9. Prophecies.
There are many prophecies in the Book
of Mormon, uttered by the historians who were custodians of the plates from
which the Book was translated. A few are here given to show the inspired nature of the contents of
the Book of Mormon.
Three
Witnesses. "Three witnesses shall behold the book by the gift and
power of God. In the writings of the first Nephi the prediction is made in
reference to three witnesses who should testify to the truth of the Book of
Mormon * * * '(who) shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom
the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book
and the things therein.' (2 Ne. 27:12, 13.) A similar prophecy is found in
Ether 5:3: 'And unto three shall they (the Nephite plates) be shown by the
power of God; wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are
true.' Would it be within the power of an impostor to cause an angel to come
from heaven and stand before these witnesses in the broad light of day and
exhibit the Nephite plates and the Urim and Thummim? Could he cause the glory
of God more brilliant than the light of the sun at noon-day to shine about
them? Could he cause the voice of God to be heard from the midst of the glory
saying that the work was true, the translation correct, and commanding the
witness to bear testimony to the world of its truth?" (Roberts 3:247-249.)
Opposition
to the Book of Mormon. "The Lord told first Nephi of the clamor that
would be raised against the Book of Mormon, 'that the words of your seed shall
proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed; and because my words shall hiss
forth many of the Gentiles shall say, A Bible, a Bible, we have got a Bible,
and there cannot be any more Bible.' (2 Nephi 29:1-3.) It is notorious that
this cry was raised--and even now is raised at times--against the Book of
Mormon. It was relied upon not only as
the chief but also the all-sufficient argument against accepting the book. (See
Orson Pratt's Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon.) Closely associated
with the sectarian notion of the cessation of revelation and miracles is also
the idea that the Hebrew scriptures comprised all the records in which God had
vouchsafed a revelation to man." (Roberts 3:253-255.)
Many
Shall Believe the Book. "'For after the book of which I have spoken
(i.e. The Book of Mormon) shall come forth and be written unto the Gentiles and
sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the
words which are written.' (2 Nephi 30:3.) Whether this prophecy be accredited
to the first Nephi, five hundred years B.C., or allowed no other authorship
than Joseph Smith, and no greater antiquity than 1830, it is equally prophetic
in character."
There are 750,000 living members of
the Church, besides those who have died in the faith, or "who once
accepted it in their faith and afterwards by transgression lost the spirit of
the work and departed from the Church, but who, singularly enough, in the
majority of cases still continue to assert their faith in the truth of the Book
of Mormon; and those who have been brought to a belief in the Book of Mormon,
but who have not had the courage to make the sacrifices involved in a public
profession of their faith. * * * A further evidence is the many tongues and
languages into which the Book of Mormon has been translated." (Roberts 3:283-284.)
Indian
Missions. "'And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning
us,--and they shall rejoice.' (2 Nephi 30:4-6.) The many who believe the Book of Mormon are to carry it
forth to the remnant of Lehi's people, the American Indians. It is well known
that they have done so. The Church had been organized but six months when a
mission was sent to the Lamanites." (Roberts 3:286.)
No Kings in America. The prophet Jacob prophesied 'this land
shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon
the land, who shall raise up unto the gentiles.' (2 Nephi 10:10-14.) This
prophecy has been fulfilled for from Alaska on the north to the straits of
Magellan in the south continent, the 'new world' under the consecration of God,
is blessed with freedom, and republican, not monarchical institutions.
It may be objected that this prophecy
has failed because of two notable attempts to establish monarchies in the New
World by European governments, one in Brazil, the other in Mexico. Don Pedro
was made king of Brazil upon its independence from Portugal in 1822; after a
tyrannical rule the people rose against him and he was removed in 1831. His
son, a child of six, was made emperor, the country being governed by regents
until 1841. Don Pedro II made a good emperor; in November, 1889, he acquiesced
in the wishes of the people and abdicated his throne in favor of a republican
government. In 1862, France, Great Britain and Spain sent a joint military
expedition to Mexico to enforce payment of certain claims. When their object
was attained Great Britain and Spain withdrew. Napoleon III, Emperor of France,
regarded the conditions favorable to the establishment of a Latin empire in the
Western world. He invited Archduke Maximilian to accept the crown, promising him to maintain him with an army of
twenty-five thousand French soldiers. The United States forced the French
emperor to withdraw his troops, resulting in the capture and Shooting of
Maximilian on June 19, 1867.
"The foregoing attempts in Brazil
and Mexico to found monarchies in the New World cannot be regarded as proving
the failure of the Book of Mormon prophecy. The monarchies existed for a short
time only, and were so precarious while they lasted, and ended so disastrously
for those making the attempt to establish them, that they emphasize the force
of the prophecy rather than prove its failure. It is not said in the Book of
Mormon that attempts would not be made to set up kings, but that such attempts
should end disastrously for those making them; and that no kings should be
established, that is, permanently established in the New World." (Roberts,
3:276-280.)
America
a Land of Liberty. "'Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever
nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and
from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the
land, who is Jesus Christ.' (Ether 2:12.) The heritage of righteous occupancy
of the land of America is perfect freedom. The explorers of America came as
conquerors and not as colonizers or home seekers. Lust for gold and love of
conquest have never built homes, but have destroyed them by thousands. The
Pilgrim Fathers, the Huguenots and the Puritans were essentially home-makers.
They came to America to live, not to plunder and destroy. * * * The home is the
greatest palladium of freedom. * * * The United States Declaration of
Independence says: 'We * * * solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and
of right ought to be free and independent states * * * and for support of this
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we
mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor.'" (N. L. Morris, Prophecies of Joseph Smith pp. 226-230.)
Gathering
of the Jews. The Book of Mormon says that the Jews are to be restored and
gathered in Jerusalem.
Time, April 4, 1932, says: "What
are the accomplishments of a decade in Palestine? World Jewry has sent
$220,000,000 there since 1921. Of this the U. S. gave $100,000,000. Eretz
Israel (Land of Israel) now has a great $11,000,000 Palestine Electric
Corporation, founded by Engineer Pinhas Rutenberg, whose stations in Tel Aviv,
Haifa, Tiberias and in the Jordan valley supply all Palestine (except
Jerusalem) with power. The Agricultural Experimental Station of the Keren
Hayesod (colonization and immigration) teaches scientific farming and has
experimental fields. The clean, white, all-Jewish city of Tel Aviv (Hill of
Spring) more than doubled its population (46,000). For building trades, exists
the General Mortgage Bank of Palestine, first to be modeled after European
institutions. In Palestine are now new hotels and resorts for tourists.
Palestine's Jewish population has increased from 60,000 to 175,000. There are
328 Jewish schools, 135 agricultural settlements of which 70 are under the
supervision of the Jewish Agency. Hadassah (female Zionist organization) looks
after 50 hospitals, clinics and dispensaries, which exist for Arabs and
Christians as well as Jews. Palestine has its own Hebrew university, rounded in
1925. The Jewish population of Palestine
runs its own affairs. But it is a minority (16.9%) without political power,
save for the advisory powers conferred on the Jewish Agency by the mandate
allotted to Great Britain ten years ago." (John A. Widtsoe and Franklin S.
Harris, Jr., Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon: A Collection of Evidences
[Independence, Miss.: Press of Zion's Printing and Publishing Company, 1937], 165-69)
Further Reading:
Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies
Ross W. Warner, A Study of Problems Relative to the Fulfillment of Selected Prophecies in the Book of Mormon, with Particular Reference to the Prophetic View from 1830 Onward (MA Thesis, BYU: August 1961)