Building the Kirtland Temple, by Walter Rane. Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

ABSTRACT: President Russell M. Nelson emphasized the Savior’s role in expanding temple worship and ordinances. This article traces a pattern for qualifying for temple blessings evident in Kirtland-era revelations and history: receive inspired direction and promises, act and learn in faith, petition the Lord to honor sincere efforts, and rejoice in manifestations of his power. Close readings of Doctrine and Covenants 88, 95, 109, and 110, along with a study of the School of the Prophets and Kirtland Temple dedication, show this pattern in preparing Saints for the 1836 endowment. This pattern can be adapted for classrooms.

KEYWORDS: temple worship · endowment of power · Kirtland Temple · School of the Prophets

One of the beautiful aspects of President Russell M. Nelson’s ministry as President of the Church was his remarkable ability to emphasize the direct role of the Lord Jesus Christ in the growth and expansion of temples and sacred ordinances. He taught: “Under the Lord’s direction recent procedural adjustments have been made. He is the One who wants you to understand with great clarity exactly what you are making covenants to do. He is the One who wants you to experience fully His sacred ordinances. He wants you to comprehend your privileges, promises, and responsibilities. He wants you to have spiritual insights and awakenings you’ve never had before. This He desires for all temple patrons, no matter where they live.”[1] As religious educators, our charge is to amplify this prophetic message in our classrooms.

The revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants and the faithful actions of the early Saints who received them reveal that these desires are not new to our day. The Lord Jesus Christ has intended to manifest himself unto his people, in holy temples, from the beginning of this dispensation. In an 1831 revelation to the Saints, the Lord promised that he would “endow [them] with power from on high” (D&C 38:32), but this blessing would come after years of continued preparation. The 1836 endowment of power in the Kirtland Temple was preceded by a series of divine communications and teachings, and when viewed in the context of how early Church members received and responded to them, an observable pattern emerges: Early Saints were prepared for divine manifestations from the Savior by (1) receiving inspired direction or promises, (2) acting and learning in faith, (3) asking the Lord to honor our sincere efforts, and (4) rejoicing in divine manifestations of his power.

While not exclusive to the Kirtland Temple, key passages from Doctrine and Covenants sections 88, 94–97, 109, and 110, along with associated episodes of Church history, demonstrate this pattern. This same pattern may be adapted to our classrooms for the benefit of our students.

Receiving Inspired Direction or Promises

The topic of receiving inspired direction and promises is certainly broader than the context of the Kirtland Temple and is itself a foundational aspect of the Restoration as a whole. One remarkable aspect of this principle within the context of temple development is Joseph’s apparent dependence on, and interest in, fulfilling the revelations he received (consider Moroni’s quotation of Malachi 3). By many accounts, Joseph took the revelations he produced as seriously as anyone, routinely revisiting them to understand what was expected of him and the fledgling Church. And while early sections of the Doctrine and Covenants could also act as evidence for this, such as the command to gather to the Ohio, Doctrine and Covenants 88 is of great importance. These revelations both define and drive the work of temple building forward. The following key points should be noted:

• A command to “sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him” (D&C 88:68)
• A promise that the Lord would “unveil his face” to the early Saints, but it would be in “his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68)
• Instruction to “tarry” in Ohio “and call a solemn assembly” (D&C 88:70)
• An invitation to “prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean . . . from the blood of this wicked generation” (D&C 88:74–75)
• Instruction to teach to “be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God”(D&C 88:78)
• The command to “organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house” (D&C 88:119)
• This house was to be “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” (D&C 88:119)
• Commands to cease from impure behaviors such as light-mindedness and covetousness or lust and embrace righteous behaviors and charity (D&C 88:121, 123)

Regarding the physical building of the house, Lisa Olsen Tait and Brent Rogers summarize that the instructions to “teach one another” and “seek learning, even by study and also by faith,” coupled with the instructions for the physical building of the house, were understood by Joseph Smith and the elders in Kirtland as a “twofold mandate”: They were to “build an house of God, & establish a school for the Prophets.”[2]

