In a revelation dated October 12, 1833, we read the following promise concerning Sidney Rigdon:
And
it is expedient in me that you, my servant Sidney, should be a spokesman unto
this people; yea, verily, I will ordain you unto this calling, even to be a
spokesman unto my servant Joseph. And I will give unto him power to be mighty
in testimony. And I will give unto thee power to be mighty in expounding all
scriptures, that thou mayest be a spokesman unto him, and he shall be a
revelator unto thee, that thou mayest know the certainty of all things
pertaining to the things of my kingdom on the earth. (D&C 100:9-11)
In volume 3 of A Commentary on
the Doctrine and Covenants, H. Dean Garrett and Stephen E. Robinson noted
the following concerning v. 9:
9.
Sidney should be a spokesman. Sidney
Rigdon was a well-educated man with magnificent talents as a thinker and a
writer but particularly as an orator. He had been a Reformed Baptist minister
with several congregations in the Kirtland area before joining the Church in
1831. George Q. Cannon said of Elder Rigdon: "Those who knew Sidney
Rigdon, know how wonderfully God inspired him, and with what wonderful
eloquence he declared the word of God to the people. He was a mighty man in the
hands of God, as a spokesman, as long as the prophet lived, or up to a short
time before his death."6 The Lord had earlier promised Sidney that he would
"preach my gospel and call on the holy prophets [that is, the scriptures]
to prove [Joseph's] words" (D&C 35:23).
The
appointment of Sidney Rigdon as the spokesman for the Prophet Joseph fulfilled
an ancient prophecy of that Joseph who was sold into Egypt: "And the Lord
hath said: I will raise up a Moses . . . and I will make a spokesman for
him" (2 Nephi 3:17). Thus, the relationship between Joseph and Sidney
would be that of a modern Moses and Aaron, Joseph as Moses the prophet and
Sidney as Aaron his spokesman (see Exodus 4:16). Elder Rigdon served in this
capacity until sometime after his imprisonment in Liberty Jail. During the
Nauvoo period, this role was gradually assumed by Hyrum Smith.
The
fulfillment of 2 Nephi 3:17–18 and the role of the modern Aaron cannot be
confined to Sidney Rigdon alone. In Doctrine and Covenants 8:6–7, the Lord had
previously told Oliver Cowdery that he had the gift of Aaron, while Doctrine
and Covenants 28:2–3 explicitly stated that Oliver was to be as Aaron to Joseph,
who was to be to him as Moses. When Oliver Cowdery subsequently left the
Church, Hyrum Smith received all the blessings, honors, gifts, and positions
that Oliver had formerly held (see D&C 124:95). This would include Oliver's
former position of an Aaron to Joseph's Moses. And just as Aaron really was
Moses' elder brother, so Hyrum really was Joseph's elder brother and died with
him at Carthage, a true Aaron and a true brother to the last, after Oliver and
Sidney had lost that calling.
In a sermon dated April 6, 1884,
George Q. Cannon noted the fulfillment of this promise:
Another
most remarkable prediction is given in this same chapter; showing how plainly
the Lord revealed to His ancient servants who wrote this Book, that which
should take place in the last times. Lehi in speaking about Moses, said, that
the Lord had revealed to Joseph the Patriarch, that He would raise up a mighty
prophet named Moses, and that He should raise up for him a spokesman; that
Moses would not be mighty in word, but in deed. Here is what the Lord said unto
Joseph the Patriarch, as quoted by Lehi:
"And
the Lord said unto me also" [that is, Joseph the Patriarch], "I will
raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And
I, behold, I will give unto him, that he shall write the writing of the fruit
of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins, and the spokesman of thy loins shall
declare it."
After
the church had been organized some months, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt,
Peter Whitmer, and Ziba Petersen were appointed by the prophet of God to visit
the western boundaries of Missouri. On their journey westward, they passed
through the western part of Ohio, where Parley had formerly lived and labored
in connection with the Reformed Baptists. They called upon one of the founders
of that sect, Sidney Rigdon. They found him in the town of Kirtland, gave him a
book of Mormon, and bore their testimony to him of the restoration of the
Gospel. Sidney Rigdon said to them: "You tell me a strange tale. I will
examine this book" and he commenced to do so. They were all young men,
Sidney Rigdon was many years their senior. Rigdon examined the book, and became
convinced that it was the word of God. He was baptized in the town of Kirtland,
and the foundation of a great work was laid there. God afterwards revealed that
this man was to be a spokesman, and he became the spokesman to this people and
to the world for the prophet Joseph. Those who knew Sidney Rigdon, know how
wonderfully God inspired him, and with what wonderful eloquence he declared the
word of God to the people. He was a mighty man in the hands of God, as a
spokesman, as long the prophet lived: or up to a short time before his death.
Thus you see that even this which many might look upon as a small matter, was
predicted about 1,700 years before the birth of the Savior, and was quoted by
Lehi 600 years before the same event, and about 2,400 years before its
fulfillment, and was translated by the power of
God, through his servant Joseph, as was predicted should be the case,
and at a time, as I have said, when there was not a man upon the earth who was
a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church had not
yet been organized, and Joseph did not know, unless he knew by the spirit of
revelation, whether any man would receive the Gospel. I doubt whether he knew
as to how the church would be organized. He had some idea, doubtless; but there
were many things which he himself did not know, till he wrote this translation.
(JOD 25:126-27)
Further Reading: