D&C 3 Part 2

Intro Welcome to the Standard of Truth podcast. In this podcast, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat and Dr. Richard LeDuc explore the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the life and teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They examine the original historical sources and provide context for events of the past. They approach the history of the Church with faith, expertise and humor.

Gerrit Hi, welcome to another episode of Search These Commandments, a Standard of Truth podcast production. I'm your host, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, and I'm joined by my friend, Dr. Richard LeDuc.

Richard Hello, Gerrit. In last week's episode, we kept everyone on a cliffhanger relating to Doctrine and Covenants section three.

Gerrit I don't know that the words, cliffhanger about Doctrine and Covenants section three have ever been said out loud before, but they were just said by Richard.

Richard Well, you said something's about to happen on a stagecoach. We don't know what's about to happen to the-

Gerrit It would be great if what I was about to tell you was like someone tried to rob the stagecoach.

Richard Yeah, that'd be awesome. I assume that you did. We don't know what's gonna happen with the pages that Martin Harris wistfully took, skipping his way back to-

Gerrit So none of us have any idea what will happen with the pages.

Richard At the end of this episode, we will.

Gerrit Ah, which is the reason why you're tuning in. Before we get started, I'd like to give a shout out to Ryan at Salem Hills High School, one of the coaches there, who is a listener to the podcast. Got to meet him the other day at my younger son, Titus' Bantam game. I'm pretty sure he came over because he wanted me to stop yelling and then pretended that he listened to the podcast. Actually, I hadn't yelled a single thing, so I did feel better because I hadn't said anything other than, good job Titus, you know, and maybe I said that too loud. Yeah, right. Yeah, I mean, probably. So Ryan came over, you know, and was like, hey, we're going to have to ask you to leave the facility. And then we got to talk and, you know, he's a fan of the podcast. So, Ryan, thanks for listening. And, you know, hopefully my older son will best your team when they play each other in our district play, our region play.

Gerrit Anyway, so, yes, we were we were talking about again, if you haven't listened to part one, stop what you're doing right now and go listen to part one, because otherwise everything I'm about to say will make no sense to you at all. Actually, even if you've listened to part one, everything I'm about to say will likely make no sense to you at all. I like how I condition whether or not what I say makes sense on it's your fault. I mean, that's pretty bad, isn't it? Look, what I'm about to say is so incredible that if you don't understand, it's obviously because you can't deal with it.

Richard I will say, in my class that I teach at the University of Utah, I say that all of the time, where if you think that your sales pitch is so good and they just don't understand your brilliance and the brilliance of your product or service, someone is an idiot in that equation.

Gerrit But it's not your customer?

Richard But it's not your potential customer.

Gerrit Boy, that kind of hits close to home. So for those of you saying, you know what, I feel like Dr. Dirkmaat says things in a way that aren't very easy to follow and I feel like he's really confusing and I don't like the sound of his voice and pretty sure I don't like his hair color and I don't like a lot of things about him. It's really just about me, isn't it?

Richard Yeah, it is.

Gerrit It's not them.

Richard No, it isn't.

Gerrit It's not them.

Richard No, it isn't.

Gerrit Yeah, so it's the opposite. It's not you, it's me. Always.

Richard It almost always is.

Gerrit Well, so we last left you, Joseph is taking a stage coach up to find out what happened to the pages. And while he's on his way up there, we last talked about just how hard this was. He already knew that he was under divine displeasure because he had pestered the Lord about allowing Martin Harris to take the pages. And now he's worried about the fact that he's no longer in the good graces of God, in part because the plates have been taken away from him by the angel. Most of the time when the angel has appeared to him, it's been a good thing. Here the angel has appeared to him to tell him not, hey, your sins are forgiven you, but hey, give me the plates because you're not doing what you're supposed to do. I can't imagine where he's at. And then of course, on top of that, the devastating experience of losing his first born son.

Gerrit And then Emma, he's got in the back of his mind this anxiety, is Emma going to be OK? How am I even going to know if Emma's going to be OK? So as he rides this stage, he's about to get off the stage. He's got this one fellow traveler on there who, as we talked about, doesn't want to talk. As he gets off, he says, I don't know, absent-mindedly, I still have another 20 miles to travel by foot. Because he's getting off the closest stage route to where, I mean, Palmyra isn't exactly Buffalo. So the stage isn't going right to Palmyra. So he says, I've got another 20 miles to go on foot. And the stranger, this person who's been riding with him in the stage, objected saying, I have watched you since you first entered the stage. And I know that you have not slept nor eaten since you commenced your journey. And you shall not go on foot 20 miles alone this night.

