Seventeen (1822)Father, wants to know what is happening on earth, he instructs Jehovah to send down
messengers to bring back a report to Jehovah, who then delivers the information to the
Father.^37 This protocol is what Christ taught the young Joseph and which he came to
understand as he was being trained in his role.
Proper Protocol for “Revelation” and “Divine Manifestations”
At no time during his tenure as a messenger did Joseph receive an actual
“revelation” from God—there really was no such a thing. Joseph, in making them up,
learned to make his revelations believable. His “revelations” came at a personal cost to him.
They often created a quilt of confusion as the people tried to understand their exoteric
patchwork. It frequently took another “revelation” in his ever-expanding LDS religion of
doctrines and commandments of men to support and make sense out of a previous one.
What it cost Joseph was his so-called credibility as a prophet among those leaders and men
around him, especially when he contradicted himself or asked them to ignore some things
and lie about others. Eventually, it all became too much for them to accept from a man
whom they thought was a man called of God. What the men never realized is that Joseph
was doing exactly as he was mandated—creating stumbling blocks for them.
His mother’s biography does not mention family prayers or Joseph praying at all
during the time period after he met with Christ and just before he received his final
instructions from Moroni on September 22, 1827. Joseph did not pray vocally, because he
knew that the advanced humans who oversaw this earth could read his thoughts even
before they were processed for vocalization.^38 Furthermore, Joseph learned that no
instruction “from God” would ever be given to a true messenger unless it came from an
actual, face-to-face, physical interaction with advanced human beings, whom he later
referred to (for the sake of the people) as “ministering angels.”^39
Christ had taught Joseph how the mortal mind manipulates itself and creates vain
and foolish imaginations that deceive the person into thinking that some kind of outside
source is providing information.^40 He had explained the equality of the human race
throughout the Universe, that all humans are equal and on the same standing with each
other.^41 Christ had explained how frail the human mind is and that it cannot and should not
be depended on in its imperfect mortal state.^42
It was also Christ who told Joseph that if an advanced human (a god) had something
to say to a mortal, then that person would receive a “divine manifestation” in a direct and
physically tangible manner, which meant that an advanced human would appear to the
mortal for face-to-face communication. This was the only way that the mortal could be
assured that the information being received was coming from someone other than the
person’s own “vain and foolish imagination.”^43 This is why Joseph “had full confidence in
obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one” when he later wondered what
else he was supposed to be doing as a chosen messenger.^44
Our Own Lucifer Creates Our “Vain and Foolish Imaginations”
Joseph learned from Christ that “Lucifer” was not a real being, but rather, the part of
human consciousness that motivates mortal human nature. In other words, because mortals
don’t know who they are or why they exist (this being the effect of their imperfect brains), they
act instinctively to protect themselves^45 and do whatever is necessary to bring value to an