And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord
God, will send one mighty and strong,
holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering,
whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a
fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the
inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their
fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God;
(D&C 85:7)
In a MA
thesis on the origins of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times,
Lyle O. Wright wrote the following about D&C 85:7, a passage that has been
abused by countless fundamentalist groups and false prophets thereof:
The Revocation of the Prophecy
The revelation contained in Section 85 was
originally part of a letter written to W.W. Phelps (Joseph Smith, History of
the Church, I, 227-229). The subject of the letter was the settling of Zion, in
Missouri, and problems relative to that settlement. Edward Partridge was the
man called by revelation to stand as bishop in the land of Zion, and the
revelations calling him to that position had clearly stipulated that a major
responsibility was for him to divine "the lands of the heritage of God
unto his children." (Doctrine and Covenants 58:14, 17; also 57:7, 15).
Note that this is to be also a primary mission of the One Mighty and Strong as
specified in Doctrine and Covenants 85:7.
But Bishop Partridge had not been consistently
faithful in his relationship to the church and to the Prophet. When the Prophet
first visited in Missouri, "Bishop Partridge several times strenuously
opposed the measures of the Prophet, and was sharply rebuked by the latter for
his unbelief and hardness of heart." In August 1831, he was rebuked again,
this time by the Lord in the revelation contained in Doctrine and Covenants
58:14-16.
There was an apparent adjustment of differences
on the Prophet's next visit in April, 1832. However, the Bishop was soon again embroiled
in "conditions of rebellion, jealousy, pride, unbelief, and hardness of
heart" for which all the Saints in Zion were reprimanded by the Lord
(Doctrine and Covenants 84:54, 58-76). It was when these conditions prevailed
that the letter which included the revelation of Section 85 was written.
The "man who was called and appointed of
God" to "divide unto the Saints their inheritance"--Edward Pat
ridge--was at that time out of order, neglecting his own duty and putting
"forth his hand to steady the ark"; hence he was warned of the
judgment of God impending and the prediction was made that another "one
mighty and strong," would be sent of God to take his place to have his
bishopric--one having the spirit and power of that high office resting upon
him, by which he would have power to "set in order the house of God and
arrange by lot the inheritance of the Saints"; in other words, one who
would do the work that Bishop Edward Partridge had been appointed to do but had
failed to accomplish.
Bishop Partridge partially repented after the
admonition and reproof in Doctrine and Covenants 85, and his repentance seems
to have been thorough and final after the chastening by their enemies in 1833
and the Lord's explanation for that, in Doctrine and Covenants 101:1-9. From
then on, "in the midst of troublous times in Missouri, Edward Partridge
acted a most noble and self-sacrificing part, and bore many indignities with
the greatest patience." By 1835, the Lord was able to say, in a revelation
to Joseph Smith, that he was well pleased with Edward Partridge (Joseph Smith,
History of the Church, I, 302-303).
Certainly in the face of this plain statement
of the Lord that the sins of Edward Partridge were forgiven him, we do not feel
that this sad and early death was the fulfillment of the threatened judgment of
the revelation, but that he was the man so threatened in that revelation there
can be no question; not only on account of what is here set forth, but also
because Orson Pratt, one familiar with Edward Partridge, and an active
participant in all these historical matters, publically declared from the
pulpit in Salt Lake City, about the time of the death of President Young, that
the man referred to in the passage of the revelation in question, was Bishop
Edward Partridge. Of the facts of his statement there can be no doubt; at the
time he was the historian of the Church as well as a member of quorum of the
apostles.
Thus, it is established that the thread in
Doctrine and Covenants 85:8 was directed at Edward Partridge. Since the entire
letter was concerned with the affairs of Zion in Missouri, it seems that the
person promised in Doctrine and Covenants 85:7 was to be someone selected to take
Bishop Partridge's place, if he continued in his rebellious attitude and
failed to set the house of God in order through proper handling of the division
of inheritances and other necessary business. But, since the Bishop did change,
"who shall say that his repentance, his sacrifices, his sufferings and
faithfulness, did not procure for him a mitigation of the severe judgment
decreed against him in the revelation contained in the eighty-fifth section of
the Doctrine and Covenants"?
An example of such a revocation of the decree
of God is given in the instance of Hezekiah, King of Israel, who, when
appointed by the Lord to die, prayed to God and was granted an additional fifteen
years of life (2 Kings 20:1-6).
It could be added that allowance was made for
such possibilities in the revelations to Joseph Smith:
Wherefore, I, the Lord, command and revoke,
as it seemeth me good; and all this to be answered upon the hands of the
rebellious, saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants, 56:4)
I command and men obey not; I revoke and they
receive not the blessing. (Doctrine and Covenants 58:32) (Lyle O. Wright, Origins
and Development of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times [MA
Thesis; Brigham Young University, 1963], 46-48; cf. pp. 27-50 for a discussion
of the many claimants to being the “one mighty and strong”)