Gerrit For if you must go, I will be your company. Now tell me what it can be the trouble which makes you so desperate and weighs you down, down your spirits to such an extent that you refuse every proffered comfort and convenience. Joseph told the gentleman that he'd left his wife in so low a state of health, that he had reason to fear that he would not find her alive when he returned. And also that he'd buried his first and only child a few days previous to leaving home. This explanation was given in truth and sincerity. Although there was heavy trouble laying at his heart that he did not dare mention. I feel, said the kind stranger, to sympathize with you. And I will go with you, for I fear that your constitution, which is evidently not strong, will not support you, and you will be in danger of falling asleep in the forest and some accident befall you.

Gerrit Joseph thanked him and they proceeded together. When they arrived at our house, it was nearly daylight, four miles of distance. The stranger was under the necessity of leading Joseph by the arm, for nature was too much exhausted to support him any longer, and he would fall asleep as he stood on his feet as often as once in a few minutes. When they came in, the stranger said, I have brought your son through the forest because he insisted on coming, but he is sick and wants rest and refreshment. He ought to have some pepper immediately to warm his stomach. Again, notice this folklorish idea that the reason why he's sick is his body has become too cold. So what do you do? Cayenne pepper.

Richard Yeah, that'll do it.

Gerrit Yeah. I mean, if they only had Takis back then in a package form.

Richard Yeah, that'll do it.

Gerrit Yeah. I mean, if they only had Takis back then in a package form.

Richard Yeah, that'd be good. That would be good. I think that, so no one in India ever got sick then.

Gerrit Well, you can also get sick if you're too hot.

Richard I see. Oh, okay. So the subcontinent does warm up.

Gerrit There's a problem there, right? So they would have had a problem being too hot.

Richard I see. So maybe parts of California and Hawaii, perfect.

Gerrit Well, everyone living in California is saying, yeah, I already know it's perfect to live in California. It's funny, you don't ever get emails from people from California saying like, no, it isn't great to live here. They're always like, stay out. We know what we have. Stop telling people how great San Diego is. But so they go get, to tell them to go get some peppers to warm his stomach. And after you've prepared that, I will thank you for a little breakfast as I am in haste to begin my journey again. When the first direction was complied with, Joseph requested us to send with all possible speed for Martin Harris. We did so, and the stranger left, whose name we never knew. This is a fascinating story, actually. Joseph, if you recall, hasn't been sleeping at all before he got on the stage. At least, Lucy says that Joseph's barely sleeping an hour at a time over the night because he's so anxious with grief and with fear that Emma might pass away.

Gerrit So he's essentially sitting up next to her bed for two weeks at a time. So he is already completely, physically, mentally exhausted. And then he rides a 24-hour stage straight through, refusing to sleep on it. And there just so happens to be a man on that stage who is willing to take him 20 miles walking out of his way, walking through the night to get Joseph to his house by the time the dawn comes.

Richard And that man's name was Dirkmaat.

Gerrit No, it wasn't. We don't know who it was. It wouldn't surprise me if it happened to be one of the three Nephites that was, I mean...

Richard It's entirely possible, and also, if it wasn't, what a cat.

Gerrit I don't know what the reward for that guy in heaven is, but if you...

Richard Worlds without number.

Gerrit Yeah, if you even give so much as a cup of cold water to my servants, I mean, whosoever compelled you to go with a mile, go with an twain, this guy walked 20 miles through the night in the wrong direction because Joseph was so exhausted he could hardly walk. And even as they were standing there talking, would fall asleep on his feet because he was so exhausted. It's a pretty powerful story, but it also shows you just how, just how much stress Joseph is under. He has all kinds of family problems with these personal problems. His problems with the fact that his son has just passed away. He knows he's under some divine displeasure because the plates have been taken away, and for some reason, Martin Harris has not brought the pages back. Well, as Lucy continues, she said, we prepared breakfast, and as soon as we could conveniently, for Martin Harris always came in such haste when we sent for him, that we supposed that he would be there ready to take breakfast with us before we could even be ready to eat.

