In his Joseph Smith as a Prophet, critic
Richard Packham wrote the following:
LIBERTY
JAIL PROPHECIES: March 20, 1839. D&C 121. This
is "Prayer and Prophecies" from Joseph Smith while he was a prisoner
in the jail at Liberty, Missouri. It contains several prophecies:
·
he will be avenged of his enemies by
the sword (v. 5) (this is phrased as a prayer, but God had promised Joseph
Smith that his prayers would be answered; he need only ask. D&C 29:6)
·
his friends will not charge him with
transgressions (v. 10)
·
the hopes of those who do charge him
with transgression shall have their hope blasted (v. 11)
·
God will "change the times and
seasons" (v. 12)
·
Joseph Smith's enemies will be taken
"in their own craftiness" (v. 12)
·
"not many years hence, ...
[his enemies] and their posterity shall be swept from under heaven, saith God,
that not one of them is left to stand by the wall." (v. 15)
·
knowledge will be poured down from
heaven upon the heads of the Mormons.
FULFILLED?:
None of these prophecies came to pass. Joseph Smith's enemies were not
destroyed "by the sword;" rather, the Mormons were successfully
driven out of Missouri. His friends did charge him with transgressions within a
few years, and those charges (in The Nauvoo Expositor) resulted
directly in his arrest and destruction, as his enemies wished. God did not
"change the times and seasons," whatever that may mean. In general,
the enemies of the Mormons achieved their goal of driving the Mormons out and
destroying Joseph Smith. Their posterity was not destroyed, but survived. At
least, there is no record of the anti-Mormon Missourians being swept away. And
what knowledge has been "poured down from heaven" upon the Mormons
since 1839?
In reality, the prophecies in D&C
121 (and D&C 122, another revelation received at Liberty Jail) have been fulfilled.
As LDS apologist Jeff Lindsay noted in his Mormon
Answers: Fulfilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith:
1838 was a terrible year for the young Church, just
8 years old. There had been persecution since its inception, with mobs driving
the Latter-day Saints from New York to Ohio and again from Ohio to Missouri.
The Saints believed Missouri was a special place and hoped to build the city of
Zion there, though that day still lies in the future. Instead of peace and
prosperity, the Latter-day Saints found some of the worst persecution yet. What
was to have been their new center was blasted with bullets and burned with fire
by hateful mobs. Many were killed and assaulted. Instead of protecting a
persecuted people, Governor Lilburn Boggs issued an extermination order calling
for the murder of the Mormons if they remained. (See my related page, "Mormons and Danites: The Historical Background in
Missouri.") Disarmed and threatened with death, the surviving
Saints had no choice but to leave, crossing the Mississippi to seek for shelter
in Illinois. Joseph Smith was not with the refugees to comfort them in that
dark hour. For the winter of 1838 to 1839, Joseph was confined in a cold, damp
basement cell in Missouri, held on false charges (including murder, treason,
burglary, arson, larceny, theft and stealing) by those who wished to destroy
him and the Church. Here he would be forced to hear his captors boast of how
they had killed and raped Mormons. Here he would be offered human flesh to eat
by his inhuman guards (but he was inspired not to eat it before he learned what
it was). Here he would wonder if he should ever see his family again. By all
counts, it looked as if the enemies of the Church would achieve their sinister
desires. After languishing and suffering for months in the ironically named
Liberty Jail, a despairing Joseph wrote the following words in March of 1839
(Doctrine and Covenants Section 121:1-3):
1 O God, where art thou? And
where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?
2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold
from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and
thine ear be penetrated with their cries?
3 Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful
oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels
be moved with compassion toward them?
The Lord's response to Joseph included wonderful revelations and
prophecies in Section 121 and 122 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This included
a message of comfort, a promise of deliverance, and an assurance of justice:
7 My son, peace be unto thy
soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt
triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts
and friendly hands.
10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither
charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.
11 And they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted,
and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the
burning rays of the rising sun; . . .
16 Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed,
saith the Lord, and cry they have sinned when they have not sinned before me,
saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet in mine eyes, and which I
commanded them.
17 But those who cry transgression do it because they are the servants of sin,
and are the children of disobedience themselves.
The Lord then gave Joseph great revelations
about the Millennium, which is yet to come. Then, in Section 122, the Lord told
Joseph that:
1 The ends of the earth shall
inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall
rage against thee;
2 While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall
seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand.
That prophecy has been fulfilled. Joseph could have been killed
in that prison, unable to return to his friends as promised in Section 121.
Instead, in April 1839, after six months of illegal imprisonment, someone in
authority acted to allow the Mormon prisoners to escape during a change of
venue, perhaps desiring to avoid public embarrassment by having a trial without
evidence. Joseph and his brother Hyrum , about 10 days after being allowed to
escape, arrived in Quincy, Illinois and found their families impoverished but
alive and healthy. As was prophesied in verse 9 of Section 121, Joseph was
greeted by "friends do stand by thee," and did greet him again
"with warm hearts and friendly hands."
