Twenty-Nine (1834)gold plates was going to say about the matter. Therefore, these men taught Joseph what
they knew about history and the way the righteous acted towards their enemies according
to the code of humanity set forth by Christ.
Armed, not with a sword, but with the wise words of the Brothers, Joseph gave the
people a “revelation from the Lord” now recorded as section 98 of the current LDS Doctrine
& Covenants.^19 This “revelation” quieted their hearts and attempted to help them understand
the true meaning of “turn the other cheek” and “love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and
persecute you.”^20 Therefore, in August of 1833, a couple of weeks after the Missouri Saints
had been mobbed and the printing press destroyed, Joseph revealed to the people a law for
the justification of taking up arms in defense. It was meant to turn the people’s hearts to
righteousness, peace, and patience. It was one of few revelations that was directly
influenced by Moroni and the Brothers, who the members of the Church had no knowledge
were counseling their prophet.
The members, however, did not have much patience and, once again, chose to
disregard Joseph’s words. They wanted revenge. Therefore, as a consequence of their
persecutions and expulsion from Jackson County, in May of 1834 the saints prevailed and
voted Joseph—like his former incarnation, Mormon of old—into his first military
assignment as the leader of “Zion’s Camp”—a militia effort to march to Missouri and
revenge the Saints there. Joseph knew it was going to fail; and it did within a month. The
people were discouraged and wondered why the Lord did not help them. Joseph again
“groaned within.”
Revelations to Help the Blind See Their Own Wickedness
After giving the people one of the greatest revelations ever written on the state and
manner of war (D&C, section 98), which the people completely disregarded, Joseph
“revealed” the true cause of the Saint’s affliction—their own wickedness.^21 The people of
the Church could not live the “Law of Consecration” (the United Order), causing Joseph to
give them another “revelation” concerning their inability to abide by this simple principle
for establishing Zion among them.^22 Joseph used the techniques he had learned in giving
the people what they desired to hear “from the Lord,” while at the same time giving them
the hints of the real cause of their persecutions. But “having eyes that did not see and ears
that did not hear, they did not understand.”^23 So, after their militia effort failed, which was
an effort in direct violation of the counsel Joseph had given them, he gave them yet
another revelation concerning their great wickedness.^24
The modern LDS/Mormon people have their scriptures before them. They have the
Doctrine and Covenants and at least a basic, although prejudicially slanted, understanding of
the history of what happened to the early Saints. And they can read the words contained in
sections 101 through 105, which, in no uncertain terms, blame the problems that the early
Church experienced on the wickedness of the members of the Church. But, again, the blind
and deaf do not see or hear. From their early days attending Primary to their enhanced
“Gospel Doctrine” classes as adults, the modern LDS/Mormon people adore the early
Saints and are saddened that they were so persecuted and afflicted for the sake of what they
believed was the truth.
The simple truth—and the only truth—that reflects the cause of the early Saints’
persecution is the same truth that reflects the modern Saints’ blindness and ignorance: they