Turning of Things Upside Down

In a quotation of Isaiah given to us by Nephi, the prophet wrote, “And wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord!  And their works are in the dark; and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?  And they also say: Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay.  But behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I know all their works.  For shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he had no understanding?”  This same passage is found in Isaiah 29:15-16, but it only contains part of what is in the Book of Mormon version.  The words in italics in the passage above is what the Book of Mormon contains that the Bible does not.  Nephi’s version adds clarity about who is saying what in the passage.  In particular, removing the italicized words makes it seem that the prophet is saying to the wicked, “Your turning of things upside down shall be as the potter’s clay.”  But with the added words it appears that the wicked—those whose works are in the dark—actually speak back to the righteous that phrase.  If I understand the verse correctly, then in the last days there will be some kind of attitude from the wicked towards those performing the work of the Lord (perhaps towards Joseph Smith in particular) which is summarized in this phrase: “Your turning of things upside down shall be as the potter’s clay.” 

                   So what exactly is meant by this phrase?  How are things turned upside down, or at least how does the world perceive that those performing the work of the Lord turn things upside down?  It seems to me that the sense of the accusation is that the new religion brought forth by Joseph Smith turned Christianity as it was known on its head.  There is at least some evidence of that; for example, in an account by Parley P. Pratt about the arrest of Joseph and Hyrum in Missouri (leading up to their incarceration at Libery Jail), the apostle suggested that those opposing the Church considered Mormonism to be turning things upside down: “Clark and his troops from a distance, who had not arrived in the city of Far West till after our departure, was desirous of seeing the strange men, whom it was said had turned the world upside down; and was desirous of the honor of possessing such a wonderful trophy of victory, or of putting us to death himself.”  The religion was so different than mainstream Christianity and was such a departure from comfortable ways of Protestantism that outsiders saw it as having turned the world upside down.  In a letter printed in the Bostonian (and reprinted in the Times and Seasons) some unknown writer wrote this to Mr. Editor, “The opposers of the Mormons, are left in shame, confusion, and disgrace, and ‘the wonders of the new and everlasting covenant,’ as Adams calls it, is the great existing subject in Boston at the present time; and truly it can be said, they that turn the world upside down have come hither also, and the general cry among Sectarians is, ‘how shall we put them down; if we let them alone our societies will be shaken to their narrow foundations, and already they begin to tremble. Some of our best and most devoted members are leaving us and joining them.’”  Here again it appears that the opposers of Joseph and the new religion saw the Mormons as seeking to “turn the world upside down.”

            Joseph Smith’s grandfather Asael Smith apparently prophesied this before the prophet was born, “It has been borne in upon my soul that one of my descendants will promulgate a work to revolutionize the world of religious faith.”  Revolutionizing religious faith and turning the world of 19^th century religions upside down were exactly what the work of Joseph Smith was meant to do.  And Joseph himself agreed with the view.  He said a couple of months before he died, “We will build up the churches, and establish Zion, and her stakes; this is a fire which cannot be put out; it has spread far faster than ever it did before; if you kick us and cuff us, we will turn the world upside down, and make the cart draw the horse.”  The work of the Restoration was not just meant to make improvement to the religious practices of the day—it was meant to turn it on its head.