1 The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name,and fools shall have thee in derision,and hell shall rage against thee;shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessingsconstantly from under thy hand.(D&C 1221-2)
This was a promise given to Joseph Smith
when he was in Liberty Jail. I think it actually describes a cycle
that still continues today and is part of the various ways that missionary work
happens.
First, rumors about Joseph Smith from
whatever source fly around.
Second, those who haven’t heard about him begin to ask questions about
him. They learn about him from
different sources--hopefully more good than bad--and they make a decision about
what they think. And at that point
they are divided into three groups.
Some show themselves to be children of
hell by raging against him. Some
who think it is all foolishness show themselves to be fools by deriding
him. Those who recognize he is a
prophet show themselves to be pure, wise, noble, and virtuous by seeking
counsel, blessings, and authority from him (or in these times, through the
church he helped restore).
At this point, all three parties, by
judging Joseph Smith, have judged themselves…and even separated themselves into
three degrees. And then each of
these groups tell others what they think about Joseph Smith and if they talk to
people who haven’t heard of him before, that next group will begin to inquire
after Joseph Smith too. Thus the
cycle begins all over again.
0 comments:
Post a Comment