Convince Them of My Word

In Joseph of Egypt’s prophecy about Joseph Smith, we read, “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 “bringing forth my word” part of this prophecy likely refers to the new scriptures that came through the Prophet Joseph: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.  But I think we might overlook or downplay the other very important part of his ministry as it relates to the scriptures: he was to “convince” the world of the words of God that had “already gone forth among them.”  In other words, part of Joseph’s mission was to convince the world of the truthfulness of the Bible.  And it’s clear that he fulfilled that mission in a powerful way—I don’t think there has been a greater advocate for the Bible than Joseph Smith himself. 

                As I’ve written about before, Joseph had a deep love for the Bible.  His teachings were constantly filled with references to the Bible, and he expounded on passages in the Bible in ways that no one else in his generation could do.  Brigham Young said that Joseph could “take the scriptures and make them so plain and simple that everybody could understand.”   Another early Saint, Wandle Mace, said this: “I have listened to the Prophet Joseph Smith in public and in private, in sunshine and in shower, as many others have done as he taught them from the stand. And in my own, and in his house, I have been familiar with him … and do know that no man could explain the scriptures, throw them wide open to view so plainly that none could misunderstand their meaning, except he had been taught of God”  (see here).  Joseph’s sermons were filled with references to and explanations of passages in the Bible.  In fact, he referenced the Bible far more than the Book of Mormon in his sermons, and I have to think that one of the reasons for this was the mission that he had: “bring forth” the Book of Mormon but “convince” the world of the truthfulness of the Bible.  It doesn’t seem that his mission was to explain the Book of Mormon; it was to bring it to us.  But his mission was to explain the Bible, and he did that in great power.  He showed us what the story of Cornelius teaches us about the Holy Ghost (see here).   He expounded in incredible ways on the meaning of the parables in Matthew 13.  He taught us about the 2^nd Coming of the Savior using countless scriptures of the Old and New Testament—in the chapter on that subject in the Joseph Smith manual he expounded on teachings from the Biblical books of Zechariah, Jeremiah, Micah, Ezekiel, 1 Corinthians, Isaiah, Revelation, 2 Timothy, Genesis, Romans, Matthew, Luke, Habakkuk, 1 Thessalonians, Amos, 2 Peter, Daniel, Ephesians.  He was able to explain the meaning of passages in 1 Corinthians, Malachi, Hebrews, 1 Peter, and Obadiah in his teachings about baptisms for the dead.  Those are just a few examples: again and again and again in his sermons he testified of, explained, and convinced the world of the truthfulness of the scriptures in the Bible.    

                Not only were his sermons filled with teachings of the Bible, but the revelations               themselves that he brought forth stand as a witness of the Old and New Testaments.  The Book of Mormon contains passages from Isaiah, Micah, Malachi, and references to the books of Moses, and it witnesses that those prophets really existed and indeed spoke the words of the Lord.  The Doctrine and Covenants refers to and expounds on passages in Revelation (see D&C 77), John (D&C 7, 76), Malachi (D&C 2), Isaiah (D&C 113), and many other passages in the Bible (see D&C 128 for example).  The Pearl of Great Price both testifies of and adds to the Biblical writings of Moses and Abraham.  And perhaps most importantly the Prophet spent a significant part of his ministry working on the heavenly mandated translation of the Bible in order to clarify, correct, and expound on passages of the Bible.  In short, Joseph’s life and ministry was a powerful witness of the Bible and fulfilled Joseph of Egypt’s prophecy that he would work to convince the world of the truthfulness of the Bible.