Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Doctrine and Covenants 2025

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Newel Knight, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 10, 1831. Members of the Church living in Thompson, Ohio, were divided on questions having to do with the consecration of properties. Selfishness and greed were manifest. Following his mission to the Shakers (see the heading to section 49), Leman Copley had broken his covenant to consecrate his large farm as a place of inheritance for the Saints arriving from Colesville, New York. As a consequence, Newel Knight (leader of the members living in Thompson) and other elders had come to the Prophet asking how to proceed. The Prophet inquired of the Lord and received this revelation, which commands the members in Thompson to leave Leman Copley’s farm and journey to Missouri.

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Algernon Sidney Gilbert, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 8, 1831. At Sidney Gilbert’s request, the Prophet inquired of the Lord as to Brother Gilbert’s work and appointment in the Church.

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to the elders of the Church, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 6, 1831. A conference had been held at Kirtland, beginning on the 3rd and closing on the 6th of June. At this conference the first distinctive ordinations to the office of high priest were made, and certain manifestations of false and deceiving spirits were discerned and rebuked.

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Thompson, Ohio, May 20, 1831. At this time the Saints migrating from the eastern states began to arrive in Ohio, and it became necessary to make definite arrangements for their settlement. As this undertaking belonged particularly to the bishop’s office, Bishop Edward Partridge sought instruction on the matter, and the Prophet inquired of the Lord.

Doctrine and Covenants 51–57

For Church members in the 1830s, gathering the Saints and building the city of Zion were spiritual as well as temporal labors, with many practical matters to address: Someone needed to buy land where the Saints could settle. Someone needed to print books and other publications. And someone needed to run a store to provide goods for people in Zion. In the revelations recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 51–57, the Lord appointed and instructed people to handle these tasks.

But while skills in such things are needed in Zion, these revelations also teach that the Lord desires His Saints to become spiritually worthy to be called a Zion people—His people. He calls each of us to be “a faithful, a just, and a wise steward,” having a contrite spirit, “stand[ing] fast” in our appointed responsibilities (see Doctrine and Covenants 51:19; 52:15; 54:2). If we can do that—regardless of our temporal skills—the Lord can use us to build Zion.

Elder David A. Bednar shares insights about Doctrine and Covenants 42:14. See Lesson 18 in Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Doctrine and Covenants 2025.

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 9, 1831. Joseph Smith’s history states that some of the elders did not understand the manifestations of different spirits abroad in the earth and that this revelation was given in response to his special inquiry on the matter. So-called spiritual phenomena were not uncommon among the members, some of whom claimed to be receiving visions and revelations.

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, and Leman Copley, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 7, 1831. Leman Copley had embraced the gospel but still held to some of the teachings of the Shakers (United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing), to which he had formerly belonged. Some of the beliefs of the Shakers were that Christ’s Second Coming had already occurred and that He had appeared in the form of a woman, Ann Lee. They did not consider baptism by water essential. They rejected marriage and believed in a life of total celibacy. Some Shakers also forbade the eating of meat. In prefacing this revelation, Joseph Smith’s history states, “In order to have [a] more perfect understanding on the subject, I inquired of the Lord, and received the following.” The revelation refutes some of the basic concepts of the Shaker group. The aforementioned brethren took a copy of the revelation to the Shaker community (near Cleveland, Ohio) and read it to them in its entirety, but it was rejected.

Doctrine and Covenants 49–50

The Savior is our “good shepherd” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:44). He knows that sometimes sheep wander and the wilderness has many perils. So He lovingly leads us to the safety of His doctrine. He leads us away from dangers such as “false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:2). Following Him often means letting go of incorrect ideas or traditions. This was true for Leman Copley and others in Ohio. They had accepted the restored gospel but still held on to some beliefs that just weren’t correct. In Doctrine and Covenants 49, the Lord declared truths that corrected Leman’s previous beliefs about topics such as marriage and the Savior’s Second Coming. And when the Ohio converts “received … spirits which [they] could not understand,” the Lord taught them how to discern true manifestations of the Spirit (Doctrine and Covenants 50:15). The Good Shepherd is patient with us, His “little children,” who “must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:40).

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, March 10, 1831. The Prophet had inquired of the Lord as to the mode of procedure in procuring lands for the settlement of the Saints. This was an important matter in view of the migration of members of the Church from the eastern United States, in obedience to the Lord’s command that they should assemble in Ohio (see sections 37:1–3; 45:64).