THE SCRIPTURES OF THE RESTORATION
Few events have been looked forward to with such anticipation as that of the restoration of the kingdom of God in the latter days. Considering all the trials, persecution, and apparent loss of the battles against evil in all the previous dispensations, it seems the prophets looked to the day when the good guys would finally win the war. The scriptures tell that the preparations for this restoration of permanent righteousness took place even before the earth was prepared to receive its billions of inhabitants. The Old Testament prophets not only looked forward to the Saviors first coming but they rejoiced to see him come again to righteous people waiting for a righteous leader. The Savior himself spoke of His second coming in glory and great power. Prophets who lived in America anciently looked to the time when their true identity as descendents from Joseph of Egypt would be known and they would be restored to their rightful lands. And finally prophets called in latter days have spoken with conviction and documentation that such an event has taken place. Each of these time periods will be scripturally reviewed.
“The restoration will push and even crowd us at times because of the rapidity of the events that come upon us. Never be reluctant to be part of the restoration and its onrollingness, and you will find yourself wafted in your spiritual development far beyond where you thought you could go. Events will come along that will more sharply define the restoration for the human family.” (Neal Maxwell Feb 2001 Ensign)
The Pre-earth life knowledge of the restoration and the preparing
(D&C 138:53) the Prophet Joseph Smith, and other
choice spirits were reserved to come forth in the fullness of times to take
part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work.
D&C 138:55,56
I observed that they were also among the noble and great
ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.
Even before they were born, they, with many others,
received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come
forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of
the souls of men.
Abraham 3:22 was chosen before he was born on the earth.
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly … I ordained thee a prophet
Ancient prophets knew of the restoration and specifically
of the Prophet Joseph Smith
JS—H 1:33
Moroni told the Prophet Joseph in 1823 that his name
would be known for good and evil throughout the whole world because of the work
of the restoration.
2Nephi 3:6,7,9,12,15
Joseph of Egypt was promised that one of his descendants
“ a choice seer” would be raised in the latter days
Moses 1:40-41
Moses was told that the scriptures he would record would
be esteemed as naught until the Lord would raise up another like himself and
the “scriptures shall be had again among the children of men—among as many as
shall believe”. Joseph Smith added two additional accounts of the creation
account found in the Pearl of Great Price.
Only those who believe can enjoy the refreshing insights
of this doctrinal restoration.
Isaiah 29
This entire chapter talks about the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon.
Malachi 3:1
Malachi talks about a latter-day forerunner who would
prepare the way for the Lord to come to His temple.
See Sections 109 and 110 D&C for the dedication of
the Kirkland Temple and subsequent visits of the Savior, Moses, Elias, and
Elijah. Malachi specifically talks of Elijah’s visit found in Mal. 4:5-6 and D&C 2.
Gen 49:22-26
Here Jacob gives his sons Joseph a patriarcle blessing.
He tells Joseph that he will be a fruitful bough (tree) by a well in which his
branches or descendants would go over the wall. The great wall at that time was
the ocean. He is told in verse 26 that his blessing or progeny would be in the
bounds of the everlasting hills. When one looks at a map of the earth showing
North and South America, one sees a range of mountains going from the North
Pole to the South Pole. These are described in the scriptures as
the”everlasting hills”. They never
end.
Jeremiah 31:12
Saw the saints “ come and sing in the height of Zion”.
Just as Joseph of Egypt was told his posterity would be in the “everlasting
hills”.
Jeremiah 16:16
Here Jeremiah saw the modern missionary force that would
be sent out to gather Israel. The house of Israel was scattered over the entire
earth going back to 722Bc
When the 10 tribes were carried off by the Assyrians.
Later the tribe of Judah was also dispersed all over the world. The Jew started
their return to their homeland in 1947 when they were granted recognition as
the country of Palestine. Jeremiah describes the events that will gather all
the tribes back to their lands given to them by the Lord. This event will
replace the delivery of the children of Israel out of Egypt as the thing to
talk about. Missionaries (fishers and hunters) will seek them out of every
mountain, hill, and hole in the rocks. Israel will be gathered and restored to
the knowledge of their origin, heritage, and destiny.
