LDS Prophecies and Revelations, Part VIII

            The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints otherwise known as the Mormon Church or LDS Church claims it is led by a Prophet even though most of their Prophets have never actually “prophesied.”  But when Joseph Smith started the LDS Church, he prophesied about a lot of things and many of his prophecies are now LDS scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants.  Previous blogs showed that many of Smith’s prophecies were not fulfilled like he predicted.  On April 6, 1830, the day that the LDS Church was organized, Smith claimed he received a revelation from the Lord which said, “Wherefore, meaning the (LDS) Church, thou shalt give heed unto all his (Smith’s) words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all holiness” (Doctrine and Covenants 21:4-5).  So, LDS are to accept Smith’s word as God’s word!  In April 1830 Smith also said the Lord revealed Doctrine and Covenants 23:2, 3, and 5, in which Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith Sr. were told to “strengthen the (LDS) Church” and “preach the truth” to it and to the world “from henceforth and forever.”  But, Cowdery apostatized from the LDS Church in 1838 and was called a liar by Smith. Was Cowdery preaching the truth of Mormonism then?  And did Cowdery preach Mormonism “from henceforth and forever” even though he apostatized just eight years after Smith’s “revelation”?  Hyrum Smith was killed just before Joseph in Carthage, IL and Joseph Smith Sr. died before Joseph and Hyrum were killed, so none of these men preached the LDS message “from henceforth and forever.”  LDS believe they will preach to the spirits of those who died, so some LDS say that is what these men are doing.  But this text says they were to preach to the Church and the world, not to spirits after death! 

            In Doctrine and Covenants 24:12, dated July 1830, “the LDS Lord” revealed through Joseph Smith that Oliver Cowdery “at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my (LDS) gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night.  And I will give him strength such as is not known among men.”  In verse 10 “the Lord” said through Smith, “Oliver shall continue in bearing my name before the world, and also in the (LDS) Church…And lo, I am with him to the end.”  If Cowdery preached day and night and had “strength such as is not known among men,” nobody recorded it.  Since Cowdery apostatized in 1838, he did not declare the LDS gospel at all times in all places, day and night forever!  He moved to Richmond, MO where he joined the Methodist Church and held an office in it.  He died March 3, 1850 at the age of 43 and was buried by the Methodist minister in Richmond.  Was Oliver preaching the LDS gospel to the LDS Church and the world during his apostasy and was the Lord with him then too?  If not, did Smith’s message really come from the Lord?  

Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon story about Nephites and Lamanites is a sacred history of the ancestors of the American Indians.  So, they have had an interest in the various Indian tribes ever since the Mormon Church began. In Doctrine and Covenants 30:5-6 dated September 1830, “the LDS Lord” spoke through Joseph Smith and said of Oliver Cowdery, “I have given him power to build up my church among the Lamanites” (American Indians).  And in Doctrine and Covenants 32:2-3 dated October 1830 “the Lord” spoke through Joseph Smith about Parley P. Pratt saying, “And that which I have appointed unto him is that he shall go with my servants Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer, Jun. into the wilderness of the Lamanites.”  Verse 3 says “Nothing shall prevail against them.”  Cowdery and others briefly visited some Cattaraugus Indians near Buffalo, NY in 1830, but never established a church among them.  In 1831 Cowdery and others visited the Delaware tribe just west of Missouri and Cowdery spoke to them at least once.  But the Mormons were “ordered out of the Indian country,” so they left without establishing the LDS Church among the Delawares or any other Indian tribe.  If Cowdery was given power to build up the Lord’s (LDS) Church, he certainly didn’t use it!  Something apparently prevailed against them!  (See (History of the Church, vol. I, pp. 182-185). The Bible says that God knows all things (I John 3:20) and cannot lie (Titus 1:2), so did He really reveal these messages to Joseph Smith?

In the Old Testament if someone claimed to be a prophet of God when his message was not from God, the penalty was death (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:20-22).  In spite of those warnings and Jesus’ warnings about false prophets in Matt. 7:15 and 24:11 & 24, numerous false prophets have “prophesied” throughout history.  The Bible says in Titus 1:2 that “God cannot lie.” Hebrews 6:18 says it is “impossible for God to lie.”  In Numbers 23:19 God said through Balaam: “God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent.  Hath He said, and shall He not do it?  Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?”  I Tim. 2:13 also says that God “cannot deny (contradict) Himself.” Since “God knows all things (I John 3:20) He doesn’t make mistakes.  Jesus said of God the Father, “He that sent me is true” (John 7:28; 8:26).  John also said, “No lie is of the truth” (I John 2:21).  The Bible shows that when God said something, it was true and reliable.  And if God said something would happen, it happened!  If God’s word isn’t trustworthy, whose word is?  So, were Joseph Smith’s prophecies in this article from the God of the Bible?