WE ARE THE REASON ZION HAS NOT BEEN BUILT UP

Very interesting commentary from LDSFF:

Section 105 is important in any discussion on the building and redemption of Zion.

Why Was Zion’s Redemption Postponed?

President Lorenzo Snow taught that “the Saints in Jackson County and other localities, refused to comply with the order of consecration, consequently they were allowed to be driven from their inheritances; and should not return until they were better prepared to keep the law of God, by being more perfectly taught in reference to their duties, and learn through experience the necessity of obedience. And I think we are not justified in anticipating the privilege of returning to build up the center stake of Zion, until we shall have shown obedience to the law of consecration. One thing, however, is certain, we shall not be permitted to enter the land from whence we were expelled, till our hearts are prepared to honor this law, and we become sanctified through the practice of the truth.” (In Journal of Discourses, 16:276; see also Notes and Commentary on D&C 101:1–8; 96:1.)
D&C 105:4–5. Upon What Principles Is Zion to Be Built?

The Saints in Missouri were not successful in living a celestial law and so were not qualified to establish Zion. Failure to control their hearts cut them off from God’s full power and kept them from prevailing over their enemies. This is the concept the Lord tried to teach them when He said, “This is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART” (D&C 97:21).

Only when our hearts are pure can we understand and live celestial law. Celestial law, according to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “is the law of the gospel, the law of Christ, and it qualifies men for admission to the celestial kingdom because in and through it men are ‘sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost,’ thus becoming clean, pure, and spotless” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 117). Elder McConkie also said: “If a man obeys celestial law in this life, he obtains a celestial body and spirit” (p. 115). This enables the individual to live in unity with God and others.

Elder Joseph F. Smith explained: “Those who profess to be Latter-day Saints must become acquainted with the laws of the celestial kingdom, must abide by them, must comply with the requirements of heaven and hearken to the word of the Lord, in order that Zion may be built up acceptably, and that we may partake of the benefits and blessings of this labor. For it is a labor which devolves upon those who have been called out from the midst of the world in this dispensation. We have been called, and so far as we will be faithful we are chosen to do this work. But notwithstanding we have been called, if we do not prove faithful we will be rejected. I do not speak this in reference to the whole Church, but in reference to individual members of the Church.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1880, p. 34; see also Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:3–4.)
D&C 105:9–12. How Long Will the Lord Wait to Redeem Zion?

The Lord works through His children and honors their agency, so their wickedness or righteousness can impede or accelerate His work. In section 105 the Lord spoke of the importance of preparation to the establishment of Zion:

1.

He wanted His leaders to be prepared (see vv. 9–10).
2.

He wanted the Saints to be taught more perfectly what He requires of them (see v. 10).
3.

He wanted the Saints to gain experience (see v. 10). No one can know the things of God without doing them (see John 7:17).
4.

He wanted the Saints to know their duty more perfectly (see D&C 105:10).
5.

He wanted the Saints to be endowed with power from on high (see v. 11).
6.

He wanted the Saints to be faithful, enduring in humility to the end (see v. 12).

President J. Reuben Clark Jr. taught that the principles of the welfare system “are not too far away” from the united order, and that the Saints need to add to them “brotherly love” and “provide the things which those who are in need, must have” (Church News, 8 Aug. 1951, p. 15).
How Long Was the “Little Season” to Be before Zion Would Be Established?

Most people would probably not refer to a period of more than 170 years as a “little season” (D&C 105:13), but from the Lord’s perspective it is a short time. The Church has used the intervening years to prepare. President Spencer W. Kimball taught:

“Now, my brothers and sisters, it seems clear to me, indeed, this impression weighs upon me—that the Church is at a point in its growth and maturity when we are at last ready to move forward in a major way. Some decisions have been made and others pending, which will clear the way, organizationally. But the basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals.

“We have paused on some plateaus long enough. Let us resume our journey forward and upward. Let us quietly put an end to our reluctance to reach out to others—whether in our own families, wards, or neighborhoods. We have been diverted, at times, from fundamentals on which we must now focus in order to move forward as a person or as a people.

“Seemingly small efforts in the life of each member could do so much to move the Church forward as never before. …

“Are we ready, brothers and sisters, to do these seemingly small things out of which great blessings will proceed? I think we are. I believe the Lord’s church is on the verge of an upsurge in spirituality. Our individual spiritual growth is the key to major numerical growth in the kingdom. The Church is ready to accomplish these things now which it could not have done just a few years ago. So also we are ready as members. If you will accept my counsel, you will come to feel that there is a readiness in our people which must be put to work.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1979, p. 114; or Ensign, May 1979, p. 82.)
D&C 105:24. Is One Justified in Seeking Judgments against Evil Men?

When a Samaritan village refused Jesus hospitality, James and John requested, “Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). Such impulses are natural in the face of persecution or trial. But just as Jesus counseled James and John, He also directed the Saints in Missouri to refrain from such “mighty works” of judgment (D&C 105:24). All must remember that the Father “hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). “Avenge not yourselves, … for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
D&C 105:28–32. “It Is My Will That These Lands Be Purchased”

President Joseph Fielding Smith explained:

“The saints were … commanded to continue to purchase lands in Jackson County and the surrounding country, for it was the will of the Lord that these lands should be purchased and consecrated unto him. If they continued to buy lands and then their enemies should come upon them the armies of Israel would be justified in taking possession of their lands and break down the towers of the enemy. Before this could be done, however, the army of the Lord should become very great that her ‘banners may be terrible unto all nations.’

“The whole tenor of this commandment seems to point to the fact that the saints should have deeds to the property in Jackson County and surrounding lands, but that the time for the redemption was to wait for a long time, until the Church should become very great, and then when the time was ripe the Lord would come forth to fight their battles. Apparently it was to be when the kingdoms of this world may be constrained to acknowledge that ‘the kingdom of Zion is in very deed the kingdom of our God and his Christ; therefore, let us become subject to her laws’ [D&C 105:32]. From other scripture it appears that the time when the nations will acknowledge Zion as the kingdom of God is not to come until our Redeemer comes to take his place as King of kings.” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:5.)
Rush Creek

Rush Creek, Missouri, site of a cholera outbreak in Zion’s Camp
D&C 105:34. The Revocation of the Law of Consecration

The law of Zion mentioned in verse 34 is the law of consecration. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. explained:

“It was under these circumstances, with the Saints scattered and sometimes hunted like wild animals, with their property gone, their organization largely broken up, wounded in mind and spirit, with the condemnation of the Lord pronounced upon their heads because of their unfaithfulness, not to say wickedness, with ‘Zion’ to all intents and purposes destroyed, that the Lord commanded them, in the great revelation given at Fishing River,—

“‘And let those commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her law be executed and fulfilled, after her redemption.’ (105:34)

“It is interesting to note that after this pronouncement, the Lord practically never referred to the United Order in his revelations to the Prophet. The people had had their opportunity and failed. He then gave them the law of tithing in a revelation given in Missouri itself, in Zion, (July 18, 1838, Sec. 119), which is still in full force and effect. …

“Thus the Lord directed that the law he had given regarding the setting up of the United Order in Zion was to be ‘executed and fulfilled’ after the redemption of Zion, that is, in the meaning in which the Lord was then using the word Zion, the ‘redemption,’ the reestablishment of the people in Missouri. This has not yet been accomplished.” (“The United Order and Law of Consecration As Set Out in the Revelations of the Lord,” Church News, 15 Sept. 1945, p. 9.)