Casey Griffiths:
So many members of the Church in so many different settings say something like, Satan controls the waters.

Scott Woodward:
Does this mean that some divinely-authorized destructive force has been let loose upon the Missouri River?

Casey Griffiths:
We don’t know, based on this context, if the destroyer is a servant of Satan or a servant of God. But here’s a few things to just keep in mind. Hi, Scott. How are you?

Scott Woodward:
Good, man. We get to dive into the return journey from Missouri this week, Sections 60 through 63. This is going to be a fun one.

Casey Griffiths:
We’ve spent the last couple of sections talking about the command to go to Zion. That was Section 52 up to Section 57. What they did when they got to Zion, that was 58 and 59. Now the voyage home, Sections 60 to 63.

Scott Woodward:
Yeah, so sections like 60, 61, and 62 are literally about the journey home where Joseph Smith and other Church elders are going back to Ohio after having spent several weeks in Missouri in the summer of 1831. So Section 60 initiates their return home. Section 61 addresses some trouble upon the waters issue they encountered while they were traveling down the Missouri River. And Section 62 is a revelation received as a result of a serendipitous meeting of elders traveling to and from Zion who happened to intersect. And we get a very short but powerful little section in Section 62. And then Section 63 is the revelation that Joseph received shortly after he returned home from Missouri to Ohio about getting things going back in Ohio at that time. So lots of interesting sections here on that return journey, and then one, once he arrives home. With that, it’s kind of a big, broad overview. Casey, take us into Section 60.

Casey Griffiths:
Here’s what’s going on in Section 60. So they’ve arrived in Missouri, and they spend about a month there. While they’re doing that, the various missionaries that were called in Section 52 are coming into town, so is the Colesville Branch led by the Knight family. And their time in Missouri has been incredibly fruitful. They learned the site of the future city of Zion. They had dedicated the spot for the city of Zion, as well as for the temple that was going to be the center place of the city. And they held the first conference of the Church in Zion, about which Joseph Smith just briefly describes. He says, “On the fourth of August, I attended the first conference in the land of Zion. It was held at the house of Brother Joshua Louis, who was a convert from the area, in the presence of the Colesville Branch of the Church, and the Spirit of the Lord was there.” So a few days after this conference, on August 8th, Joseph said, “There was some inquiry among the elders what they were to do now, now that their major objectives for this trip had been received.” And in Doctrine and Covenants Section 58, which was received about a week earlier, the Lord had already instructed that after this conference was held, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery were to go back to Ohio.

Casey Griffiths:
And those elders who had not been appointed to stay in Missouri, remember some, like Edward Partridge and Sidney Gilbert and W. W. Phelps, are going to stay. They were going to go home, and along the way, after they’ve preached in the area, travel back to Ohio. So it’s likely that the question they’re asking when this revelation was received was to know whether or not it was time for them to carry out this instruction. Joseph asked, and Section 60 was the result, and that’s the back story.

Scott Woodward:
All right, so the revelation itself begins by confirming that the elders are now to, quote, “return speedily to the land from whence they came.” And while he’s generally pleased with their efforts and their obedience thus far, he says, “With some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man.” This seems to be maybe an obvious reference to elders like Ezra Booth and Isaac Morley, who had not spent very much time preaching God’s word along their journey from Ohio to Missouri, like Section 52 had instructed. Instead, they made a beeline. They zipped all the way to Missouri as fast as they could. They were not opening their mouths to preach, but they were hiding the gospel gift that they had received. And the Lord said, I don’t like that. I’m not well pleased with that. “Wo unto such,” in fact, he says, “for mine anger is kindled against them. And if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have,” he warns. But concerning their return journey home, the Lord just gives simple instruction.

Scott Woodward:
He says, “Let there be a craft made, or bought, as seemeth you good, it mattereth not unto me, and take your journey speedily for the place which is called St. Louis.” And then Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, and Oliver Coudre are to journey to Cincinnati, and there “lift up their voice and declare my word in that region.” As for the rest of the elders, once they get to St. Louis, they are to fan out from there, two by two, and preach the word, “not in haste,” he says, “among the congregations of the wicked, until return home.” So again, take your time, just like you took your time or were supposed to take your time, coming from Ohio to Missouri. Now I want you to go to St. Louis, and then from St. Louis slowly, not hastily, slowly, make your way back home to Ohio and preach the gospel as you go. So kind of an interesting mission, right? Most mission calls are to a specific area where you stay in the area and you preach to everyone in the area. This is kind of a traveling mission, right? You get to go from Ohio, almost a thousand miles from Ohio to Missouri, and turn around and go from Missouri back to Ohio, and just cover as many towns as you can on your way preaching, which is kind of a fun idea.

