Two prominent men have joined the church in Ohio, Ezra Booth and Symonds Ryder. Ryder was greatly influenced by Booth to join the church but hesitated until a prophecy was made by a young Mormon girl that there would be a great earthquake in China. A few months later, there was an earthquake that destroyed Peking and that seems to be the turning point for Ryder. Ryder was baptized and ordained an elder and in the certificate he received, his name was spelled Rider instead of Ryder. He felt that if the Spirit were truly with the church, it would have dictated the correct spelling of his name. What he really seemed to have difficulty with was the law of consecration. He had a large farm and was fearful of the church taking it from him. Both he and Ezra Booth became vicious apostates and leaders of a mob that was intent on driving the Mormons out of Hiram, Ohio. It is believed, but not entirely known, that Booth and Ryder were the leaders of the mob that tarred and feathered Joseph because Joseph heard someone in the mob call Symond's name on at least three occasions. Booth published many false articles about the church in the local papers and both Booth and Ryder refused to publicly debate Sidney Rigdon concerning the church. In the midst of all of this, Joseph received the revelation in Section 45 which the members took great comfort in.
Section 45 is best understood if you realize that most of it (verses 16-59) is what the Lord spoke to his disciples in Jerusalem. The disciples realized it would be a long time after their deaths before the second coming and feared that the separation of their spirits from their bodies would be a bondage. The Lord first tells them what will happen to the Jews and Jerusalem after his resurrection (verses 18-24), and then what the signs of his second coming will be (verses 25-44). It's obvious that the Jews felt that their temple could never be destroyed, but the Lord tells his disciples that not one stone will be left standing on another. The Romans destroyed the temple around 70 a.d. and only portions of the wall that surrounded the temple remain. Of the twenty signs of the Lord's second coming given in this section, the most interesting to me is something that is also found in Isaiah 66 and Zechariah 12 where it's prophesied how the Jews will recognize the Messiah at his second coming and ask him what the wounds in his hands and feet are. He will tell them that they are the wounds he received in the house of his friends, and then they will comprehend that they were the ones who persecuted and crucified him. What a terrible day that will be for them.
At the end of the section, the Lord instructs the church to do three things. First, they are to begin gathering to the western lands, and second, build up the church there. Third, they are to gather all of the wealth they can to purchase the land needed to establish the New Jerusalem or City of Zion. The church has not forgotten this commandment. There is a person who works for the church his assignment is to purchase land in Missouri, especially around the original temple site, and so the church continues to purchase land as it becomes available. The most notable purchase it will eventually make will be the site originally dedicated by Joseph for the temple. This lot remains empty across from the church's visitor's center in Kansas City. It is owned by a break-off group of the church that is so small now it no longer has enough male members to complete a quorum of 12 apostles like it originally attempted to organize itself with. Also by the temple site is the temple of what used to be called the re-organized church.
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