The Angels Are Waiting

Reflections on the First Half of Doctrine and Covenants 38

As mentioned in the previous post, Doctrine and Covenants section 38 was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith at Fayette, New York, on January 2, 1831, during the third conference of the Church of Jesus Christ.

This is a remarkable revelation. In this revelation, the Lord reveals much about Himself and He explains the purpose of the gathering to the Ohio. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things, and He is in the midst of His Saints. He promised these early Saints that they would soon see Him. He reserved a land of promise for them, and He commanded them to be one, or to be united. The Lord prophesied of wars and of secret combinations, but He promised to protect His Saints who heed His voice. He promised to endow them with power from on High. He commanded them to care for the poor and the needy and to seek the riches of eternity.

Much, if not all, of this revelation reflects truths and principles taught in the then recently revealed Book of Moses, particularly the story of Enoch. Recall that sometime in mid-December of 1830, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith some of the lost books from the Bible, and Joseph Smith recorded the Prophecy of Enoch, or what is now Moses 7:1-69. Let’s examine and savor the revelation in D&C 38 a piece at a time.

Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;

The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;

I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.

I am the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom; and verily, I say, even as many as have believed in my name, for I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them.

But behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day, which shall come at the end of the earth;

And even so will I cause the wicked to be kept, that will not hear my voice but harden their hearts, and wo, wo, wo, is their doom. (D&C 38:1-6)

In case there were any question as to who revealed these things to Joseph Smith, the Lord added several new items to His pattern for previous introductions. In previous sections the Lord introduced Himself as Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, and the beginning and the end, but in this section he adds more details about His character, attributes, and role as the Creator, Redeemer, and Judge. The Lord had previously revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith many similar details in the prophecy of Enoch.

Jesus Christ is the pre-mortal Jehovah who, under the direction of His Father, created all things. I believe that Joseph Smith was profoundly moved, changed, and influenced by the prophecy of Enoch, and that he grew closer to the Lord in the manner of Enoch during the time of this revelation at the beginning of the new year in 1831. The Lord prepared Joseph Smith as a latter-day Enoch, and at the beginning of this revelation, the Lord revealed much about events in the pre-mortal life.

The prophecy of Enoch contains a record of how the Lord received the city of Zion and Enoch himself into His own bosom. Compare Moses 7 to these introductory verses in D&C 38.

What does the Smith and Sjodahl’s commentary add to our understanding?

On January 2nd, 1831, the third general Conference of the Church was held at Fayette, at the house of Peter Whitmer, Sr. On this occasion the revelation in this Section was received.

In this Revelation our Lord (1) presents Himself to the Church under several names, expressing so many different attributes (1-6); then (2) He promises to appear visibly, to the Saints (7-12), and (3) warns them of certain dangers that threaten them (13-14); then (4) He makes a covenant with them regarding the land of gathering (15-22), and (5) exhorts them to be united (23-27); and finally (6), He charges them to gather out “from the wicked,” in order to escape the coming judgments (28-42).

1-6. In these paragraphs our Lord reveals Himself to the Church under these names: Lord and God, Jesus Christ, I AM, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. See Section 35:1. He further describes Himself as pre-existent, all-knowing, the Creator of the world, and the Savior of His people. Well we might exclaim, in the language of the Hebrew poet, “O God, who is like unto thee!” (Psalm 71:19)

1. Wide expanse of eternity] A somewhat difficult expression; but the language of the Doctrine and Covenants is flavored with Biblical terms, which is but natural, since the Spirit of Revelation chose as an instrument through whom to make these communications, one whose literary achievements were derived, chiefly, from that volume. In the language of the Old Testament (Hebrew) an idea for which we use an adjective, is often expressed by a noun. the “wide expanse of eternity” would, if a Hebraism, mean, “the wide, eternal expanse,” or, “boundless space,” which is different from the expanse (raquia) of Genesis 1:6-8, that appeared on the second day of the creation. The grand truth conveyed here is, that our Lord existed before the world was made, and that, with some object in view, He surveyed space and all it contained.

   Seraphic hosts of heaven] In a vision of the Prophet Isaiah (6:2-3) seraphim are standing over* the throne of God, in the attitude of service. They are the attendants of Jehovah, reflecting His glory and majesty, and, in His presence, they sing in chorus, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts: The whole Earth is full of His glory.” Our Lord looked upon these hosts. They were standing before Him, awaiting His commands, even before the Earth had been created.

