D&C 122:5-9

122:5- - Here is where the Lord gets specific in the tribulations that Joseph Smith is suffering at that particular time. There are several instances that the Lord refers to, I’m going to list them out here because they are all very interesting and apply to us.

“If:

1. Thou art Called to pass through tribulation
2. Thou art In perils among false brethren
3. Thou art In perils among robbers
4. Thou art In perils by land or by sea
5. Thou art Accused with all mane of false accusations
6. Thine enemies fall upon thee
7. They tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters
8. With a drawn sword tine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you?
9. Then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb.
10. Thou shouldst be cast into the pit.
11. Into the hands of murders
12. The sentence of death passed upon thee
13. Thou be cast into the deep
14. The billowing surge conspire against thee
15. Fierce winds become thine enemy
16. The heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way
17. The very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee

If any or all of these things happen:

1. All these things shall give thee experience
2. Shall be for thy good
3. The Son of Man hath descended below them all

If you are faithful during these times:

1. The priesthood shall remain with thee
2. Their bounds are set, they cannot pass (presumably the enemies)
3. Thy days are known
4. Thy years shall not be numbered less

“Therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.”

There are so many facets to this revelation that are just incredible powerful. Let’s start from the beginning. The Lord gives so many different examples of what could go wrong, and I find it interesting that he didn’t just include the impact of the wicked choices of others, though that was clearly the case of why they were in prison to begin with, but he also mentions adversity that comes from the natural world as well. This might be because not only were the imprisoned brethren suffering because of wicked men, they were also suffering from the conditions such as cold, hunger, unsanitary conditions, etc. The scope of these situations that the Lord presents are definitely “worst case scenarios,” times when many people would give up or “curse God and die” or suffer from despair or terror, these are definitely times to panic. Imagine the feeling that would come if you were being robbed at gun point and you told yourself, it’s ok, this will be for my good and my days will not be numbered less because of this situation. There’s a definite “If… then” pattern that needs to be established, or a pattern of power and control that governs all these scenarios. The theme is that God is in charge and nothing can happen to us unless He allows it. That begs the question, why does he allow terrible, tragic, evil things to happen to people? Is it his will?  No, His will is that all repent and be saved, but he allows bad things to happen to us to perfect us and through the atonement compensates us for our suffering and loss. I think it’s important to note that he doesn’t say “if all these bad things happen you won’t be hurt or killed,” because that’s not how it works either. Is that an option for God, is it possible for him to save us from harm when negative things present themselves to us? No, he can’t. If he were to prevent bad things form happening to people just because they were righteous, then that would negate their agency. People would be righteous to be protected and live an easy life, and that’s not the way that growth works, there can be good times but there, of necessity, be hard times as well. The IM quotes Elder Orson F. Whitney as teaching, “The Prophet was lying in a dungeon (Liberty, Missouri) for the gospel’s sake. He called upon God, ‘who controlleth and subjected the devil,’ and God answered telling him that his suffering should be but ‘a small moment.’ ‘Thou are not yet as Job,’ said the Lord, ‘thy friends do not contend against thee.’ Job’s friends, it will be remembered, tried to convince him that he must have done something wrong or those trials would not have come upon him. But Job had done no wrong; it was ‘without cause’ that Satan had sought to destroy him… There is the reason. It is for our development, our purification, our growth, our education and advancement, that we buffet the fierce waves of sorrow and misfortune; and we shall be all the stronger and better when we have swum the flood and stand upon the father short.” One of the scenarios the Lord talked about was “if” Joseph Smith’s 6 year old son pulled on him while he was being arrested and screaming after him is a pretty special moment for me. I’m sure that this is what happened to him and that it was a pretty terrible feeling for JS as a father to have his son go through that but it is a special reference for me because I feel like my family has really suffered a lot over the last several years, going through my divorce and their dad leaving and moving a ton and me working a lot. I remember one day a couple of years ago had been particularly difficult and as I was leaving for work my son, who was 6 years old at the time, ran after me and clawed at my arms crying “why do you have to go?! Why can’t you stay? When are you going to be back?” Almost verbatim what this scripture says. It was a very terrible ordeal for me and I spent many hours reflecting on what I was really doing with my life and the kind of permanent damage that I was causing my children while I went to work and by our whole situation in general. I was really torn up about it, then for some reason, I don’t remember if it was in my study of the Book of Mormon that night or if it just came up randomly, but I read that verse and it hit my heart in such a powerful way. Reading that verse was basically reading exactly what had happened to me and my son only a few hours earlier, and then when the Lord says, “all these thing shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” The Spirit spoke peace to me that I’ve carried with me ever since. Don’t get me wrong, there are still times when I really have to ask myself what I’m doing but the Lord is always there to let me know that it’s ok. The Spirit told me that I was doing what I needed to do to take care of my family and that I was where I was supposed to be. The Spirit told me that the Lord knew exactly what my son was going through that that he would be compensated for suffering through this adversity in a way that we can’t imagine right now. He basically told me, “you’re doing what I want you to do, I will take care of the kids.” And he has, it’s been a miracle. My children feel loved and secure-ish and happy and they love Jesus and the gospel. He truly did keep his promise. Just as a side note, a couple of months ago I was really struggling because I work so much and I had a lot of guilt about “what am I doing with my life? I don’t even care about money.” I was really, really having a hard time with it, and that day while driving to work I was listening to the most recent general conference and Elder D. Todd Christofferson said the following: “The Lord has said that ‘all children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age.’ Breadwinning is a consecrated activity. Providing for one’s family, although it generally requires time away from the family, is not inconsistent with fatherhood- it is the essence of being a good father. ‘Work and family are overlapping domains.’ This, or course, does not justify a man who neglects his family for his career or, at the other extreme, one who will not exert himself and is content to shift his responsibility to others.” This was incredible powerful for me, this spoke peace to my heart in a way that I don’t think anything else could have at that time. I had to hear this and even though I believe it was spoken in Priesthood meeting, it was my balm of Gilead and it still calms me and brings me peace months later.

