D&C 3:1-8

TSection 3 is a "revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet... relating to the loss of 116 pages on manuscript from the first part of the Book of Mormon, which was called the 'Book of Lehi.' The Prophet had reluctantly allowed these pages to pass from his custody to that of Martin Harris, who had served for a brief period as scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon." This is some serious business. The account of the Church History Manual (CHM from now on) Martin Harris "asked if he could take this manuscript home to show his wife and friends. He hoped this would convince Lucy that the work was legitimate and stop her opposition." Martin Harris took the pages back to Palmyra and lost them. The conversation between Martin Harris and Joseph Smith when it's finally revealed that he lost them is a really powerful event and you can almost feel the prophet's anguish of spirit. According to the CHM "Lucy Mack Smith, the Prophet's mother, recorded: 'He (Martin Harris) took up his knife and fork as if he were going to use them, but immediately dropped them. Hyrum, observing this, said 'Martin, why do you not eat; are you sick?' Upon which Mr. Harris pressed his hands upon his temples, and cried out in a tone of deep anguish, 'Oh, I have lost my soul! I have lost my soul!' Joseph who had not expressed his fears till now, sprang from the table, exclaiming, 'Martin, have you lost that manuscript? Have you broken your oath, and brought down condemnation upon my head as well as your own?' 'Yes; it is gone,' replied Martin, 'and I know not where.' Self-condemnation and fear beset the Prophet. He exclaimed, 'All is lost! all is lost! What shall I do? I have sinned- it is I who tempted the wrath of God. I should have been satisfied with the first answer which I received from the Lord; for he told me that it was not safe to let writing go out of my possession.' He wept and groaned, and walked the floor continually." That's terrible, I couldn't imagine what that must have felt like. I take my own most serious transgression and the suffering that it caused and I could only imagine that this must have been probably worse than that. Joseph Smith had a despair "for it now appeared that all which we had so fondly anticipated, and which had been the source of so much secret gratification, had in a moment fled, and fled forever." Moroni came and "required him to return the plates and the Urim and Thummim, but promised that he could receive them back if he were humble and penitent." I had an experience recently where someone had done something to wrong me in a very minor fashion and instead of doing anything to help her feel better about the situation, I made her feel bad about it, probably much more so than was actually called for. I wonder how the Lord would have handled that situation? For Joseph to lose such precious scripture the Lord could have had him wallow in the idea that he was done, that it was over for him, but he didn't, he chastened him, removed his privilege for a while, but from the beginning Jesus made sure that Joseph knew that this didn't have to be a permanent situation, that he could repent and be forgiven and still be a part of this great work. That's an incredible insight into handle problems with people who disappoint us or wrong us in some way, great or small. Give the opportunity to repent and given comfort and guidance at the same time, that's quite a tall order. The idea that because these 116 pages were lost, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon would be halted is interesting, because yes, I can see where, in his anguish, the gravity of his mistake could seem insurmountable, but in actuality, "The works and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated." The IM begins by teaching, "In the famous Wentworth letter, written in 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed the power of the restored Church: 'No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it had penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.' Fourteen years earlier, in the summer of 1828, God had dramatically taught Joseph Smith that very lesson." I've heard it said, and I truly believe, that nothing cements loyalty like a betrayal. This could definitely be said in the case here, Joseph Smith was loyal, there's no doubt about that, from the beginning, but after the gift of translation was removed from him, if he wanted to walk away from the prophetship, he absolutely could have and he could have even had the victimizing justification that "God took it away" indicating no fault to himself, he could have moved away and lived a life of peace and obscurity. But he didn't do that, he not only didn't run away, but he accepted the full mantle of everything that came with being the prophet of the restoration, all the pain, suffering, hardships, and heartaches, as well as the eternal rewards that await him. He not only wanted it back but he actively sought to have it back through I'm sure prayer and humility and sincere repentance. He had the opportunity to basically walk away without any temporal consequences, but he choose to fight for it, and that choice and that fight was a heavy glue that stuck Joseph's testimony about the divinity of the work and his desire to play a role in it. This indeed was an incredibly great lesson.

