Lesson 13: "This Generation Shall Have My Word Through You"

7/30/2019 Lesson 13: "This Generation Shall Have My Word Through You"

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To download past handouts, go to: highlandvalleysundayschoolnotes2012.blogspot.com

#1 From the Encyclopedia Judaica Jr. weread: “...According to the Talmud, the Mes-

siah will be a descendant of the house of David and will be preceded by a secondaryMessiah from the house of Joseph. Whenthe Chief Rabbi, Avraham Hakohen Kook,was appointed in Palestine in the 1920’s, hewas asked if the Jews could now build thetemple (destroyed since year 70 A.D.). Hisresponse was that the priestly rights weregone and referred to the great 12th century

Rabbi Moses Maimonides. Maimonides said,in effect, ‘we are waiting for a Messiah BenJoseph, to him will be given the keys to thegathering of Israel, He will restore templeworship.” (http://www.nephiproject.com/library.htm )

#2 Speaking about Joseph Smith,Elder LeGrand Richards of the Quo-rum of the Twelve said, “As far asour records show, he has given usmore revealed truth than any

prophet who has ever lived upon the face of the earth” (CR, April 1981)

#3 “…Joseph [Smith] has been instrumentalin bringing us more holy writ than Abraham,Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, John, Paul, Nephi,Mormon, and Moroni put together.” (George A Horton, Jr., Ensign , Jan. 1993)

#4 Brigham Young: “Joseph Smith, theProphet of the last days, had a happy facultyof reducing the things of heaven to the ca-pacity of persons of common understanding,often in a single sentence throwing a floodof light into the gloom of ages. He hadpower to draw the spirits of the people wholistened to him to his standard, where they

communed with heavenly objects and heavenly principles, connecting the heavenly an

the earthly together —in one blending floodof heavenly intelligence. When the mind isthus lit up with the spirit of revelation, it isclearly discerned that the heavens and theearth are in close proximity —that time andeternity are one.” (Journal of Discourses, 9:310)

#5 Because of space limitations, the Scriptures Publications Committee used the fol-

lowing guidelines to determine what to in-clude:1. Selections must be doctrinally significan2. Selections must contribute something n

readily apparent in the other standardworks

3. Priority should be given to passages thaclarify the mission of Jesus Christ, the nture of God, the nature of man, the Abr

hamic covenant, the priesthood, the antiquity of the gospel, and the latter-dayrestoration.

Excerpts 8 lines or shorter were placed infootnotes. Longer sections were printed inthe Appendix. And the two large sectionsthat were already included in the Pearl of Great Price were left there (Moses 2-8 and JS-M)(Robert J. Matthews, Ensign , 6/92, p. 29).

#6 Robert J. Matthews: “Most of the revelations dealing with doctrinal subjects [fouin the Doctrine and Covenants] were re-vealed to Joseph Smith…from June 1830 toJuly 1833, which was exactly the time he

http://www.nephiproject.com/library.htm




was working on the Bible translation. While theProphet was engaged in such a concentratedstudy of the scriptures, it was natural for him toask questions and ponder on various subjects,inquire of the Lord, and receive divine revelationin answer to his inquiry.” (“A Plainer Translation,” BYU

Press, quoted in Ensign , 1/86, p. 42)

“The Joseph Smith Translation is not just a bet-ter Bible; it was a channel, or the means, of doctrinal restoration in the infancy of this

#8 “The Influence and circulation of newspa-pers is great beyond anything known in EuropIn truth, nine-tenths of the population read

nothing else. Every village, nay almost everyhamlet, had its press. Newspapers penetrate tevery crevice of the nation.” (Tocqueville, Democra

in America , p. 168, quoted in LDH p. 72)

Church.” (Robert J. Matthews in The Capstone of our Re

ion: Insights into the Doctrine and Covenants , p. 64, quotemanual, p. 73)

A writer in the New York Sun of 4 September 1843 stated: ‘This Joe Smith must be set down as an extraordinary character, a proph

hero, as Carlyle might call him. He is one of the great men of this age, and in future history will rank with those who, in one way oranother, have stamped their impress strongly on society’” (History of the Church,6:3).

