Part II ended with an explanation of a “spokesman” the Lord provides Joseph Smith before Israel’s gathering. Prior to the gathering Joseph Smith’s work is taken from weakness to strength. Denver Snuffer Jr. was twice quoted in part II stating he is a second witness of Joseph Smith. He has never claimed any prophetic significance or title, correctly stating:
“I have never claimed, in public or private, to be anything other than a weak and foolish man.
The notion that I think I am anything other than that repulses me.
For years I have said that until someone actually accomplishes something, they have no right to claim they are something great or wonderful, that they fulfill prophecy, or are God’s chosen anything.
Nobody has accomplished anything since Joseph Smith. There is a great hill to climb. Until someone climbs it and serves to guide others, we are left with pretenders, ego-maniacs, fools, impostors and villains.
Something is underway. Nothing has been accomplished. You need to participate. Starting a project, and getting 1% of it accomplished, and then claiming you are a “great” anything is not just a mistake, but it takes the eye off of the unfinished project – a very difficult project. Getting to your own 2 yard line still leaves 98 yards to go.
Without the refining of a transition phase, we will be utterly unprepared. But the refinement itself will be very hard, and there will be many who fail.
If a few succeed, then those can be gathered. Once gathered, there is still work to be done. Those who believe we can take a giant step do not comprehend how natural the evolution of God’s work is. It requires effort every day, and will require as much of latter-day Zion as was required for Enoch and Melchizedek. It’s difficult to imagine how much needs to be left behind and how much needs to be added.
If you think I’m something great and important, you miss altogether what is YOUR responsibility. The restoration belongs to YOU. No one is going to invoke a magic spell and spare you the development, maturity, selflessness, patience, growth and determination needed to be part of a healthy, functioning society worthy of the presence of God and angels. It is They (God and angels) whose company we seek. Not mine” (Mighty, Strong, Davidic, Denver Snuffer Jr., September 17, 2014 blogpost, emphasis added).
It is not my job nor yours to anoint someone as God’s chosen vessel. It is however, our responsibility to sort out what is said and if the word of the Lord speaks through an individual. As stated in part II, “That is the test. It is always the test.” It will ever be so. The work of gathering Israel and establishing Zion is not the work of one man speaking to God. It is the work of one man, speaking to God, sharing his revelations with those having soft hearts, willingly hearing and doing what God requires.
In that context, the following statements are presented for your consideration. The “something underway” referred to in the blogpost includes God’s vindication of Joseph Smith and his mission.
The Vindication of Joseph Smith Begins
“The church’s presidents claim that they too could communicate “commandments and revelations… even as Moses” began the process of accelerating our forgetfulness[4] of Joseph’s words. He became less important as successors claimed equality. Who cannot see the logic in preferring a “living” prophet to a deceased one? Ignoring Joseph means forgetting. By forgetting we have refused the gift God offered. Our first obligation now is to remember. Until we remember what was given before, there is no reason for God to give more” (Preserving the Restoration, Denver Snuffer Jr., p. iv, emphasis added).
Those who presumed to hold the same keys Joseph and Hyrum held quickly came to realize the high standard set by the Lord through the two righteous men. Perpetually feeling the pressure of reconciling their desires with the revelations of Joseph was a bar too high. Continuous revelation had to become more manageable. The rock upon which the “true and living” church was established was replaced with assertions of equal footing between Joseph Smith and those who succeeded him. The office, not the man became the focus.
It was at this moment the vision of the gentiles who received the Book of Mormon fulfilled a portion of the vision Nephi was shown:
“ . . . because of the greatness of their [gentiles] stumbling block, that they have built up many churches [buildings, organizations, or both?]; nevertheless, they put down the power and the miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor. And there are many churches built up which causeth envyings, and strifes, and malice; and there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the Devil. For he is the foundation of all these things, yea, the foundation of murder and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord until he bindeth them with his strong cords for ever” (RE 2 Nephi 11:15, emphasis added).
Rather than defend the legacy of righteousness in Joseph Smith’s life, he had to be brought down, disparaged and defamed. He had to be connected to and appear complicit with the evil deeds his contemporaries engaged in. Church history had to be altered and a narrative created diminishing Joseph and humanizing him to the point people would accept he committed acts that by his own admission: “In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins, a disposition to commit such was never my nature.” (Joseph Smith History 2:11, emphasis added).
