Doctrine & Covenants 76 All

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D&C 76:1-5

Doctrine & Covenants > Section 76

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Questions

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Verse 4

What does the phrase "from eternity to eternity" mean? Does it imply that there are multiple eternities? What might this even mean?
What does it mean to say that the Lord is "the same" from eternity to eternity? If the Lord was a pre-mortal spirit, then came and obtained a body, then was resurrected to full glory to inherit all that the Father has, hasn't he changed?
What does it mean that the Lord's "years never fail"?

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Verse 5

If the LORD is a God of love, why do we need to "fear" him?
What does it mean to serve "in righteousness and in truth"?
What does it mean to serve "unto the end"? When is "the end"?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 6

What is an "eternal" glory?

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Verse 7

What is a "mystery"?
What does it mean to have "all the hidden mysteries" revealed? Is there a difference between a mystery and a "hidden mystery"?
What is the difference between "days" of old and "ages" to come? Is there any deeper significance to using these two different ways of expressing periods of time?
What does it mean to "make known" something? Is this just another way of saying "reveal"? How does the LORD make things known to us?
What does the phrase "good pleasure of my will" mean? (See also Eph 1:5.)

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Verse 8

What are the "wonders" of eternity?

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Verse 9

What is the "wisdom of the wise"? How does it perish before revealed wisdom and understanding? How does latter day revelation stack up against modern science?
What is the "understanding of the prudent"? Who are "the prudent"?
Are these statements hyberbolic or is there a greater meaning that we're missing here?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 7

the good pleasure of my will. In this preface to the revelation (verses 1-10) we are told in general terms of the blessings which are given to those who fear and serve God. We will then see in verses 11 and on, how this blessing was made manifest to Joseph and Sidney. What is made manifest to them is given here: the pleasure of God's will concerning the things pertaining to his kingdom or, as verse 10 puts it, the secrets of God's will. This language is closely related to Eph 1:5, 9. The point here, as there, seems to be that how and why God deals with us as he does, is not obvious to our own understanding. A similar point is made in Matt 20:1-16 and Matt 25:37-39, 44: God's will concerning our reward will often be different than the expectations of those he rewards.

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Questions

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Verse 13

When is the "beginning" before the world was?
What are the things that "were ordained of the Father"?
What does it mean for the Only Begotten Son to be "in the bosom of the Father...from the beginning"?

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Verse 14

Is this vision and section of scripture "the record" which is "the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ?" If so, is this revelation primarily about degrees of glory, as commonly presumed, or about "the fulness of the gospel"?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 12

Joseph and Sidney tell us that their "eyes were opened" and their "understandings were enlightened." This reminds us of verse 10 which tells us to those who fear God and those who serve him (see verse 5) God will make known unto them the secrets of his will--"even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear hear, nor yet entered into the heart of man." The paradox of seeing something man cannot see requires first that their "eyes were opened."

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Questions

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Verse 17

How does this verse differ from the KJV of John 5:29? How does the substitution of just/unjust for life/damnation change the meaning of this verse? What is the difference between being resurrected "unto" a resurrection or "in" a resurrection?

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Verse 18

Why might this changed wording or sentiment of John 5:29 cause Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon "to marvel"? Why mention that it "was given...of the Spirit"? Wouldn't that be presummed?

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Verse 19

What does it mean that they "meditated upon these things"? What does it mean to meditate and how should we do it? What is the difference between meditation and prayer?
What are "the eyes of our understanding"? What does it mean for the LORD to "touch" the eyes of understanding? How are these "eyes" opened?
What is the "glory of the Lord" and how does it shine "round about"?

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Verse 20

How did Joseph and Sidney "behold" the glory of the Son?
What does it mean that Joseph and Sidney "received of his fulness"? What is this "fulness"? Is this a fulness of "the Son" or of "the Father" or does it matter?

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Verse 26

What is a "son of the morning"?

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Verse 29

What is Satan's work and glory? Does he focus on the world at large, or is he focused on making "war with the saints"?
What does it mean for Satan to encompass the saints round about?