Casey Griffiths:
They’re doing two things at once. They’re on their journey. But don’t be too hasty on your journey. Preach the gospel as you go.

Scott Woodward:
Remember, the Lord had promised back in Section 52 that once they got to Missouri, they would hold a conference there. Then once the conference was held, they were to turn around and go. So that’s all happened, as you mentioned. And so now it’s game on phase 2. Let’s head back.

Casey Griffiths:
Verse 10, they got to pay for their trip back. So Edward Partridge is directed to “impart a portion of the money which I have given him,” to fund the homeward bound journey of the elders commanded to return. And those who can later repay him are directed to do so. Those who cannot, it’s not required. Now, The other issue that they’re dealing with here is not everybody that has been called to travel to Zion has made it to Zion. That’s going to be part of the story of these sections as well.

Scott Woodward:
That’s a good thing, right? That means they’re coming slowly, so that’s good. Not everyone’s here yet.

Casey Griffiths:
Some of the people like Ezra Booth, who had traveled there too hastily, are reproved by the Lord because they’re supposed to be preaching along the way. So verses 12 through 16 are going to address the elders who were still traveling to Zion, but who hadn’t yet made it there. To them, the commandment is, “Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.” In this context, burying their talent seems to mean not sharing the gift of the gospel which they’ve been entrusted, and idling away their time in lesser pursuits would amount to lost opportunities to share the gospel. So the Lord is just kind of reiterating here that they weren’t called on this mission for sightseeing. Even after their arrival, they’re supposed to stay focused on their mission, he goes on to say, “After thou hast come up to the land of Zion, and hast proclaimed my word, thou shalt speedily return [home], proclaiming my word among the congregations of the wicked, not in haste, neither in wrath nor with strife.” And then he gives them a a set of instructions that repeats several times throughout the Doctrine and Covenants that we’ve talked about a little bit earlier, which is, he says, “Those who receive thee not shake off the dust of thy feet,” but, he adds, “not in their presence lest you should provoke them.”

Casey Griffiths:
Maybe he’s thinking back to Parley P. Pratt and the Shakers, where he shook his dust off in front of them so that they absolutely knew what he was doing. He says, they were to do this and then wash their feet, the Lord explains, as a symbolic testimony against these people at the day of judgment. And this echoes a New Testament command, which Elder James E. Talmage once referred to as an ordinance of accusation. Basically, you’re just making a record of you giving them the opportunity to have received the gospel. Then he concludes the revelation by saying, “This is sufficient for you, and the will of him who hath sent you.” Adding that 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.

Scott Woodward:
You got the vision. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Just go with some general guiding principles, not too quickly. Make sure you cover everybody you can. The consequence of Section 60, Casey, is actually the context of Section 61, because the day after this revelation was received, Joseph Smith’s history states that, quote, “In company with 10 elders, I left Independence landing for Kirtland. We started down the Missouri River in canoes and went the first way as far as Fort Osage,” which is about 15 miles downriver, “where we had an excellent wild turkey for supper,” he says. But according to Ezra Booth, who’s one of the elders on this trip, the next day, a spirit of animosity and discord made its appearance as they traveled downriver. He said, quote, “The conduct of the elders became very displeasing.” There’s no specifics of their behavior, which is known, just the phrase displeasing. For which Oliver Cowdery then turns and sternly rebukes them, saying, quote, “As the Lord God liveth, if you do not behave better, some accident will befall you.” Casey, have you ever been in a car, like a really long road trip, and the kids start to get cranky?

Casey Griffiths:
Is this the Oliver Cowdery equivalent of, I will turn this car around or that kind of thing where-

Scott Woodward:
I will turn this canoe around. Yeah.