“In a book entitled Joseph Smith, An American Prophet, we read the following, written by John Henry Evans: “This man became maof the biggest town in Illinois and the state’s most prominent citizen, the commander of the largest body of trained soldiers in the n

tion outside the Federal army, the founder of cities and of a university. … “He wrote a book [the Book of Mormon] which has baffled the literary critics for a hundred years and which is today more widely rethan any other volume save the Bible. On the threshold of an organizing age he established the most nearly perfect social mechanisn the modern world, and developed a religious philosophy that challenges anything of the kind in history, for completeness and cohsion. And he set up the machinery for an economic system that would take the brood of Fears out of the heart of man —the fear of want through sickness, old age, unemployment, and poverty” (New York: MacMillan, 1946, p. 4)

"It is by no means improbable that some future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something lthis: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destiny of his countrymeAnd it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. Anthe reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now living, may be an obvious commonplace to their descendants."– From Figures of the Past, by Josiah Quincy, former mayor of Boston (1926 ed., p 317)

"Let anyone, even a literary genius, after forty years of life, try to write a companion volume to the Book of Mormon, and then almo

daily for a number of years give out `revelations' that internally harmonize one with another at the same time formulate a system odoctrine for a Church, introduce many new principles, resuscitate extinct priesthoods, and formulate a system of Church governmenwhich has no superior upon earth... to deny such a man a wonderful power over the human heart and intellect is absurd. Only f anaprejudice can ignore it. However he may be accounted for by the reasoning mind, Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, was one of twonders of his time."– George Wharton James, quoted by Alvin R. Dyer, in Conference Report, October 1959, p 21

"The Mormon people teach the American religion; their principles teach the people not only of Heaven and its attendant glories, buthow to live so that their social and economic relations with each other are placed on a sound basis. If the people follow the teachingof this Church, nothing can stop their progress--it will be limitless. There have been great movements started in the past but they hdied or been modified before they reached maturity. If Mormonism is able to endure, unmodified, until it reaches the third and fourtgenerations, it is destined to become the greatest power the world has ever known."– Count Leo Tolstoi, quoted in A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, p 435 –36

"Whatever his lapses, Smith was an authentic religious genius, unique in our national history...I also do not find it possible to doubt

that Joseph Smith was an authentic prophet. Where in all of American history can we find his match? . . . In proportion to his importance and his complexity, [Joseph Smith] remains the least-studied personage, of an undiminished vitality, in our entire nationalsaga.""– Harold Bloom, The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992), p 82, 95

"Joseph's teachings provide solutions for most, if not all, of the genuine problems and contradictions of the Bible with which scholarhave wrestled for generations."– Heikki Raisanen, Finnish theologian, quoted in Edwin O. Haroldsen, Good and Evil Spoken Of, unpublished article (quoted in PowerfulTruths).

[After calculating that church membership would be 265 million by the year 2080:] "We are observing an extraordinarily rare event.After a hiatus [or break] of fourteen hundred years, in our time a new world faith seems to be stirring."– Rodney Stark, "Modernization and Mormon Growth: The Secularization Thesis Revisited," Contemporary Mormonism: Social Science Persptives, eds. Marie Cornwall, Tim B. Heaton, and Lawrence A. Young [Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois, 1994], pp 13, 22

Other thoughts too great not to include:



Newsletter 38R. Merle Fowler


The Messiah Ben Joseph: A Comparison to the Latter-Day Prophet

The Old Testament, Apocryphal Jewish/Christian Documents and the Messiah Ben JosephFrom ancient to modern Judaism comes the story of a coming prophet that has penetrated Jewish culturet relates to the legendary history of this future leader set apart by God. Many of these legends and beliefs provnsight into what is expected as it recounts events that many Jews anticipate before the coming of their MessiFrom the Encyclopedia Judaica we read:

“…According to the Talmud, the Messiah will be a descendant of the house of David and willbe preceded by a secondary Messiah from the house of Joseph. When the Chief Rabbi, Avra-ham Hakohen Kook, was appointed in Palestine in the 1920’s, he was asked if the Jews couldnow build the temple (destroyed since year 70 A.D.). His response was that the priestly rightswere gone and referred to the great 12 th century Rabbi Moses Maimonides. Maimonides said,in effect, ‘we are waiting for a Messiah Ben Joseph, to him will be given the keys to the gath-

ering of Israel, He will restore temple worship.” 2

The legend of the Messiah Ben Joseph didn’t stop there. We can site many examples that indicate numerJewish and other sources that believe there will be this famous forerunner of the Messiah Ben David. Consider following:

Both Jews and Christians used a sacred book of scripture that is no longer contained in our latter-day BiThe apocryphal Hebrew Book of Enoch , also known as Third Enoch , mentions a “last days” prophet who is to bevolved with events mentioned by Enoch in our own Book of Moses (Moses 7:67). In the apocryphal writings, whare of very early Christian origin but were used widely by earlier Jewish scribes; Enoch mentions this future propby name. He calls him the Messiah Ben Joseph, Messiah means “anointed one” 3 and Ben is defined as “son In this book, once used as scripture by the ancients, Enoch sees a vision of the end times where he describes t

following:

