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Doctrine and Covenants
Section 124 contains 145 verses with so much information
that the last two articles in this series were about the
first few verses. Now, continuing the examination of
this LDS scripture, Doctrine and Covenants
124:18-22 says,
And again,
I say unto you that it is my will that my
servant Lyman Wight should continue in
preaching for Zion, in the spirit of meekness,
confessing me before the world; and I will bear him up
as on eagles’ wings; and he shall beget glory and
honor to himself and unto my name. That when he
shall finish his work I may receive him unto myself,
even as I did my servant David Patton, who is with me
at this time, and also my servant Edward Partridge,
and also my aged servant Joseph Smith, Sen., who
sitteth with Abraham at his right hand, and blessed
and holy is he, for he is mine. And again, verily I
say unto you, my servant George Miller
is without guile; he may be trusted
because of the integrity of his heart; and for
the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord,
love him. I therefore say unto you, I seal upon
his head the office of a bishopric, like unto my
servant Edward Partridge, that he may receive the
consecrations of mine house, that he may administer
blessings upon the heads of the poor of my people,
saith the Lord. Let no man despise my servant
George, for he shall honor me. Let my
servant George, and my servant Lyman, and my servant
John Snider, and others, build a house unto my name,
such a one as my servant Joseph shall show unto them,
upon the place he shall show unto them also.
In this text "The Lord" said Lyman
Wight is "my servant" who "shall beget glory and
honor to himself and unto my name." "When he shall
finish his work I may receive him unto myself even as I
did my servant David Patton." Patton was one of the
Twelve LDS Apostles and led a Mormon militia against the
"Missourians" at Crooked River where he was killed. This
"revelation" says Patton went to be with the Lord when
he died and Lyman Wight will also join them when he
dies.
So, this revelation implies that Lyman
Wight would be faithful to the Lord until he died. He
was ordained as an LDS Apostle to replace David Patton
on April 8, 1841, less than three months after Smith
received this revelation. But, Wight didn’t remain
faithful to the LDS Church. Instead he went to Texas in
1845 and tried to start a church contrary to what
Brigham Young asked him to do, so he was excommunicated
on December 3, 1848 according to Church History in the
Fulness of Times, p. 305. Wight was an LDS "apostate"
when he died on March 31, 1858, so did he go to be with
the Lord and David Patton? Or, was the Lord mistaken
about him? Or, did Joseph Smith get this revelation from
some source other than the Lord?
"The Lord" also said, "My servant
George Miller is without guile; he may be
trusted because of the integrity of his heart…I,
the Lord love him…Let no man despise my servant
George, for he shall honor me." When Edward
Partridge died, George Miller took his place as Bishop
of the LDS Church. Even though "the Lord" said many nice
things about Miller in this revelation, the Deseret
Morning News 2006 Church Almanac says he was "dropped
prior to 1847; disfellowshipped
October 20, 1848." But History of the Church,
vol. 7, p. 618 says Orson Hyde informed the Twelve
Apostles that Miller had been disfellowshipped
on November 8, 1847. However, Andrew Jenson’s
Church Chronology says Miller was
disfellowshipped on December 3, 1847 along with
Lyman Wight. That is the same date that Church
History in the Fulness of Time says Wight was
excommunicated. Both Wight and Miller received the
same Church discipline at the same meeting, but
there seems to be confusion about whether they were
excommunicated or disfellowshiped. Those are two
different kinds of LDS Church discipline. There is also
confusion about the date when Miller was
disciplined by the LDS Church, but all sources agree
that he left the LDS Church and was later disciplined
for doing so.
Shortly after Joseph Smith’s death on
June 27, 1844, Brigham Young’s relationship with Lyman
Wight and George Miller became strained. On Sunday,
August 18, 1844, less than two months after Smith’s
death, Brigham said in a sermon,
I tell you
in the name of Jesus Christ that if Lyman
Wight and George Miller take a course contrary to
our counsel and will not act in concert with us,
they will be damned and go to destruction…It has
been whispered about that all who go into the
wilderness with Wight and Miller will get their
(temple) endowments, but they cannot give an endowment
in the wilderness (History of the Church, vol.
7, p. 255).
Wight and Miller did go against Brigham’s
instructions and went to Texas to start their own
church. But Miller left Texas in 1850 to join James
Strang’s LDS splinter group at Beaver Island, Michigan.
So, were Wight and Miller both damned to destruction as
Brigham Young said or were they blessed like Joseph
Smith said?
Both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young spoke
in the name of the "Lord" as prophets, but what each
said is the opposite of what the other said about
the same men! Our last article showed that the Lord
Jesus accurately predicted the future of Peter, Judas
and others. And the Apostle Paul said of the biblical
Lord, "He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). That
means the Lord won’t go back on His word. Therefore,
"the Lord" in whose name Smith and Young spoke must be a
different "Lord" since he contradicted what he had
previously said.
But even if that problem is ignored, "The
Lord" said that Miller was "without guile," he could be
"trusted" and "he shall honor me." So, was Miller
honoring the Lord when he went to Texas to start a
church and later joined Strang’s group and then was
disfellowshipped or excommunicated from the LDS Church?
Or, was "the Lord" wrong about George Miller? Or,
did Smith get his "revelation" from a different "Lord?"
We will continue our investigation of
Doctrine and Covenants 124 next time. More can be
read about LDS prophets in my book, Mormon Claims
Answered.
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