The Lord really illustrates who has all power when he brings up worst case scenarios, death, torture, uncertainty, and “the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee,” it doesn’t get much worse than that, that is the ultimate “oh crap” moment in anyone’s life, I think. If all these things, the Lord’s answer is pretty much “it’s good for you, it will put hair on your chest, it builds character.” The first time I heard “all these things shall give thee experience,” it kind of made me mad a little bit because this is the phrase that people use when they think that you are being a whiny baby about your problems or they are trying to minimize what you are going through. I’ve heard before “well, it will be good for you” or “everything happens for a reason” and I really hate it. Acknowledge the fact that I am suffering or that I am struggling, let me know that my feelings are ok to have, and this is the classic statement of someone who either doesn’t care or who thinks that you are over reacting, and I hate that. But if we look at this statement as one given by the Lord who loves us, there is a calming effect. If he were to say “if you are in peril on the water then don’t worry I will take care of your family through a friend who will look after them,” or “don’t worry you’ll survive this and go home to your family the next day,” that gives lots of specifics and it would give us the opportunity to analyze the outcome and fuss and beg and all that. By being vague in how we will be “taken care of” he gives us the opportunity to trust him and know that he really will work all things out for our good. This reminds me of Abinadi when he is preaching to King Noah and his priests, Abinadi truly wants to live, you can tell by some of the things that he says, but because he’s not sure of the outcome he is able to give his message in the full power of a man who is willing and ready to die for his devotion to the Savior and His gospel. We don’t know the outcome of our “worst care scenarios,” some might be ok, some might end tragically, but in the end the Lord tells us here that He is in control and no other force can overcome what he has decreed will happen. If the Lord has decreed that you will survive whatever situation, then you will survive, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or around you. If the Lord has decreed that you will die at a certain time, then it will be your time to go no matter what happens. This reminds me of a statement I heard in a general conference address that said basically “the Lord has your life on a timeline, you can do certain things to end your life more quickly, but there’s not really much you can do to lengthen it.” And that’s what he’s saying here, and looking back at my own life, it really is true, there have been so many times in my life where I should have died but didn’t, and I think that it’s like that for most people, then you hear of these freak accidents that take lives and you think “there’s no other explanation except that it was their time to go.” The Lord is saying that if you are righteous, you will die when he has appointed you to die, not a moment sooner but nor a moment later either. The IM asks this very question “Was there a time appointed for Joseph Smith to die?” And answers by quoting President Joseph Fielding Smith as saying, “The Lord said that the bounds were set, his enemies could not pass. His days were known to the Lord, and notwithstanding his tribulation and persecution and the hatred of the world, they should not be less. He was, therefore, not to fear what man can do, for through his faithfulness God would be with him for ever and ever. In this was the promise which comforted him, that suffering and the hatred of his enemies were not to shorten his life before the appointed time. There appears in this a foreshadowing of his martyrdom when his work should be finished.” We all have a time to go, and if we are righteous, nothing can change that.

Lastly, there is the concept of the atonement that is covered here and I said before that this is one of my favorite perspectives for it. After the incredibly descriptive and terrifying images he creates of “worst case scenarios” he says “The Son of Man hath descended below them all.” Anything that can ever happen, anything that Satan or hell can dream up, anything that anyone will ever experience, the Lord has felt that and paid the price for it, not only to pay for the sins of the perpetrator but also so that he can truly be the Savior and know exactly how every little thing will affect us. I feel like he has experienced the lives of every single person that will ever live, in all its pain and sin and betrayal, from the richest man to ever live to the poorest little child sold into prostitution, he has experienced everything. This was the first time I truly understood the phrase, “He’s the only one that can ever actually say, “I know exactly what you are going through.” I remember one time when I had a real eye opener to the depth and reality of the atonement was when I was working and I was walking through the ER and there was a patient in a back corner room who was screaming “give me back my daughter!” She was terrified and hysterical, and of course she was a junkie, no one had actually taken her daughter from her, he daughter was actually a grown woman who wasn’t even there in the hospital with her, and so many of my co workers were irritated because she was making so much noise, but I heard her screaming and I knew that even though her fears weren’t based in reality, her pain was still very real for her and I knew that Jesus knew exactly how her individual torment felt at that exact moment and it was really a sad, yet powerful moment for me, because I knew that the Savior loved her enough to suffer with her exactly as she did through her delusions, and he did that, he suffered that so that he could comfort her and compensate her, eventually, for what she felt. It was very powerful and gave me a different perspective into people’s pain, and my own. The IM makes a very powerful statement saying, “The Prophet, both at this time and before his incarceration in Liberty Jail, had suffered greatly at the hands of his enemies. The Savior told the Prophet to be of good cheer, that he understood exactly what Joseph was going through, for He had suffered even more. Such words, at once humbling and full of solace, could have been spoken by no mortal. No one can ever stand before the Savior and suggest that too much is asked. The Master has surpassed any possible suffering we may have to endure.” I just hope and pray that if he’s able to feel our pain and sorrow, that he’s also able to share in our joy and happiness. It’s very powerful to have a moment of happiness and hope that during the atonement, he was able to feel that too.