Daniel 2:34-35
Daniel who was the prophet, who followed Jeremiah during
the days Judah was held captive in Babylon, saw the future history of the world
in his famous dream he interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar. Here Daniel saw after identifying all
the subsequent kingdoms that should come forth, sees the great latter-day
kingdom of God that should be established. He described it as a stone that is
cut out without hands that would roll forth and fill the whole earth. The Lord
identified His latter day church as this kingdom (D&C 65:2,6). In this
regard the Prophet Joseph Smith said.” The standard of Truth has been erected;
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.” President Hinckley
recently said, “ This work will roll on in majesty and power to fill the earth.
Doors now closed to the preaching of the gospel will be opened. The Almighty,
if necessary, may have to shake the nations to humble them and cause then to
listen to the servants of the living God. Whatever is needed will come to pass.”
In 1940 when I was born, there were a little more than 500,000 members of the
church. Most of them were in Utah and Idaho and along the mountain corridor .
In my lifetime I have seen the church grow to more than fourteen million with
members found in every land on earth. When I went on a mission in 1960, there
were 9,000 missionaries in the field. My four sons have served with 50,000 to
60,000 other young men, on two-year missions, to fish and hunt for the
descendants of Israel lost among the nations of the earth. Over 1 million
missionaries have been sent through out the world teaching the message of the
restoration in ones own language. No other religious movement can claim such an
effort to fulfill the word of these Old Testament prophets.
These same Old Testament prophets also foresaw the modern
developments and inventions that would assist in accomplishing this work.
Daniel saw “knowledge shall be increased. Dan 12:4
Joel 2:28-29 said God would “pour out his spirit upon all
flesh” and many would “dream dreams and see visions”
Isaiah 18:1-3 saw a time when the Lord’s work would be
hastened by swift travel across the earth. My first airplane ride upon leaving
the farm community in Idaho was aboard a jet liner that took me to Switzerland
to serve a two and a half year mission. In a few hours I was half way around
the earth, speaking another language, telling people about the restoration.
Without the modern communication, jet aircraft, and now computers, we could not
be successful accomplishing the great task of preaching the gospel to billions
of people in” all the earth” before the “great and dreadful day” of the coming
of the Lord
Isaiah 2:2and Micah 4:1-2 and Isaiah 18:3
Again the mountains are made reference to as a place
where God shall gather his people. The mountain of the Lords house makes
reference to a temple that shall be built. All nations shall flow unto it. “
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the Mountain of
the Lords House (the Temple), to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go
forth the law, and the work of the Lord from Jerusalem. See Sec 84 of the
D&C verses 2-4 to read about the temple to be built in the New Jerusalem.
My own ancestors, in their youth, joined the church in
the countries of England and Denmark in the 1840 and 50’s. They came across the
ocean on sailing ships, across the great American plains in ox carts and
settled in the Rocky Mountains of Utah. My wife Eileen’s family was with the
Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois. They were among the church members,
in Feb. of 1846 that were mobbed and driven from their homes, after the prophet
was murdered. They crossed the Mississippi on the ice and started the great
Mormon exodus to the western corridor of the Rocky Mountains. Both our families
have seen and experienced the events of the restoration first hand.
New Testament Prophets
John the Baptist
In reference to the quizzing of the local church leaders
to the scripture mentioned in Mal. 4:5-6 that Elais must come and restore all
things, John was quizzed if he was this man. He did not deny that he was an
Elias or forerunner but did deny that he was that Elias who would come before
the great and terrible day of the Lords second coming. Joseph Smith was this
Elias.
Peter, James, and John
The scriptural doctrine that an Elias or forerunner must come before the Son of God
can come was well known by the local Jewish leaders. They must have quoted this
fact in an effort to discredit the claim of the apostles that Jesus was this
man. While coming back from the Mount of Transfiguration they asked the Savior
to explain this to them. He then told them that truly Elias must come and
restore all things before he comes as described in Mal. 4:4-5. (His second
coming) He then told them that an Elias has already come and they knew him not,
but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall the son of man
suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John
the Baptist. Joseph Smith was the other Elias spoken of to whom Peter, James
and John appeared in 1829 to
restore the authority of the apostleship.