“I saw Messiah, son of Joseph, and his generation and their works and their doing that theywill do against the nations of the world…” 4

Biblical scholar Hugo Odeberg was the person who translated this work. He wrote about this future propwhere he said that:

“...the end of the course of the present world is marked by the appearance of Messiah benJoseph and Messiah ben David, in whose times there will be wars between Israel and ‘Gog andMagog’; the final consummation will then, so it seems, be brought about by the Holy One Him-self.” 5

In our present day Old Testament , we read in Deut. 33:17 the story of the unicorn or ox which uses its hoto gather in the elect. The Hebrew Book of Enoch describes this ox as a symbol of a future man who would be uas an instrument in the hands of God who would gather his other “cattle.” Enoch narrates a vision he had this way

“And I saw that a white bull was born, with large horns, and all the beasts of the field andbirds of the air feared him and made petition to him continually. And I saw till all their kindswere transformed, and they all became white cattle. And the foremost among them was thebuffalo, and that buffalo was a great animal, and had great black horns on its head. And theLord of the sheep rejoiced over them, and over all of the cattle.” 6






The Symbolism of the Oxen/Bull and the Messiah Ben Joseph All interpreters agree on the translation of the rich symbolism. The white bull represents the David Mess

The buffalo (wild ox) relates to Deut. 33:13-17. The great horns are symbolic of the bullock used to push Israel gether. This is the “emblem of Messiah ben Joseph” according to the Jewish Encyclopedia.7

One of the great Jewish professors of the Old Testament, Dr. Charles Torrey, wrote concerning this futprophet as it relates to the before mentioned apocryphal Book of Enoch and the scripture out of the Old TestameHe says:

“It thus seems assured, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the ‘great animal’ of Enoch 90:38,destined to appear in the very last days, is the Messiah ben Joseph. It is not by accident thatthe words with which he is introduced, ‘and the foremost among them (the cattle) was thebuffalo,’ repeat the beginning of Deut.33: 17: ‘The firstling of the herd . . . his horns are thehorns of the wild-ox.’ The author of Enoch, who knew the Jewish tradition, intended by his

‘buffalo’ the divine-human scion of Joseph’s house. With the buffalo, yet above him, stood thewhite bull, the Anointed One of David’s line; ‘and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over themboth.’” 8

The Rich Imagery of the Name Joseph from Jewish and Samaritan TraditionsIt is important to note that the ancient Jewish tradition attached importance to names. Names had m

than just a single meaning. They tell a story. The narrative of Joseph of Old is rich in symbolism as it related to time and the future Messiah who was to atone for the sins of the world. But, as we learn from the Book of Mormthe writings of the Old Testament Prophet Joseph, handed down to the later Nephites, foretells the story of a futJoseph whose life would be patterned after Joseph of old.9 Why did the ancient prophet name this future propafter himself?

Ancient Jewish tradition helps answer that. The etymology of the name Joseph is usually defined as “the Laddeth” or “increaser.” When Rachel named her son Joseph, it was translated in the Hebrew as “Asaph” whmeans, “he who gathers,” “he who causes to return” or “God gathereth.” The idea of a future Messiah ben Josewas also known among other ancient Old Testament prophets. Like Enoch, Jewish scholars have concluded tJeremiah was talking about this future prophet in his writings.

In Jeremiah 30:21 we read: “And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed frthe midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engag

his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.” Edward G. King, the professor who translated The Yalkut on Zecriah wrote concerning this passage “Certainly we could not blame any Jew who should see in these words a Messben Joseph.” 10 Dr. King reminds us that this passage is to be fulfilled in the last days. How do we understand thiight of the Jewish tradition of a Messiah ben Joseph?

