“No One Shall Be Appointed to Receive Commandments and Revelations in This Church excepting My Servant Joseph Smith, Jun.”
Doctrine and Covenants 28:2–7
2 But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses.
3 And thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron, to declare faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and authority unto the church.
4 And if thou art led at any time by the Comforter to speak or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it.
5 But thou shalt not write by way of commandment, but by wisdom;
6 And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church;
7 For I have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“In this revelation [D&C 28] given to correct the false teachings of Hiram Page and to teach Oliver Cowdery the order of the Church, the Lord said that neither Oliver Cowdery nor any other man, except Joseph Smith, should receive revelations for the Church while the Prophet was acting in the office the Lord had given him to hold the keys of revelation and of the mysteries which are sealed. Oliver was told that he was called to teach and expound the revelations and in these things should be heard by the Church, but ‘no one shall be appointed,’ the Lord said, ‘to receive commandments and revelations in this church except[ing] [my servant] Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses’ [D&C 28:2]. Moreover, Oliver Cowdery was not to write by commandment, but by wisdom. He was to be obedient in all things which the Lord should give through Joseph Smith and be to him as Aaron was to Moses in expounding and teaching the revelations. It was very necessary that Oliver Cowdery should receive this admonition, for he was inclined to take issue with the Prophet even in regard to matters of revelation. Much good came out of this unpleasant incident, for the members were taught that there was order in the Church and only one appointed to receive commandments and revelations for their guidance, and he was the one God had called. The members at that time were largely excusable for falling into this error, because they had but recently come into the Church and had to be taught in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God and its government. They did not know that it was wrong for a man other than the Prophet to claim to be the spokesman for the Almighty, and this revelation taught them that confusion would result from such a course, and that Joseph Smith held the keys of revelation until another was appointed to succeed him.”
(Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:135–36.)
