Fall Not From Your Steadfastness

I’m humbled to think of the incredible challenges that Joseph and Emma faced in early 1832. In his glorious vision that he received with Sidney Rigdon in February of that year, they recorded of the adversary: “He maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:29). Surely Joseph felt encompassed round about at this time. Several weeks after the vision Joseph and Sidney were brutally attacked by a mob, and he was nearly killed. Joseph was tarred and feathered and badly injured, and it took friends and family all night to get the tar off and clean him up. One account records, “The attack had caused plenty of damage. His body was bruised and aching from the beating. Sidney lay in bed, delirious, teetering between life and death.” As if that wasn’t enough, “Joseph and Emma’s babies also suffered. While his twin sister Julia’s health improved steadily, little Joseph grew worse, and he died later that week. The prophet blamed his son’s death on the cold air that poured into the house when the mob dragged him away.” This was already their fourth child that they had lost. Out of five children, now four were gone. Surely this was a painful time for him and Emma both emotionally and physically.

               On March 1^st of this year, before the attack, Joseph had received this instruction from the Lord: “Let my servant Newel K. Whitney and my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and my servant Sidney Rigdon sit in council with the saints which are in Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:9). In other words, he was commanded to return to Missouri to help the Saints there. Surely he might have felt excused from the requirement because of the mobbing and the loss of his child, but Joseph was determined to keep the commandments of the Lord and set out almost immediately. The mobbing took place on the night of the 25-26^th of March, young Joseph Murdock died on March 30^th (according to FamilyTree), and Joseph set out for Zion only two days later. Surely the pain for him and Emma must have been terrible. What’s more, when he arrived in Missouri, he wasn’t as well received as he should have been. The Saints book records, “Joseph sensed hard feelings toward him from some of the Saints, including a few of their leaders. They seemed to resent his choice to stay in Kirtland rather than move permanently to Missouri. And some still seemed upset about what had happened on his last visit to the area, when he and some of the elders had disagreed about where to establish Zion in Missouri. Their resentment surprised him. Did they not realize he had left his grieving family and traveled eight hundred miles just to help them?” Surely this reception by the saints their added to his grief at this time. Nevertheless, he persevered in the work.    

               While Joseph was in Missouri, he received these words in a revelation: “Therefore, what I say unto one I say unto all: Watch, for the adversary spreadeth his dominions, and darkness reigneth.” He must have thought about his recent experiences, especially the mobbing, as he heard those words. But undoubtedly the closing words of the revelation brought comfort and renewed strength to him: “Leave judgment alone with me, for it is mine and I will repay. Peace be with you; my blessings continue with you. For even yet the kingdom is yours, and shall be forever, if you fall not from your steadfastness” (Doctrine and Covenants 82:5, 23-24). He did indeed continue with steadfastness all of his life, despite the difficulties he faced, and his devotion to doing the work of the Lord no matter what the cost stands as a powerful example for all disciples of Christ today.