Jewish Interpretation of the Deep Meanings of Jeremiah’s PropheciesIf you read Jeremiah 30 and 31, you will discover that the ancient prophet was speaking about the latter-

restoration of Israel. These chapters were written to be read together. Jews consider these sections the BookConsolation because of the comfort they give to Israel when, at that time, the prospects of Israel as it relatedtheir nation and culture were at the lowest. These chapters tell of the future Israel that would return to their laand former greatness - with prophets guiding them as the nation renders their Kingdom to God. Many thought would happen around 605 B.C., after the Babylonian captivity and later the emancipation of the Jews by Cyrus (5B.C).But the earlier scriptures make it clear that Ephraim, who was given the birthright, would do this and would be themoving force behind this future gathering. Ephraim is described as the “watchmen upon the mount,” the tribe desnated to lift a warning voice to gather Israel where they would declare the word of the Lord. After Ephraim’s fall(around 605 B.C.), they would be given the opportunity to repent where they are given the principles of salvationThe latter-day Ephraimites would be fulfilling the promise of restoring the ancient truths and “a new covenant” witthe Lord.12 This prophecy manifests the work of Joseph Smith as it relates to the restored gospel and the covenathat involve part of the restoration process. Indeed, Joseph Smith was an Ephraimite.13



We should remind you that it was a common practice for the Jews to write about the coming Messiah as it relatedhis early ministry and the Messiah Ben Joseph. These scriptures are known as the “suffering servant” passages.These deal with the triumphant king who would free them from bondage. But the scriptures that brought them costernation were those that dealt with the Savior’s rejection: his being despised, bruised and afflicted. The future liberator would be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter.” 14 These scriptural references were difficult to deny becausethey obviously talk about a future personage who would atone for the sins of Israel - a Messiah. The Jews were inscriptural quagmire. How did they get around this? They got around it by reading into the passage that there wertwo Messiahs - one suffering and one that is the triumphant king.15

Jewish Tradition of the “Two Messiahs” as it relates to a Future Joseph and the Gathering of Israel Jewish scholar Solomon Zeitlin puts it bluntly: “According to a Talmudic statement the Jews believed in two Messi-ahs, one of the tribe of Joseph, or rather who was an Ephraimite, and the other a scion of David.” 16 They simplycreated two Messiahs! One who would atone for the sins of the world, the other who would be the coming Elias17

title often given to a forerunner who was to open the new dispensation before the returning Messiah ben David. TElias of modern times was not to be the one who would atone for sins, but rather open the way for the receiving othe Savior.

It was this conviction, gleaned from the ancient Jewish writings, that the future Messiah ben Joseph wascome at the same time of the returning of Elijah. One tradition centers around Elijah restoring Messiah ben Josepife where he would join the flight of others into the desert. He would be there until he joins the Messiah, who wbegin His redemptive work.18 Joseph’s role would be in bringing the destruction of the kingdoms of wickedness. Tgoes back to the original blessings given by Jacob to his sons. In fact, Ginzberg reminds us that Jacob is contrasthis sons to animals, going back to the archetype of relating them to certain characteristics as they associated wtheir future calling. Jacob “called Benjamin a wolf, Judah a lion, and Joseph a bull.” The purpose of this was to:

“...point to the three kingdoms known as wolf, lion and bull, and the doom of which was andwill be sealed by the descendants of his three sons: Babylon, the kingdom of the lion, fellthrough the hands of Daniel of the tribe of Judah: Media, the wolf, found its master in Ben-

jamite Mordecai; and the bull Joseph will subdue the horned beast, the kingdom of wicked-ness, before the Messianic time.” 19

We should remind you that the ancient Jewish tradition of the Messiah ben Joseph’s role centers around one majofocal point: the latter-day gathering of Israel. He is to be the one that is set apart to restore true temple worship,return Judah to Palestine, rebuild the city of Jerusalem as it relates to building that temple in that city and bring topass the return of the lost 10 tribes. All of this is destined to happen before the coming of Messiah Ben David. 20 TJews believe that the Messiah Ben Joseph is always linked to the latter-day work of Elijah - who is also a forerunnof the Messiah. Elijah is “. . . charged with the mission of ordering the coming time aright and restoring the tribes Jacob.” 21 It is the belief of the Jews that when Elijah comes, he will rectify “...all matters of law and Biblical interptation…” during which he will be involved with the correction of “... all genealogical records.”

The Messiah Ben Joseph, the Role of Elijah and the Ephraimite Connection

This work is linked to establishing peace and turning the hearts of the children to the fathers.