Acts 3:19
In this scripture Peter describes “ the times of
refreshing to come from the presence of the Lord”. And He (The Father) shall
send” Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Whom the heavens must
receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by
the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. This prophecy was
fulfilled in 1820 when both the Father and the Son appeared to the prophet
Joseph Smith and initiated the restoration of all things
Rev 14:6
John saw an angle come and restore the everlasting gospel
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth”. Moroni was one of these angels
who brought the record of the Nephites to the Prophet Joseph Smith to be
translated into the Book of Mormon.
D&C 133:36-37 Here the Lord confirms that he has sent
his angle to restore the gospel.
The Book of Mormon
Descendants
of Joseph of Egypt wrote the Book of Mormon. Joseph had two sons by the names
of Ephrium and Menassah. These two men becomes permanent members of the House
of Israel by taking the place of two sons of Jacob that lost this status
through sin. We learn from the Book of Mormon that two families, from these
tribes, left Jerusalem, by commandment, just before the Babylonians around
600BC conquered Palestine. They took with them all the Old Testament up to that
time (called the Brass Plates). These people went by ship to what we now call
Central America. They established a great civilization of which we have record
until about 400 AD. Wickedness and warfare brought about the end of their
prophetic history. We see their descendants today as the Indian and related
groups in North and South America. Christ visited these people as His “other
sheep”(John 16: 16and taught them His full gospel. All this was recorded on
metal plates and eventually was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith to be
translated into what today is known as the Book of Mormon. This scripture was
also foretold and known about by ancient prophets. It is an important witness
and evidence of the divine mission of both the Savior and His latter day
prophet Joseph Smith.
BIBLE AND BOOK OF MORMON TO COME TOGETHER IN LAST DAYS
The restoration of the church and the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon is truly a “marvelous work and a wonder” Isaiah 29:14. These
events have taken place to bless the entire human family, to set the standard,
and prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Despite the great price so many people have paid to bring
the church out of obscurity from 6 members in 1830 to the eleven million of
today, to lose everything to mobs and persecution and relocate from the eastern
United States to the western mountainous desert, a modern apostle Neal Maxwell
has said “ all the easy things the Church has to do have been done. From now on
it is high adventure!
To aid us in this high adventure, the Lord spent several
thousands years preparing a document that would provide testimony and factual
evidence that he would call a prophet and restore his church. This document
(the Book of Mormon) would be the greatest evidence possible to verify the
truthfulness of the Bible and the divinity of the Savior and the reasons for
His atonement. The following illustration clarifies where the Book of Mormon
comes from, the prophets who wrote it, and why we have it today.
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The Prophet Joseph said” Mans greatest enemy is
ignorance” This is true in any field of knowledge and it is true of all of us
to some degree. We certainly are not stupid, we are just not informed. Joseph
as a young boy of 14 certainly fit this description. For this reason he studied
the bible and found the scripture in James 1:5 that said “if any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not: and it shall be given him.” As a result of this inquiry in the spring of
1820 the Father and the Son and many angels visited Joseph.
Over a period of many years such ancient prophets tutored
him as Moroni who delivered to him the gold plates that contains what is now
called the Book of Mormon. One
author wrote “Who among the world’s scholars, can boast of having stood face to
face with Adam, Enoch, Noah, a messenger from Abraham’s dispensation, Moses,
John the son of Zacharias, Peter, James and John? While religious leaders were
claiming that the heavens were sealed to them, Joseph was being personally
tutored by ancient prophets who laid their hands upon his head and conferred
upon him the power, keys, and authority they held. Who but Joseph
Smith could tell us that Seth was in the perfect likeness
of his father (D&C 107:43), or could give a detailed description of Paul”
or describe personal visits with John the Beloved? Joseph a young, unschooled
boy left behind more scripture for mankind to read and ponder than any other
prophet who has ever lived. Only the ignorant remain so with all the effort
that is being made to proclaim the great restoration event. One hundred and
seventy years of critical inspection has not decreased the validity of his
claims and works. The work that would one day be “brought out of obscurity and
out of darkness” is in full swing.