2. Knoweth all Things] Our Eternal Father is all-knowing. It has been taught erroneously by some that God cannot know all things; that he is like a chemist in a laboratory searching for and constantly discovering hidden truth which was unknown to Him and that even the mind of God is limited and He cannot survey the universe and take cognizance of the innumerable changes occurring every moment. These critics declare that if He knows all things he must cease to progress for there is no place to go further if He is on the pinnacle of knowledge, etc., but to retrogress and that “eternal progress” means that he is still learning. There could not be a greater fallacy than this. If he is still laboring as a scientist experimenting and seeking hidden truth, then there must be some power greater than He is. He teaches us that “He knoweth all things, and there is not anything save He knows it.” (II Nephi 9:20) which truth is confirmed by our Lord’s words in the first paragraph of this revelation. “And He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things; and all things are by Him, and of Him, even God, forever and ever.” *** … he hath given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons.” (Doc. and Cov. 88:41-42.) The Lord has said, “There is no end to my works, neither to my words. For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:38-39) He is continually progressing in his works, expanding his dominions, creating worlds to be peopled by His children, and thus he is progressing, but in knowledge, wisdom, love, justice and other like virtues, He dwells in perfection.

3. All things came by me] Our Lord is the Creator. “This creative and administrative work of Christ the Word in the natural order of things is always emphasized in the writings of the Apostles when they touch on the doctrine of His person *** With ourselves this idea has retired very much in the background *** How much more hearty would be the sympathy of theologians with the revelations of science and the developments of history, if they habitually connected them with operations of the same divine Word who is the center of all their religious aspirations” (Lightfoot, Colossians).

4. Zion of Enoch] This city called “Zion” because its inhabitants were all righteous and “pure in heart” (Doc. and Cov. 97:21) will return when the Millennial reign is come. (Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses 7:63)

   Enoch, the seventh from Adam (Jude 14) built a city called Zion, after the people of God, so named by the Lord, because they were united, righteous, and prosperous. This city of Enoch flourished for three hundred and sixty-five years and then the Lord, by some process not known to us, took it with all its inhabitants, “to His bosom,” thus saving them from destruction in the flood that was to come. “And from thence went forth the saying, Zion is fled” (Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses 7:18, 19, 68, 69). The building up of another Zion in the latter days was predicted by the prophets of old. David, for instance, says, “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory’ (Psalm 102:16). That the people of God in the latter days should be found in a mountain region, was also foretold. “O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up into a high mountain” (Isaiah 40:9, see also Ezekiel 40:2, etc.)

   Christ, by virtue of His atonement, is the Savior of those who believe. A repentant sinner needs someone to plead for him. Our Lord does that. In the presence of the Father He represents His people, and as a beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased - He having kept the everlasting covenant and fulfilled the conditions - He is in a position to be the Author of their salvation. His atonement is the foundation for salvation. By faith, active in repentance and obedience, the inestimable gift is received.

5. -7. The wicked, the disobedient, must plead their own cause. They are kept in “chains of darkness” - in a condition in which the light of revelation does not set them free from ignorance and prejudices, and in that condition they will be overtaken by the day of judgment. (pp. 198-200)

The Lord’s revelation at the third Conference of the Church continues:

But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me;

But the day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that I am; for the veil of darkness shall soon be rent, and he that is not purified shall not abide the day.

Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. Behold, the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome.

Verily I say unto you, ye are clean, but not all; and there is none else with whom I am well pleased;

For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven—

Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined. (D&C 38:7-12)

Once again the Lord indicates that He will soon appear to the Saints. The Lord exhorts the Saints to purify themselves and to prepare for His coming. He blesses and encourages them. He informs them that the world is in an awful state of wickedness and darkness, and that such evil causes the Heavens to mourn. Again, the themes and the language of these verses are drawn directly from, or have the same source as, the prophecy of Enoch. In Enoch’s prophecy we learn why all eternity is pained, and why the angels are ready to reap down the earth.

I find it significant that the Lord alludes to His parable of the wheat and the tares so early on in the history of the Church. It is worth reviewing this parable in connection with this revelation:

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:24-30)

The Lord elaborates and expounds upon this parable later on in the Doctrine and Covenants:

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:

Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;

And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.

But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender—

Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields;

But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned.

Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—

For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—

Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.

Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen. (D&C 86:1-11)

This parable was important enough to the Lord to repeat it several times and to use it to teach the Saints about His Church. This parable was important enough to President Ezra Taft Benson that he wrote an entire book about it called An Enemy Hath Done This.

The Lord describes the period of the establishment of His Church in the early days of the Restoration as “the last days” and a time when He was beginning to bring forth the word. When the Lord declared that “the blade is springing up and is yet tender,” I believe that He spoke specifically of Joseph Smith the Prophet. Joseph Smith was that blade of wheat, still young and tender, growing up in the word of God, against whom all hell was moved in opposition. The tares that choked the wheat and drove the Lord’s original church into the wilderness included those who hunted and killed the original Saints and the original Apostles, and perhaps also the Lord’s own seed through Mary Magdalene and possibly through other wives as well. The tares continued to choke the wheat when the Lord restored His Church, and in these revelations (D&C 38 and 86), the Lord describes both the wheat and the tares in more detail.