22

It is “. . . Elijah’schief activity . . . [that] will [assist] in restoring the purity of the family.” 23 The return of Elijah was to be about thetime of the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood as well as the rediscovery of the breastplate of the Urim andThummim. Elijah’s return was also to happen, according to Dr. Klausner, during the time of the sacred washing ananointing. All of this would occur when the rebuilding of the new temple of Israel would be expected.24 This actuahappened in the latter-days. At the dedication of the new temple, Elijah did return on that very day when the tradtional Jewish people celebrate Passover. This was on April 3, 1836, the exact interval of the fifteenth day of Nissanthe Hebrew calendar!25

Many Jewish scriptures like to link the ancient Jewish prophet with the future Messiah ben Joseph. In the Old Tesment , Joseph’s mother, Rachel, prophecies about her son’s progeny and believed “. . . that Joseph would be the a



cestor of the (Ephraimite) Messiah, who would arise at the end of days,” 26 where he would appear as the Messiahben Joseph. 27

The Most Renowned Jewish Scholar and His Research on the Messiah Ben JosephSo pervasive were these ancient beliefs among the Jews that one of the foremost modern day Old Testament schoars of all time devoted much of his adult life studying the legend of the Messiah ben Joseph. He is considered onethe greatest authorities on the old Jewish tradition.28 Dr. Joseph Klausner was a professor of Hebrew and Old Test

ment at the University of Hebrew in Jerusalem. He is the author of many widely read books. One of his most signicant writings was the classic The Messianic Idea in Israel .29

So important was this theme of the Messiah ben Joseph in Jewish history that he devoted an entire chapter to it inthis study.30 His motive was interesting. When researching the subject, there was something that bothered Dr.Klausner. He found that, indeed, the tradition of the coming latter-day Joseph was “ . . . so thoroughly establishedamong Jewish scholars . . . ” but, to his surprise “... there was no reference to it in the Hebrew scriptures,” writesOld Testament Professor Emeritus W. Cleon Skousen. Dr. Skousen says, “The Talmud, Midrash, and the Targum arefer to [the tradition], but these, of course, are merely commentaries rather the scripture itself.” 31 What makes teven more intriguing to Dr. Klausner was that the Messiah ben Joseph’s tradition is “. . . more zealous . . .” amongthe Samaritans “. . .than the Jews in keeping alive. . .” the prediction of the future prophet.

The Samaritans were from the tiny remnant that was successful in escaping the siege of the Assyrians in 7B.C. They stayed behind while much of the rest of Israel was carried off to Mesopotamia. Dr. Skousen remindsthat this ancient Messiah tradition “. . . goes back to a period which was long before the Talmud.” 32 According tsummary compiled by Dr. Klausner, the zealousness of the Samaritans preserving this ancient belief can be summup this way:

1. The Samaritans said that the future Messiah ben Joseph would be a descendant of Joseph through Eraim. He notes that they sometimes refer to him as a “son of Ephraim.”

2. That he would be called Teal, meaning “...the restorer,” “he who restores,” or “he who causes to turn.”

3. Their belief was that he would call the people to repentance while bringing back better days for Israe

4. The ancient Samaritans said that this future Joseph would “...restore everywhere the true Law toformer validity and convert all peoples, especially the Jews, to the Samaritan (Ephraimite) religion.” 33

This tradition has gone even further than what others have said about this future prophet. Wilhelm Boushas discovered that he will additionally initiate the restoration of the lost ten tribes to their own lands.34

In further verification of the Samaritan tradition concerning the Messiah ben Joseph, the fourteecentury Rabbi Abisha ben Pinhas wrote this poetic commentary regarding the future life and achievements of tong anticipated “restorer” they called the Taeb:

When he is born in peaceHis majesty shall shine forth in the heavens and the earth,

When the Taheb grow up, his righteousness shall be revealed.The Lord shall call him and teach him his laws.He shall give him a new scripture and clothe him with prophecy.35

One of the more interesting insights Dr. Klausner confirms centers around this future Joseph who is adjoined withthe prophecy of Ezekiel 37 and the tribes of Joseph and Judah.36 As mentioned, it was also Dr. Klausner’s belief tthe prophet Elijah would also appear in the days of the Restorer, ben Joseph.37 So entrenched is this Jewish and Smaritan tradition that Dr. Klausner’s doctoral dissertation for Heidelberg University contained reference after refer-ence about the anticipated prophet. The university published it in 1904.



More Scholars Verify the Future Role of a “Joseph” in Restoring Ancient Doctrines Other Jewish scholars have also written concerning this future latter-day prophet. Dr. Julius Hille Greenst

says that this future restorer

“...will include the adjustment of all matters of law and Biblical interpretation, the correction of all genealogical records which become confused in the course of time, the slaying of Samuel,the Satan, the prime mover of all evil, and the performance of seven miracles. He will espe-cially be instrumental in bringing Israel too genuine repentance and in establishing peace

among all classes, and turning the hearts of the fathers and children to each other.” 38

