Category: Scripture Notes
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Lonely years
I never thought before of what the years between 1820 and 1823 were like for Joseph Smith. He was called by God but not given any assignment during that time. He was persecuted by people across the ideological spectrum instead of being befriended and that was doubtless compounded by the fact that he has been…
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A common foe
The universal persecution that Joseph received confirmed that the various religious sects were driven by a common force and for all their differences they saw on him a common (and defenseless) foe who was easier to attack than were more mainstream religionists of the day.
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No grand ideas
Joseph had no grand ideas for himself such as founding a church or restoring the truth. His only object was to discover the truth for himself and put an end to his own questions. When he told his mother that he had learned the sect she signed with was not true he was not looking…
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Power
Joseph describes the power which bound his tongue and plunged him into darkness as being greater than the power of any being he had ever encountered before. Notice that the moment the light arrived that most powerful adversary fled. When the power and authority of God is placed next to the power of the devil…
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Silent questions
Joseph had obviously pondered over his religious questions but I wonder how many times before he decided to pay vocally and ask God out loud he had silently though, “Heavenly Father, how can I determine which way to follow?”
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Unity and division
Can the kingdom of Christ be unified while divided into different sects? I conclude that for those tired to Christ the answer must be yes because with a firm faith in Him the sect they belong to our that other faithful Christians belong to become unimportant (despite differences regarding their understanding of authority or doctrinal…
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Sharing the facts
Joseph Smith wrote his history specifically to counter the false reports in circulation and make sure that the facts were available for any who were interested in the truth. I never thought before that the large family that Joseph grew up in is really not much different than the one I’m raising now.
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Peace taken from the earth
I never noticed the phrase before that peace would be taken from the earth and the devil would have power over his own dominion. The comforting corollary being that the Lord shall have power over His saints. When this was written the Lord said the time was not yet but soon at hand. By now…
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With human weakness
No pretend prophet would declare from the outset that those (including himself) who were founding this church were subject to repentance, instruction, and correction. From the very beginning they expect to make mistakes and grow better over time to bring about the Lord’s work.
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Humbling
When the Lord says that He called Joseph Smith and then immediately says that this was part of fulfilling the project that the weak things of the earth would break down the strong I’m confident that Joseph was fully aware of the implication that he was among the weak things of the earth. To any…