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Verse 30

Why does this vision of the degrees of glory start with a vision of Satan and the sons of perdition?

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 31

What are the exact requirements for becoming a son of perdition? How much power does one have to know and partake of and then deny?
What is the power of the LORD that sons of perdition know, partake of, then deny?

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Verse 33

What does it mean to be a "vessel of wrath"?
What does it mean for sons of perdition to suffer with the devil and his angels "in eternity"?

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Verse 34

Why is there no forgiveness for sons of perdition?
What does it mean to have no forgiveness "in this world nor in the world to come"? What is "the world to come? Does this mean that they can never ever, ever, ever, ever be forgiven or only that they can't be forgiven in this life and the spirit world? What happens to them after that?

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Verse 35

How do sons of perdition deny the Holy Spirit?
How do sons of perdition deny the Only Begotten Son of the Father?
What does it mean to crucify the LORD unto themselves?
What does it mean to put the LORD to an open shame? What is an "open shame"?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 36

What does it mean that the sons of perdition will "go away" with the devil and his angels?
Who are the "angels" of the devil? Why are they called angels?
What is "the lake of fire and brimstone" where the devil and his angels will go?

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Verse 37

What is the "second death"?
Why are the sons of perdition the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power (verse 37)? If we think of the second death as being removed from the presence of God due to sin, then we might think this second death still has some power over those who live in the telestial or terrestial worlds. What does it mean to say that the second death doesn't have any power over those people?

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Verse 38

What does it mean to "not be redeemed"?
What does "the due time of the Lord" mean?
What are "the sufferings of his wrath"?
Does this explain how the sons of perdition differ from those in the Telestial Kingdom, who are eventually redeemed from the second death after paying the price for their sins?

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Verse 39

What does it mean that the LORD was "in the bosom of the Father"?
What are the "worlds" that were made? Does this refer to the creation of other earths?

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Lexical notes

The phrase "second death" (in verse 37) isn't used much in the scriptures. In the bible the phrase is used only 4 times--all in Revelations. There it is defined as "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Rev 21:8) where those not found written in the book of life are cast into (Rev 20:14-15) at the final judgement. Revelations tells us that the fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars will all have some part in this second death (Rev 21:8).

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 41

What does it mean to come into the world?
How was Christ crucified "for the world"?
How does Christ "bear the sins of the world"? Is this different from "paying the price" of sin?
What does it mean to "sanctify the world"?
How does the atonement "cleanse" the world "from all unrighteousness"?

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Verse 42

How many are "saved" by Christ? What does it mean to be "saved"?
Who are those "whom the Father had put into his power"? How can we be "put into his power"?
How are we "made by" Christ?

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Verse 43

How does Christ glorify the Father?
What are "all the works of his hands"? Is this just people, or the rest of creation? What do "hands" have to do with work? What is this "work"? Is it the same as creation?
What does it mean to "deny the Son after the Father has revealed him"? How is the Son revealed by the Father?

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Verse 44

What does it mean that Christ saves all except the sons of perdition? Does this mean that being saved is the same as inheriting one of the three kingdoms of glory, or just that all eventually escape "the second death" and "the lake of fire and brimstone"?
What is "everlasting punishment"? Are everlasting, endless, and eternal all synonyms here, or do the represent different aspects of this punishment?
What does it mean for the sons of perdition to "reign" with the deveil?
What does it mean that "their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched"? How is this a torment?

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Verse 45

What is the "end" mentioned here? Is it the end of the sons of perdition of just of their torment? Does this imply that their torment will eventually end?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

If we look back at verse 40 we see that the Lord has introduced these verses by saying "This is the gospel...--" These verses are an explanation of what the gospel is, or in other words, what the glad tidings are. What are these glad tidings? We learn about an eternal punishment in Revelations, "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Rev 21:8) where the wicked are cast in. This punishment is the second death spoken of in verse 37. The glad tidings of the gospel, the point of these verses, is that very few will suffer this punishment, this second death. Instead, through the atonement, Christ will save all but the sons of perdition from this awful state. He will even save those who have committed serious sin: liars, sorcerers, adulterers, etc. (Note that in verse 108 we are told that these sinners will inherit the telestial kingdom. This assumes of course that they neither receive the testimony of Jesus (and thus inherit a better kingdom) or deny openly Christ (and become a son of perdition).