The Lord sowed the wheat, which included, in the last days, Joseph Smith and the righteous members of the Church. Satan sowed the tares, which included, in the last days, the enemies of the Prophet Joseph Smith as described in D&C 38. In other words, the church of Satan and the Church of Jesus Christ grew together even at this early stage of the Restoration. The tares became so intertwined with the wheat, and it was so difficult to discern between the two, even from the beginning of the Restoration, that the Lord commanded that the two should grow up together until the harvest was fully ripe. And if the harvest was ripening even then, how ripe is the harvest now?

The wheat and the tares are still growing together. The church of Satan has been growing together with the Church of Jesus Christ. This is not just a metaphor. The wheat has yet to be gathered from among the tares. The enemy has been combined for a long time, and that enemy has been so well disguised, like tares that look exactly like wheat! A few alert members of the Church are aware that there are tares - servants of Satan, who masquerade as wheat, wolves in sheeps’ clothing - who are currently choking the wheat - the good and faithful members of the Lord’s Church, the Children of Christ.

Furthermore, for both the Church of Jesus Christ and the church of Satan, lineages and bloodlines are important. The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that the priesthood continued through the lineage of his fathers. This is not metaphorical. The Lord revealed that Joseph Smith and other early Saints were “lawful heirs, according to the flesh.” In other words, Joseph Smith in particular had, along with his sacred bloodline, been hidden from the world with Christ in God. Thus the Lord preserved his life and the priesthood through his lineage, and He will preserve the priesthood through his lineage until the restoration of all things. I believe that the sowing of the seed is not just spiritual or symbolic in nature, rather it is also literal and temporal in nature, pertaining to the offspring of the Lord.

Because he is an imitator and cannot create, Satan fashioned his own church and sowed his tares in the reverse image of the wheat, the Lord’s Priesthood and the Lord’s Church. In other words, there are satanic bloodlines that constitute the church of Satan that have mixed into the Church of Jesus Christ from the earliest days of the Restoration. These are the tares, the ultimate hypocrites, people who appear to be faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ while secretly practicing their dark, evil, and satanic rituals in the attempt to choke the wheat, the Lord’s elect. Soon the tares will be gathered out from among these wheat, and the tares shall be bound into bundles to be burned. The enemy is combined, but the enemy shall not overcome. The angels shall soon come to reap down the earth and to gather and burn the tares.

What does the Smith and Sjodahl’s commentary add to our understanding of these verses?

7 - 12. Another promise that the Lord will soon appear.

7. I am in your midst] The Lord had already come to His people, but they had not seen Him; or, if they had seen Him, had not known Him. President Brigham Young helps us to understand this mystery, when he says, “The Lord Jesus Christ might come among us and we would not know Him: and if He were to come in our midst and speak unto us today, we might suppose Him to be one of the returned missionaries (Jour. of Dis., Vol. XI., p. 41.) When our Lord had ascended to glory, two heavenly messengers - “men” Luke calls them - appeared to the disciples and said to them, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). We generally think that when the Lord comes, He will be accompanied by His Saints, and the lightnings will be flashing, the thunders rolling, mountains falling, trumpets sounding, waves roaring, and the terror-stricken mortals crying out to mountains and to rocks, “fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16); but we should not, while contemplating this grand Scriptural picture of the Advent, forget the promise that our Lord would return as He ascended from the Mount before He should come in majesty and glory. He came in the like manner as He ascended when He first appeard to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and He has remained with the Church ever since, though invisible except on a few occasions, as, for instance, at the time of the manifestations in the Kirtland Temple. As far as the world was concerned, our Lord did come without warning, “as a thief in the night.”

8. The day soon cometh that ye shall see me] The day is near, when the veil between this world and the next will be removed. The Tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem were divided into two compartments, separated from each other by a heavy veil, or curtain. In the inner room the presence of Jehovah was manifested on the Ark of Covenant, between the Cherubim. God dwelt in the midst of Israel, though not seen by the people. There was a veil between Him and them. In our dispensation the Lord is also present in the Church, in more than a figurative sense, though we do not see Him with our natural eyes. He is hidden by the veil that limits the range of vision of our spirits. But this veil will be rent. The Lord will come forth and all shall see Him but those who have not been purified by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit will not be able to abide His appearing. They will flee, but find no place of refuge.