Casey Griffiths:
Yeah. I also don’t want to downplay this because, again, the person reporting some of these difficulties is Ezra Booth, who does apostatize and basically becomes the first anti-Mormon that we have record of. So they’re having some serious strife. Oliver doesn’t make the trip out with them. He’s already there, so maybe they see him as, kind of a, I don’t know, the new guy, the interloper, that thing, because Oliver’s rebuke doesn’t really solve anything. In fact, the elders become more irritated and their displeasing behavior continues. On the afternoon of the third day, when they reach 100 miles of downriver travel, Joseph joined the canoe of these elders, likely with the intent to diffuse the situation. But according to Ezra Booth, it got worse.

Scott Woodward:
So Joseph says, I’m going to come sit in your canoe with you guys, right. These elders are the disruptive ones. He’s like, I’m going to come sit with you. And apparently, that doesn’t make the situation any better.

Casey Griffiths:
There’s a moment of danger on the river, and these elders apparently refused to exert their physical powers to help row and steer the canoe, in consequence of which they hit a submerged log, which was a really common hazard on the Missouri River, and they nearly capsized. And this kind of unnerves Joseph Smith. He asks everybody to get off the river. Before sunset at a river bank that they call McIlwaine’s Bend, which we tried to find this once on a Church history trip, what we found out was that the river has shifted, that several things, rivers shift from time to time. The Army Corps of Engineers changed the course at one point. The closest you can get to this is probably modern day Miami, Missouri. Yes, there’s a town in Missouri called Miami, which we have been there with students. So they’re camping at McIlwaine’s Bend. And at some point, after having set up camp here, Joseph’s history says this statement, which people still sort of puzzle over. “Brother William W. Phelps, in an open vision by daylight, saw the destroyer in his most horrible power, riding upon the face of the waters. Others heard the noise, but saw not the vision.”

Casey Griffiths:
And so something happens. And again, the language here has been picked apart again and again by exactly what it means. It’s the source of some really common folklore in the Church. But he sees something, and most of the group hears something that is disturbing for all of them. Ezra Booth describes this by saying, “Preparations were made to spend the night as comfortably as existing circumstances would admit, and then an attempt was made to affect a reconciliation betwixt the contending parties. This attempt excited considerable feelings on both sides.” So while they’re on the banks of the river, after they’ve had this vision of the destroyer, or W. W. Phelps has, because he’s the only one that sees it, they try to work out these problems that they’ve been having.

Scott Woodward:
So Joseph says, All right, we’re going to pull these canoes over. And so they pull over their canoes, they get out, and they’re camping that night on the bank of the river, and now they’re working through their issues, trying to resolve and reconcile feelings between each other. How does that go?

Casey Griffiths:
Not well, because they have to ask the Lord to intervene, right. So apparently, while they were having this council, Oliver’s rebuke is brought up. According to Joseph Smith’s history, he and Joseph were represented by the offended elders as being “highly imperious and quite dictatorial.” And Joseph and Sidney were called cowards, apparently because they were worried about the dangers of traveling on the Missouri River. And this meeting goes on for several hours into the night until at some point early in the morning, everyone reconciles. Joseph Smith’s history says, “The next morning after prayer, I received the following,” and that revelation is Section 61.

Scott Woodward:
And Joseph says this meeting went on for several hours into the night. It seems like they almost pulled an all-nighter here working through their feelings. So he’s got to be exhausted in the morning here, but he says the revelation came in the morning after we were reconciled. It’s interesting because the revelation itself does not reconcile the issues. They were reconciled first, then comes the revelation. Maybe there’s a lesson in that. I don’t know.

Casey Griffiths:
A lot of times, revelation It doesn’t come until we’ve reconciled those issues, until we’ve solved problems, and then the Lord can speak to us when we’re kind of in a good place, spiritually speaking.

Scott Woodward:
Let’s get into the content. Section 61 opens up like this, “Behold, and hearken unto the voice of him who has all power, who is from everlasting to everlasting, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” All right, he’s got their attention, right? He then declares to these “elders of my church, who are assembled upon this spot,” that their sins are now forgiven. That’s a great opening. Then he explains this about himself, “For I, the Lord, forgive sins and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts.” Just remember the context. This declaration is coming fresh on the heels of the elders confessing their sins to each other and just being reconciled to one another that very morning. Then in verses 3 through 6, he begins to address their issue of traveling by water. He says, quote, “It is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief.” So at least some of them ought to be preaching to these people on the land as they travel home and not just zipping past them on the water.