Joseph Smith and the Saints in Kirtland began acting on this instruction almost immediately, but, as the June 1 revelation indicated, they still had only a dim understanding of what it would ultimately mean or of the enormous sacrifices it would require. If the building of the house would be the most notable physical change to the Kirtland skyline, the building of a people prepared for the house would be equally as notable in the School of the Prophets.[3] Nathan Waite notes, “A revelation on March 8, 1833, now Doctrine and Covenants 90, gave the newly appointed First Presidency of the Church the ‘keys’ to administer the School of the Prophets, and it appears that Joseph Smith took the lead in spiritual subjects, assisted by Sidney Rigdon.”[4]

Acting and Learning in Faith

After receiving inspired instruction and clear promises, the Kirtland Saints demonstrated a sustained effort to act according to what they had received, while continually learning from experiences, counseling, prayer, and further revelations. In the case of Doctrine and Covenants 95, the delay in action is what prompted additional direction. While the Saints had already gotten to work organizing the School of the Prophets, the building of the house had been delayed. Perhaps teaching the Saints the value of obedience as preparation for a divine endowment of power, he reiterated the previous direction and promise: “For ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things, that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house. . . . Yea, verily I say unto you, I gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high; for this is the promise of the Father unto you” (D&C 95:3, 8–9).

With reinforced clarity, the Kirtland Church members recommitted and began to make considerable sacrifices to fulfill the commandment. With the attempt at implementing the command to build a house came opportunities to learn through disagreements, challenges, and councils. Many of the Saints had never attempted such an undertaking, and likely not at such financial risk. At one point, the First Presidency was “duly appointed ‘to obtain a draft or construction of the inner court of the house.’”[5] Frederick G. Williams later described the ensuing vision: “We went upon our knees,” he remembered, “called on the Lord, and the Building appeared within viewing distance: I being the first to discover it. Then all of us viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us.” The finished building, he said, “seemed to coincide with that I there saw to a minutia.”[6]

In this way, the Lord continued to teach Joseph and the other Church leaders how to fulfill his original commandment. Joseph clearly felt that he was receiving the additional knowledge he needed to act from the Lord himself. Lucy Mack Smith remembered him preaching that “they were not making a house for themselves or any other man but a house for God” and emphasizing “shall we, brethren, build a house for Our God of logs? No, brethren, I have a better plan than that. I have the plan of the house of the Lord given by Himself.”[7] Of course, acts of faith did not come only on the part of Church leaders, but men, women, and children in the community exhibited a spirit of obedience, sacrifice and consecration in support of the physical house of the Lord. At the same time, these very principles were preparing them as a people for the endowment of power. Paramount to that spiritual preparation, the school of the prophets began meeting within months of the direction in section 88. While secular topics were not uncommon to the group, there was a clear focus on spiritual purification of the members as dictated in the revelation.

Revelations in Context describes the way this focus highlighted direct wording from the revelations: “The revealed order of the School of the Prophets was designed in part to help members rise above these shortcomings of their culture. Ritual practices underscored the need to become clean and unified. To become ‘clean from the blood of this generation’ and to set themselves apart from the world, the elders participated in ritual washings. . . . Revelations urged them again and again to ‘love one another’ and to ‘cease to find fault with one another,’ warning, ‘If ye are not one ye are not mine.’ Joseph Smith taught that unity was a prerequisite to being endowed and was part of the definition of Zion, . . . and he taught that in addition to spiritual cleansing, the washing of feet was ‘calculated to unite our hearts, that we may be one in feeling and sentiment.’”[8]

It was a remarkable demonstration of faith and spiritual formation for a relatively rugged group of frontiersmen to unite with the lofty aspiration of renouncing the sins of their generation and entering an everlasting covenant in accordance with the laws of the gospel. The Lord had revealed that ritual would help them in this effort.

