The Prophecy on War

In the well-known revelation on war, D&C 87, Joseph prophesied in 1832 that wars would soon come to pass in the United States “beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina.”  Looking back we can easily understand that this was the rebellion that started the Civil War and the prophecy, at least in verse 1-3, certainly came to pass.  I didn’t realize, though, that there was another rebellion of South Carolina that was likely what the Saints and Joseph initially believed the revelation was about.  According to the article on lds.org entitled Peace and War, what was on Joseph’s mind at the time he received the revelation was the “nullification crisis” in which South Carolina pitted itself against the Federal Government.  It seemed for a time that war was going to break out and that’s what this revelation seemed to be prophesying.  But through a compromise between President Jackson and the crisis was averted and things went more or less back to normal.  As the writer of this article said, “Joseph Smith loved peace and welcomed compromise, and he looked forward to the return of the Prince of Peace and His peaceful millennial reign. But the dire predictions contained in the prophecy on war, tied as they were to contemporary events, must have puzzled Joseph.”  The prophecy was not fulfilled while Joseph was alive, but it was fulfilled 30 years later. 

                This passage of scripture and the history around it reminds us of the Lord’s words to Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”  The Lord works in His own way and it may seem sometimes hard to understand given our limited perspective.  Only at the end of our lives will we understand the bigger picture and why things happen as they do.  There are many valid questions that we might ask about the Church’s history, the doctrines of the gospel, and the events in our own lives.  Sometimes we have to answer difficult questions like Nephi, “I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”  Even prophets may not have all of the answers to questions—that’s why the first principle of the gospel is faith.  Faith will always be needed no matter how advanced our society becomes.  There will always be some unanswered questions, and that’s why the Lord requires that we develop faith in order.  Certainly with such a dire prediction about war, those who first heard the revelation contained in D&C 87 must have needed to strengthen their faith as they wondered when it would be fulfilled.  Likewise for us we study the prophecies and wait for those events to happen which we know must precede the Second Coming.  And, as for the people who originally knew about D&C 87, we probably will be wrong about the actual fulfillment of those prophecies, looking back to admit that what happened was “contrary to that which [we] supposed” (Moroni 1:4).