Joseph Smith Was a Man of God

[Guest]

As we were going over the Sunday School lesson today, it occurred to me that the revelation comprising Section 121 & 122 is probably the best, most practical evidence that Joseph was a true prophet of God.

Here is this man who had been through certain levels of torture with several other men for several months.  He's hearing reports from the outside about the atrocities being perpetrated on the people he had stewardship over.  And there was nothing he could do about it.  Even after the "Silence ye fiends of the infernal pit" evening, there were additional efforts to make their lives even more miserable.

Then Joseph cries out to the Lord in humble prayer asking,"Where art thou?" Then he reveals a bit of the natural man (IMO) when he says

Quote

5 Let thine ^aanger be kindled against our enemies; and, in the fury of thine heart, with thy ^bsword ^cavenge us of our wrongs.

6 Remember thy ^asuffering saints, O our God; and thy servants will rejoice in thy name forever.

D&C 121:5-6

He's asking for some blessing, some protection for those in harm's way.  At the same time, he's asking for Divine vengance upon their enemies.

Yet the response is that much more stark.  That a selfish, or evil, or deluded man who had been tortured for months, had heard news of the atrocities being committed outside the jail, would pen the following response:

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7 My son, ^apeace be unto thy soul; thine ^badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a ^csmall moment;

8 And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy ^bfoes.

9 Thy ^afriends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy ^afriends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

....

45 Let thy ^abowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let ^bvirtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy ^cconfidence wax strong in the ^dpresence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the ^edews from heaven.

D&C 121:7-10, 45

And then, finally:

Quote

8 The ^aSon of Man hath ^bdescended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

D&C 122:8

Do evil, selfish, or deluded men write such divine responses when they have been tortured for months and given to think they've been abandoned by everyone?

The world may scoff or unite behind a shield of sophistry.  But I feel the Eternal Truth behind these words.  They were not penned by a madman or follower of the devil.  They were holy writ.  I feel the Spirit so testify.  I know Joseph was a prophet of God.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Guest

[Jane_Doe]

We had this lesson today as well.  The teacher read the sections with super powerful orator skills and then invited the class to share experiences in Liberty Jails of our own.  But our usually chatty class was completely silent as we were all blown back by the reading, the needed humility, and the power of everything that everyone was just contemplating and/or thinking "my struggles are so much less than Christ's".  We had nothing to say.  The teacher had a look on his face that was simultaneously "wow- that was amazing" and "uh uh, what do I do now?".  

Until RS, then the class wanted to talk about about Bro Jones' Liberty Jail lesson, the power there, and everyone's experience of speechlessness.  

[Guest]

We had this lesson today as well!

The teacher asked us to write a challenge we have had in our lifetimes on a card, because we were going to talk about a big challenge that Joseph Smith had.

I wrote "bad social skills" on my card.

[Just_A_Guy]

We, too, had this lesson today.  It occurred to me that the revelation in context would have reinforced the ephemeral nature of Joseph's incarceration even though at the time (March 1839) he had little reason to suspect this to be so--his November 1838 preliminary hearing had been something of a kangaroo court; and any witnesses who might help in his upcoming trial were either in prison with him or out-of-state and unable to safely/legally return.  

But Joseph would be a free man three weeks after the revelation was received.

[The Folk Prophet]

3 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

the ephemeral nature of Joseph's incarceration

I don't speak lawyer.

[Traveler]

Some business took me this last week to Kansas City and the wife and I took a few extra days to rent a car and visit Church historical sites.  Most of the sites, I have been to many times, with the exception of Haun’s Mill that in the past has been inaccessible.   The current dirt road to Haun’s Mill is not a great improvement and our rental car was covered in mud – Should have taken a picture for you all.

We stopped by Liberty Jail.  I was a little disappointing because we were kind of pushed through – I would like to have spent more time meditating but there were others waiting.   I was again reminded about the poor conditions of the basement jail – no heat, no water, no toilet and very poor veneration.   The incarceration of Joseph, Hyrum and others was itself criminal.  But I felt that I needed to look beyond that moment or place in time.  That a cleansing of the saints (not just the leadership) was taking place and the remaining saints were being prepared to leave the United States of America and all civilization and eventually journey to the barren west to survive.

I am impressed that as we look back at history we need to tighten our grip on the symbolic rod of iron – that there are more trials for us to face.  That D&C 121 and 122 are types and shadows of things to come.  It is interesting to me that this was a time of disagreement among the saints.  A critical time of much criticism – not just from our enemies but ourselves as well and many left the fellowship of the saints to join the critics.  But even among the remaining there was discord.   Following the saints being forced out of Jackson County – Joseph asked the Saints to gather at Far West.  The little community at Haun’s Mill did not act with haste and within a week the massacre took place.  I had not realized how little time they had.

Have we learned our lesson yet?  What will we face next?  What is the next trial for the families of Zion?  Are we seeing the turmoils of affliction gathering?

 

The Traveler   

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, Traveler said:

no heat, no water, no toilet and very poor veneration.

Yeah, I suppose that was true.

43 minutes ago, Traveler said:

It is interesting to me that this was a time of disagreement among the saints.

Have we learned our lesson yet? 

An interesting occurrence (you'll see this noted on one of the signs at Liberty Jail) that few know about was thus:

Joseph was told that the Lord could miraculously deliver them out of the jail way back in December.  But all of those in their party had to be on board with the plan and have faith that it would work.  All but one made good on that.  One of them either didn't agree to the plan, or didn't have the faith, or both.  Because of the one man's lack of faith, the whole group remained in jail for the duration.

Similarly, if enough of the Saints had enough faith to keep them safe, much of what was perpetrated upon them never would have happened.  But sufficient numbers of the Saints were unfaithful to the point where history wrote the tale as it did.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Guest

[anatess2]

Last month (the Sunday before Joseph Smith's death anniversary), my son played Joseph Smith's medley on the piano in Sacrament Meeting.  The musical piece is titled Joseph Smith's Medley that is an arrangement that combines 3 hymns:

1.)  Joseph Smith's First Prayer

- The glorious description of the grove during the First Vision is so beautiful - Oh how lovely was the morning, radiant beams the sun above... sweet birds singing... it's a perfect backdrop for the profundity of the Vision of the Heavenly Father and His Son that started the period of the restoration.

2.)  A Wayfaring Man of Grief

- It is a great comfort that this song gave the prophet and his companions in Liberty jail as John Taylor sang the song. 
Joseph Smith: Sing that song again, will you, John?
John Taylor:  I do not feel like singing.
Joseph Smith:  You'll feel better once you begin, and so will I.

3.)  Praise to the Man

- When Gordon B. Hinckley was a boy of 12, he attended his very first Priesthood Stake Meeting.  The brethren sang "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah.  Jesus anointed that prophet and seer" for an opening song.  They were singing of the prophet Joseph Smith.    As they did so, a surge of love and belief came into Gordon B. Hinckley's heart.  He knew then, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.

 

 

As my son played the beautiful melodies on the piano, a surge of love and belief came into my heart as well.  The chapel was touched by the Spirit who testified of that truth that day.

This is the arrangement that my son played (he is not the one playing in the video):

 

Edited July 25, 2017 by anatess2