As the dedication of the Kirtland Temple drew closer in 1836, Joseph’s mind seems to have turned again to the Lord’s invitation to “cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean.”¹⁷ Saints, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth summarizes how Joseph further acted on what he had learned from the Lord and in the School of the Prophets:

On the afternoon of January 21, Joseph, his counselors, and his father climbed the stairs to a loft in the printing office behind the temple. There, the men symbolically washed themselves with clean water and blessed each other in the name of the Lord. Once they were cleansed, they went next door to the temple, where they joined with the bishoprics of Kirtland and Zion, anointed each other’s heads with consecrated oil, and blessed one another. When it was Joseph’s turn, his father anointed his head and blessed him to lead the church as a latter-day Moses, pronouncing on him the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph’s counselors then laid their hands on his head and blessed him. When the men completed the ordinance, the heavens opened and Joseph saw a vision of the future. He beheld the celestial kingdom, its beautiful gate blazing before him like a circle of fire. He saw God the Father and Jesus Christ seated on glorious thrones. The Old Testament prophets Adam and Abraham were there as well, along with Joseph’s mother and father and his older brother Alvin.[9]

By April Joseph and the Church members he led and loved had made significant efforts to be ready for the Lord to his great promise to them and endow them with power from on high. They had built the house at significant cost and sacrifice. They had sought learning through study and also by faith. They had sought to sanctify themselves by obedience to laws of the gospel and symbolic ritual washings. They could now present their offering.

Asking the Lord to Honor Sincere Efforts

Having done their best to fulfill the Lord’s commands, Joseph demonstrates a further act of faith that may be easily overlooked. In our efforts to understand Church history, we may be tempted to simplify the narrative: the Lord gave a commandment, the Saints obeyed, and they were blessed. While essentially true, we have already seen that such simplification misses a crucial element of acting in faith—namely, the spiritual and physical work it takes to figure out just what fulfilling a commandment might entail. Likewise, Joseph didn’t simply receive blessings from the Lord immediately after completing divine instructions. Rather, he began another form of spiritual work: intentionally and explicitly calling upon the Lord to honor the Saints’ sincere efforts in adhering to divine counsel and asking the Lord to fulfill his promises.

The opening verses of the dedicatory prayer preserved in Doctrine and Covenants 110 are a prime example. Joseph prayed, “Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts—thou who hast commanded thy servants to build a house to thy name in this place.” Joseph continued, acknowledging that this commandment was centered on salvation through Christ and that it was in his name they sought for God to “accept of this house, the workmanship of the hands of us, thy servants, which thou didst command us to build. 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 109:1–2, 4–5).

Throughout the text of the dedicatory prayer, Joseph faithfully seeks other blessings at the Lord’s hand, many of which have root in previous revelations. Ultimately, a unifying theme is that the Lord’s power will be upon the house, and upon his people, in varied manifestations. Among them is the plea for the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to aid in Joseph’s and the Saints’ ongoing quest for purification and sanctification. Joseph prayed, “O Jehovah, have mercy upon this people, and as all men sin, forgive the transgressions of thy people, and let them be blotted out forever” (D&C 109:34).

And while other interpretations are possible, the plea “Let the anointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them with power from on high” (D&C 109:35) takes on special meaning after the events of January 21, three months before. In a culmination of years of faith and works, Joseph symbolically laid the sacrifices and obedience of the young Church on the altars of the new temple. Joseph knew it was the Savior who commanded the house to be built, who guided and sustained the Saints during its building, and who had the power to fulfill his divine promises now that there was a place to manifest himself unto his people.

Rejoicing in Divine Manifestations of His Power

Joseph’s prayer did not go unanswered. On April 3, 1836, the Lord came suddenly to his temple in a magnificent theophany. Standing on the breastwork of the newly dedicated temple pulpits, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Joseph and Oliver Cowdery: “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.” His next words must have come with great relief to a young prophet who had so often sought forgiveness and sanctification through thought and prayer: “Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice” (D&C 110:5).

Joseph had also pleaded for the sacrifice of the Saints to be honored and for the Lord to accept the house they had built. He must have felt great joy to hear the Lord speak concerning them: “Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name. For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house” (D&C 110:6–7). The Lord had fulfilled his promises as the Saints had acted in faith and sought him diligently. The time for rejoicing with him had come, not just for Joseph and the early Saints but for “thousands and tens of thousands” for whom this would be the “beginning of the blessing which [would] be poured out” (D&C 110:9–10).

The Savior sent three additional messengers with authority and knowledge that would help Joseph extend that blessing to all God’s children on both sides of the veil. Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared in a series with distinct commissions for Joseph and Oliver: the keys of the gathering of Israel, the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and the power to turn the hearts of the father and the children to one another. Within the greater context and pattern, these manifestations come after the receipt of divine instruction and promises, a period of acting and learning in faith how to fulfill them, and explicit requests for the Lord to honor the efforts of the Saints and the word he had previously spoken.

