In a revelation received on September 11, 1831, we have the following prediction:
I will not that my servant Frederick G. Williams, should sell his farm, for I, the Lord, will to retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years, in the which I will not overthrow the wicked, that thereby I may save some. (D&C 64:21)
Within the space of five years, Joseph Smith and other faithful
members of the Church were forced to flee Kirtland, as we read in the
following:
<January 1.> A new year
dawned upon the church in Kirtland in all the bitterness of the spirit of
apostate Mobocracy; which continued to rage and grow hotter and hotter until
Elder [Sidney] Rigdon and myself were obliged to flee from its dealy influence
as did the apostles and prophets of old, and as Jesus Said “when they persecute
you in one city flee to another:” and on the evening of the 12th of Jan <12.
Joseph & Sidney left Kirtland for Far West.> <about 10 o’clock we
left Kirtland, on horseback, to escape Mob violence which was about to burst
upon us under the color of Legal process to cover their hellish designs, and save
themselves from the just jud[g]ment of the Law. (History,
1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838]: 780)
In (albeit, tragic) fulfillment of D&C 64:21, this marked the
end of the Kirtland era for the Church.
21.
A strong hold . . . five years. The Lord wished to retain Kirtland as a
base of operations in the East and as a source of revenue for Zion in the West.
The specific mention of five years is important, for just months before these
five years were up, the Kirtland Temple was dedicated, the Lord approved the
efforts of his Saints, and the keys of previous dispensations and of the sealing
power were delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith (see D&C 109–10). By the
fall of 1836, serious problems had begun to develop within the Church and
between the Church and non-Latter-day Saint citizens in the area; 1837 was the
worst year in the history of the Church in Kirtland, and by the summer of 1838
the faithful members of the Church had left Kirtland for Missouri.
Not all the fulfillment of this particular verse, however, is tragic; some then-future events were very positive. In a sermon dated November 15, 1864, George A. Smith offered the following commentary on this passage:
The Prophet said, purchase lands
in the vicinity of Kirtland; men were induced to buy farms, and to go to work
and build houses, to quarry rock, and haul them on the ground, to build a
Temple. We were not then supplied with reporters and clerks as we are now, and
many of the books that were kept have been wrested from the hands of the Church
by apostates. The foundation of the Kirtland Temple was laid in 1833, and there
is scarcely a scrap of history relating to it to be found, not even the names
of the twenty-four Elders in their order who laid the foundation of it. When
the Temple was completed there was a great manifestation of power. The brethren
gathered together to its dedication. We considered it a very large building.
Some nine hundred and sixty could be seated, and there would be room for a few
to stand, the congregation was swelled to a little over a thousand persons at
the time of the dedication. (JOD 11:9)
As Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl wrote in their Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, "But for this Revelation, the Kirtland Temple might not have been built, and the glorious manifestations in that sacred structure would not have been received."
Further Reading:
