Verse by Verse D&C 89:2

D&C 89:2

“To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—“

To be sent greeting;

-I love this verse because it re-emphasises that this revelation was given specifically for our benefit. It was given out of love and welcome. Not by judgement and isolation. It was not meant at first to be a forceful restriction of certain foods or substances, but an invitation to the Saints to live a higher and healthier lifestyle and law. Much like every commandment given by the Lord, we get to be the beneficiaries of the level in which we keep said commandment. The Word of Wisdom was given to help us! 

Throughout this series where I cover verse by verse what I believe the Word of Wisdom to mean for us through a modern-day lens, you will see that there are essentially different levels to how each of us can live the Word of Wisdom. There is a basic level of keeping this commandment: This is what is understood by most members of the church to be the Word of Wisdom, no alcohol, coffee, green or black tea, tobacco, or other addictive substances. But, like all other commandments, there is a higher law. There is the option to choose to do better so that you can have increased blessings. Will choosing to keep the Word of Wisdom (or any commandment) in a stricter capacity make someone better than another? No. Will failing to keep each commandment word for word keep someone, “out of the Celestial Kingdom?” No. Heavenly Father is a perfect Father and a perfect Judge. He looks upon our hearts and our willingness to serve Him. He gives us opportunities to receive all that He has. We must choose to obey Him, and, luckily for us, He has provided the gift of the Atonement of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ so that even through our faults and our failures, through HIM we can be saved and glorified. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is the way in which we receive salvation and eternal life (not the Word of Wisdom). We must follow Him and the path that He has set for us so that we can return safely back to our loving Heavenly Parents one day. 

The path that Jesus Christ has laid out for us is to choose to have Faith in Him and His Atonement, to choose to repent (daily!), to choose to make covenants with Him through baptism and other temple ordinances, to choose to accept the command to receive the Holy Ghost and strive to keep Him with us constantly, and to choose to endure to the end, even when times get tough and the world seems to be against us. 

Like all commandments, the Lord gives us the opportunity to choose to follow them as safeguards. These safeguards are set so that we can have an easier time staying on the Covenant Path of Jesus Christ. 

Through keeping the Word of Wisdom, we can have more freedom physically/temporally to follow Jesus Christ. We can have the physical capacity and strength to serve Him and to lift others. We won’t be burdened down with physical limitations that can be caused by the failure to follow the Word of Wisdom in its fullest capacity and light. I hope over the next few verses I can help to share some light on the words provided by the Lord to us Saints so that we may all follow His words more closely and reap the blessings He has set for us. 

not by commandment or constraint,

-A little background for this revelation becoming a commandment: In 1851 President Brigham Young wanted to emphasize this revelation by asking all members to abstain from tea (the actual tea leaves which come from a tea tree and make green and black teas, not herbal teas which we will discuss in future verses), alcohols, coffee and tobacco. Following Brigham’s counsel was still hard for many of the saints and they struggled to completely abstain from these extremely addictive substances. A little over 50 years later in 1902 President Joseph F. Smith declared that the Word of Wisdom was to be an official commandment. In 1921 under President Heber J. Grant, adherence to the Word of Wisdom finally became a requirement to receive a temple recommend to worship in the house of the Lord. 

but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God

D&C 132:8

“Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.”

-God is a God of order. Throughout all history He has set specific ways for things to be done so that His power may be manifest and that He may be glorified. One way that God reveals His order in these latter-days is by revelation through His prophets. This is a pattern that has existed since the days of Adam. 

Amos 3:7

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing save he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets.” 

Since God has always called prophets to reveal His words to His children, It would only make sense that the Lord would reveal information pertaining to the health and diet of us in these modern/latter-days through a prophet. This is the exact pattern that the Lord used for the children of Israel in ancient days with the prophet Moses. Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal Their will and words of wisdom to us on the Earth today in THIS dispensation! How lucky are we to have guidance from God through a prophet to help us navigate the food systems that are in place today?! This is such a blessing to us because the food that we have available to us today is MUCH different than what was available during Moses’s day thousands of years ago.

in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—

-The Word of Wisdom is for our literal physical/temporal salvation! It is given for our bodies! 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Our bodies are temples. They are sacred physical creations that our spirits dwell in. If our bodies are weak and sick, it affects our spirit. Shouldn’t we be trying to do everything we can to strengthen our body so that our spirit can have a safe place to grow in light and understanding? Our spirits and our bodies are connected and will be in the eternities after the resurrection which will be brought forth by Jesus Christ as part of His Second coming into this world. Part of our preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ should include not only our own spiritual preparation but also our physical preparation (and I don’t mean food storage!) 

There are so many wonderful members of the church who simply cannot attend church, serve missions, hold callings, attend the temple or even have children because their bodies are too weak or sick to do so. Their spirit may be willing, but their flesh is weak. I know that there are circumstances outside of our power (birth defects, accidents and other major conditions) that can affect our physical health. But how many people do you know who could serve the Lord in a higher capacity but are limited because of health conditions that could have been prevented if they had made some different diet or lifestyle choices earlier on?

Our salvation and the salvation of those around us literally depends on the temporal wellbeing of those with the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! We are called to gather Israel! We have to be able to do this! Not only will this require our spiritual strength but our physical strength as well. It should be a goal of members of the church to be as healthy and physically able as possible so that they can do the Lord’s work. The Lord knows how the environment around us is making us weak and sick, that is why he gave us the Word of Wisdom, so that we can be temporally (physically) saved/spared, to accomplish his work that he has for us to do in these latter-days! President Russel M. Nelson said that we are tasked with the responsibility to prepare a people to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, how can we do this if we are confined to a couch and are too ill to share the gospel and serve those around us?