AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD

 

For some time now I have been recording impressive proofs of Joseph Smith’s prophetic validity. Not to increase my already existing testimony of his calling but simply because I find them so fascinating.   So impressive have these been that I have wanted to shout from the roof tops to prove the unbelievers wrong. What is amazing is that the source of these proofs is the Book of Mormon, the very tool used by the critics to discredit the prophet of this dispensation. I will cite here just a few of my favourites to perhaps motivate some of you to look for some yourselves as you study the Book of Mormon this year:

·        Book of Mormon warfare uniquely reflects its dual heritage of the ancient Near East and Mesoamerica. It speaks volumes about the authenticity of the text and the military expertise of its author. Joseph Smith was not a man of war, he would have known none of this;

·        Joseph Smith could not have known what it was like to be a missionary to the Lamanites because he knew no one who had done such a thing. The detailed experiences of missionary labours and successes of Ammon and his brothers in Alma 26 is a solid proof of this.

·        The allegory of the olive tree in Jacob chapter 5 depicting the scattering and gathering of Israel is mind blowing. Not even an educated man could have come up with something so spiritually significant in such a difficult literary simile. The more I study this allegory, the more amazed I am of its beauty and more convinced I am of its spiritual source;

·         Joseph Smith could not have known Nephites’ coinage or the institutions of their lawyers and judges or how to make up the intricacies of such. Alma 11:3-19 is proof of this.

I want to add to these the strong testimony and witness of Joseph’s validity as the translator of the Book of Mormon by his wife Emma: “When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it….and one time while he was translating he stopped suddenly, pale as a sheet, and said, “Emma, did Jerusalem have walls around it?” When I answered, “Yes”, he replied, “Oh! I didn’t know. I was afraid I had been deceived.” He had such a limited knowledge of history at that time that he did not even know that Jerusalem was surrounded by walls. He could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well worded letter; let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon.” (Edmund C. Briggs, ‘A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856’, Journal of History, Jan 1916, p 454).

I am convinced that Joseph Smith was sent to a poor family so that he could not receive an education because it was imperative that an uneducated man translate the ancient record that became the Book of Mormon. How else could the Lord prove His partnership with him in bringing this book to light? In chapter 27 of 2 Nephi, we find an amazing detailed outline of the Saviour’s involvement in this endeavour, given to Nephi 2,427 years before the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith. After failure to have the translation certified by a professional, educated man, Professor Charles Anthon, the Lord basically said to Joseph: Don’t worry. I am able to do my own work, I WILL GIVE YOU the words which you shall read (2 Nephi 27:20). This is how important the Book of Mormon is to the Saviour in proclaiming the everlasting gospel, in gathering Israel, in building New Jerusalem, in preparing people for the Second Coming, and in ushering in the Millenium (see Bruce R. McConkie, The Millenial Messiah, p 171) This is His work, a marvelous work and a wonder, but is there anything more marvelous than Him??? I think not. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph Smith by Brent Borup)