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Questions

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Verse 46

Why is the end, place, or torment of the sons of perdition not revealed except "to them who are made partakers thereof"?

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Verse 47

Since the LORD just said that he doesn't reveal the end, place, or torment of the sons of perdition, how is it that "many" are shown "it" in a vision? What is it that isn't revealed in that vision? Is it the feeling associated with the torment? The "place" of the torment? The "end" of those tormented?
What does it mean for a vision to be shut up?

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Verse 48

Does this help explain what isn't revealed in the vision of the sons of perdition?
What is the "end" or the "height" or the "depth" mentioned here?
What does it mean to be "ordained" to this condemnation? Is it literally an ordination, or does this mean something else?

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Verse 49

Why are the sons of perdition considered "ungodly"?

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Verse 50

What is the "testimony of the gospel of Christ"? What does testimony mean in this case? What does it mean that the testimony is "concerning" those of the resurrection of the just?

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Verse 51

What does it mean to "receive the testimony of Jesus"?
What does it mean to believe "on his name"?
What does it mean to be "buried in the water in his name"? Why do we have to be buried?

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Verse 52

Why is authority necessary for baptism and confirmation?

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Verse 53

What does it mean to "overcome by faith"?
What does it mean to be "sealed" by the Holy Spirit of promise? What is the Holy Spirit of promise? How does this sealing occur?

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Lexical notes

Overcome by faith This phrase does not appear anywhere else in ancient or modern scripture. The English word "overcome" does occur over 20 times in the KJV of the bible, where it is often the translation of the Greek verb nikao which also means to conquer or vanquish (see discussion here).

Testimony of Jesus. This phrase is found four times in the KJV of Revelations (Rev 1:2, Rev 1:9, Rev 19:10, Rev 12:17, and once in Alma 6:8. Joseph F. Smith also uses it in what appears to be a paraphrase of a verse in this section D&C 138:12. The phrase as used in these scriptures seems to refer to more than just a belief in Jesus, but a spiritual power referred to as "the spirit of prophecy" (Rev 19:10; Alma 6:8. There are many references to the "spirit of prophecy" in the Book of Mormon, where it is related to obtaining a foreknowledge of Christ's mission and sacrifice--but also seems to be an authorizing power that backs up gospel teaching.

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 56

Is there a difference between these kinds of priests and those ordained as priests in the Aaronic priesthood?
How do we become priests and kings? How might this relate to temple worship?
How do priests and kings receive "his fulness, and...his glory"?

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Verse 57

Is there a difference between these priests and those ordained as High Priests in the Melchizedek Priesthood in this life?
What does it mean for the priesthood to be referred to here as an "order"?

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Verse 59

What does it mean that Celestial beings have all things, including "whether life or death"? Does this imply that Celestial beings have power to choose death after receiving Celestial glory?
How might "things present, or things to come" be given to Celestial beings? What does this mean?

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Verse 60

What does it mean that Celestial beings "shall" overcome all things? Does that mean that they still have things to overcome after they reach the Celestial Kingdom?

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Questions

What does whether one died without law (verse 72) or received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh (verse 74) have to do with what kingdom someone will inherit?

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Lexical notes

The phrase without law is also used in Romans 2:12 (as noted in the footnote). In Romans 2:12-15 without law is used to mean without knowledge of the commandments.

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Exegesis

Verses 71 to 79 describes the vision Joseph Smith and Sidney Ridgdon had of the telestial kingdom. The phrase "these are they" is repeated throughout these verses to introduce each description of the people here. This is similar to verses 50-70 where "they are they" and then "these are they" is repeated throughout to introduce each description of the people in the celestial kingdom. In the description of the people in the celestial kingdom, each description seems to apply to everyone in the celestial kingdom and only to those in the celestial kingdom. In this way each description is self-contained. For example from verse 62 we get the idea that all of those in the celestial kingdom will dwell in the presence of God and Christ forever and that if we don't go to the celestial kingdom we won't be in their presence forever.