Scott Woodward:
Nevertheless, the Lord says, He allowed them to travel by river thus far “that ye might bear a record that there are many dangers upon the waters, and more especially hereafter. For I, the Lord, have decreed in mine anger many destructions upon the waters; yea, and especially upon these waters.” A reference to the Missouri River, which at that time had a reputation for being particularly dangerous to navigate. For one, it’s considered navigable only three months out of the year. And even then it’s very difficult to navigate due to what an 1837 geographical dictionary described as, quote, “The dangers of the ever-varying channel of the river.” Other publications of the time note that there were several submerged logs that they called sawyers, which were the terror of the riverboat pilot, and, quote, “The most formidable dangers to navigation of the river, causing 70% of all steamboat wrecks.” And then these wrecked and sunken boats would in turn become underwater hazards for future boats and so on. This is like a pretty dangerous river. Add to that the fact that at that time, there was a global cholera pandemic that was raging, whose spread was being hastened in the United States by way of these river channels, because that’s the really popular places to travel.

Scott Woodward:
And so the rivers between the cities, including the Missouri River, is where this infection was spreading quickly. Add all of this together, and we can perhaps understand why in John Whitmer’s heading for Section 61, he refers to the Missouri River as, quote, “The River Destruction.” So the Lord is saying in verse 4 that he wanted them to experience a taste of the dangers of the Missouri River so that he might bear record in warning others, a point he’ll bring up again in verse 18, to not come that way. To this end, the following year, W. W. Phelps is going to write an editorial to the Saints, giving them, quote, “Instruction upon the subject of journeying to the land of Zion,” wherein he explains that both this revelation and experience, “have already shown that to come by land, especially from the state of Ohio, is the safest and generally the quickest and cheapest. Besides the saving of time and money,” he said, “you’ll save risks and many dangers, firstly, of disasters upon the waters, and secondly, in some degree, the fear and trouble of the cholera.”

Casey Griffiths:
Now, all of the caution notwithstanding, the Lord gives this assurance. In verse 6, he says, “Nevertheless, all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is faithful among you shall not perish by the waters. Wherefore,” he goes on, “it is expedient that my servant Sidney Gilbert and my servant William W. Phelps be in haste upon their errand and mission,” which their mission is to purchase a printing press for the Church in Zion. The Lord’s saying they can continue down the river without fear. But in his own history of the time, W. W. Phelps said that after this revelation was received, “all the company, save myself and Brother Gilbert, left the river and proceeded by land. I was assured by revelation to be safe by land or water.” The Lord told them that he didn’t want the group to split up and take separate routes “until you’re chastened for all your sins, that you might be one, that you might not perish in wickedness.” But now it seems like their conversations had caused them to reconcile. And he says, “It behooveth me that ye should part.” So Sidney Gilbert and W. W. Phelps are to take their journey in haste and fulfill their mission with an added assurance “that inasmuch as they’re faithful, they’ll be preserved, and I, the Lord, will be with them.”

Casey Griffiths:
But before giving instructions to the rest of the group, he returns to verses 13 through 19 to the topic of the dangerous river, the River Destruction, as John Whitmer calls it, about which he says, “I will reason with you as with men in days of old,” and then he gives this section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which I think you and I were talking is kind of, like, a little puzzling, like strange. And we’re still trying to figure out what it means exactly, but maybe we’ll save that for the controversy section.

Scott Woodward:
Yeah, these verses are some of the most puzzling and arcane verses, I think, in the whole Doctrine and Covenants. Here’s what he says. Let’s just try to make sense of this. He says that, quote, “In the beginning, he blessed the waters, but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant, John, I cursed the waters.” Who’s John? When exactly in the last days did John do this? And why would the Lord do this through John or at all? He doesn’t say, he doesn’t explain. “Wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters.” Again, what does he mean? Does this mean that all waters everywhere will one day be unsafe? Or is he just talking about the Missouri River? He’s not clear. And for how long will no flesh be safe? He doesn’t say. His exact meaning in verses 16 and 17 is also opaque. Yet this all seems to be building to his commandment in verse 18, that they should, quote, “Forewarn your brethren concerning these waters,” meaning the Missouri River, as they journey to Zion, “that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail, and they are caught in snares.”

Scott Woodward:
Then he summarizes rather cryptically in verse 19, saying, “I, the Lord have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree.”