Gerrit So apparently, when Martin Harris gets a dinner appointment, I mean, he's apparently like my teenage kids who don't have any ability to hear me yelling for them, unless I'm yelling, I have Panda Express. For summary, if you say the words, I have Panda Express, the earways are opened in a miracle, and they suddenly come running. I could say, hey guys, come on, nothing. Hey, everyone, come on, nothing. Guys, I got Panda Express. And it's like the reverse of what happens when you turn the lights on for a cockroach. I mean, just the scurrying and the running. So kids, they can hear, they just, they hear when they want to, basically. Right? So apparently, Martin Harris normally, whenever they said, hey, Joseph's here, come to breakfast, Martin was Johnny on the spot.

Gerrit And it was now near six o'clock and he lived three miles distant. At eight o'clock, we set the food on the table as we were looking for him every moment. We waited until nine and he had not come. Okay. So they're ready to eat at six. They put the food out at eight. Nine o'clock comes. Now you got to figure if you're another Smith in the household, you're like, all right, Martin Harris, I'm mad at you first because where are the pages? And second of all, my gruel is now cold.

Richard Samuel Smith's not even mad about the pages.

Gerrit You got to know William is like, look, Martin, you could lose the pages, but I can't lose fresh hotcakes. I can't lose that. There's no microwave, Martin. There won't be a microwave for another 100 years.

Richard I mean, we'll get the correct research staff on it. We'll find out exactly where the microwave was.

Gerrit Well, the microwave is discovered and used long before it's in commercial.

Richard We'll look for commercial use.

Gerrit Yeah, commercial and one that people could afford, not the like $10,000 walk-in.

Richard Formal, commercial microwave.

Gerrit Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we'll get our crack research staff on that because that has a lot to do with the gospel. So then it gets until 9 o'clock, still not there. And then 10 o'clock, he is still not there. 11 o'clock, he's not there. He did not make his appearance until half past 12. They've been waiting for almost six hours for him to come. I cannot imagine the tension, the anger, frankly, the hunger, that's in the room, as they are all sitting there waiting for him. Because you got to think, with every passing minute, Joseph's anxiety gets worse. Martin never doesn't come immediately.

Gerrit And now, he's six hours late for the breakfast appointment that they had. At half past 12, we saw him walking with a slow and measured tread toward the house. His eyes were fixed thoughtfully upon the ground. When he came to the gate, he did not open it. But he got on the fence and sat for some time with his hat drawn over his eyes. Okay, at this point, they're looking out the window. If you've ever gone to Palmyra, they have the actual frame home, not a recreation, the actual home that the Smiths lived in during this time. Can you imagine looking out that window? You've been waiting for six hours, six and a half hours, and you see Martin Harris finally, slowly come walking up the lane. He gets to the gate and sits down.

Gerrit It's crazy that no one goes out and like, I mean, at this point, you'd expect Joseph to walk out, punch him right in the mouth, and then just walk back in and eat his cold mush. Whatever it was.

Richard By the way, 1975 was when it was really more common in the American home. So 1960s and 70s is really when it was commercialized, but not till really 1975.

Gerrit The only rich people had them then, and they were the size of this studio, which isn't a studio, it's a bedroom.

Richard Right, so roughly 147 years after this event in July.

Gerrit I feel like it would have taken a lot of the edge off if everyone knew there was a microwave.

Richard Yeah, it's like, all right, all right, I'm gonna nuke it, but six and a half hours, we can all agree, it's ridiculous.

Gerrit Yeah, I mean, some of us have friends who are a little bit loose on time. I have a good friend, Andrew, who will tell you that he's 10 minutes away when he hasn't even left where he is that's an hour and a half away from you.

Richard Right, he hasn't headed to the airport to fly back from New York.

Gerrit Yeah, he's in Texas and says, I'm 10 minutes away, but what he means is, from thinking about getting in a car to drive to the airport to eventually catch the flight, to eventually come home, see you in 10 minutes.

Richard I will tell you, so I am super type A about this, as it should be, no surprise to anyone. If you are not 15 minutes early, you are late. And my kids know all too well. I am the meme of the father that goes to the airport at three in the morning for a 4 p.m. flight.

