Visions, 21 January 1836 [D&C 137]
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Source Note
Visions, [, Geauga Co., OH], 21 Jan. 1836. Featured version copied [ca. 21 Jan. 1836] in JS, Journal, 1835–1836, pp. 136–138; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1835–1836.
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Historical Introduction
The winter of 1835–1836 was a time of meetings and instruction in , Ohio, as the prepared for the forthcoming in the and for the divine of power long promised to be received there. On the afternoon of 21 January 1836, JS and the church met in the council room above the to take another step in preparation for the endowment. Following biblical precedent, these church leaders their bodies with water and perfumed themselves with a sweet-smelling wash “preparatory to the with the holy oil.” At sunset the church presidency and several others, including JS’s scribe and the of and Kirtland, met on the third floor of the Kirtland House of the Lord in the “president’s room,” also called the “west school room,” to administer the anointing . The Kirtland and Missouri also came to the House of the Lord, but they “waited in prayer” separately until after the first anointings. According to , the members of the church presidency were “annointed with the same kind of oil and in the man[ner] that were Moses and Aaron, and those who stood before the Lord in ancient days.” The presidency first anointed church ’s head with consecrated oil and gave him a blessing. The patriarch then anointed the church’s presidents in the order of their ages. When Joseph Smith Sr. anointed the head of JS, he “sealed upon [him], the blessings, of Moses, to lead Israel in the latter days.”After the blessed his son, JS received blessings and prophecies under the hands of “all of the presidency,” after which the “heavens were opened” and JS and others beheld “visions and revelations.” recorded JS’s narrative of those heavenly manifestations, including a description of the and the individuals who would dwell therein, in JS’s journal; that text is featured here. This vision of the celestial kingdom added details to JS’s 1832 vision that depicted the separation of the afterlife into three kingdoms of heavenly glory: celestial, , and .recorded that a number of others present at the evening meeting also saw visions. JS’s journal notes that “some of them saw the face of the Saviour, and others were ministered unto by holy angels,” and also that “the power of the highest rested upon, us the house was filled with the glory of God, and we shouted Hosanah to God and the Lamb.” The next morning, instead of studying as usual, JS and others “spent the time in rehearsing to each other the glorious scenes that transpired” the evening before.demurred to record the details of the evening’s events in his journal. “The glorious scene is too great to be described in this book,” he wrote, “therefore, I only say, that the heavens were opened to many, and great and marvelous things were shown.” JS’s journal reports additional visionary experiences that were had during the week following 21 January 1836. Between 21 January and 6 February, JS and other senior church leaders gave instruction and performed washings, anointings, and other blessings as the solemn assembly neared.
Footnotes
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1
For earlier meetings, see Minutes, 13 Jan. 1836; Minutes, 15 Jan. 1836; and Minutes, 16 Jan. 1836.
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2
Cowdery, Diary, 21 Jan. 1836.
Cowdery, Oliver. Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL. MS 3429. Also available as Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
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3
JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836. As Oliver Cowdery explained, the high councils of Kirtland and Missouri were anointed in separate rooms. (Cowdery, Diary, 21 Jan. 1836.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL. MS 3429. Also available as Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
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4
Cowdery, Diary, 21 Jan. 1836; see also Whitmer, History, 83. For the instructions to Moses to wash and anoint Aaron before allowing him to enter the holy tabernacle, see Exodus 40:9–15.
Cowdery, Oliver. Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL. MS 3429. Also available as Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
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5
JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836.
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6
JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836; Cowdery, Diary, 21 Jan. 1836.
Cowdery, Oliver. Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL. MS 3429. Also available as Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
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7
Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76].
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8
Partridge, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836.
Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.
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9
JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836.
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10
JS, Journal, 22 Jan. 1836.
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11
Cowdery, Diary, 21 Jan. 1836.
Cowdery, Oliver. Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL. MS 3429. Also available as Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
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12
See JS, Journal, 22–23 and 28–29 Jan. 1836.
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13
JS, Journal, 22–23 and 28–29 Jan. 1836; 6 Feb. 1836.
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1
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