An unfaithful construction of a narrative around Joseph and Hyrum Smith was constructed to support, “the new order of things.”
“We have been given an entire library of material telling us what God says He would do if the Gentiles were faithful, but if not, God would choose others and accomplish His work in His own way. No matter how much men may have wished for it to turn out otherwise, no matter how much we may want a different story, the question must focus on God’s work. True history involves only what God has been doing in these last days. God’s work is not going to be as pleasant, flattering, or self-confident as the Apologists’ stories. Taking the Scriptures as the guide, it turned out that what has happened in the Restoration fits squarely into the framework God foretold. That new version of events is just as faith-promoting as the Apologists’ account. But it has a completely different look and feel. Both the Apologists and anti-Apologists agree with the anti-Mormons about Joseph Smith. All of them claim Joseph Smith was a liar and deceiver. It is universal. But the contemporary records do not require that conclusion. Quite the contrary, the contemporary records vindicate Joseph as a truthful, honest, and moral man. One of the things that frustrates me the most are the many accounts from those who claim to be faithful, believing Latter-day Saints who accept Joseph Smith as the prophet of the Restoration but require Joseph Smith to be dishonest and immoral. They claim Joseph Smith said one thing in public and another thing in private. Because they believe that a prophet of God can do that and can get away with that, it has created a malignancy on the LDS version of Mormonism. Even today, the leaders of the LDS Church believe God allows them to practice deceit because their version of Joseph Smith imposes that on him” (Snuffer Jr., Denver C.. The Teachings of Denver C. Snuffer, Jr. Volume 3: 2014-2016: Kindle Edition (The Teachings of Denver C. Snuffer Jr. Readers Edition Series) . Restoration Archive. Kindle Edition, emphasis added).
Joseph Smith is no longer alive to defend himself. Many people betray Joseph Smith supporting his prophetic claims as they project their sins and corrupt deeds upon him. It is commonly said history is written by the victors but Joseph Smith’s life became a narrative to shroud the sins of adulterers, co-conspirators and murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The Lord is correcting the record for Joseph Smith because Joseph Smith held the power to seal, including his words. Their attempts at suppressing and managing the flow of information is the proverbial finger in the dike that gives way to the inevitable flood of truth forthcoming. As Denver said, “The new version of events is just as faith promoting as the apologists account. But it has a completely different look and feel.” While faith promoting, the true account requires descendants of successors to confess and renounce the sins of their forefathers, and be baptized into a new dispensation and new covenant. Something difficult to acknowledge and humbling to do.
The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith two primary strategies Satan employs to remove light and truth from mankind:
“And that wicked one comes and takes away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (RE T&C 93:11, emphasis added).
The men who assumed control of the church following the murders of Joseph and Hyrum constructed a false narrative to legitimize their assumption of priesthood authority, cover their sins, and legitimize abominable practices. The following quotation is taken from “Man Without Doubt,” Denver Snuffer Jr., p.157, emphasis added).
“Mormons treated Joseph Smith poorly while he was alive, and worse in rewriting his history. They abused him and continue to slander his memory with revisionist histories composed to vindicate sins celebrated as sacraments. Even the Mormons who profess to honor him, misuse his name and memory to prop up false, prideful claims to follow a religion they say he founded. Joseph declared to the Latter-day Saints in April 1844 (two months before he was murdered), “You don’t know me; you never knew my heart.” (TPJS, p. 361.) That audience and its descendants have been the primary custodians introductory assurance that “no historical or doctrinal statement has been changed” is demonstrably wrong. Overshadowed by editorial censorship, hundreds of deletions, additions, and alterations, these seven volumes are not always reliable. …The nineteenth-century propaganda mill was so adroit that few outside Brigham Young’s inner circle were aware of the behind-the-scenes alterations so seamlessly stitched into church history. Charles Wesley Wandell, an assistant church historian, was aghast at these emendations. Commenting on the many changes made in the historical work as it was being serialized in the Deseret News, Wandell noted in his diary: “I notice the interpolations because having been employed in the Historian’s office at Navuoo by Doctor [Willard] Richards, and employed, too, in 1845, in compiling this very autobiography, I know that after Joseph’s death his memoir was ‘doctored’ to suit the new order of things, and this, too, by the direct order of Brigham Young to Doctor Richards and systematically by Richards.” The Quorum of the Twelve, under Brigham Young’s leadership, began altering the historical record shortly after Smith’s death. Contrary to the introduction’s claim, Smith did not author the History of the Church. At the time of his 1844 death, the narrative had been written up to 5 August 1838. (Richard S. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess, Signature Books (Salt Lake City, 1994), p. 322.)