Joseph knew the Lord wanted to endow him with power. He had sought for sanctification through the laws of the gospel and importantly through ritual practices toward cleanliness and anointing. Then he had specifically prayed that the anointing of the Lord’s ministers could be sealed on them. Remarkably, two of the blessings invoked on Joseph during the anointing are exact parallels with the divine gifts brought by these three special messengers. Joseph, with the keys of the gathering Israel, could now in fact lead the Church as a latter-day Moses. Elias’s commission of the dispensation for the gospel of Abraham surely would unlock all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Is it too far of an interpretive leap to find the Elijah’s contribution as a fulfillment of blessings offered on January 21 as well?

Indeed, the vision opened to Joseph at the time of the anointing was an exceptional one, now recorded as Doctrine and Covenants 137. He had seen the celestial world, and in it his own father and mother, who were still living, reunited with Alvin, who had passed (D&C 137:5–6). This unexpected mercy of a united family, with hearts turned to one another, caused Joseph to marvel on that day. Now a few months later, Elijah had given him the authority to make such lasting relationships a reality.

Conclusion

The revelations and historical records surrounding the Kirtland Temple stand as a sacred witness to the Lord’s desire to manifest himself to his people. Through the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants and the faithful responses of early Saints, we observe a divine pattern: (1) receiving inspired direction and promises, (2) acting and learning in faith, (3) asking the Lord to honor sincere efforts, and (4) rejoicing in manifestations of his power. While certainly intriguing, this pattern is not just an academic exercise but an invitation to engage in a similar process, first as disciples ourselves, then as religious educators with a charge to build the rising generation.

In a recent address to seminary and institute personnel, Chad Webb reflected on the teachings of President Nelson regarding covenant blessings offered by Jesus Christ in holy temples. Then, referencing the objective of seminaries and institutes, Chad Webb explained, “I believe there is more we can do to . . . help more youth and young adults qualify for the blessings of the temple. I’m not suggesting you all write a new lesson or create new programs, but I am asking you to be thoughtful, even prayerful, about what more you can personally do within the context of what you are already doing.”[10]

The pattern that I have presented is one additional way that we can help as religious educators. We can guide them to receive the Lord’s promises through scripture and prophetic teaching regarding the temple. We might choose to be as intentional about those promises as the early Saints and Joseph were, returning to them often. We encourage them to act in faith and learn through experience, inviting open and relevant discussions on how to live in a way that leads to greater covenant power. We can intentionally invite them to petition the Lord in sacred prayer for the fulfillment of sacred temple opportunities and promises in their own lives. And we can slow down to bear our own witness of the Lord’s continuing manifestation and rejoice with them as they experience his power in their lives, especially in ways associated with his holy temples.

President Nelson’s teachings remind us that the temple is central to the Lord’s work in our day. The same Savior who guided the Saints in Kirtland continues to guide us now. He is the one who desires to endow his children with power, to sanctify them, and to manifest himself to them. May we, as educators and disciples, help prepare a generation who will seek him, serve him, and rejoice in his presence.

Notes

[1] Russell M. Nelson, “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 95.

[2] Lisa Olsen Tait and Brent M. Rogers, “A House for Our God,” in Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Matthew McBride and James Goldberg (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016), 165.

[3] Russell M. Nelson, “Closing Remarks,” Ensign, Nov. 2019, 120.

[4] Nathan Waite, “A School and an Endowment,” in McBride and Goldberg, Revelations in Context, 176.

[5] Tait and Rogers, “A House for Our God,” 167.

[6] Truman O. Angell autobiography, photocopy of typescript, 4, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

[7] Lucy Mack Smith, “Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845,” book 14, page 1, punctuation modernized, www.josephsmithpapers.org.

[8] Waite, “A School and an Endowment,” 177–78.

[9] Saints, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 1815–1846 (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2018), 233–34.

[10] Chad H Webb, “Qualify for the Blessings of the Temple,” Seminaries and Institutes annual training broadcast, Jan. 23, 2015, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.