As Jeff Lindsay noted in his article, “Mormon Answers: Fulfilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith,”
Civil
War Foretold BEFORE Dec. 1832?
While details of the Civil War
were foretold on Dec. 25, 1832 in Section 87 of the Doctrine and Covenants,
earlier prophecies hint at the upcoming war. Section 38, verse 29, given nearly
two years earlier on Jan. 2, 1831, implies that war was coming upon the United
States, and that the Lord was leading his people west (first to Ohio) to
prepare them for and deliver them from the trouble ahead:
29 Ye hear of wars in far
countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but
ye know not the hearts of men in your own land.
30 I tell you these things
because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the
wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner
which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake
the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
31 And that ye might escape the
power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot
and blameless -
32 Wherefore, for this cause I
gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will
give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high; .
. .
The implied war was not to be
caused by foreign invasion, but was due to wicked men in Joseph's own land,
suggestive of civil war. A related warning is in Section 42, verse 64, given
Feb. 9, 1831:
64 And even now, let him that
goeth to the east teach them that shall be converted to flee to the west, and
this in consequence of that which is coming on the earth, and of secret
combinations.
A month later, on March 8, 1831,
still nearly two years before the Dec. 1832 problem with South Carolina, the
Lord again warned the Saints of the need to move west to escape war in this
country. In Doctrine and Covenants 45:63-64, we read:
Ye hear of wars in foreign lands;
but, behold, I say unto you, they are nigh, even at your doors, and not many
years hence ye shall hear of wars in your own lands.
64 Wherefore I, the Lord, have
said, gather ye out from the eastern lands, assemble ye yourselves together ye
elders of my church; go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the
inhabitants to repent, and inasmuch as they do repent, build up churches unto
me.
Of course, these were mere hints
compared to the explicit detail given in Section 87 in 1832, but it should be
clear that Joseph Smith the Prophet had received warnings about pending war in
this country well before Dec. 1832. And the call to move west to escape the war
was truly prophetic, for the Saints, continuing their westward trek to Utah in
the late 1840s, were outside the scope of the Civil War when it did sweep
across the United States, in fulfillment of detailed prophecy.
Further Reading:
Resources on Joseph Smith’s Prophecies
