratt, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, Lorenzo Snow, Wilford Woodruff, Oliver Cadry, Sidney Rigdon, Eliza Snow, Violet Kimball, Mary Fielding Smith, Patty Sessions, and a host of others, all of whom sacrificed everything for the cause of the restoration and building up Zion.

Joseph Smith cannot be a fraud alone.

For the restoration to be a fraud requires complicity astounding complicity of scores of other people, most of whom sacrificed their homes, property, livelihoods, and many their very lives for the cause of the restoration of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Then he concludes the revelation by saying, this is sufficient for you and the will of him who hath sent you.

Adding the further instruction is going to be given later concerning Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery and the residue hereafter by the mouth of Joseph Smith Jr.,

So get going, get home, but preach along the way as you go.

You got the vision.

He again briefly addresses William Phelps and Sidney Gilbert.

He tells them to take not their journey in haste, explaining that it matters not to me whether you go by water or land.

And then in verses 23 to 32, he's going to address Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery directly.

And this is also counsel for the journeying of my saints who generally will travel up to the land of Zion.

For instance, in section 58, when the Lord said that an agent was to be appointed in Kirtland, quote, to receive monies to purchase lands in Zion.

So the question was, who should this agent be? He had also given a commandment to Sidney Rigdon in that section where he told him to, quote, write a description of the land of Zion and a statement of the will of God, which would be included in an epistle that would be then distributed to church branches in order to solicit donations for funds to help purchase Missouri lands.

So by now, nearly a month later, Sidney has drafted his first land of Zion description.

But was this draft acceptable to the Lord or not? Joseph wanted to know.

First, Titus Billings, who's Isaac Morley's brother-in-law and who also takes care of his farm, is instructed to dispose of the Morley farm that he may be prepared in the coming spring to take his journey up to the land of Zion together with some of those who dwell upon the farm.

Now, in context, this is kind of a big deal because the sale of the Morley farm would be impacting several families who are living there.

That includes Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon.

Um, who are both staying there, but Titus obeys this command in October, 1831, he sells much of the Morley farm in preparation for him and others to move to Missouri.