Casey Griffiths:
So maybe let’s pause right here with the content, and we’re going to do something different, which is this is the controversy that comes with this section. I don’t know how to summarize it, except to say I’ve had so many members of the Church in so many different settings say something like, Satan controls the waters. That’s why missionaries can’t go swimming. That’s why we don’t baptize in the ocean, which we actually do from time to time. In places like Kiribati, they baptize in the ocean, you know, on a fairly regular basis. So part of it is a misreading of this section, I’m going to say. But part of it is that, yeah, I’m not totally clear what they’re talking about. For instance, what does he mean by the destroyer rideth upon the face of the water? And how is that fulfilled? Which I don’t know if we know enough to know about. What do you think about that?

Scott Woodward:
I just have more questions. So does this mean when the Lord says in verse 19, “I have decreed, and the destroyer rideeth upon the face thereof,” of the water, “and I revoke not the decree.” So does this mean that some divinely authorized destructive force has been let loose upon the Missouri River? And if the destroyer is in fact a divinely authorized destructive force, is it some type of sentient being, like a destroying angel or even the devil of hell himself? Or is this just a poetic way of describing dangerous undercurrents, submerged logs, those sawyers we talked about, sunken ships, and the cholera? I don’t know. Like, it’s unclear. I guess for anyone, like, asking questions about this, I would just be careful. When people are asking questions about this, I think we just need to be cautious. Like, since the Lord never explains his meaning here, we would probably do pretty well to be tentative, to be cautious ourselves in speculating about such things. That’s kind of where I land on it. It’s like, I don’t know, and I don’t want to wade into the waters, no pun intended, of speculation here because I’ve never found that to be very fruitful.

Scott Woodward:
It only leads to, I think, some odd superstition, and I don’t think that’s justified by these verses.

Casey Griffiths:
Yeah. Let me point out a couple other things. It is true that Joseph Smith in his official history records that W. W. Phelps saw the destroyer. That’s the exact wording. “In an open vision by daylight, saw the destroyer in his most horrible power ride upon the face of the waters,” and notes that others “heard the noise but saw not the vision.” But he doesn’t offer any explanation beyond that. There’s two other people that give accounts of this journey, Ezra Booth, who’s antagonistic towards the Church, and Reynalds Cahoon, who is very favorable towards the Church, and neither of them mention this when they’re talking about it. The vision was most likely included in Joseph Smith’s history because W. W. Phelps is helping him write his history. Let me address one other thing, which is for some reason it was transmogrified into Satan controls the waters, when the actual term used here is the destroyer. And I did a little search through. We don’t know, based on this context, if the destroyer is a servant of Satan or a servant of God. But here’s a few things to just keep in mind. Most of the other times that the phrase “the destroyer” is used in scripture are associated with the power of God and not the power of Satan.

Casey Griffiths:
The Lord saying, I’ve decreed that the destroyer, seems to say that this is a force, a power or an individual that works for God. For instance, there’s an 1834 revelation given to Joseph Smith. This is Section 105, that says, “Behold the destroyer, I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste to mine enemies, and not many years hence, they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage or blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have consecrated for the gathering together of my Saints.” That’s 105:15. There’s only one possible place in the Doctrine and Covenants where the phrase “destroyer” could refer to Satan. That’s in Section 101, where there’s a parable told by the Savior about the Saints in Zion, where he says that if they had heeded his instructions, they might have saved my vineyards from the hands of the destroyer, which does sound like it’s linked to Satan. Joseph Smith’s history here, I just think, doesn’t provide enough context for us to make the final decision on who the destroyer is in this context. However, it’s likely, and again, we don’t know for sure, that the destroyer is just a reference to death.

Casey Griffiths:
In the Book of Exodus, the Lord promised the Israelites that if they followed the instructions he gave through Moses, he, this is Exodus 12:23, “Would not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses and smite you.” And the Lord associating the waters with death appears to be consistent with the way the term destroyer was used by most Christians in America in the 19th century. It seems like it’s not Satan based on the way scripture usually uses that I mean, it’s possible, but Satan controlling the water seems like a big leap from what it’s saying here.