9. Gird up your loins] In Biblical language, to “gird up the loins” is to prepare for a journey, or for work. The Hebrews wore girdles when traveling, and when at work. On such occasions they girt their clothes about them to ensure free movement of the limbs. The servants of the Lord must be prepared to do His work, and to go when He calls.

10. - 11. Here the Lord draws a distinction between His people and the world. “Ye are clean *** the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth.” Witness the ignorance, superstition, the poverty, the sickness, sin, and wickedness existing among the children of men!

11. - see above

12. The angels are waiting] The destroying angels, at the time when this Revelation was given, were ready, only waiting for the divine command to pour out their vials on Earth - to gather the tares for the fire.

    The revelations that are in the Bible, the predictions of the Patriarchs and Prophets who saw by vision and revelation the last dispensation and fulness of times plainly tell us what is to come to pass. The 49th chapter of Isaiah is having its fulfillment I have often said in my teachings, if the world want to know what is coming to pass, let them read the revelations of St. John. Read of the Judgments of God that are going to overtake the world in the last dispensation. Read the papers and see what is taking place in our own nation and in the nations of the earth, and what does it all mean? It means the commencement of the fulfillment of what the Prophets of God have predicted. In the Doctrine and Covenants there are many revelations given through the mouth of the Prophet of God; these revelations will all have their fulfillment, as the Lord lives, and no power can hinder it. In one of the revelations the Lord told Joseph Smith:

    “Behold, Verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields:

    But the Lord saith unto them, Pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

    “Therefore let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe, then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and Lo! the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned.”

    I want to bear testimony to this congregation, and to the heavens and the earth, that the day is come when those angels are privileged to go forth and commence their work. They are laboring in the United States of America; they are laboring among the nations of the earth; and they will continue. We need not marvel or wonder at anything that is transpiring in the earth. The world does not comprehend the revelations of God. They did not in the days of the Jews; yet all that the Prophets had spoken concerning them came to pass. So in our day these things will come to pass. I heard the Prophet Joseph bear his testimony to these events that would transpire in the earth. *** We cannot draw a veil over the events that await this generation. No man that is inspired by the Spirit and power of God can close his ears, his eyes or his lips to these things.” (Mil. Star, 58:738-9.) (pp. 200-202)

The Lord’s revelation during the third Conference of the Church continues:

And now I show unto you a mystery, a thing which is had in secret chambers, to bring to pass even your destruction in process of time, and ye knew it not;

But now I tell it unto you, and ye are blessed, not because of your iniquity, neither your hearts of unbelief; for verily some of you are guilty before me, but I will be merciful unto your weakness. (D&C 38:13-14)

Heavenly Father is merciful and understands our weakness as mortals. He has also warned us of wicked enemies who conspire together “in secret chambers,” seeking our destruction. What on earth are these secret chambers? The Lord knows what they are and He sees everything that goes on in them. This is Hoyt W. Brewster, Jr.’s entry on “Secret Chambers” in his Doctrine & Covenants Encyclopedia:

From the time that Cain and Satan entered into their nefarious contract, which caused Cain to assertively say, “Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain,” satanic schemes have been fostered in “secret chambers” (Moses 5: 29-31)

This was true of the Gadiantons and their “secret works of darkness” (Hel. 8:4, 28), as well as of all “secret combinations… which are built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:18-25). It was within such secret chambers that Judas bargained to betray the Savior.

In January 1831, the Lord warned the Saints in New York that “the enemy in secret chambers seeketh your lives” (D&C 38:13, 28). Evidently at that time there were those who in “Cain-like” fashion were conceiving satanic schemes against Joseph Smith and his faithful followers. The day will come when these rebellious conspirators shall have “their secret acts… revealed” (D&C 1:3).

See also: Secret Combinations (pp. 503-504)

Many of these secret acts and secret combinations in secret chambers are already beginning to come to light. What does the Smith and Sjodahl’s commentary add to our understanding of these verses?

13. -14. In these paragraphs the Lord utters a warning to the Church.

13. I show unto you mystery] “Mystery” here means a “profound secret and refers to the last sentence in the previous verse, “Behold the enemy is combined.” In the “secret chambers” the enemy of the Church plotted for her destruction. They meant to keep it secret. The Lord revealed it. No information is at hand as to what secret society this refers to.

14. It was necessary to put away iniquity and unbelief in order to be able to stand against the adversary.

    Merciful unto your weakness] The Lord does not “look upon sin with the least degree of allowance,” and yet He is as merciful as He is Holy and just, and it is not weakness in His children, wut willful rebellion, that calls down His wrath upon them.

“Like as a father pitieth his children. / So the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. / For He knoweth our frame; / He remembereth that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13, 14) (pp. 202-203)

We will continue our study of D&C 38 in the following post.