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December 5, 1834

By late 1834, the administration and structure of Church leadership was becoming more complex, the result of the evolution of the roles and duties of Church offices. At a meeting held on December 5, 1834, the presidency of the high priesthood, which then consisted of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, met with others to ordain Oliver Cowdery as an assistant president of the Church. The following day, Hyrum Smith and Joseph Smith Sr. were also ordained assistant presidents of the Church.[1] The present revelation was received during these proceedings.

This revelation is a declaration of condemnation from the Lord directed toward the leaders of the Church. The revelation urges repentance for them “in all things,” but specifically in the manner in which they conducted themselves, especially in regard to the sacred nature of their callings. They were to render respect to one another due to the “office, calling, and priesthood whereunto . . . the Lord ha[d] appointed [them].” It appears that they had become overly informal and lacked respect for their callings. The editors of The Joseph Smith Papers note how following the revelation, scribes and clerks worked to formalize their notations and referred to each other by their priesthood titles rather than by their first names.[2]

Although this revelation is not well-known, it demonstrates a preoccupation that the Prophet had throughout his life. In his 1838 history, Joseph noted how following his First Vision he “was guilty of levity . . . not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been” (Joseph Smith—History 1:28).[3] While incarcerated in Liberty Jail in March 1839, he penned these words of rebuke, “How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations; too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God. . . . Therefore, we beseech of you, brethren, that you bear with those who do not feel themselves more worthy than yourselves, while we exhort one another to a reformation with one and all.”[4]

This revelation may have influenced the Prophet’s concern about being too light-minded and forgetting the sacred nature of his calling and the calling of all members of the Church who had taken upon themselves the name of Christ.

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Verily, condemnation resteth upon you who are appointed to lead my church, and to be saviors of men, and also upon the church. And there must needs be a repentance and a reformation among you in all things—in your ensamples before the church, and before the world, in all your manners, habits and customs, and salutations one toward another. Rendering unto every man the respect due the office, calling, and priesthood, whereunto I the Lord have appointed and ordained you. Amen.

Notes

[1] JSP, D4:191–200.

[2] JSP, D4:193–94.

[3] History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834], Addenda, Note C, p. 133, The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december

-1805-30-august-1834/139.

[4] History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842], p. 904b, spelling standardized, The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november

-1838-31-july-1842/86; see also JSP, D6:368–69.