In the two hundred years that followed, descendants from polygamist leaders increased exponentially and continue occupying positions of leadership in the church institution. Today heirs of those who replaced Joseph and Hyrum have embedded in stone false traditions established on a foundation of air that gives way as the flood of truth sweeps away the foundation of lies the institution rests upon. This is in preparation for the re-affirmation of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s faithful legacy.
While amassing untold and unaccounted levels of wealth, the institution devotes a large portion of their energy and resources to investments, land purchases and developments, enriching their families in the process. Substantial tithing flowing into the institution flows out to support the organization into the pockets of those members who provide essential goods and services. Exclusive contracts with companies who employ the grandson of a church president. Office supplies purchased from a company restructured by an investment banking firm headed by a descendant of polygamists who migrated to Mexico and later returned to the United States. Temples constructed by companies founded by general authorities. In the midst of a significant return on investment as the Lord’s wise stewards, the church neglects the scriptural and prophetic responsibility of His latter-day saints.
“It was necessary for the Nephite record to come forth to the gentiles first, not to the remnant. Before it will go to the remnant the gentiles must accept the new covenant [by repentance and baptism anew]. The record does contain Christ’s gospel. But the gentiles are conditionally blessed if they seek to bring forth Zion. The record is to facilitate only that purpose for the gentiles. If the gentiles failed to focus on that, they would fail altogether. The Book of Mormon is not entrusted to the gentiles to create an institution, or to build numerous chapels, or construct hundreds of temples before seeking to bring forth Zion, nor to enable a gentile body of millions to be assembled. It was entrusted to the gentiles for the purpose of gathering the remnant and establishing Zion.
For that end alone, the gentiles are required to endure in the approved course until they reach the end. Or, in other words, endure and labor for the purpose of establishing Zion. When gentiles pursue any end other than establishing Zion, the Book of Mormon calls it “priestcraft”. That is what the gentiles have accomplished with the Book of Mormon thus far” (Scripture, Prophecy, Covenant, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.6, emphasis added).
Numerous buildings, large farms and ranches, substantial property developments, impressive stock portfolio, unrivaled genealogical data, historical artifacts withheld from public view, publishing resources and a corporate structure employing thousands of employees. Those are the impressive accomplishments and the measure by which the gentiles measure their standing before God.
“Woe unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught, and revile against that which is good and say that it is of no worth, for the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth. And in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity, they shall perish. But behold, if the inhabitants of the earth shall repent of their wickedness and abominations, they shall not be destroyed, saith the Lord of Hosts. But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth, and great must be the fall thereof. For the kingdom of the Devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the Devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains and they be stirred up to anger and perish. For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men and stir them up to anger against that which is good. And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say, All is well in Zion, yea, Zion prospereth, all is well. And thus the Devil cheateth their souls and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. And behold, others he flattereth away and telleth them there is no hell. And he saith unto them, I am no devil, for there is none. And thus he whispereth in their ears until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. Yea, they are grasped with death and hell; and death, and hell, and the Devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is Endless torment. Therefore, woe be unto him that is at ease in Zion.
Woe [condition of deep suffering] be unto him that crieth, All is well. Yea, woe be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God and the gift of the holy ghost. Yea, woe be unto him that saith, We have received and we need no more. For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness, and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth, lest he shall fall” (RE 2 Nephi 12:4-5, emphasis added).
Confirmation bias is normally something we associate with news stories, algorithms in search engines that identify stories reinforcing our personal perspectives. While there are no algorithms when we read the scriptures, at times our minds do the same. Perhaps that comes into play when people reading Nephi’s prophecy consider this passage.
Nephi is observing conditions within the great and abominable church. Nephi is shown different categories existing within the whore of all the earth and declares it must fall. He begins with a solemn warning to the readers. “Woe unto them that turn aside the just thing for a thing of naught, and revile that which is good and say that it is of no worth.” When Christ came to the Jews, He brought with him the higher law in the days of Moses and Sinai. Rabbi’s who devote their lives to the study of the Torah and the prophets met Jesus with derision and hatred, eventually shedding His blood. Included with the death of the Savior was the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.