Gerrit Yeah, well, so I am as well. Richard and I share this. To me, the most ridiculous thing in the world is running through an airport.

Richard Like Home Alone style.

Gerrit Yeah, not because your flight was canceled or there were thunderstorms, but because you wanted to watch that last episode of Lego Master Builders before we got in the car and headed to the airport. It's fine to be two hours early and just sit there on your phone because guess what those kids are gonna be doing anyway at home sitting there on their phone. So there's literally no difference. Why don't we just drive there and sit there on our phone since that's what the plan is going to be for the rest of the evening anyway. So imagine the tension in this home. Joseph is looking out the window. They can see Martin Harris sitting there. And instead of coming in, he's got his hat pulled down over his eyes. At last he entered the house. After we sat down and were ready to commence eating, Martin, with the rest of us, took up his knife and fork as if he was going to use them, but dropped them from his hands.

Gerrit Hiram, so apparently no one has said anything yet.

Richard He's just getting to the biscuits.

Intro Yeah.

Gerrit Look.

Richard Hey Martin, come on in. Have a seat.

Gerrit Look.

Richard Hey Martin, come on in. Have a seat.

Gerrit Martin, I imagine that he tied a napkin around his neck.

Richard Yeah, he's got some sort of like a crab bib that he's got with little pouches at the bottom to catch the falling-

Gerrit He ties the bib on. But Hiram appears to be the first person to actually break this. The tension must be straight through. I mean-

Richard You could cut it with a knife. That would be insane.

Gerrit Obviously, you know that Joseph is still hoping, and I think that's the reason why no one's saying anything, is what if there isn't anything wrong with the pages? Joseph doesn't want to go full Pahoran on this. You know, with Captain Moroni.

Richard We go full Moroni.

Gerrit Yeah, with Captain Moroni writing to Pahoran, like, is this why you sit upon your throat and you're thoughtless stupor, while we're out here dying and you're just living it up? You know, I mean, Joseph has to be thinking that a little bit, right? Like, maybe there's some other problem. Maybe his wife told him she's going to divorce him. You know, it doesn't have to be that the pages are gone. Maybe he showed them to people he wasn't supposed to. And that's why he's so embarrassed and upset.

Richard Yeah, maybe he did.

Gerrit Well, he did, but, spoiler alert, yes, he did. But the first person to say words to him, because, look, first of all, Lucy Smith must be a saint, because she should have already had words with him, like, hey, Martin, it took me two hours to make this breakfast, and you're six and a half hours late for it, right? She could have said that, but she's being very kind. Hyrum's the first person to say something to him, and he says, Martin, why do you not eat? Are you sick? Because he picked up his knife and fork, you know, tied the lobster bib on, and then just dropped him next to him. Martin pressed his hands upon his temples, and he cried out in a tone of anguish. Oh, I have lost my soul. I have lost my soul. Joseph, who had smothered his fears until now, sprang up from the table, exclaiming, Oh, Martin, have you lost the manuscript?

Gerrit Have you broken your oath and brought down condemnation upon my head as well as your own? Yes, replied Martin, it is gone. I know not where. Oh, my God, my God, said Joseph, clenching his hands together. All is lost. What shall I do? I've sinned. It is me that tempted the wrath of God by asking him that which I had no right to ask. As I was instructed by the angel. And he wept and groaned, walking the floor continually. And at last he told Martin to go back to his house and search again. No, said Mr. Harris, it is all in vain. I have looked in every place in the house. I've ripped open the beds and pillows. I know it is not there. Then must I, said Joseph, return to my wife? With such a tale as this, I dare not to do it lest it should kill her at once.

Gerrit And how shall I appear before the Lord? Of what rebuke am I not worthy from the angel of the most high? I'd besought him not to mourn so that it might be that the Lord would forgive him after a short season of humiliation and repentance on his part. This is Lucy Smith, sorry, speaking to him. But what could I say to comfort him when he saw the family all in the same state of mind that he was in? Sobs and groans and the most bitter lamentations filled the house. Joseph, in particular, was more distressed than the rest, for he knew definitely, and by sorrowful experience, the consequence of what would seem to others to be a very trifling neglect of duty. He continued, tracing back. She writes Walking Back, and then crosses it out in her original manuscript. Tracing back and forwards, weeping and grieving like a tender infant until about sunset.