Joseph and the Church could have been destroyed by their
persecutors. Joseph's few years as leader of a small and hated group could have
ended in obscurity. Instead, the name of Joseph Smith is known across the world
today, as was prophesied. Hell rages against the name of Joseph Smith, as
enemies devise every manner of lie to slander Joseph and the Latter-day Saints,
while millions seek counsel, authority, and blessings that have been given to
us from Christ, revealed and restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The next few verses of Section 122 also contain related
prophecies and inspired words that have been precious to many people in times
of affliction:
3 And thy people shall never be
turned against thee by the testimony of traitors.
4 And although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, and into bars and
walls, thou shalt be had in honor; and but for a small moment and thy voice
shall be more terrible in the midst of thine enemies than the fierce lion,
because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever.
5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among
false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by
land or by sea;
6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies
fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and
brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from
the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although
but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my
father, why can't you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do
with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be
dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the
blood of the lamb;
7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers,
and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if
the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy;
if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the
way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide
after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience,
and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for
their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall
not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be
with you forever and ever.
That such inspiring words were written under the dismal
conditions of the Liberty Jail in Missouri is a witness of the character of the
Prophet Joseph Smith. In addition, the prophecy about future imprisonments and
persecutions was accurate. Joseph would be killed 5 years later by conspiring
enemies of the Church while he was held in another prison, Carthage Jail in
Illinois. In spite of all the attacks on Joseph and all the slander, the
Latter-day Saints have not been turned away from Joseph. He is loved for the
honorable man that he was and for his role as a prophet of Jesus Christ. His
greatest legacy as a Prophet, in my opinion, is the Book of Mormon:
Another Testament of Christ, which is held in ever increasing respect by
those who read it and follow its teachings. Those who read it sincerely and
pray about it come to know with the heart and the mind that Joseph was a
prophet of God. After being mocked for 150 years by enemies of the Church, the
Book of Mormon stands stronger than ever, with many thinkers - including some
non-LDS scholars - being impressed and moved not only by the text but also by
the intellectual evidences of
authenticity.
In fact, long before the prophecies in March of 1839 now
recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph prophesied that he and his
fellow prisoners would not be killed. On the morning of November 3, 1838, after
Joseph had been arrested and while he and other prisoners were on the road to
Independence under the watch of guards, he told his brethren to be of good
cheer, for "the word of the Lord came to me last night that ... whatever
we may suffer during this captivity, not one of our lives shall be taken"
(Dona Hill, Joseph Smith: The First Mormon, Doubleday and
Company, Garden City, NY, 1977, p. 244). But there was little reason for such
optimism at the time. In fact, his enemy, General Lucas, whose troops had taken
Far West and who seemed gleeful about the Extermination Order, had just told the
Saints, "As for your leaders, do not think - do not imagine for a moment -
do not let it enter your minds that they will be delivered, or that you will
see their faces again, for their fate is fixed - their die is cast - their doom
is sealed" (Hill, p. 243, citing History of the Church, Vol.
3, pp. 202-204). But Joseph and his companions survived and returned, as
prophesied.
The survival of these men was more than improbable; it was
miraculous. Hyrum Smith, in a courtroom affidavit, testified of one miracle
associated with their survival at this time. As the group was being taken to
Jackson County, where they were supposedly going to be executed,
"two large wagons drove up, and we were ordered
to get into them. While we were getting into them, there came up four or five
men armed with guns, who drew up and snapped their pistols at us in order to
kill us. Some flashed in the pan, and others only snapped, but none of their
guns went off. They were immediately arrested by several officers. . . ."
(Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by
His Mother, ed. S.F. Proctor and M.J. Proctor, Salt Lake City, Utah:
Bookcraft, 1996, p. 384.)
With respect to Lucy Mack Smith’s report, here is the transcription from p. 266 of the 1845 edition on The Joseph Smith Papers website:
In a few moments the guard were relieved with a new set; one of the new guard said that the damned Mormons would not be shot this time; for the movement of Doniphan had frustrated the whole plan, and that the officers had called another Court martial, and had ordered us to be taken to Jackson County, and there be executed; and in a few moments two large wagons drove up, and we were ordered to get into them, and while we were getting into them, there came up 4 or 5 men armed with guns, who drew up and snapped their guns at us, in order to kill us— Some flashed in the pan, others
snappedonly snapped; but none of their guns went off. They were immediately arrested by several officers and their guns taken from them.— and the drivers drove off.
Further Reading:
Resources
on Joseph Smith's Prophecies