D&C 37: When the Carpenter Stops to Sharpen
I have a rule in the workshop. When I find myself forcing a cut or fighting the grain, I stop. Not after this next pass. I stop right there, set the piece down, and walk over to the sharpening station. It is tempting to push through because you are almost done and stopping feels like lost time. But pushing through a dull blade is how you burn the wood and ruin the edge. I have learned this the hard way more times than I care to count.
Section 37 of the Doctrine and Covenants reads like a divine version of that rule. The Lord tells Joseph Smith to stop translating. Not because the work is wrong. Because the tools need sharpening and the shop needs reorganizing.
Why Did the Early Saints Gather to Ohio
The revelation is short. Only four verses. But it contains the first formal commandment to gather the Saints in this dispensation. The Lord tells Joseph it is not expedient to keep translating right now, because of the enemy and for the safety of the Saints. Then He says to preach and strengthen the church wherever they find it, with a special mention of the branch in Colesville. Then the command. Assemble together at the Ohio.
The gathering was a practical response to real problems. The Saints in New York faced growing opposition. They needed a place where they could worship and build without constant threat. Ohio offered that. Kirtland would become the site of the first temple in the latter days. The gathering was the mechanism that made that temple possible.
But it was never just about geography. The gathering was about creating a community strong enough to sustain the work that was coming. You do not build a temple with scattered families who never see each other. You bring them together first.
Meaning of Expedient in Doctrine and Covenants 37
The word expedient shows up early in the section. It is not expedient for you to translate at this time. I used to read that word as a bureaucratic hedge. A way of saying it would be nice but not urgent. But that is not what it means in context.
Expedient here means what is appropriate or advisable given the circumstances. The translation was good work. But the timing was wrong. The Lord paused one good thing to make room for a necessary thing. The gathering was the necessary thing.
For behold, it is not expedient in me that ye should translate any more until ye shall go to the Ohio, and this because of the enemy and for your sakes.
D&C 37:1
I think about this when I find myself with too many half-finished projects. It is easier to start something new than to stop something good. But wisdom is knowing when to set down one tool and pick up another. The Lord was not canceling the translation. He was postponing it so the Saints would be safe enough to do it well later.
Strengthening the Church Before the Move
The Lord does not just tell the Saints to pack up and go. He tells them to strengthen the church along the way. Preach the gospel. Lift the branches they pass through. There is a specific mention of Colesville because the Saints there were praying for help in much faith.
In woodworking, you do not just assemble a piece. You check every joint before you move it. You make sure the glue is set and the clamps are tight. Moving too fast means the whole thing falls apart when you pick it up. The gathering to Ohio was the assembly. Strengthening the branches in places like Colesville was checking the joints.
D&C 36 covers the call to preach right before this gathering command. Read together, they show a pattern. The call to preach comes first. The gathering comes next. You do not gather people who have not heard the message.
The Gathering Was a Command, the Choice Was Always Yours
Verse 4 is the one I keep rereading. Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself until I come. The Lord gives a clear commandment. Gather to Ohio. But He follows it with a quiet note about individual choice. The gathering was a call, not a coercion. The strength of that early community came from people who chose to move.
I find this deeply practical. The command is real. But the response has to be voluntary or it means nothing. You cannot force someone to gather in faith. You can only invite them and let the invitation sit long enough for them to decide what it means.
This applies to more than geography. When the Lord asks you to change something in your life, He does not send a demand letter. He sends an invitation with room to choose. The choosing is part of the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Lord tell Joseph to stop translating in D&C 37?
The Lord said it was not expedient to continue because of opposition from enemies and for the safety of the Saints. The translation was not canceled. It was postponed until the Saints were in a safer location with stronger support.
Why did the early Saints gather to Ohio?
The gathering served several purposes. Protection from persecution in New York. Creation of a community strong enough to build a temple. Establishment of a central headquarters for the growing church. Ohio became the first gathering place in this dispensation.
What does let every man choose for himself mean in D&C 37?
It means the Lord gave a clear command but preserved individual agency in responding. The gathering was not forced. It was an invitation backed by wisdom. The choice to act on that wisdom was always the individual's to make.
What was the Colesville branch in D&C 37?
The Colesville branch was a group of Saints in Colesville, New York, who had been faithful through early persecution. The Lord specifically told Joseph to strengthen them as part of the preparation for the gathering to Ohio. Their prayers of faith were mentioned directly in the revelation.
I finished that project after I stopped and sharpened my plane. It took an extra twenty minutes. But the surface came out smooth and clean with no burn marks. The time I thought I was losing was actually time I was saving.
The gathering to Ohio must have felt disruptive to the early Saints. Leaving homes and farms and neighbors. Traveling into the unknown. But the Lord was not asking them to abandon what they had built. He was asking them to build something better in a place where it could last.
— D.