30 And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken.
31 And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors, two of the elders, or high priests, such as he shall appoint or has appointed and set apart for that purpose.
32 And it shall come to pass, that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church, agreeable to my commandments, every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family.
33 And again, if there shall be properties in the hands of the church, or any individuals of it, more than is necessary for their support after this first consecration, which is a residue to be consecrated unto the bishop, it shall be kept to administer to those who have not, from time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied and receive according to his wants.
34 Therefore, the residue shall be kept in my storehouse, to administer to the poor and the needy, as shall be appointed by the high council of the church, and the bishop and his council;
35 And for the purpose of purchasing lands for the public benefit of the church, and building houses of worship, and building up of the New Jerusalem which is hereafter to be revealed—
36 That my covenant people may be gathered in one in that day when I shall come to my temple. And this I do for the salvation of my people.
37 And it shall come to pass, that he that sinneth and repenteth not shall be cast out of the church, and shall not receive again that which he has consecrated unto the poor and the needy of my church, or in other words, unto me—
38 For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me.
39 For it shall come to pass, that which I spake by the mouths of my prophets shall be fulfilled; for I will consecrate of the riches of those who embrace my gospel among the Gentiles unto the poor of my people who are of the house of Israel.
… 42 Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.
… 52 And they who have not faith to do these things, but believe in me, have power to become my sons; and inasmuch as they break not my laws thou shalt bear their infirmities.
53 Thou shalt stand in the place of thy stewardship.
54 Thou shalt not take thy brother’s garment; thou shalt pay for that which thou shalt receive of thy brother.
55 And if thou obtainest more than that which would be for thy support, thou shalt give it into my storehouse, that all things may be done according to that which I have said.
So up to this point, Joseph is clearly channeling the Old and New Testament emphasis on condemning the hoarding of wealth (greed) and elitist classism and admonishing the treatment of every Mormon as one in Christ; and "the least of these" meaning the lower class, the poor, the less fortunate, who represent Christ: so that how you treat them is how you treat Christ.
This is the exact opposite of the tradition of the self-centered Prosperity Gospel in some forms of Evangelical Fundamentalism. Thus I see a consistent theme in Joseph Smith's scriptural productions which can be summarized below:
Book of Mormon, Jacob 2: 17:
Think of your brethren like unto yourselves ...
D&C 38: 25:
And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself.
D&C 42: 38:
For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me [Christ].
Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2: 17:
when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
Then, again in D&C 52, a revelation to the missionaries states:
39 Let the residue of the elders watch over the churches, and declare the word in the regions round about them; and let them labor with their own hands that there be no idolatry nor wickedness practiced.
40 And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.
So I would say that this is the part of Smith's personality that was capable of extrapolating from the New Testament it's ideals of non-classism, that I much admire and respect.
Compare the above to the Book of Mormon, Jacob 2:
17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.
18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.
19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.
It is worth noting here that Joseph Smith makes an important interpretation of the New Testament for modern American times. In that by gaining financial riches you are better able to care for the poor and the needy. Many scholars point out that for the first Christians wealth was actually considered sinful, given the imminent return of Christ. With their communistic tendencies, and really believing the mortal-world was ending in their lifetime, they tended to believe that wealth acquisition was a sign of sinfulness. It was a reversal of values, where not the rich and powerful were favored by God, but the voluntarily poor (who give away their surplus in humility) who would gain salvation. Many biblical scholars have written about this and I am persuaded by their arguments. So what Smith does is reinterpret the anti-wealth attitude sometimes found in the New Testament by reinterpreting wealth as being able to provide resources for others. I think this reinterpretation is more reasonable. The section continues:
20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?
21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments ...
Moses 7:18: "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them."
This verse helps us understand what it means to be called Zion.
Zion
We sing of Zion in many of our hymns, such as “Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise” (Hymns, no. 41). Page 428 of the hymnbook lists many more. ...
In the scriptures, the word Zion has a few different meanings [here are a few meanings]:
- The pure in heart (see D&C 97:21)
- The Lord’s people, or the Church and its stakes (see D&C 82:14)
A specific place where the Lord’s people live, such as:
The city of Enoch mentioned in this verse
The ancient city of Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 5:6–7; 1 Kings 8:1; 2 Kings 9:28)
The city to be built in the latter days near Jackson County, Missouri, to which the tribes of Israel will gather (see D&C 103:11–22; 133:18)
One heart and one mind
To prepare the Saints to become Zion, the Lord told them through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “Let every man esteem his brother as himself.” And then, for emphasis, He repeated Himself in the very next sentence: “And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself” (D&C 38:24–25). He then commanded the Saints, “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (verse 27). ...
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No Poor Among Them
Another way to put this is that all in Zion are SELF RELIANT.
President Marion G. Romney taught the importance of this in these words:
The scriptures are full of commandments regarding our obligation to care for the poor; therefore, I will not elaborate further. It has always seemed somewhat paradoxical to me that we must constantly have the Lord command us to do those things which are for our own good. The Lord has said,
"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 10:39).
We lose our life by serving and lifting others. By so doing we experience the only true and lasting happiness. Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.
Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another? Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. In that day there will be no need for a commandment because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service. Let us use the freedom which comes from self-reliance in giving and serving.
Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what Godhood is all about? Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak.
There is an interdependence between those who have and those who have not. The process of giving exalts the poor and humbles the rich. In the process, both are sanctified. [CR, 136] The poor, released from the bondage and limitations of poverty, are enabled as free men to rise to their full potential, both temporally and spiritually. The rich, by imparting of their surplus, participate in the eternal principle of giving. Once a person has been made whole or self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle repeats itself.
We are all self-reliant in some areas and dependent in others. Therefore, each of us should strive to help others in areas where we have strengths. At the same time, pride should not prevent us from graciously accepting the helping hand of another when we have a real need. To do so denies another person the opportunity to participate in a sanctifying experience.
Again, I say the principle of self-reliance is spiritual, as are all the principles of the welfare program. ("Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance," Ensign, Nov. 1982, 91-93)
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