3:1-8 - The Lord begins the revelation saying that "The words, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither cane they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round." The IM comments, "God governs by law- wholly, completely, invaryingly, and always. He has ordained that identical results always flow from the same causes. There is no respect of persons with him, and he is a Being 'with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' Hence, the Lord's 'course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.'" One aspect that I just thought of about why that phrase pertains to this revelation could be that, well let's begin with this. I've heard it explained that "one eternal round" can be thought of like the announcer's stand at a race track. It stands in the middle but outside of the action, and the whole track can be viewed at any given time and all at once. If we consider God's vantage point as one of being in the announcer's box and seeing all time and space at once, of course it makes sense that he saw that the pages would be lost thousands of years before they actually were and provisions were made for that, that's the context in which I consider that phrase. Indeed, as the Lord says, "It is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men." The IM quotes President Joseph Fielding Smith as teaching, "In his infinite wisdom, our Father has provided for every problem or difficulty that may arise to stop of hinder the progress of his work. No power on earth or in hell can overthrow or defeat that which God has decreed. Every plan of the Adversary will fail, for the Lord knows the secret thoughts of men, and sees the future with a vision clear and perfect, even as though it were in the past. Jacob, son of Lehi, in his rejoicing declared: 'O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.' He knew that Satan would try to frustrate the coming forth of the Book of Mormon by the stealing and changing of the manuscript, and provided for it hundreds of years before the birth of Christ." That was an incredible realization for me, when I figured out that the Lord knew that the Book of Lehi would be lost and so provided for a repeat of and addition to that information that was lost. I think that it rocked my world, honestly, totally changed how I viewed Satan's power, or the wisdom of God vs. the cunning of the devil. Humility and strict obedience is admonished in verse 4 and "how strict were your commandments." The IM comments "This verse refers in part to Joseph Smith's first interview with Moroni and the cautions and promises made to him." Apparently, there's a lot more to the story than we know because the Lord accuses Joseph Smith (how about we use JS from now on, it seems disrespectful, but I think it will be ok,) of repeatedly transgressing the commandments and "have gone on in the persuasions of men. For behold, you should not have feared man more than God." The IM teaches, "The Prophet Joseph Smith transgressed the commandments and laws of God because he feared man more than he feared God. Joseph's fear was not that of a coward but was moe probably caused by the face that he was only a youth and inexperienced. (Joseph Smith stated that youth and inexperience were the cause of many of his mistakes.) In the case of Martin Harris, Joseph was dealing with a man over twenty-three years his senior, a prominent and wealthy farmer and one of the few who believed Joseph's story and supported him with both money and labor. There would have been tremendous inner pressure for Joseph to want to show his appreciation to Martin Harris. His faith in God was absolutely firm, but he lacked experience in trusting his untried friend in his constant pleadings." In the CHM we are told that Martin's wife, Lucy, "was suspicious of Joseph Smith. She had questioned him about the plates and demanded to see them... She was angry with that her husband was spending so much time away from her and wondered if the Smiths were trying to defraud him. She insisted on going to Harmony again. This time she announced to Joseph that she was not going to leave until she saw the plates. She ransacked the entire house looking for them, but did not find them. From that day on she claimed that her husband had been duped by 'a grand imposter.' After two weeks, Martin took her home." Could you imagine having an incredibly hostile woman being in your face for more than two weeks demanding to see that which the Lord had commanded you to keep sacred? Surely there were accusations flowing from her freely, I'm sure that Emma wasn't having a great time with that woman in her house for that long, tearing it apart. I'm sure that JS saw the opportunity to show her the manuscript instead of the actual plates as a way to both keep the plates safe and sacred and also appease her, I'm sure it didn't even occur to him that the pages could be lost. Though after asking and receiving the answer of "No" from the Lord "Martin, not satisfied, persisted until Joseph again asked the Lord; still the answer was no. Martin's pleadings and solicitations continued. Joseph wanted to satisfy his benefactor. He was young and inexperienced, and he relied upon the age and maturity of Martin. Moreover, Martine was the only one Joseph knew who was willing to work as scribe and finance the publication of the book. These considerations moved him to ask again. Finally, the Lord granted a conditional permission. Martin agreed in writing to show the manuscript to only four or five people, including his wife, his brother, Preserved Harris; his father; his mother; and Lucy's sister." I do think sometimes, when I think that my way is the right way and that if only I could do what I want, then my problems would be solves. Surely that's what Joseph thought would happen when Lucy Harris saw the manuscript, she would believe and be supportive of the cause, it seemed like such a good idea at the time, unfortuantely, we don't have the foresight that God does, and so his answers to us are from his view point of all time, this is why we obey even though we don't know why.