But, if we read verse 72 by itself as something that applies to everyone in the terrestrial kingdom and only applies to those in the terrestrial kingdom, we would come to the understanding that everyone who dies without the law would go to the terrestrial kingdom. But we know this is not the case from other scriptures. One of the footnotes points us to D&C 137:7-10. There the Lord makes it clear that those who die without the law because they did not have the chance to receive it, but would have received it had they been given the chance will go to the celestial kingdom.

If instead we read "these are they" as a partial description these verses make sense. Reading verses 71 to 74 together we see that those in the terrestrial kingdom are those who died without the law, whose spirits were kept in prison after death, who Christ visited and preached to there, who did not receive the testimony of Jesus in this life but received it after they died. D&C 138:32 makes the explicit distinction between those in spirit prison because they never had a chance to receive the gospel and those who rejected it. We read "received not" in verse 74 as a description of this latter group. Verse 75 then sums it up by saying that these people were "honorable" but "blinded by the craftiness of men." This doesn't apply to those people who simply never had the opportunity to accept the gospel.

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Questions

What does it mean to be "valiant in the testimony of Jesus"?
What is the "crown over the kingdom of our God"? What does it mean to "obtain" that crown?

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Lexical notes

Valiant The English valiant is used over 20 times in the KJV Old Testament to translate the Hebrew chayil, which refers to power or might. In English, valiant is defined in Webster's 1828 dictionary as 1) strong; vigorous in body or 2) brave; courageous; intrepid in danger. The word comes to English from Latin via Old French, where it is the past participle of valēre "to be strong".

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Exegesis

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Verse 79

Being "valiant in the testimony of Jesus" seems to be used to distinguish between those of Celestial and Terrestrial glory. As discussed previously for D&C 76:51, the "testimony of Jesus" is referred to as the "spirit of prophecy" and seems to relate to an ability to obtain and dispense gospel truth through inspiration. To be valiant in that testimony would imply being brave, strong, and mighty in that ability. Only those who obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost and cultivate an ability to feel, recognize, and follow the Spirit are able to become strong in that ability, or "valiant in the testimony of Jesus". Without that ability to be directed and act "as one" with the Spirit, one cannot obtain a Celestial glory.

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Questions

What is the church of the Firstborn (verse 94)?
What does it mean to see as you are seen and know as you are known (verse 94)? (See related exegesis on Isa 64:4.)
What does it mean to recieve of God's "fulness" (verse 94)

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Exegesis

It makes sense that when Christ says in verse 107 that he trod the wine-press alone he is referring to his experience on the cross when he asks why he is forsaken (Matt 27:46). But there may be another meaning here related to the second coming. Note that this verse (as in D&C 88:106 and D&C 133:50) is part of Christ's report to the Father about the second coming. In D&C 133:51 the treading of the wine press seem to refer not to the atonement, but to the the Lord's day of vengeance when he does terrible things (D&C 133:42) to his adversaries (D&C 133:41). It seems then that the Lord works alone in two parallel cases: when he saves us through the atonement and when he takes out vengeance upon his enemies.

That the Lord works alone in the day of vengeance is consistent with other scriptures. Rom 12:19 and Morm 3:15 tell us that vengeance is the Lord's--we are not to participate in taking vengeance on the wicked.

The Lord explicitly tells us that he will work alone in taking vengeance. Contrast this with who he will bring with him when he comes to rule over the earth D&C 76:63.

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Doctrine & Covenants 76 All

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

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Verse 4

Verse 5

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Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

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Verse 7

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Verse 13

Verse 14

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Verse 12

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Verse 17

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Verse 20

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Verse 26

Verse 29

Verse 30

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Verse 31

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Verse 35

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Verse 36

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Verse 39

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Verse 41

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Verse 44

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Verse 46

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Verse 48

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Verse 50

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Verse 51

Verse 52