Thursday, August 15, 2019

Joseph Smith's Counsel to Jacob Hawn: A (Tragic) Proof of the Contingent Nature of Promises from Prophets


Commenting on the Hawn’s Mill massacre, Taylor Halverson wrote:

When the people at Hawn’s Mill sent Jacob Hawn to inquire of the Prophet what they should do—stay or flee to safety—Joseph Smith clearly told Jacob Hawn that the Saints at the mill should go to Far West for their own protection. Hawn feared losing his entire labor force, so he misrepresented Joseph Smith’s counsel and told the Saints that the Prophet wanted them to stay if they could. When Joseph Smith heard of the massacre the next day—October 31—he was mortified that Jacob Hawn had not told the Saints that he wanted them to leave Hawn’s Mill and go to Far West. The Prophet wrote, “Up to this day God had given me wisdom to save the people who took counsel. None had ever been killed who abode by my counsel.” He added that innocent lives could have been preserved at Hawn’s Mill had his counsel been received and followed. So it wasn’t the fault of the Saints who didn’t hearken to the counsel of Joseph Smith—they never GOT the counsel of Joseph Smith because Hawn didn’t want them to leave. (Taylor Halverson, The New Testament: Scriptural Insights and Commentary [American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2018], 134 n. 30)

While not presented as being divine revelation, Joseph Smith’s warning to Jacob Hawn does show that counsel and advice by a prophet, as with prophecies they give, are contingent and not statements of what will happen, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Sadly, Hawn not heeding Joseph’s advice had disastrous results.

For those wishing to read up on the Haun's (alt. Hawn's) Mill Massacre, see