Scott Woodward:
Yeah, I would love it if we could just put that one to bed. From this very section, look at verse 6, “Nevertheless, all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is faithful among you shall not perish by the waters.” Why? Because Satan can’t just destroy people if they get into water. Or verse one, the Lord said, “Behold, and hearken under the voice of him who has all power.” Who has power over the waters? God. God has power over the waters. God has power over everything. He has decreed the destroyer to go forth cryptically, whatever that means in this section. In other words, it’s in his jurisdiction, not the devil. I think all signs point to this is not the devil who controls waters. Just to add to what you were just saying, I think verses in this very section would back you up there.

Casey Griffiths:
Yeah, to say that the destroyer is the devil is a leap. To say that he controls the waters is a leap that’s not really in the section. Saying that missionaries can’t swim because Satan controls the waters. I used to say to my classes, Hey, missionaries also can’t handle firearms or explosives, ride in private boats or airplanes. Those things are just inherently dangerous, and they want missionaries to be safe. So don’t read that back into scripture, especially when the scripture here really isn’t clear about what it means. Based on context, it seems like it doesn’t mean that this is Satan, that there’s some destruction associated with water in the last days, which could mean a lot of things based on the times we live in and the calamities that will happen in the last days. I don’t know exactly what this means, and I think we’d do well to be cautious in how we approach this.

Scott Woodward:
Okay, so that’s our little foray into controversies. We actually haven’t finished the content yet, but we just had to do that controversy.

Casey Griffiths:
That was an itch we needed to scratch.

Scott Woodward:
Okay, so now let’s go back to verse 20. It was one of my favorite verses in this section. He says, “I, the Lord, was angry with you yesterday,” due to their contention on the water, “but today mine anger turned away,” due to their recent repentance and reconciliation with one another. I think that’s so awesome. It’s such a cool glimpse into the Lord’s soul, like the Lord had said back in verse 2 when he said, Your sins are now forgiven, for I, the Lord God, forgive sins. I’m merciful to people who confess their sins with humble hearts. That attribute of Jesus is just shining through really clearly in this section. Like, these guys were being jerks. They were like badmouthing the Lord’s prophet and other Church leaders. Just like that, as soon as they repented, the Lord said, All right, my wrath is turned away. Crucial insight into the Lord’s mercy.

Casey Griffiths:
He again briefly addresses William Phelps and Sidney Gilbert. He tells them to take not their journey in hast, explaining that it mattereth not to me whether you go by water or land. Then in verses 23 to 32, he’s going to address Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery directly instructing them to “come not again upon the waters, save it be upon the Erie Canal while journeying unto their homes.” This is also counsel “for the journeying of my Saints,” who generally will travel up to the land of Zion, That is, they’re not supposed to travel by water other than the Erie Canal. Instead, they’re to do like unto the children of Israel, pitching their tents by the way. This is the course for the Saints, the way for the Saints of the camp to journey, he says. He’s instructing Sidney, Joseph, and Oliver to “not open their mouths in the congregations of the wicked until they arrive at Cincinnati, and they lift up their voices unto God against that people whose wickedness at that time,” he said, “made them well-nigh ripened for destruction.” From there, they’re to head directly home to their brethren in Ohio, where they’re needed more abundantly among them than the congregations of the wicked.

Casey Griffiths:
To the leaders of the Church, specific instructions, you’re needed more at home. And Section 63 is going to address this a little bit when they do get home. And then speaking to the rest of the elders, because he’s kind of dividing them into these three groups, Sidney and William, and then the leaders, Joseph, Sidney, and Oliver. Verses 33 to 35, he addresses the residue of the elders. That’s the wording he uses. Right there, telling them to “journey and declare the word among the congregations of the wicked, two by two, as seemeth them good” all the way home. And he also concludes with encouraging counsel. He tells them, “Be of good cheer, little children; for I’m in your midst. I have not forsaken you, and inasmuch as you have humbled yourselves before me, the blessings of the kingdom are yours. They’re to gird up their loins and be sober, looking forth the coming of the Son of Man, for he cometh in an hour, you think not.” And then tells them, “Pray always that you enter not into temptation, that you may abide the day of his in life or in death. Even so. Amen.”