Other Jewish historians have said that the Messiah Ben Joseph would be responsible for the gathering of the Indian the Americas. As already mentioned in a previous chapter in this study, Jewish-Dutch Rabbi Manasseh proposed(in 1644!) such a theory when he interviewed Jewish explorer Antonio De Montezionos (Aaron Levi). De Montezion-Levi had just returned from extensive travels in the Peruvian Andes where he learned that the “natives . . . recitethe Shema’ [and] who said that they were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and who observed the Jewisfaith.” 39 Professor Manasseh ascertained that these might be remnants of the lost ten tribes. Rabbi Hillel Silver, aftresearching Manasseh’s observations, wrote that “In the approaching restoration these ‘sons from afar’ (Isaiah 43are to be gathered ‘from the islands of the sea’ (i.e. West, Isaiah 11:1) . . . ” 40 This is exactly what members of thLatter-day Saint church believe as it relates to the natives and their ancestors living in the Western Hemisphere.

The idea of the Messiah ben Joseph’s involvement with the gathering of Israel crops up over and over againthroughout Jewish history. In old rabbinical circles the concept in which Deuteronomy 33:17 was interpreted, asmentioned earlier, was applying to the coming Messiah and the future “Elias”. Dr. Klausner verifies this passage asthe descendent of Joseph of old who would “push” Israel together “from the ends of the earth.” 41 It is interestingthat many early LDS church leaders look at this passage as having to do with Joseph Smith’s calling in the latter-day.42

The Death of the Messiah Ben JosephThe death of the Messiah ben Joseph centers on a martyr’s demise. The ancient Jewish baraithot of Zechariah 12:mentions that his death will be caused by one being “pierced.” 43 The ancients remind us that there will be no aton

value to his death.44

It is the belief of the Latter-day Saints that Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of men, save it bthe exception of the Savior, in the last days, than any other man.45 It so happens that those that believe in the ancient tradition of the future Messiah ben Joseph also think that he would be more important than any other figuresave it be Messiah ben David.46

In ancient times, the name Joseph in the Hebrew means “he that gathereth . . . ” or “ . . . God gathereth . ” His brother’s name was Hyrum which means “ . . . he exalteth his brother . . . ” The prophecy had been fulfilleright down to his death engendered by Joseph being “pierced.” 47 Is Joseph Smith the long awaited Messiah ben Joseph predicted by the ancients? Perhaps. If he is not, he certainly comes close.

With the prophecy of the Messiah ben Joseph looming throughout Jewish thought, it will be our next task tdefine the role of the latter-day prophet and the part he played in fulfilling prophecy as seen by ancient and modeday visionaries. Let us now turn to those few who actually “saw” the hand of divine intervention in preparing the wfor the restoration of primitive Christianity.

Note that most of these scholars of which you are about to read have no idea of Joseph Smith and his history.2 Encyclopedia Judaica Jr. In another section of the Encyclopedia we read “According to the Talmud, the Messiah will be a descendant othe House of David and will be preceded by a secondary Messiah, from the House of Joseph…” See also footnote 7 in this chaptefor more on the Messiah ben Joseph from Jewish sources. 3Joseph Smith was indeed anointed to his calling. D&C 124:57.



4Hebrew Book of Enoch 45:5.Hugo Odeberg, trans., 3 Enoch or the Hebrew Book of Enoch (reprinted New York: KTAV Publishing House, 1973) pg. 144.

6R.H. Charles The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament , 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977) 2:260.7The Jewish Encyclopedia , 12 vols. (New York: Funk and Wagnall’s Company, 1904) 8:512. 8Charles Torrey, “The Messiah Son of Ephraim,” Journal of Biblical Literature 66 (1947) pp. 266-268.92 Nephi 3:6-7; JST Genesis 50.

0Edward G. King, trans., The Yalkut on Zechariah (Cambridge, England, Bell and Co., 1882) pg. 87.1 Jeremiah 31:19

2

Jeremiah 31:33

3D&C 113:6. 4Isaiah 53:7. Many thanks to Joseph Fielding McConkie for bringing this to my attention.5Charles Torrey, ibid., pg. 253. Torrey, writes “The doctrine of two Messiahs hold an important lace in Jewish [thought which is]

more widely attested than is now generally recognized. It is not a theory imperfectly formulated or only temporarily held, but a stadard article of faith, early and firmly established and universally accepted.”

6Solomon Zeitlin, “The Essenes and Messianic Expectations,” Jewish Quarterly Review No. 45 (1954): pg. 107.

7 John 1:21. 8Louis Ginzberg; The Legend of the Jews , 7 Vols (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1911) 6: 340.9Ginzberg, ibid Vol. 2:147.

