Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 27

Introduction

Imagine that you are on a committee assigned to organize an activity for the ward.  You put in many hours of work preparing the activities, the food, the decorations, and so on.  On the day of the event, only three ward members show up.  How do you feel?  What are you going to do next time you are asked to do something similar?

Now imagine our stake has been assigned to lay the sod, plant flowers, and do other landscaping work at a new temple being built in Bismarck, ND.  (Not a reasonable assumption, I know.  But play along.)  Because of the size of the project, at least 200 volunteers are needed.  We gather tools, arrange rides, and caravan to ND.  When we arrive, we find out that there has been a change of plans, and our work is not needed.  Now how do you feel?  What are you going to do next time you are asked to do something similar?

Now imagine that instead of driving to ND, we walk.  We don’t have good food along the way, people get sick, and we’re not just going to plant flowers, we’re going to help our friends who have been kicked out of their homes by a bunch of anti-Mormons.  And when we arrive, we’re told there’s been a change of plans and the time isn’t right to help them, and to go back home.  Essentially that was the experience of Zion’s Camp in 1834.

This lesson discusses some of the trials that the early Saints endured, and some of the reasons they did so.

The Saints settle in, and then flee from, Jackson County, Missouri

Briefly summarize the experience of the Saints in Jackson County, Missouri.

In July 1831 Joseph Smith made his first visit to Missouri where he received a revelation designating Missouri as the place for the city of Zion, with Independence as the center place (see D&C 57:1–3).  By 1832 there were more than 800 Saints living in the area.  In April of 1833 the Saints gathered to celebrate the third anniversary of the Church.  “Newel Knight said that this gathering was the first commemoration of its kind in Zion and the Saints had a spirit of general rejoicing. However, Newel also observed, ‘When the Saints rejoice, the devil is mad, and his children and servants partake of his spirit’ ” (Our Heritage, 39-40).

The Saints were forced from Jackson County later that year and set up make-shift camp in Clay County across the river.  It was a miserable experience in the rain and cold, with many members having lost all of their possessions.

Zion’s Camp is Organized

After the Saints were driven from Jackson County, they petitioned Governor Daniel Dunklin of Missouri for assistance in restoring their homes and for protection. The governor expressed a willingness to help if the Saints would organize a group of men for their own protection.  This was one of the main objectives of Zion’s Camp.

The Our Heritage manual explains:

The Church was in great need of priesthood leaders who had been tried, given experience, and proven faithful, who would remain true to the Lord and his prophet under any circumstances. An opportunity to prove obedience in difficult circumstances and to be trained personally by the Prophet Joseph Smith was provided by the march of Zion’s Camp.

Zion’s Camp was formally organized in New Portage, Ohio, on 6 May 1834. … For 45 days they marched together to Clay County, Missouri, a distance of over 1,000 miles. They traveled as quickly as possible and under harsh conditions. It was very difficult to get enough food. The men were often required to eat limited portions of coarse bread, rancid butter, cornmeal mush, strong honey, raw pork, rotten ham, and maggot-infested bacon and cheese.

The camp placed great emphasis on spirituality and obeying the commandments. On Sundays they held meetings and partook of the sacrament. The Prophet often taught the doctrines of the kingdom. He said: “God was with us, and His angels went before us, and the faith of our little band was unwavering. We know that angels were our companions, for we saw them.” 8

However, the difficulties of the camp began to take their toll on the participants. This refining process revealed the grumblers, who did not have the spirit of obedience and often faulted Joseph for their troubles. On 17 May the Prophet exhorted those who were possessed with a rebellious spirit “to humble themselves before the Lord and become united, that they might not be scourged.” 9

By 18 June the camp had reached Clay County, Missouri. However, the governor of Missouri, Daniel Dunklin, would not keep his promise to help the army of Saints reinstate the Church members who had been forced from their homes. For some in the camp, the failure of this military objective was the final test of their faith. Disappointed and angry, some openly rebelled. As a result, the Prophet warned them that the Lord would send upon them a devastating scourge. Soon a calamitous epidemic of cholera spread through the camp. Before it ended a third of the camp was afflicted, including Joseph Smith, and thereafter 14 members of the camp died. On 2 July, Joseph again warned the camp to humble themselves before the Lord and covenant to keep his commandments and said that if they did so, the plague would be stayed from that hour. The covenant was made by uplifted hands, and the plague ended.

