Gathering the Lord's People
When Joseph Smith organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints it started as a small congregation of members. There were male members that were sent off to preach and share the gospel and the new translated Book of Mormon in order to grow the church and spread the gospel as much as was able in the 1800's. One of the missionaries that was to be sent off was Parley P. Pratt. An example of how important and crucial missionary work was when Parley P. Pratt preached at Kirkland Ohio where he got many of those that were interested. In the article titled “Go to the Ohio” states that, "By Sunday, November 7, the preaching drew a crowd so large that listeners spilled outside and someone pulled boards off the building so the overflow crowd could hear."
There is something about a group gathering that gives everyone confidence and boosts their motivation. The people of the LDS church were growing but they were struggling with opposition. It was a few months before this started happening that Joseph Smith received a revelation that the church needed to be gathered but he knew not where. Later Joseph's mother, Lucy, remembered how the state of Ohio had members that needed direction after rapidly increasing it's members to the number 300. Joseph then knew that he needed to gather the members in Ohio to share the revelations that the Lord wished His people to receive.
There is something about a group gathering that gives everyone confidence and boosts their motivation. The people of the LDS church were growing but they were struggling with opposition. It was a few months before this started happening that Joseph Smith received a revelation that the church needed to be gathered but he knew not where. Later Joseph's mother, Lucy, remembered how the state of Ohio had members that needed direction after rapidly increasing it's members to the number 300. Joseph then knew that he needed to gather the members in Ohio to share the revelations that the Lord wished His people to receive.
Plural Marriage
One the LDS website the article "Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" states, "Ancient principles—such as prophets, priesthood, and temples—would be restored to the earth. Plural marriage, practiced by ancient patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, was one of those ancient principles."Many of the principles that we have today are from ancient times and because of this LDS members looked to the Bible and Book of Mormon for guidance. This principle was hard for many if not all to accept and perform and it was the members decision to have plural marriage or not. Plural marriage is a man and multiple women joint in marriage where the man becomes husband to the women. In the United States culture it was not accepted to have plural marriage so the church would have opposition from the country. Joseph Smith conducted plural marriage cautiously and carefully. But eventually government threatened to take away the church's temples and that was when the current president of the church, Wilford Woodruff, felt impressed to publish a manifesto that stated plural marriage would be practiced no more by the church.
No one really knows why the Lord told Joseph to have the church perform plural marriage besides the reason of growing the seed of the church. This meant that there would be more children born into the covenant and had a good family to rear them to the gospel. This in turn would benefit greatly. There is a speculation however that this was a test for the church to see if they would really follow the Lord like how Abraham was tested by being told to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord. The Lord had to ensure that the church would last till the second coming and the only way to do that was to build the foundation of the church.
No one really knows why the Lord told Joseph to have the church perform plural marriage besides the reason of growing the seed of the church. This meant that there would be more children born into the covenant and had a good family to rear them to the gospel. This in turn would benefit greatly. There is a speculation however that this was a test for the church to see if they would really follow the Lord like how Abraham was tested by being told to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord. The Lord had to ensure that the church would last till the second coming and the only way to do that was to build the foundation of the church.
Helpful links for this page
Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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