Scott Woodward:
The consequences of Section 61 bleed again into the context of Section 62, because the day after Section 61 was received on the 13th of August, Joseph and his companions crossed the Missouri River, and they traveled by land to nearby Chariton. And then serendipitously, they run into Joseph’s brother, Hyrum, and other elders like David Whitmer, and John Murdock, and Harvey Whitlock. Like of all the places in frontier America, they both happen to bump into each other right there in Chariton, which is so cool. And these are the brothers who have been preaching slowly, and they’re still on their way to Zion, having just been preaching. And John Murdock, it turns out, he had become sick a week or so earlier. And so he and Hyrum and his mission companion had been waiting here in Chariton while John had been recovering. And then shortly after that, they were joined by David Whitmer and Harvey Whitlock. And then almost miraculously, Joseph and his party just showed up coming the other direction. Joseph says, quote, in his history, “I met several of the elders on their way to the land of Zion. And after the joyful salutations with which brethren meet each other who are actually contending for the faith, I received the following revelation on their behalf.”

Scott Woodward:
Kind of cool. That just this serendipitous meeting. I don’t know if there was a question that was agitated by the group at all. What brought about the revelation specifically. We don’t know for sure. I don’t think. Are you aware, Casey, of a specific question?

Casey Griffiths:
It just seems like they’re really happy to see these elders and to know that they’re okay because this is part of the same group that had been assigned to travel to Zion, but they’re going slower, and they’re going slower for good reason. John Murdock was seriously ill on this journey, and they took the time to make sure he was okay before they got on the road. The tone of the revelation here is very different than the tone of the earlier content in Section 61, because these elders have basically been doing what the Lord asked them to do. They’ve been preaching, they’ve been teaching along the way, and they’ve been making sure to not go in too much haste. We don’t want to lose anybody on the way, and John Murdock was very, very ill. All right, so let’s dive into the content. Section 62 is not a long revelation, and it’s a very happy, affirming revelation. This group of faithful elders, the Savior introduces himself as the “Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted.” And then he starts to give them a specific instruction.

Casey Griffiths:
He says, Since “they have not yet as gone up to the land of Zion, their mission is not yet full. Nevertheless, ye are blessed.” He praises them for the testimony which they have borne to all those along their way to Zion, saying that their testimonies are “recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon, and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you.” So they’re supposed to continue their journey, and then the Lord instructs them to “assemble themselves upon the land of Zion, hold a meeting there, and rejoice together, and offer a sacrament unto the Most High.” After they’ve done this, the Lord says, “You may return home to bear record, yea, even altogether as a group, or two by two, as seemeth you good, it mattereth not unto me.” And then he says, All that really matters is that they “be faithful and declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth or the congregations of the wicked.” Intriguingly, in verse 6, the Lord says, “I, the Lord, have brought you together that this promise might be fulfilled, that the faithful among you should be preserved and rejoiced together in the land of Missouri,” adding, “I, the Lord, promise the faithful and cannot lie.”

Casey Griffiths:
This is a reference to the passing promise he made to them back in Ohio two months earlier in Section 52, verse 42, where he said, “If ye are faithful, ye shall assemble yourselves together and rejoice upon the land of Missouri.”

Scott Woodward:
The Lord is here telling them that it wasn’t chance, it wasn’t happenstance, that these two just bumped into each other, these two groups, on their separate journeys to and from Zion. The Lord deliberately brought them together, he says, That’s so interesting, to fulfill this little, seemingly small promise that the faithful would gather together in the land of Missouri. That’s cool. That’s another little interesting glimpse into the character of Christ here, where he says, I, the Lord, promise the faithful, and I cannot lie. Like, He just made this little passing promise in Section 52. And so I led you together to meet with each other serendipitously because I wanted to fulfill my promise.

Casey Griffiths:
This kind of reminds me of the contrast in the Book of Mormon, where Alma rebukes everybody in Zarahemla, and then he goes to Gideon, and everybody’s doing great. And so he just praises them, teaches about the atonement. The contrast between the elders traveling with Joseph earlier, who are just sort of a contentious bunch, and this little group of elders who are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing is really kind of sharp here, where the Lord is saying, Hey, we had to take all this time to just reconcile, to just solve the problems you’re having. This group, you guys are just blessed because of the things that you’re doing. The Lord rejoices when people keep his commandments, follow his counsel. That’s exactly what this little group of elders were doing.