When it became apparent that a mob army was confronting the Saints and that Governor Dunklin would not keep his promise to help them, the Prophet prayed for instruction from the Lord. The Lord told him that conditions were not then right for the redemption of Zion. The Saints had much to do to prepare their personal lives in order to build Zion. Many of them had not yet learned to be obedient to the things the Lord required: “Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer” (D&C 105:5–6).

In early July, the camp members were honorably discharged by the Prophet. The journey had revealed who was on the Lord’s side and who was worthy to serve in positions of leadership. The Prophet later explained the outcome of the march: “God did not want you to fight. He could not organize his kingdom with twelve men to open the gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless he took them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham.” 10

Wilford Woodruff, a member of the camp who later became the fourth President of the Church, said: “We gained an experience that we never could have gained in any other way. We had the privilege of beholding the face of the prophet, and we had the privilege of traveling a thousand miles with him, and seeing the workings of the spirit of God with him, and the revelations of Jesus Christ unto him and the fulfilment of those revelations.” 11

In February of 1835, five months after the discharge of the camp, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Quorum of the Seventy were organized. Seventy-nine of the eighty-two positions filled in the two quorums were filled by men who had been proven in the march of Zion’s Camp (Our Heritage, 27-29; 44-45).

When Brigham Young returned to Kirtland after Zion’s Camp, he was asked, “What have you gained by this journey?” He replied, “Just what we went for; … I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of [this] County” (in Journal of Discourses, 2:10).

What we can learn and apply

Why the trials in Jackson County

Read D&C 101:2, 6.  The Lord gave similar reasons for the “failure” of Zion’s Camp.

Read D&C 101:4-5

Why does the Lord chasten his people?  Read D&C 95:1 – Because He loves us, and so our sins can be forgiven.  Being eternally clean is far more important than being temporally (and temporarily) comfortable.

Read D&C 101:7–8.  What can we do in the “day of peace” to remember God’s counsel and always be eager to follow it?

Read D&C 101:35–38. What can we learn from these verses to help us keep our mortal life in proper perspective? How has knowledge of the Lord’s eternal promises helped you in times of trial?

Preparing our lives for the “redemption of Zion”

Read D&C 105:1–13.  I learn the following:

• 3 – I’ve got to learn to be obedient
• 3 – I’ve got to share with the poor and afflicted
• 4 – I’ve got to be united.  This means that I want others to have the same blessings I have and want.  This includes wanting my brothers and sisters in the gospel to feel the Spirit and rejoice sacrament meeting, just like I want to do!
• 5 – I’ve got to build both my life and the Church the way God directs.
• 8 – At this time, the Saints were counseled to donate their money to purchase all the land they could in Jackson County, and to gather there to build Zion.  Apparently, some were less than faithful in this area.  Their attitude seems to have been, “Well, if this is really the Lord’s church, he’ll take care of it.  We’ll go once the city is built.  If things don’t work out, we won’t go to Zion and face persecution, and we’ll still have our money.”  How might we do something similar in our day?
• The counsel to get out of debt is very good.  I’ll start on that as soon as I finish getting my new…
• I’m sure food storage is a good thing for us to have.  But because God loves us we won’t really need it, so I’m sure the little bit that I have is good enough.
• Of course the Church is true, but I wish the First Presidency wouldn’t make such a big deal out of the whole gay marriage thing.  They’re just out of touch with reality.
• 10 – I’m going to have experiences – some good, some not so good.  I want to learn and be prepared through them.

Read D&C 105:38–40.  The Lord commanded the Saints to be peacemakers with everyone, even those who persecuted them.

Conclusion

While the final City of Zion has not yet been built, you and I should build Zion in our homes and stake so that we will be prepared for the day when Zion is in fact redeemed in all its glory and power.