Joseph Smith said the Lord named their
church the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints because they were living in the last days
(Doctrine and Covenants 115:3-4). And he said
Doctrine and Covenants 112:15 was revealed to him
by the Lord on July 23, 1843. It said,
Exalt not yourselves; rebel not against
my servant Joseph; for verily I say unto you, I am with
him, and my hand shall be over him; and the keys
which I have given unto him, and also to youward,
shall not be taken from him till I come.
That sounds like Smith will be alive at
the time of Christ’s return. Smith also declared in
Doctrine and Covenants 130:14-17,
I was once praying very earnestly to know
the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a
voice repeat the following: “Joseph, my son, if thou
livest until thou art eighty-five years old,
thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man;
therefore let this suffice and trouble me no more on
this matter.” I was left thus, without being able to
decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of
the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether
I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming
of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time.
Doctrine and Covenants
130 is dated April 2, 1843 and came from Smith’s diary
dated that day. Smith was born December 23, 1805, just
one week before 1806 began. If 85 years are added to
1805 or 1806 Christ’s coming would be no sooner than
1890 or 1891, according to Smith.
At the LDS General Conference on April 6,
1843, just four days after the above prophecy, Joseph
Smith also said,
Were I going to prophesy, I would say the
end [of the world] would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or
in forty years. There are those of the rising
generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.
I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and
a voice said unto me, “My son, if thou livest until thou
art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see the face of
the Son of Man.” I was left to draw my own conclusions
concerning this; and I took the liberty to conclude that
if I did live to that time, He will make His appearance
or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the
Lord God, and let it be written--the Son of Man will not
come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years
old. (History of the Church, vol. 5, p. 336, also
in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 286,
by Joseph Fielding Smith, 6th LDS Prophet)
Note that Smith said in 1843, “There
are those of the rising generation who
shall not taste death till Christ comes.” Is anyone
still alive who was alive in 1843? LDS Apostle Bruce R.
McConkie knew that this prophecy had to be fulfilled or
Smith would be a false prophet. So he said,
It is not unreasonable to suppose that
many young men had babies at the time of this prophecy
(1843) and also had other children as much as
50 or 75 years later, assuming for instance that
they were married again to younger women. This very
probable assumption would bring the date up to, say, the
2nd decade in the 20th century –
and the children so born would be members of
that same rising generation of which the Prophet spoke.
Now if these children lived to the normal age
of men generally, they would be alive well past the year
2000 A D (Mormon Doctrine, pages 692-693).
So, if a 20 year old man had a child in
1843 and 75 years later in 1918 when he was 95 he had
another child by a younger wife, that child would be 90
years old in 2008. Is 90 “the normal age of men
generally”? How many 95 year old men fathered
children in 1918? How many 90 year old people today are
really part of the rising generation of 1843?
McConkie tried very hard to show that Smith was a true
prophet, but Christ has not come, so Smith’s prophecy
still has not been fulfilled!
On January 4, 1833 Smith also predicted
many things would happen to that generation
related to the coming of Christ and again said, “There
are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall
not be closed in death until they see all these things
which I have spoken, fulfilled” (History of
the Church, vol. 1, pp. 315-316). Most of what he
predicted never happened, yet all of the
people living in 1833 are dead.
The minutes of a meeting on February
14, 1835 when the first Twelve Apostles of the LDS
Church were selected say:
President (Joseph) Smith then stated that
the meeting had been called, because God had
commanded it; and it was made known to him by
vision and by the Holy Spirit. He then gave a
relation of some of the circumstances attending us while
journeying to Zion (Missouri)--our trials, sufferings;
and said God had not designed all this for nothing, but
He had it in remembrance yet; and it was the will
of God that those who went to Zion,
with a determination to lay down their lives, if
necessary, should be ordained to the ministry, and
go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time,
or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh--even
fifty-six years should wind up the scene. (History
of the Church, vol. 2, p. 182)
The names of the 210 people who went
to Zion and who were to “prune the vineyard for the
last time, or the coming of the Lord” are listed in
volume 2, pages 183-185. They all died more than a
century ago! A baby born the day Smith made this
prophecy would be 173 years old in 2008 and everyone
else living then would be older. Is anyone that old
still alive? Smith also said those who went to Zion
would “prune the vineyard for the last time, or
the coming of the Lord, which was nigh--even
fifty-six years should wind up the scene.” If 56
years are added to 1835 when this prophecy was made, it
equals 1891, the same year Smith’s other prophecy
predicted the Lord’s return. Did the Lord come then? Was
this a true prophecy? What does that indicate about
Smith as a prophet?
Those who want to read more about Smith’s
prophecies can do so in my book, Mormon Claims
Answered. Next time we will discuss more of Smith’s
teachings in the Doctrine and
Covenants.
