Building the Kirtland Temple

 
Our lesson this week was on the commandment, and then the rebuke, to build the temple in Kirtland (Doctrine & Covenants 94 and 95).  It was not quite four weeks after the revelation to build a house to the Lord for the work of the presidency, laying out the dimensions, that they were chastened for not having done anything. about it.  This doesn't seem very long--until  you realize that the first direction was six months earlier, in December of 1832 (section 88), and they had purchased land in March.  So May 6, laying out the plans, was telling them what to do next.  The Saints, and Joseph, didn't understand how essential, how urgent this house was.  In our parlance, they failed to get right on it.

It would not be a full temple in the sense that we know them now.  The fullness of the temple ordinances would not be given until Nauvoo, but this would be no ordinary building.  The Lord tells them:

 8 Yea, verily I say unto you, I gave unto you a commandment that you should abuild a house, in the which house I design to bendow those whom I have cchosen with power from on high;
 9 For this is the apromise of the Father unto you; therefore I command you to tarry, even as mine apostles at Jerusalem.... 
 11 Verily I say unto you, it is my will that you should build a house. aIf you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it.
 12 If you akeep not my commandments, the blove of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall cwalk in darkness.  (D&C 94)

He even says that those who have not obeyed are "walking in darkness at noon-day."   The only way to walk in darkness at noonday is to have the light so blocked out that you can't see it.  It is both a needless loss and a condemnation.

Putting myself in the place of these Saints at this time and place, I asked how they would see that question.  The Church had been organized for three years, and every member of it had been converted.  There was no such thing as being 'born in the Church' and there was no century and more of tradition and counsel put on record.  What did they know from their study of the Bible before they found the Restoration, and their witness of it?  God had been preparing the way, and there were many, many people who were actively seeking truths they could identify from scripture.  These are the things we thought of:

     The need for baptism
     True authority from God
     Faith in Christ to save them
     Preaching repentance
     Concept of fellowship, the need to organize a church
     Healing and miracles, at least anciently
     The Holy Ghost, but not fully
     The basic commandments (the Ten Commandments, "love thy neighbor," etc.)

What were the new things they had already learned and added during these three years?  I skimmed through the notes above each of the prior-dated sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to be sure of my dating and that I didn't miss anything.  Here is the list as we called it up:

     The First Vision--God could, and would, speak directly to man
     New scripture, the idea that God had dealings with others of his children
     The ministering of angels in the modern day
     A prophet and apostles, the keys of authority and offices of the priesthood
     Direct revelation, ongoing--the heavens were not sealed!
     The gift of the Holy Ghost, its power possible for all
     The law of consecration
     Active preparation for the Second Coming
     The vision of the degrees of glory, the celestial kingdom
     The fall of Lucifer
    
That's a lot to take in, and more was still coming.  As questions arose, from his own mind or from others, the Prophet took them to the Lord and recorded and taught the answers.

But the Lord said that he must have a house, a dedicated, holy place, from which to give them an endowment of power from on high.  It was designed to have a lower main floor with curtains and veils which could be dropped to create sections when needed.  This floor would be used for meetings.  The matching second floor would be for quorum meetings and smaller groups to come together, and the attic floor would have a series of five rooms for schooling--from basic literacy to Hebrew studies for Joseph.

interior view

The Lord needed a place, set apart from the world, pure enough to literally come to.  Even with the miraculous and profound events and teaching which had been given, more was coming than the Saints had yet imagined, for the outpouring of blessings and angelic manifestations would be experienced by all.  It would take three years to complete.





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