The following are highlights from a lecture with Kimberly Smith, on The Mormon Renegade Podcast Episode 11:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3c6y5gfH49U8s7pM5Wl6Yj?si=1A4WBluvQYK1ICg59nJOig&utm_source=copy-link (Not that I do not endorse all of the messages on this podcast.)
Joseph Smith in the upper room of the Red Brick Store, revealing the signs parallels Jesus in the upper room before his death, revealing the signs.
Anticipating the Martyrdom:
Joseph said, “If they do not massacre me, I was never a prophet.” He knew the state and mobs would kill him, and he said that.
Joseph said, “If the saints can’t have their rights, then my blood will fall like rain on the ground.”
Joseph was prophesied of anciently. His life and his death were fulfillments of prophecy.
Joseph asked his arrestors their personal opinion, whether he appeared to be the evil man people made him out to be. They said no, but we can’t tell your heart. Joseph said that’s right, you can’t tell my heart, but I can tell yours. Joseph then told them that they thirst for his blood and won’t be satisfied until they have it, and that they would, and have more thereafter than they wish to see.
Every state in the union except for three agreed that if Joseph was killed, no one would go to justice for it. This is from Stephen Markham, a reputable source present at many of these restoration events.
Joseph said to the Council of Fifty that he was a god to this generation. He said the people don’t know who he is.
Joseph said he had to seal his work with his blood, for the testament was of no force without the death of the testator. Testament originally read covenant in the scripture; Joseph was bringing back the Abrahamic covenant.
Joseph was a willing sacrifice next to Jesus.
It’s not just that Joseph would be killed, it’s that he would lay himself down as that sacrifice. Joseph said ‘I am like a lamb going to the slaughter. I am calm as the summer’s morning. I am innocent and it will be said of me he was murdered in cold blood.’
Joseph said he was ready to die. He said (and I paraphrase), ‘when they kill you that’s the end of their power don’t be afraid to die for truth or you’ll lose eternal life. That we will be resurrected and become as Gods while the mobs go to hell. I am willing to sacrifice my life for your preservation.’
Messiah Ben Joseph Prophecy Fulfilled in Joseph Smith Jr.:
Elder McConkie said that any prophecy of the last days is essentially a prophecy of Joseph Smith.
See the book “And His Name Shall be Joseph” by Joseph Fielding McConkie on the Messiah Ben Joseph Jewish legend. Messiah means anointed one. Joseph was anointed king of Israel. The figure of this legend is to be of the seed of Joseph of Egypt.
(Note: Remember 2 Nephi 3, a prophecy of Joseph in Egypt about Joseph Smith Jr., as follows: “11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them. 12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. 13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. 14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise; 15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation. 16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.”)
In a patriarchal blessing of Joseph Smith from his father it was revealed that Joseph of Egypt wept and hoped to see who would bring the people of his posterity together in the last days, and he saw Joseph Smith Jr.
The prophecy of Messiah Ben Joseph is also that he would be of the tribe of Ephraim, and the Doctrine and Covenants tells us Joseph is of the tribe of Ephraim. He is to live on the earth before Messiah Ben David.
Messiah Ben Joseph’s teaching is to cause erroneous things that have crept into Israel to vanish after a period of apostasy. Joseph Smith Jr. comes and corrects things.
The Messiah Ben Joseph prophecy says that Elijah would return during the days of Messiah Ben Joseph, which he did. Elijah came to give keys to Joseph.
The prophecy says he would build a temple in Israel and restore true worship.
Messiah Ben Joseph would be protected by Messiah Ben David, and we have the prophecy of Joseph Smith that he would not die until his work was complete.
Messiah Ben Joseph would die as a martyr.
John Pratt, an LDS astronomer, wrote of how in ancient Israel, there were two sacrifices: one representing Messiah and Judah, and another in the evening representing the last days, Messiah Ben Joseph. Elijah sacrificed the evening bullock which is the bull which represents Joseph with the two horns Ephraim & Manasseh – it was looking forward to the sacrifice of Joseph Smith.
When you mock Joseph Smith, you mock Christ, whose servant he is.
The Book of Daniel & The Miller Prophecy:
Joseph said the kingdom of Daniel was set up, and he was the king over it. He said he would revolutionize the world. We have Daniel’s book as a blueprint for the Latter-Day Kingdom; it is the kingdom spoken of by Daniel that would roll to fill the Earth.
The Book of Daniel pinpoints 1844, the year of the martyrdom, as a prophetic event. William Miller calculated 1844 as the return of Christ, see Dan. 8:14. The prophecy is symbolic, about the sanctuary being cleansed. Days means years in Hebrew (work for 7 days for Rachel translated 7 years, and so it was). John D Nelson reviews this Miller research, showing the starting date, taking it to 1844. Hundreds of Bible scholars around the world agreed that the 1840s would be the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. Miller and others thought the return of Christ would be then, they didn’t know what other event would happen, but they all knew it was an appointed prophetic time. Christ not coming then, it was called “the great disappointment of 1844,” recognized worldwide.
God’s appointed times are always in spring and fall; this is true of church history, too. In 1844, they knew something prophetic had happened, but they didn’t know what. They predicted the very day of martyrdom. June 27, the day of martyrdom, they knew something was happening.
The spilling of Joseph’s blood means the covenant is now in force, the keys are here, we now know where to look. “Thy days are known and thy years shall not be numbered less” Christ tells Joseph in liberty jail, showing the appointed time of Joseph’s death.
One Joseph Smith scholar said that more prophecy was fulfilled in Joseph Smith’s lifetime than had been fulfilled 2000 years prior.
Ancient Jews, Millerites, scripture, and other sources all prophesy of Joseph’s death.
Millerites, now Seventh Day Adventists, now link Daniel’s prophecy to the martyrdom of the two revelation prophets.
See Stoddard’s documentary on the Mystery of the Two Prophets, which links Joseph and Hyrum’s deaths to the two prophets’ deaths in the Book of Revelation. Their deaths were 3.5 years after they called Israel to gather geographically.
D&C 21 says give heed to all Joseph’s words as from God, and the gates of hell won’t prevail against you. This generation would have Christ’s word through Joseph. It is by Joseph that we learn of Christ.
Note: Elder Bruce R. McConkie rightly called Joseph Smith ‘the revealer of Christ.’