Note the similarities when Joseph Smith was called by God to begin the covenant restoration to the gentiles. Joseph was met with derision, mockery and persecution from religious ministers of his day. This continued throughout his life. When he reached Nauvoo, Joseph was faced with betrayal within the ranks of the church. Disaffected members who witnessed the hand of Heaven with Joseph and his works plotted his demise when his teachings confronted their lust and greed. To them, the Restoration was a valuable franchise and Joseph and Hyrum became obstacles to their objectives and threats of blowing the cover of their sins.
As with all true messengers, the introduction of a new dispensation is not generally a welcome event. The established regime, in a desperate attempt to preserve their power and prestige branded the higher law apostate and the Lord’s messenger a heretic. Established traditions in place for centuries are slow to die because of the substantial emotional investment made in the traditions of the fathers, who established them. Their legitimacy lies not in the revelations of God but in the traditions established by their fathers. The established traditions become the measure of a messenger’s message as opposed to the content their message. Tradition is the “stumbling block” Nephi sees among the gentiles. It is grounded in their religious beliefs and the number of churches they organize to reinforce their traditions.
“And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. And now I, Nephi, declare unto you that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness. And the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded, but it is the kingdom of the Devil, which shall be built up among the children of men, which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh. For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world [global faith leaders], and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world and to do all manner of iniquity — yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the Devil — are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake. They are those who must be brought low in the dust, they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet. And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory. And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth, and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him [“whether by my voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same, T&C 54:7]. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd, and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture. And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power. Wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years, for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth. And now behold, I, Nephi, say unto you that all these things must come according to the flesh. But behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent” (RE 1 Nephi 7:5, emphasis added).
The devil is the foundation of the churches that create envyings, strifes, malice secret combinations, murders and all works of darkness. One of the works of darkness Nephi points to is Satan provoking mankind to anger against “that which is good.” Anger is triggered when our confirmation bias built over many years and generations are confronted by truth. In the Lord’s kingdom, truth is the coin of the realm. In Satan’s realm distraction, falsehoods, malice, anger and subjection, all of which is promoted with money.
Whenever God reveals truth from Heaven it is met and challenged by those who belong to Satan’s whore, the great and abominable church of the devil. It must fall. False traditions must be refuted, discarded and cast into the dust bin of history.
Within the great and abominable church we find different categories or behaviors. Acts that Nephi describes as abominable. In that context, it is curious Nephi describes a group in the great and abominable church that declares, “All is well in Zion, Zion prospereth, all is well.” Why is a group of people appearing to be part of Zion included in the great and abominable church of the devil? Why are their souls “cheated” and “carefully led down to hell?” How can they be cheated?
The Big Cheat
A critical question in church history is the succession from Joseph Smith to Brigham Young. It is improperly addressed in church history because the narrative lists Brigham Young as Joseph Smith’s successor. That is both incorrect and patently false. Prior to the death of Joseph Smith, the Lord, not Joseph Smith elevated Hyrum to the position of Patriarch, (passing to Hyrum by lineal descent from Joseph Smith Senior). Also, what Joseph Fielding Smith describes as the Assistant President of the Church originally held by Oliver Cowdery (See Doctrines of Salvation, Joseph Fielding Smith, pp. 218-222). Included in this consolidation of the two positions was the sealing power, jointly held by Hyrum and Joseph Smith.
This Priesthood empowered Joseph Smith to accomplish all that he did in the Restoration effort. It is the only means by which the church could fulfill their prophetic destiny. It is the means by which families could be sealed. It is the means by which revelation is obtained. It is the life blood of the only church that is “true and living.” Without it, the institution may exist and may even prosper. Unfortunately, in the end, if the church lacks this Priesthood, families who have climbed this ladder for two centuries may find a parallel ladder leaning against the same wall that continues ever higher when their ladder comes to an abrupt end. That is when they find out the Priesthood they presumed to receive from Joseph and Hyrum Smith was never given to their ancestors by God.
