Abide #4: Doctrine and Covenants 84
Channel: Maxwell Institute
Date: 17/10/2021

Beginning on the evening of the 22nd of June 1832 Joseph Smith received what he called a revelation on the priesthood. The Prophet had recently returned to Kirtland and was meeting with six missionaries returning from the East. A later revelation described the men “together in these seasons of joy” when Joseph asked a question and received the revelation that we now know as section 84. Joseph received the revelation late into the night, perhaps into the early morning hours. We presume they got a bit of sleep in before Joseph continued the revelation the next day then in the presence of 11 elders. 

An understanding of priesthood was still developing for Joseph and the members of the church of Christ. This knowledge began to be revealed when Joseph and Oliver Cowdery asked God about the power of God required to baptize in the Book of Mormon in 1829, but the word priesthood wasn’t specifically used until June 1831. AS the Joseph Smith Papers teaches us, by this time priesthood was understood to refer to the office of high priest as well as broader authority. This section will continue to build on that understanding of priesthood in expansive directions.