Gerrit We persuaded him to take a little nourishment, and the next morning he went home. Now think about this. Martin Harris gets in that house finally sometime around one or whatever, and for the rest of the day, the whole family is sobbing and weeping and crying. Joseph's response, have you brought condemnation upon me as well as yourself? And Martin Harris, yes. We think of Joseph Smith often. We think of him as either the 14-year-old in the Grove or the Lieutenant General of the Nauvoo Legion standing in front of the Nauvoo Temple. Joseph is either the young boy desperate with a single question or he's the great prophet of the Restoration ready to take on all comers who have questions and will eventually give his life for the work.

Gerrit What we often forget is that Joseph Smith doesn't know the things that you and I know. You and I know the nature of the plan of salvation. We know it because Joseph Smith will eventually reveal it. You and I know that the relationship we have is with our Heavenly Father as a father to a son because Joseph revealed it. You and I know just how forgiving your Heavenly Father is because of the revelations Joseph Smith would eventually receive. But Joseph doesn't know those things yet. Joseph has been raised in a Christian community that believes the moment you have given offense to God, the judgments are coming.

Gerrit And unlike someone who was uninitiated or uneducated in the ways of God, Joseph had seen and talked to God in Jesus. Joseph had seen an angel on a half a dozen plus occasions. And Joseph had lost this work that the angel told him was essential for the Second Coming of Christ. And we all know that there's a happy story. That's part of the problem with studying history and putting yourself in the minds of the people that are living it, is you already know the end of the story. The loss of the 116 pages, we say loss, but really they're stolen, the stolen 116 pages. For us, we almost breeze over it, because we already know that God had prepared away. But Joseph has no idea that God prepared away.

Gerrit We don't put too much thought in the fact that Joseph believes he's going to be condemned to hell forever, first of all, because we now know that forever hell doesn't even exist. We know that God is so loving, we know that he's so forgiving, that we don't put ourselves in the anguish of mind that the Smith family had, that Martin Harris had, that Joseph had. Because our understanding of our Heavenly Father is totally different than the Christian world they grew up in. What did they know? They knew they made a covenant with God and that they broke that covenant. And the Bible and Christian history doesn't have good things to say about people who break covenants with God. So as Joseph makes his way back the next morning, he likely believes that he's condemned to hell forever.

Gerrit He's not only lost his child, he's not only lost his manuscript, he's not only lost the plates, he's not only lost his feeling that he's right with God, eternally, he is likely damned. And why would he think anything other than that? Why do you think they're moaning and crying for the rest of the day? Why did Joseph in his first reaction say, have you brought condemnation upon? Joseph didn't say, man, we spent months on that, now we got to redo it? Joseph doesn't say that. His response is, we are now condemned. We're condemned. And Joseph makes his way back to tell Emma, who wrote most of this as he dictated it, it's gone. It's all gone. She, this is actually what Lucy Smith writes.

Gerrit She says, it was with heavy hearts when he left, for it seemed as though all of our fond anticipations, which we had fed upon and which had been the source of so much secret gratification to all of us, was in the moment fled and fled forever. It's like the entire Smith family believes at this point, it's over. This is no more of the angel coming and saying, hey, shucks, Joseph, you're just not right with God. It's it. We're condemned by God and we are destined for hell. And this is what Lucy Smith says that Joseph told her about what happened next. He said, I returned home immediately after I left you. And after I arrived here, I commenced humbling myself in mighty prayer before the Lord. And as I poured out my soul in supplication to him, that if possible, that I might obtain mercy at his hands and be forgiven of all that I had done, which was contrary to his will.

Gerrit Joseph comes back, tells Emma, obviously, it's a horrible reunion in that regard, and really believes he's condemned. And we've mentioned this before. We don't have an indication of this, but given the Christian world that Joseph lived in, given the belief that so many people had, that horrible things that happened to you were always a sign of God's displeasure. I mean, it's hard not to think that part of Joseph or Emma had the thought crossed their mind, maybe God let our baby die, because we broke the covenants with God.