When I was a boy there were 9 temples in the world. I served on a
mission in Switzerland just after the first temple in Europe was built in
Zolikofen by Bern, Switzerland. Today there are well over 130 temples in the
world. We just dedicate one near our home in Yakima Washington. The church
sponsors Brigham Young University the largest private university in the
world. The church operates a
missionary training center near the campus of BYU where 25-30 thousand
missionaries , both young and old,
are trained in doctrine and language every year to keep the world wide missions staffed. It just
recently converted a two-year college in Rexburg to a four-year university and
operates other campuses and mission training centers around the world.
Jerusalem
was located at the cross roads of all the great empires of ancient times. This
was so all these nations would be exposed to the prophets and kingdom of
God. So it is today. Salt Lake
City is known as the cross roads of the west. This barren desert is located in
such a geographic location so as to make visible to all nations the latter day
kingdom of God. As sung in one of our hymns
For God remembers still
His promise made of old
That he on Zion’s
hill
Truth’s standard
would unfold!
Her light should
there attract the gaze
Of all the world
in latter days.
The power of ignorance and prejudice to keep men from
knowing the truth.
When Moroni introduced Joseph to the Book of Mormon on
the night of Sept 23 , 1823 he told him that he , Joseph, would be known for
good and evil the world over. To illustrate the fulfillment of this prophecy, I
quote the following.
“ The Book of Mormon is the most gross, the ridiculous,
the most imbecile, the most contemptible concern, that was ever attempted to be
palmed off upon society as a revelation.
Origen Bacheler, Mormonism Exposed: Internally and
Externally ( New York , 1838), cited in Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith
Rough Stone Rolling ( New York: Knopf, 2005), 400.
This represents an early opinion of Mr. Bacheler of the
Book of Mormon. Since this time 130,000,000 million copies of the book have
been printed. It has become one of the most read books in the world. A recent
symposium was held in Washington DC as reported in the church news below.
PROVO, UTAH
T
he Library of Congress and BYU
announced Sept. 10 an academic sympo-
sium examining the religious, social and
theological contributions of Joseph
Smith Jr., the Church's first president, in recogni-
tion of the bicentennial of his birth. He was born
Dec. 23, 1805.
"The Worlds of Joseph Smith" symposium May
6 -7,2005, in the Coolidge Auditorium of the
Library of Congress inWashington, D.C., will fea-
ture sessions focusing on Joseph Smith's own
world, his recovery of "past worlds," his chal-
lenges to the theological world and his founding
of a global religion.
The symposium is open to the news media and
invited scholars in the fields of American reli-
gious history and religious studies. Each session
will feature the presentation of a paper, three
respondents arid time for open discussion. Some
seating by registration only will be available to
the public. The program will also be broadcast via
the Internet.
James H. Hutson, chief of the manuscript divi-
sion at the Library of Congress, said people will
find it instructive to be informed by a group of dis-
tinguished scholars exactly how the Church
evolved from a small, persecuted band to a major
religion influential in the United States and the
world.
"Other religious persuasions important in
American history - Puritanism, for example-
traced the same trajectory but, unlike Mormon-
ism, reached a limit from which their influence
receded," he said. "This topic will be among the
many subjects that should stimulate reflection
and make the symposium an intellectual feast."
Jack Welch, professor of law at BYU and co-
planner of the symposium, said he is pleased that
the Library of Congress and BYU could come
together to sponsor a scholarly examination of
Joseph Smith's life.
"Joseph Smith is a towering religious figure.
Perhaps for that very reason, he draws a lot of
lightning but also channels extraordinary power,"
he said. "The conference is not aimed at prosely-
tizing or advocating any particular point ofview.
It will not involve polemics or propaganda. Any-
one who would be interested in knowing how
informed scholars approach the study of Joseph
Smith, just as they might study Buddha, Moses,
Mohammed, St. Francis or any other major reli-
gious leader, will fmd the outcome of this confer-
ence informative, up-to-date, interesting and
reliable."