Scott Woodward:
Yeah, it’s just those little tender mercies that are hard to pin down exactly as the Lord having been in it. But here’s a cool little rare moment where the Lord says by revelation, Yeah, that was me who brought you together. I think that leads us to the consequences of Section 62. Maybe we can bundle the consequences of Section 60, 61, and 62 together. We could say it like this, that although these sections contain a lot that is specific to kind of the mundane particulars of an over 800-mile return journey between Missouri and Ohio, and several descriptions of timely duties of elders limited to the 1831 context, as well as some quizzical stuff about cursed waters and all that. The thing that kind of shines through these sections for me, Casey, the big takeaway, is how many little glimpses they give into the character of Christ. We see that among his full-time servants, he is pleased by obedience and best efforts, and he’s displeased and even angered by a lazy disobedience and negligence by those who, he says, hide their gospel gift that he’s entrusted them with. And he’s also not pleased with contention among his servants. Yet, we learned, he’s also very quick to forgive those who humbly confess their sins.

Scott Woodward:
We see that very clearly on that canoe kerfuffle. Can we call it that? We see that he wants us to learn from our errors and our mistakes, and he wants us to warn others of the same. He keeps deliberately saying, go and preach to the congregations of the wicked, specifically. He’s urgently trying to help them repent. We learned that the reason he wants the gospel preached to the wicked is because he doesn’t want them to perish. We also learned that sometimes the details of how we achieve the objectives that he’s given us don’t really matter to him. For instance, three times in these sections, he says, regarding their mode of travel, he says, It mattereth not unto me. I don’t care. Just make sure you preach the gospel to these people.

Casey Griffiths:
There’s a couple other things, too. Like the Savior reminds them that he has all power. In Section 62, he mentions that he’s our advocate. I love that wording that he’s basically saying, I’m on your side. I’m trying to help you. He also mentions in 62 that he knows the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted. He’s recognizing that his servants have struggles, that he knows how to help them. We learn that he sometimes brings people together who fulfill promises that he’s made to the faithful. So he arranges these little meetings, these tender mercies is a phrase we sometimes use, where you run into somebody and it was exactly what you needed. And the Savior’s saying, I do that from time to time. And then he gives an assurance that’s found in other places in scriptures, but just nice to know, verse 6 in Section 62, that he cannot lie, that his words are always true. And then to the faithful, he says, I am in your midst, and I’ve not forsaken you, and behold and lo, I am with the faithful always. He’s saying that to this group of elders that are struggling and to this group of elders that are doing great, that he’s there with us through thick and thin, through the good times and the bad times.

Casey Griffiths:
He’s with us and will help us when we’re on his errand.

Scott Woodward:
To me, that’s the major takeaways from this. In addition to the historical significance of these sections, to those who were involved, perhaps the most lasting value, to the modern reader, are these little glistening autobiographical gems that Jesus Christ is displaying and describing about his own character. I think that’s beautiful.

Casey Griffiths:
I love that idea that he arranges these little meetings. Sometimes when we need a boost. It made me think of this time when I was thinking about my education and I wanted to get a PhD. I went and met with somebody at a university, and they basically said, I could do this, but I would have to quit my job and just go to school full-time. At the time, I was teaching seminary, and I was like, I love teaching seminary, and I feel like I make a difference there, but I really want to get a PhD. And I actually was so distraught that I was walking around Temple Square, and I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to do when all of a sudden, bam, I ran into one of my my students, and sat down and had a conversation. She just talked about what a good experience she had in my class and how meaningful it was and what a difference it made. That was sort of what I needed to hear right at that moment. I came away from that conversation saying, It’s more important for me to be a teacher right now than to get this degree.

Casey Griffiths:
I still figured out a way to get to the degree and not quit my job and everything like that. But I’d like to think that that was one of those little meetings, too, that I wouldn’t call it a happy accident. I would call it a happy arrangement where the Lord just put into my path the person that I needed to see right at that moment.

Scott Woodward:
That can cause all of us to, I think, think about moments like that where you have to walk away and say, That seemed too much to be a coincidence. We all have those moments. It’s hard to always pin it down for sure, which is why Section 62 is so cool because the Lord says, I did that. He almost never says that, but this time he’s like, I brought you together. Okay, well, that’s the end of Sections 60 through 62, the return journey home to Ohio. In part two in our next video, we will dive into Section 63, also part of this week’s Come, Follow Me curriculum for the revelation Joseph receives when he gets there and he finds out that all is not well in Ohio. We’ll see you on that one, Casey. Thank you. This has been fun.

Casey Griffiths:
See you then.