Richard Well, this is the sentiment today that people have. We've received so many emails, heartbroken, from people that have said, not quite to that extent, but they take some blame on something that's just absolutely terrible. I can't imagine, given all of those circumstances, then also thinking that possibly he had something to do because of the vengeance of God for what he's done.

Gerrit I think anyone who loses a loved one in any unexpected or unexplained circumstance does at some point start to try to blame themselves, saying if only I had done X, then this wouldn't have happened. Or why didn't I do Y, and that would have stopped this. Or I should have known X. And in the desperation of grief that comes when unexpected sorrow hits you, we often flail about trying to find anything that will explain the unexplainable. And all too often our flailing about, we have nothing to rested on except ourselves. That's the only thing that I can tangibly say, this is my fault. That's why this happened. And sometimes, it will get to that point where, if only I was more righteous, if only I had prayed harder, if only I had gone to the temple ten more times, then this wouldn't have happened.

Gerrit And Joseph Smith, I hopefully, one of the things you take away from Doctrine and Covenants section three, especially this back story, is that Joseph Smith, the prophet of the restoration, had a horrific, horrible thing happen in his family and in his life. And that's not the end of their grief. That's not the only baby they bury. Because Emma will become pregnant with twins when they move to Ohio, and those two babies will be born and both of them will die at birth. And then they'll adopt the Murdoch twins, and one of them will die only a few months later. If you are Joseph and Emma, by the time you've been married four years, you'll have had five babies in your home.

Gerrit Four of them will have died. I mean, that is a very difficult thing to comprehend. Not just, oh, there's some trials that you're going to have too, Joseph, but horrific, heart-rending sorrow, the loss of children over and over and over again. So, Joseph, that's why I say that I feel like this July 1828 really is the lowest that Joseph ever gets. Because while Joseph pleads to the Lord in Liberty Jail, he doesn't plead to the Lord because he believes that he's lost his soul. He doesn't believe that he is under God's condemnation. His question is, God, why are you letting these wonderful saints suffer so much? When is the suffering going to stop?

Gerrit But in July of 1828, Joseph doesn't know any of the revelations yet because he hasn't received them yet. He doesn't know that God will explain how the righteous are taken care of when they die. He doesn't know even what the Book of Mormon has to say about the righteous who die and the wicked who die because he hasn't translated the part of the Book of Mormon that we have yet. He walks out to pray to God, and this is what Lucy Smith says happened, As I was doing this, an angel stood before me and answered me, saying that I had sinned, in that I delivered the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man, and that as he had ventured to become responsible for this man's faithfulness, he would have necessity suffer the consequences of his indiscretion. That he must now give the plates back into the hands of the angel from whom he had received them.

Gerrit But he said, It may be that if you are sufficiently humble and penitent that you will receive them again. Soon after this, I received a revelation from the Lord. That revelation, that first recorded revelation and this dispensation of the fullness of times is Doctrine and Covenants Section 3. Joseph who is in misery, Joseph who's in agony, who believes the work is destroyed, his soul is destroyed, his happiness is destroyed. These are the first words that are spoken in that revelation. The works and designs and purposes of God cannot be frustrated. Neither can they come to naught. If you drop down to verse 3, remember, remember that it's not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men.

Gerrit So part of what's going on in Joseph's mind is, oh no, because of what I've done, the Book of Mormon is never going to come forth. I've destroyed the work of the Lord. The Lord reminding him, the work of God can't actually be frustrated. Men, for sure, they're going to fail you. Men fail you all the time. You don't have to live very long in this world to figure out that men fail you. But God isn't going to fail you. And the Lord tells him, for although a man have many revelations and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength and sets it not the councils of God and falls after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him. Behold, you've been entrusted with these things. But how strict were your commandments?

Gerrit And also remember the promises which were made to you if you did not transgress them. And behold, how often you have transgressed the commandments and laws of God. And have gone on in the persuasions of men. For behold, you should not have feared man more than God. Although men said it not, the councils of God despise his words, you should have been faithful. And he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary. And he would have been with you in every time of trouble. So, part of what Joseph is being educated here, as the Lord speaks to him in this first recorded revelation, is this all happened because in your mind, Joseph, you loved Martin Harris and you wanted to make him happy. And you knew the will of the Lord was to not give him the pages, but you pushed on in wanting to make him happy.

