{"id":44964,"date":"2017-11-20T09:32:55","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T16:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=44964"},"modified":"2017-11-20T09:34:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T16:34:12","slug":"joseph-smiths-last-days-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/joseph-smiths-last-days-illinois.html","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Smith’s last days, in Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"F.<\/a>
\u201cThe Nauvoo Temple in Ruins\u201d (Frederick Piercy, 1853), just seven years after Joseph\u2019s murder.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Further notes on the evident sincerity of Joseph Smith:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prophet did not really desire longer to live,\u201d concluded [Benjamin F.] Johnson.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner recalled the Prophet saying, near the end of his life,<\/span><\/p>\n

I am tired, I have been mobbed, I have suffered so much. . . I have asked the Lord to take me out of this world. I have stood all I can. I have to seal my testimony to this generation with my blood. I have to do it, for this work will never progress until I am gone, for the testimony is of no force until the testator is dead. People little know who I am when they talk about me, and they never will know until they see me weighed in the balance in the kingdom of God. Then they will know who I am, and see me as I am. I dare not tell them, and they do not know me.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese words,\u201d she commented, \u201cwere spoken with such power that they penetrated the heart of every soul that believed on him.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Nonetheless, when, in late June of 1844, Governor Thomas Ford demanded that Joseph come to Carthage, Illinois, a hotbed of hostility both to Mormonism<\/a> and to Joseph personally, in order to answer serious charges that had been leveled against him by his enemies, Joseph first decided to flee across the Mississippi and then, if possible, to make a personal appeal to U.S. President John Tyler.\u00a0 But many, perhaps even his wife, accused him of cowardice.\u00a0 \u201cThat charge,\u201d writes his non-Mormon biographer Robert Remini,<\/span><\/p>\n

struck home.\u00a0 A good shepherd does not desert.\u00a0 He defends his flock, even if it costs him his life.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph turned to Hyrum.\u00a0 \u201cBrother Hyrum,\u201d he said, \u201cyou are the oldest, what shall we do?\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet us go back and give ourselves up,\u201d came the reply.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe shall be butchered,\u201d Joseph protested.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord is in it.\u00a0 If we live or die, we shall be reconciled to our fate.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly Joseph showed . . . a side of human weakness in running away from danger.\u00a0 He rightly feared for his life, and he did not wish to die.\u00a0 He had to be reminded of his station and calling.\u00a0 He had to be reminded to place his trust in the Lord. . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Since he believed\u2014he always believed\u2014that he had been chosen by God to restore the true Church, he must have known that, like Christ, he might be expected to sacrifice his life in order to validate his mission.\u00a0 When the moment came for a final decision, he willingly consented to it.<\/strong>[3]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In April 1843, Joseph told an audience in Nauvoo, \u201cIf I had not actually got into this work and been called of God, I would back out.\u00a0 But I cannot back out: I have no doubt of the truth.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Zimmerman, I Knew the Prophets<\/em>, 32.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> $See the account of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, in Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet<\/em>, 29 \u2013 30.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Remini, Joseph Smith<\/em>, 169.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> HC<\/em> 5:336.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

She knew Joseph Smith quite well, all of his life:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow Can We Be Strengthened by Lucy Mack Smith\u2019s Testimony of the Book of Mormon?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

An exciting and unique new effort from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> \u2014 which, we\u2019re reliably informed by some of those who hate it, never does anything to benefit anybody and only thinks of profits \u2014 to help people around the world obtain better education and training and, thus, better lives for themselves and their families:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInauguration Held for BYU\u2013Pathway Worldwide President:\u00a0Church-sponsored school provides global outreach\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And I might add, by the way, that Clark Gilbert is remarkable. \u00a0I\u2019ve had some slight experience with him, and am very impressed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m passing on an appeal from Robert Boylan, the extraordinarily prolific and bright LDS blogger based near Dublin, Ireland:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those who wish to support this blog\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of you may find this item, from Jeff Lindsay, of interest:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCommon Features in Written Languages and the Anthon Transcript\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Chicago, Illinois<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Further notes on the evident sincerity of Joseph Smith: \u00a0 \u201cThe Prophet did not really desire longer to live,\u201d concluded [Benjamin F.] Johnson.[1]\u00a0 Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner recalled the Prophet saying, near the end of his life, I am tired, I have been mobbed, I have suffered so much. . . I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJoseph Smith's last days, in Illinois<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Further notes on the evident sincerity of Joseph Smith:   \u201cThe Prophet did not really desire longer to live,\u201d concluded Johnson.\u00a0 Mary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/joseph-smiths-last-days-illinois.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joseph 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