20Ibid. Vol. 4: 233.

21Ibid. 22

Julius Greenstone, The Messiah Idea in Jewish History (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America,1906) pg. 320.23 Joseph Klausner, Die Messianishe Vorstellungen des juedischen Volkes im Zeitalter der Tannaiten (Berlin: Verlag M. Poppelhauer, 1904) pg61, 115-119. This is Dr. Klausner’s PhD thesis.

24Ginzber, op. cit., Vol. 6, pg. 339.

25See chapter 42 “The Hebrew Calendar, Jewish Theology and the Restoration” in this study.26Raphael Patai The Messiah Texts (New York: Avon Book, 1979) pg. 165. See also Ginzberg, op. cit., Vol. 5: 299.

27Ginzberg, Vol. 2: pg. 7 28 In fact, his biographer wrote this about Dr. Klausner: “He was a phenomenal scholar. His erudition in Jewish and non-Jewish ctures staggers the imagination. One wonders how one human being could have mastered such vast knowledge in one lifetime.” KlSimcha, Joseph Klausner (Thomas Yoseloff, 1970) pg. 11.29 Joseph Klausner, The Messianic Idea in Israel (Macmillan Company, N.Y., 1955).

0Ibid. Part III, Chapter 9.

1 W. Cleon Skousen, Hidden Treasures of the Book of Mormon ; op. cit., vol. I, Introduction.2Ibid. 3Klausner, ibid. pg. 484, 487, 493.4Bousset-Gressmann, Die Religion des Judentums, 3rd Edition, 1926, pg. 224-225

5Matthew Black; The Scrolls and Christian Origins (New York: Charles Scribner’s & Sons, 1961) pg. 159. 6Klausner, op. cit., pg. 495.7Ibid. pg. 498.

8Greenstone, op. cit.; pgs. 95-96. 9 Abba Hillel Silver, Messianic Speculation in Israel (Boston Press, 1927) pg. 191.

40Ibid.

41Klausner, op. cit., pg. 487. See also Mowinckel, Sigmund, He That Cometh (N.Y.: Abingdon Press, 1954) pg. 290.

42 Journal of Discourses, Vol. 23, pgs. 184-185.

43George Foot Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of the Tannaim, Vol. II (Cambridge: Harvard U. Press,1966) p. 370. 44Ibid. pg. 483.

45D&C 135:3.

46Klasuner, op. cit. pg. 501. 47From notes an the Old Testament lecture summarized from Professor W. Cleon Skousen.





D&C LESSON 13 OUTLINE

On the board:-Picture of Joseph-”What I have received from the Lord, I have received by Joseph Smith”

Brigham Young

Physical nature of the Godhead Premortal existenceOur creation in God’s image Baptism for the deadApostles & prophets ResurrectionMelchizedek Priesthood Eternal marriageAaronic Priesthood The three kingdoms of gloryMode of baptism Our potential to become like Heavenly FatherThe gift of the Holy Ghost Temple worship…

~How is Brigham’s statement true for you? ~Think about your testimony —those things you know to be true. Can you trac

their origin back to the Prophet Joseph? (For example: those who have atestimony of prayer, who restored the knowledge of what kind of being we pray to? And His involvement in our lives? What did Christianity believe about the nature of God before Joseph?~And what about temples? Prior to Joseph, what did the Jews and

other Christian religions understand about the purpose of temples?

Quotation #1How right he was!

D&C 5:10Our manual points out that “this generation” refers to “this dispensation”. So anotheway to put it could be: “The people on the earth in the latter-days shall have myword through you, Joseph.”

Today we’ll be talking about what words of God we have specifically received througthe Prophet Joseph Smith.

Quotation #’s 2 & 3 (have one person read)

Brigham Young described Joseph’s gift of bringing heavenly things to earthly under-standing:

Quotation #4



~What was the first of Heavenly Father’s “words” that Joseph Smith broughtto light in our dispensation? (the Book of Mormon)

2 Nephi 3:11-12This prophecy was also contained in the Old Testament,

But was removed at one point. We know it as the JST of Genesis 50.

So the Lord says here that He will raise up a seer to bring forth His words.~What other of Joseph’s gifts is mentioned here? (convincing men of the truth

of the bible they already have!)

~What “words” of Heavenly Father came next through Joseph? (the JosephSmith Translation of the Bible)

The Book of Mormon was mostly translated and published in 1829. The next threeyears — 1830-33 — he translated the bible, beginning with the Old Testament.