Gerrit You sat there and you thought there is no possible way, penniless me, with no means, with no family income, could possibly publish the Book of Mormon to the world. All you could think about was how the world would not make any of this possible. And because that's what you thought, you made this horrible choice. Joseph's early sins in not being able to get the plates were based upon the same thing. That all he could think about was, if I take a leaf of these plates, my family will never have to worry about money again. And here he is confronted with it again. That while he certainly knows that God exists, while he certainly has faith in Jesus, there's no question of whether or not Joseph believes in the unseen world. He sees it all the time.

Gerrit Even that knowledge that God exists, that Jesus is real, that angels are helping him, isn't enough to make Joseph give up the concerns of the world when it comes to how will this book be published. And because he gave in to that, because he thought, if I lose Martin, I've lost everything. Not only have I lost a friend, I've lost the ability to do what God wants me to do. God here has to remind him, hey, this isn't you just sitting down to write a novel with some friends. The fact that Martin's no longer going to be able to pub it for you. You are doing the work of God. And the Lord tells him, verse 9, thou art Joseph, and thou was chosen to do the work of the Lord.

Gerrit So how are you going to have these things work out? Well, because I'm God, and I told you they're going to work out, then they're going to work out. Now, that might seem pretty harsh in the state that Joseph sinned. But then verse 10 is the balm of Gilead to all of the people right now listening who are like, you don't understand. I've sinned so much, I can never come back. Even if I repent, God will never love me the same way that he loved me before. Verse 10 of Doctrine and Covenants, section three should be one of the most powerful verses you ever read this year. Remember, God is merciful. Therefore, repent of that which thou hast done, which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work.

Gerrit The Lord extends that arm of forgiveness, even though Joseph made a covenant and he broke it, even though Joseph repeatedly refused to listen, even though Joseph was worried about what Martin would think more than what God would think, even though this terrible calamity has taken place when it comes to the translation, the Lord tells him, remember God is merciful. You are still chosen. So for those of you who are listening, who feel like you have sinned, and there is no way back, maybe you have broken covenants that you made with God. Maybe you despise yourself. Maybe you think God could never love me again. God in verse 10 says, if you repent, you are still chosen.

Gerrit That way is always open for all of us. Now, it will go on to, it will go on to provide more council to Joseph, so he doesn't make the same mistake. But verse 16, the Lord explains, My work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come into the world through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of the Savior come into my people, and to the Nephites and the Jacobites and the Josephites and the Zoramites through the testimony of their fathers. It goes on to say that these plates were preserved, this is verse 19, which contain these records, that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his people, and that the Lamanites may come to the knowledge of their fathers, that they might know the promises of the Lord, that they may believe the gospel and rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be glorified through faith in his name.

Gerrit And that through their repentance, they might be saved. The great long back story I gave to Doctrine and Covenant, section three, is also that you can understand how powerful this revelation must have been to Joseph. And we know what the response was for Joseph, because they don't see him for a long time. In fact, this is what Lucy Smith says. Imagine, their son leaves in this horrible, horrible state. This is what she says, they finally go down to visit him. We never heard from our unfortunate son until two months after. When being uneasy as to the consequences of his distress of mind, we went down to Harmony to make him a visit. When we came within three quarters of a mile of the house, Joseph started off to meet us, telling his wife that father and mother were coming, although we could not see us, so he had inspiration of it.

Gerrit And he met us with a countenance blazing with delight. And it was very evident that his joy did not arise wholly from seeing us. He said very little concerning this subject of his trouble until the evening. And then he related what had taken place since he was in New York with minute precision, telling them how he received this revelation. That the work was going to still go forward, that he could still be forgiven of his sins, and that God's work was not frustrated. I love the story of Doctrine and Covenants, section three, because I think it's very relatable to all of us. So as you study it, as you ponder it, as you think about it, allow the Holy Spirit to work in you, to create a better relationship with your Savior and with your Heavenly Father, eliminating the sins that are keeping you from them, eliminating the cares of the world, which weigh on all of us, so that you can be closer to your Father in heaven.

Gerrit Thank you so much for listening.

Intro Thank you for listening to the Standard of Truth podcast, hosted by historian Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat and Dr. Richard LeDuc. If you know of anybody that could benefit from the material in this episode, please share it with them. Until next time.

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