“To Seal the Testimony”
Lesson 32
– D&C 135; Our
Heritage pgs. 62-66
Martyrs in the scriptures include John the Baptist, Abinadi,
Zacharias, and Stephen. They were all martyred because of their commitment to
the truth. Today’s lesson reviews the latter-day martyrdom of the brothers,
Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
In Nauvoo, at least for a few years, the Saints prospered as
the Church grew rapidly, the Saints labored on the temple, and the heavens were
opened with numerous revelations being given to the Prophet Joseph Smith for
the benefit of the Church. But
animosity grew and during 1843-44, the opposition to the Church grew more
intense and violent. Enemies arose both outside and inside the Church and their
efforts to destroy the Church increased.
The climax came on 27 June 1844.
(Special report on pages 62-63, “The Martyrdom” in Our Heritage)
D&C 135:4-5.
D&C 135 was written by Elder John Taylor, who was wounded in the
mob’s attack on Carthage Jail and the Prophet.
The Prophet was reported to be as “calm as a summer’s
morning” even though he knew that he might be slain at Carthage. He and Hyrum might have received comfort
from Ether 12:36-38.
D&C 135:1-2 tells us the bare facts about the martyrdom. Elder Willard Richards, a member of the
Quorum of the Twelve and a close friend of the Prophet, was present at the jail
during the mob’s attack and gave this account, which begins as the mob arrived
just after 5:00pm on 27 June 1844: “A shower of musket balls
were thrown up the stairway against the door of the prison in the second story,
followed by many rapid footsteps…A ball was sent through the door, which passed
between us, and showed that our enemies were desperados… Joseph Smith, Mr.
Taylor, and myself sprang back to the front part of the room, and…Hyrum Smith
retreated two-thirds across the chamber directly in front of and facing the
door. A ball was sent through the
door which hit Hyrum on the side of his nose, when he fell backwards, extended
at length, without moving his feet.
From the holes in his [clothing], it appears evident that a ball must
have been thrown from without, through the window, which entered his back on
the right side, and passing through, lodged against his watch…At the same
instant the ball from the door entered his nose. As he struck the floor, he exclaimed emphatically, “I am a dead
man.” Joseph looked towards him and
responded, ‘Oh, dear brother Hyrum!’ and opening the door two or three inches
with his left hand, discharged one barrel of a six shooter (pistol) at random
in the entry…A ball [from a musket of one of the mob] grazed Hyrum’s breast,
and entering his throat passed into his head, while other muskets were aimed at
him and some balls hit him. Joseph
continued snapping his revolver round the casing of the door into the space as
before…, while Mr. Taylor with a walking stick stood by his side and knocked
down the bayonets and muskets which were constantly discharged through the
doorway…When the revolver failed, we had no more firearms, and expected an
immediate rush of the mob, and the doorway full of muskets, half way in the
room, and no hope but instant death from within. Mr. Taylor rushed into the window, which is some fifteen or
twenty feet from the ground. When his
body was nearly on balance, a ball from the door within entered his leg, and a
ball from without struck his watch…in his vest pocket near the left breast, …
the force of which ball threw him back on the floor, and he rolled under the
bed which stood by his side… Joseph
attempted, a the last resort, to leap [from] the same window from whence Mr.
Taylor fell, when two balls pierced him from the door, and one entered his
right breast from without, and he fell outward, exclaiming, ‘Oh Lord, my God!’
… He fell on his left side a dead man” (History of the Church, 6:619-20).
Elder John Taylor was shot four times but recovered from his
wounds. A year before the martyrdom,
the Prophet had accurately prophesied that Elder Willard Richards would escape
unharmed. Elder Richards recalled that
in this prophecy, the prophet had said that “the time would come that the balls would fly
around him like hail, and he should see his friends fall on the right and on
the left, but that there should not be a hole in his garment” (History of the Church, 6:619).
Before the Prophet’s father, Joseph Smith, Sr. died, he gave
his son a blessing: “You shall live to finish your work…You shall live to lay out the plan
of all the work which God has given you to do” (History
of Joseph Smith, ed. Preston Nibley [1958], 309-10)
(Class members may wish to express what most impressed you
about the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr.)
The Prophet Joseph Smith did more for the salvation of men in this world than anyone except Jesus
D&C 135:3 records some of the Prophet’s major
achievements. He did “more save Jesus
for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in
it”, because his work blessed not only the Saints in this dispensation, but
also billions who lived at other times who were unable to receive the gospel
blessings. We will appreciate his contributions more if we think of how much
they bless our daily lives and prepare us for eternity:
·
Truths about the Godhead
D&C 130:22-23. In the King Follett sermon given 7 April 1844, the Prophet taught: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible,—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form of man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, and talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 345)
·
The authority of the priesthood
Through the prophet Joseph Smith, heavenly messengers restored the Aaronic Priesthood, the Melchizedek Priesthood, and the keys of the priesthood. Then, the Lord gave revelations about priesthood offices, organization, covenants, ordinances, duties, and blessings. Without those revelations, we would not understand the priesthood power or its operations.
·
Truths about our origin and our relationship to God
D&C 76:23-24; Abraham 3:22-28 teach that we are literally children of God and that we lived with him before we came to this earth as mortals. Think about how this knowledge affects your daily life.
·
Scriptures
While serving in the Quorum of the
Twelve, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley said: “[Joseph Smith] translated and published the Book of
Mormon, a volume of 522 pages which has since been retranslated into [many]
languages and which is accepted by millions across the earth as the word of
God. The revelations he received and
other writings he produced are likewise scripture to these millions. The total in book pages constitutes the
equivalent of almost the entire Old Testament of the Bible, and it came through
one man in the space of a few years” (Ensign, May 1977, 65)
·
Truths about the plan of salvation
Lessons 19 and 20 provided information in detail about what the Prophet revealed about the plan of salvation.
·
Truths about the salvation of the dead
The Prophet taught that those who
died without an opportunity to receive gospel ordinances and covenants would
have an opportunity to accept or reject these ordinances and blessings just as
if they had had the opportunity in this life.
He also taught that we need our dead and they need us for the whole
human family to be joined together as the Father intended. See D&C 128:18.
·
The building of temples and the performance of temple
ordinances
The receipt of endowments and the sealing of families together forever were revealed through Joseph so that we might enjoy the blessings of eternal families.
·
Other contributions included:
The Church was restored through
him
He began the gathering of Israel
and the missionary work to spread the gospel throughout the earth
The Law of Consecration, a
celestial principle, was revealed through him
The Lord’s law of health, the Word
of Wisdom, was revealed through him
We learned about the future
building of latter-day Zion and the New Jerusalem through him
He wrote the Articles of Faith
---
President
Spencer W. Kimball asked: “How many of you know the Articles of Faith?…Do you know them? Have you repeated them? You are always
prepared with a sermon when you know the Articles of Faith. And they are basic,
aren’t they? I would think it would be a wonderful thing if [we] would learn
them word-perfect. That means that you
don’t miss and you don’t forget” (Ensign, Nov. 1975,
79)
Lessons may
be found on the Internet at www.neumanninstitute.org