Great Like Unto Moses

When I was in the MTC we would sometimes have the opportunity to have phone conversations with people who had some interest in the Church. I have a vague recollection of an Elder who talked with a lady about Joseph Smith, and she was unconvinced that he was a prophet. She exclaimed something to the effect of, “He was no Moses!” I remember that we laughed about that as missionaries, and I think about her statement when I read these words from Joseph, son of Jacob: “And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work. And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel” (2 Nephi 3:8-9). Contrary to what this lady said on the phone, Joseph Smith was indeed a modern-day Moses and a prophet just like the great lawgiver of old. On April 3, 1836 Moses appeared to the Prophet Joseph in the Kirtland Temple connected their missions: “After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:11). Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and to the promised land; Joseph was given the keys to gather scattered Israel back together again.

               I see a few other important ways that Joseph Smith and Moses were similar. First, they both were called to bring forth the word of God to the Lord’s people. Moses received the law from Jehovah on Mount Sinai, and he gave us more of the Old Testament than any other prophet (the first five books of Moses). Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, giving us hundreds of pages of the word of God. The Lord said this: “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” (2 Nephi 3:11). The announcement of his martyrdom puts it this way: “He has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3). We are so blessed to have the word of God given to us through the Prophet Joseph, just like Moses revealed the word to the children of Israel in his day.

               Both Joseph and Moses accomplished the work that God gave them, and they were both powerful witnesses of the Savior. Before comparing Joseph to Moses, the Lord said this: “And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work” (2 Nephi 3:8). The missions of Moses and Joseph were different, but both of these great prophets accomplished what the Lord asked of them. Moses was told by God: “And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all” (Moses 1:6). He fulfilled that work to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt and reveal to them the law of God, and ultimately for both prophets their role was to bear witness of the Only Begotten.  Moses foretold of “a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deuteronomy 18:15). This of course was the Savior, and Moses not only prophesied of the coming of the mortal Messiah but he sought to prepare His people to enter into the presence of the Lord in his day. Joseph Smith was a witness his whole life of the Savior. He declared in summary, “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24). Joseph spent his life testifying of Jesus Christ and he gave his life to seal that testimony with his blood. He was indeed great like unto Moses, and on this day 220 years since his birth I give thanks to God for “the man who communed with Jehovah!”