Speaking to the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord promised:
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you—there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. (D&C 71:9; cf. D&C 109:25)
Commenting on this text, John Tvedtnes wrote the following in the paper, “The Nature of Prophets and Prophecy”:
Since Joseph Smith was shot and killed, some say, isn’t this evidence of a false prophecy? The passage is actually a quote from Isaiah 54:17 (cited in 3 Nephi 22:17). Isaiah’s statement was addressed to the kingdom of Judah, which was defeated by Babylon in 586 B.C., when its capital, Jerusalem, was destroyed. Either Isaiah uttered a false prophecy, or he had reference to the latter end of Judah. How would today’s critics have reacted to Isaiah’s words a century and a half after the prophet had uttered them? I believe they would have treated him as a false prophet, just as they treat Joseph Smith. If Isaiah’s prophecy refers to events yet future, with intervening periods of hardship for the Jews, then why cannot promises made to Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints be future? Why should we apply different standards to Joseph Smith than those applied to Isaiah and other biblical prophets?
For more on the nature of prophecy, see, for e.g.:
John A. Tvedtnes, A Reply to Dick Baer (response to 52 purported “false prophecies” of Joseph Smith)