Robert Millet, the Richard L. Evans Professor
of Religious Understanding at BYU who was
instrumental in the genesis of the symposium,
said it will recognize and explore the impact of an
important religious figure. .
"Even if one doesn't accept Joseph Smith's
claims of divine inspiration and authorization, it's
hard to dismiss his impact on the theological
world," said Brother Millet, a professor of ancient
scripture. "As we approach the anniversary of his
birth 200 years ago, it's important and worthwhile
to examine and explore his contributions, which
include the establishment of a worldwide
Church."
Religion experts from Baylor, BYU, Columbia,
Pepperdine and other major universities will
make presentations and participate in the sympo-
sium. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the
Twelve is scheduled to be a featured speaker.
In this symposium none of the non LDS scholars
attributed the phenomenal achievements of Joseph Smith to him having received
revelations from God.
A very humanistic view was put forth as
illustrated by Harold Bloom, considered by many to be America’s foremost
literary critic and best known man of letters. Bloom appeared in Trail of Hope
and American Prophet, PBS Television specials, and praised Joseph Smith and
Mormonism in those films and in his book “ the American Religion.” Dr. Bloom
said of Joseph Smith, “ There is no other figure remotely like him in our
entire national history, and it is unlikely that anyone like him can ever come
again. He transcends Emerson and Whitman.”
Bloom did not
credit the prophet’s work to
revelation from God as Joseph claimed instead he called it “ the religion
making genius of Joseph Smith.”
Bloom prior to giving a lecture on Joseph Smith at the University of
Utah, stated to a reporter the following.
“ I have the most
passionate appreciation for Joseph Smith ….I am not sure if I had been born
some denomination Christian, rather than jew, I would not have wound up a
Mormon. ( Salt Lake Tribune Nov
11, 1990, 2E.
Over 13,000,000
million members of the church Joseph founded in 1830 take neither of the two
positions stated by Bacheler and Bloom. They maintain that Joseph received his
instruction from God himself and he conveyed it to mankind in the form of more
scripture ever recorded by any other prophet. In fact Joseph Smith received
more revelation that a the total of the dozen most prolific prophet penmen of
the past. ( Ensign, May 1976, 95).
Recent scholarship
done by such men as Jack Welch who founded FARMS or “ Foundation of Ancient
Research and Mormon Studies” which organization was recently integrated into
Brigham Young University with a
name change to the “ Neal Maxwell
Institute of
Religious Scholarship”. ( see Neal
A Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship on the Web.) has shed much light
on the origin of the unique revelations recorded by Joseph Smith. The discovery of Chiasmus in the Book
of Mormon and the impetus it provided for further investigation of other unique
truths discovered in the writings of Joseph has fundamentally defeated the
efforts of evangelical and other
secular anti -Mormons
efforts. Anti-Mormons
polemic apologetics have been rendered ineffective, according to Protestant
scholars Paul Owens and Carl Mosser and Roman Catholic scholar Massimo
Introvigne. ( See “ Mormon Scholarship, Apologetics, and Evanelical neglect:
Losing the Battle and not Knowing
It”. Trinity Journal, ns., 19/2 1998 179-205 First delivered on April 25, 1997,
at the Evangelical Theological Society Far West Annual Meeting. And “The Book of Mormon Wars”: A non
Mormon Per sepctive ,” JBMS 5/2 ( 1996): 1-25.
Respect for the
content and authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its true origin has greatly
increased since the days of Bacheler. No intelligent, knowing person will make
such ill informed statements today as previously claimed by Bacheler and many
others. Ones credibility as a scholar
would surely come into question. In addition to the physical evidence of the
books ancient origins, the Book of Mormon , when read, studied, and pondered as
directed by Mornoni who revealed the book to Joseph on that Sept day back in
1823 , will only lead to the spiritual goal often put forth by the prophet
himself. “ Souls are as precious in the sight of God as they ever were; and the
Elders are to persuade and invite all men everywhere to repent, that they may
become the heirs of salvation.” “The Book of Mormon is the most perfect book on
earth and a man will get closer to God by abiding its precepts than any other
book.” JS.
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