The Spokesman of Thy Loins

Lehi spoke to his young son Joseph and shared with him some of the words of the biblical Joseph. That Joseph wrote these words of the Lord to him: “I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for him” (2 Nephi 3:17). Lehi of course came several centuries after Moses, but Joseph in Egypt lived several hundred years before Moses. That “spokesman” for Moses was his brother Aaron, as declared by the Lord to Moses: “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people” (Exodus 4:4:14-16). Aaron was to declare the words of God given to Moses to the children of Israel. After that prophecy about Moses and Aaron, Joseph then quoted these words of the Lord about a more distant future event: “I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it. And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins” (2 Nephi 3:18-19). We know that this is talking in general about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and the Prophet Joseph Smith, but who is the “spokesman” in this case?

               I have written before how one interpretation of this involves Sidney Rigdon, for the Lord declared in this dispensation, “And it is expedient in me that you, my servant Sidney, should be a spokesman unto this people; yea, verily, I will ordain you unto this calling, even to be a spokesman unto my servant Joseph” (Doctrine and Covenants 100:9). In that interpretation, we would clarify the above statement of the Lord to Joseph of Egypt this way: “And I, behold, I will give unto [Joseph Smith] that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins [Sidney Rigdon] shall declare it. And the words which [Joseph Smith] shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins.” There is a second interpretation, though, that Bruce R. McConkie gave. For him the writer and the spokesman in the above verse are Mormon and Joseph Smith instead of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. He said this: “Note these words of the Lord: ‘And I, behold, I will give unto him [Mormon] that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins [the Nephites], unto the fruit of thy loins [the Lamanites]; and the spokesman of thy loins [Joseph Smith] shall declare it.’ That is, Mormon wrote the Book of Mormon, but what he wrote was taken from the writings of the Nephite prophets; and these writings, compiled into one book, were translated by Joseph Smith and sent forth by him unto the Lamanites.” For Elder McConkie, the writer of the Book of Mormon is Mormon (the original author) instead of Joseph Smith (the translator). And it does make sense that Joseph Smith could be considered as a spokesman for Mormon, for Mormon was unable to speak in our dispensation and so Joseph brought for his words, and by translating them he “spoke” for Mormon in English.

               It may be that both interpretations of this prophecy given to Joseph in Egypt are valid. The Lord did call Sidney a “spokesman” once more in Nauvoo after Sidney’s relationship to Joseph became somewhat strained: “And if he will offer unto me an acceptable offering, and acknowledgments, and remain with my people, behold, I, the Lord your God, will heal him that he shall be healed; and he shall lift up his voice again on the mountains, and be a spokesman before my face” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:104). It doesn’t appear that Sidney did offer that “acceptable offering,” and in Nauvoo Sidney was no longer really a spokesman for the Restoration as he had once been. Joseph himself was surely the greatest spokesman for the gospel in the latter days, and I’ve often wished that I could have been there in Nauvoo to hear his teachings. The Teachings of Presidents manual says this: “The Saints who heard the Prophet Joseph Smith speak bore powerful and vivid testimonies of his prophetic mission. Many of them recorded their memories of discourses they heard him give and experiences they had with him, for they wanted the generations that followed them to know, as they knew, that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God.” However we interpret 2 Nephi 3:18, one conclusion from it is clear: Joseph Smith was called to perform a great work for descendants of Joseph in the latter days.