Moses 1:40-4140: ~Where do we find these things Moses was commanded to write? (the firs

five books of the Bible)41: ~What percentage of people today do you think have read the books of

Moses? (not many)~So is the prophecy that men would “esteem [God’s] words as naught”,

true in our day?~Who was raised up “like unto” Moses in our day? (Joseph Smith) ~Did Joseph have scribes to help him with the JST, like he did the Book of

Mormon? (yes: Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, Sidney Rigdon, EmmSmith, Frederick G. Williams)

~Did Joseph finish the translation? (no, he continued to revise and edit unhis death)

~Was this translation process similar to the Book of Mormon, using ancientexts? (no, he used the KJV and revelation)

Some interesting facts:-the JST manuscript is 467 pages.

-On Old Testament book in the JST is omitted. Anyone know which? (the Songof Solomon. The manuscript states that the Song of Solomon are “not in-spired”)

~Is all of the JST included in our scriptures? (no. of about 3,500 changes, just700 or so passages are included)

Robert J. Matthews said, “While there were several reasons why the entire text of thJST was ot incorporated in the 1979 LDS edition of the Bible, unreliability of the JSTtext was not one of them.” (Ensign, Jun3 1992)



Quotation #5

So we’ve covered the Book of Mormon, and the JST.~What came next from the Lord through His Prophet? (the D&C)

Quotation #6

Okay, we’ve covered (and I use that word loosely!) the Book of Mormon, the JST, anthe D&C. What came next through Joseph? (the Pearl of Great Price)

~What are the four parts of the Pearl of Great Price?-The Book of Moses (translated from the Old Testament Genesis in 1830-3-The Book of Abraham (translated from papyri between 1835 and 1842)-Joseph Smith History (written beginning in 1838)-The Articles of Faith (written in 1842)

These were all individual writings and revelations, not connected. How they came to

be published together in one volume is an interesting story. First, we have to under-stand the significance of newspapers in America in the mid-19th century. Alexis deTocqueville, a contemporary of Joseph Smith, reporting on his travels in America forhis European readers wrote this:

Quotation #8In those days, newspapers didn’t even attempt to appear neutral. They were writtento reflect the views of the editor and the intended readers. They would even feudwith each other, and they could certainly stir up mobs and riots. For these reasons, was very important for the church to have its own press, to defend the doctrines of the gospel and teach them to the saints. In Independence, Missouri, they had The Evening and Morning Star; in Nauvoo, The Times and Seasons.

Early sections of our Pearl of Great Price were printed individually by the Missouripress in 1832-33, or 10 years later by the Nauvoo press. Just as the tales of SherlocHolmes and Charles Dickens were published in installments in periodicals, JosephSmith’s history was. The Book of Abraham, as we have it, also was published in threnstallments, and more of that translation was planned to be published, but mob vio

ence derailed that plan. Parts of the Book of Moses were published here and there.

It wasn’t until 1851 (7 years after the Prophet’s death) that these “miscellaneous” writings were compiled into one body, The Pearl of Great Price, similar to the way ittoday.

~Who thought of the name Pearl of Great Price ?~And who thought to put these revelations together? (not BY, or even the Firs

Presidency! It was a mission president by the name of Elder Franklin D.



Richards.)

By the year 1851 there were 31,000 members of the Church in Great Britain —twicewhat there were in all of North America, and 2/3 of those had been members for foyears or less! They had never had access to those revelations published in the earlychurch periodicals. So Elder Richards, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve an

president of the British Mission, put them together, titled it The Pearl of Great Price ,and distributed it among the British saints. (see James R. Clark, “The Story of the Pearl of Great Price”,

quoted in Ensign, Jan. 1986) It included what we have today, plus some selections from theD&C, and a poem entitled “Truth”.

In 1878 Elder Orson Pratt, the church historian, edited and rearranged the Pearl of Great Price. And in the October Conference of 1880, it was accepted as scripture anbecame part of the standard works.

Time to conclude:

A couple of thoughts from Brigham Young. He said:“I never saw any one, until I met Joseph Smith, who could tell me anything about tcharacter, personality and dwelling-place of God, or anything satisfactory about an-gels, or the relationship of man to his Maker. Yet I was as diligent as any man need be to try and find out these things” (DBY, 458).

He also said:“It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earthwere laid, that he, Joseph Smith, should be the man, in the last dispensation of thisworld, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of thekeys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eyes uponhim, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitorsclear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, anfrom Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated

from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was fore-ordained in eternity to presidover this last dispensation (DBY, 108).

I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ lives, and that Joseph Smith is Hisprophet...