The Pattern For Succession Was Not Neglected By God
By revelation, Joseph Smith was directed to reorganize the leadership of the church. This was done during the Nauvoo era near the end of both Joseph and Hyrum’s lives:
“And again, verily I say unto you that my servant William be appointed, ordained, and anointed as a counselor unto my servant Joseph, in the room of my servant Hyrum, that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father by blessing, and also by right, that from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the Patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people, that whoever he blesses shall be blessed and whoever he curses shall be cursed, that whatever he shall bind on the earth shall be bound in Heaven, and that whatever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. And from this time forth I appoint unto him that he [Hyrum] may be a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my church, as well as my servant Joseph, that he may act in concert also with my servant Joseph, and that he shall receive counsel from my servant Joseph, who shall show unto him the keys whereby he may ask and receive, and be crowned with the same blessings. I crown upon his head the bishopric, and blessing, and glory, and honor, and Priesthood, and gifts of the Priesthood, that once were put upon him that was my servant Oliver Cowdery, [Oliver received the same keys as Joseph Smith] that my servant Hyrum may bear record of the things which I shall show unto him, that his name may be had in honorable remembrance from generation to generation for ever and ever” (RE T&C 141:32, emphasis added)
In addition to the Patriarchal authority Hyrum was entitled to by lineage and blessing, Hyrum also received the sealing power and appointment to be a prophet, seer and revelator to the church in concert with Joseph. Hyrum was to be directed and taught by Joseph how to exercise keys from God to ask and receive revelation. Hyrum was to be “crowned” like Joseph but also receive a crown associated with a bishopric complete with blessings, glory, honor and Priesthood with the associated gifts given to Oliver Cowdery.
The Lord provided additional revelation regarding Hyrum’s pending ordination later in the same revelation.
“Verily I say unto you, I now give unto you the offices belonging to my Priesthood, that you may hold the keys thereof, even the Priesthood which is after the Order of Melchizedek, which is after the Order of my Only Begotten Son. First, I give unto you Hyrum Smith to be a patriarch unto you, to hold the sealing blessings of my church, even the Holy Spirit of Promise whereby you are sealed up unto the day of redemption, that you may not fall, notwithstanding the hour of temptation that may come upon you” (RE T&C 141:41, emphasis added).
Hyrum was first given the office of patriarch with the sealing blessings. With those blessings came the Holy Spirit of Promise that sealed Hyrum to his exaltation in the day of redemption, though he may be confronted with a time of temptation.
In a later revelation, Joseph Smith provided additional instruction regarding the use of the sealing power that is more extensive than the singular application for the redemption of the dead.
“It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of, a power which records or binds on earth and binds in Heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the Priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatever those men did in authority in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in Heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?
And again, for a precedent, Matthew chapter 16 verses 18 and 19 [RE Matt. 9:1]: And I say also unto you that you are Peter. And upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.
Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the holy Priesthood. For him to whom these keys are given there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living. Herein is glory and honor, and immortality, and eternal life” (RE T&C 151:7-9, emphasis added).
The “summum bonum” [in Latin means the principle of goodness in which all moral values are included or from which they are derived; highest or supreme good], or “great and grand secret” regarding the keys to the sealing power is primarily focused on the ability to ask and get answers as they pertain to the salvation of mankind, both living and dead. In the post Joseph and Hyrum Smith application of the sealing power, it is typically applied to sealing living and dead to one another for time and eternity.
What Joseph Smith describes in this passage is more than sealing the living and dead, although a legitimate application in some form other than what is practiced today.
Whenever God established a new dispensation by one or a set of men at His direction by revelation, it was preserved in force if it was done “truly and faithfully” if they a “proper and faithful record of the same.” This significantly broadens the scope and power of the sealing keys to include all the works of righteousness they performed and kept a proper record of. That record became scripture. Whenever the Lord sends the
Melchizedek Priesthood to a dispensation, Elijah opens the pillar between Heaven and Earth and the Patriarchal Fathers descend from Heaven. They declare to the new Priesthood recipient the rights and privileges God grants them because they received these keys.
When the Savior says, “By their fruits ye shall know them,” the fruits of one holding the keys of this power leaves an enduring trail of revelation. They testify of
their works and faithfulness. An institution may take credit for the enduring legacy of Joseph Smith, but the truth of the matter is, God is in the process of reclaiming Joseph Smith’s legacy and when the truth prevails, Joseph Smith will be vindicated and Israel will be gathered.
Scott Roderick
2/17/24
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