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161 - D&C 113-114 CFM - Christ In Isaiah: The Stem and Root of Jesse - E41B October 6-12
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- [00:00]
A
David got his mind prejudiced, and when he went to see Joseph, David insulted Joseph. And so Joseph slapped him in the face and kicked him out of the yard. And then Brigham says, this done David good, actually. So. Whoa. Hello, Casey.
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B
Hello, Scott.
- [00:18]
A
We're back excited to dive into section 113 and 114. These are both short sections. 114 is only two verses, but there's some digging to do in section 113 that I think we should take it slow for. For a couple minutes here.
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B
And let me add in section 100, which I'm going to stick up for. It's only two verses long, but we meet one of the most fascinating characters in the history of the church, David Patton, the first apostolic martyr in this dispensation. Sorry to spoil the story, but he's the first apostle to die for his testimony. So important people to talk about in these sections as well. And we mentioned this in our last episode. But in between section 112 and 113, there is a major transition, which is we leave Kirtland behind. Joseph Smith will not return to Kirtland in his lifetime. And we move to the next church headquarters, which is Far West Missouri, only church headquarters for a couple months in the spring and summer and fall of 1838. But a number of pivotal revelations are received there. Basically, everything from about section 113 to section 120 is received in or around Far West.
- [01:21]
A
It's also interesting to think that Section 113 of the Doctrine and Covenants was not added to the Doctrine and Covenants in Joseph Smith's lifetime. It wasn't until 1876. At that time, we have referred to when Brigham Young asked Orson Pratt to add 26 additional sections which were all related to priesthood and temple. So that's. That's an important thing to think about with section 113 is what does this have to do with priesthood and temple? Interestingly, this very unique section contains like five questions and answer pairs that deal with the meaning of some passages in Isaiah. So it's kind of abrupt that we move from Kirtland to Far West. We're going from the Kirtland apostasy and the challenges we just talked about with section 112 in our previous episode, and suddenly we're talking about passages of Isaiah in far. In section 113. So kind of a fun little transition. It's packed with lots of insights. So we're excited to dive into that today.
- [02:17]
B
Here's the context for section 113. So, as mentioned, Joseph Smith relocates to Missouri. In fact, on January 12, 1838, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon fled from the growing opposition and persecution that existed in Kirtland, Ohio. And their intention was to join with the faithful saints in Far West Missouri. Joseph Smith Smith wrote it this way in his A new year dawned upon the church in Kirtland with all the bitterness of the spirit of apostate mobocracy, which continued to rage and grow hotter and hotter until Elder Rigdon and myself were obliged to flee from its deadly influence, as did the apostles and prophets of old. And as Jesus said, when they persecute you in one city, flee unto another. So Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon make it to far west by March 14, and they are greeted warmly by the saints there with open arms. And it was here, surrounded by kindness, that Joseph could now enjoy sort of what had become a luxury which was discussing Scripture among friends. And it's in this context, sometime probably between March 16th and 29th, that at least one discussion arose about the meaning of certain passages in Isaiah. The essence of the conversation or conversations was written down soon afterward by George Robinson, who was the First Presidency's clerk at the time, in what Joseph Smith called his scriptory book, which was essentially just a notebook for mostly non revelatory items. There's an entry in there that becomes section 113. There are two headings. The first one is labeled Questions on Scripture, and that includes verses 1 through 6, which contains the Lord's answers to three questions about the 11th chapter of Isaiah. And it's unclear in this part of the entry who initiated these questions, or whether Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord about them at that time, or if these recorded answers represent revelation Joseph Smith had received previously, but that were written down here for the first time. The second heading in the scriptery book is labeled Questions by Elias higbee, which includes two question and answer pairs that make up verses 7 through 10 and are about the 52nd chapter of Isaiah. So Elias Higbee was a member of the Missouri High Council who was soon appointed, soon after this, appointed church historian. And in Contrast to verses 1 through 6, there is no Thus saith the Lord language in verses 7 through 10, suggesting that the answers to Elias Higbee's questions may have been from the prophet Joseph Smith rather than directly from the Lord. So that's the backstory as much as we know it. Now let's take a look at the section itself.
- [04:47]
A
Okay, so verses 1 through 6 contain three question answer pairs about Isaiah 11, as you alluded to. So before examining These it might be helpful for us to briefly outline the message of Isaiah 11 itself, which super important I think to understanding this section. So here's my rough outline of Isaiah 11. This chapter foretells of a spirit inspired descendant of King David who will eventually rule this world with equity, justice, integrity. That's my summary of verses 1 through 5. And this spirit inspired descendant of King David is going to remove wickedness from this world. And he's going to institute an era of universal peace where all opposition and enmity will cease and where knowledge of and submission to the Lord will be universal. That's my summary of verses 4 through 9. In that era, a rallying flag or ensign is going to be raised to gather the Gentiles scattered Israel and the dispersed of Judah, it says, from the four corners of the earth into this kingdom. That's verses 10 through 13. And this gathering is going to be reminiscent of Israel's very first exodus from Egyptian bondage, complete with the miraculous parting of seas if need be, he says, but only this time it's going to be on a global scale. That's verses 14 to 16. So super important prophecy about the last days. That's the message of Isaiah 11. So questions are now being asked about Isaiah 11. What are the questions?
- [06:16]
B
Into that context, it's also helpful to remember what Joseph Smith reported in his 1838 history, which he's going to write around this time. So keep in mind Joseph Smith history, which you're familiar with from the Pearl of Great Price, is started to be written while all this is going on. Specifically, the 11th chapter of Isaiah is a chapter that he remembers being quoted to him by the angel Moroni repeatedly. And Moroni also told them that it was about to be fulfilled. That's in Joseph smith History Chapter 1, Verse 40. So because of this experience, Joseph had likely been pondering the meaning of Isaiah 11 and its implications for the latter days for almost 15 years at this point. It's been that long since Moroni appeared. So verse 1 of Isaiah 11 begins with a metaphor about a family tree saying, and there shall grow forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The word stem here is generally understood to be a tree trunk, a stump or a rootstock. And the words rod and branch are understood to be a shoot that springs up at or near the base of the trunk. So imagine a tree that's been cut down and then a little branch coming out of it near the bottom. And about this verse one, section 113 asks who is the stem of Jesse as spoken of in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth verses of the 11th chapter of Isaiah? And the answer is, verily, thus saith the Lord is Christ.
- [07:47]
A
Now, since Jesse right, calls it a stem of Jesse, since Jesse was the name of King David's father, and since Jesus descended from King David, virtually all Christian scholars in both Joseph Smith's day and ours agree that Jesus Christ is the Spirit inspired descendant of King David that's being described here in verses 1 through 5 of Isaiah 11. All believe that Christ is the one being foretold who will usher in the era of universal peace. And verses 1 through 2 of section 113 agree here. However, they also introduce a major interpretive twist which differs drastically from mainstream Christian interpretation. All right, so follow this carefully here. Whereas traditional Christian interpretation of Isaiah 11 is to assume that verses 1 through 5 are describing Christ as the rod or branch which will come from the stem of Jesse, the Lord is saying Here the verses 1 through 5 are actually describing Christ as the stem of Jesse itself. Now that might seem like. Why does that matter? Well, okay, let me try to explain. This is important because if each him, he and His In Isaiah 11, verses 1 through 5 is referring to Christ as the stem or trunk of Jesse and not the sprouting rod or branch that comes from that trunk, then this rod or branch requires additional interpretation and meaning as being something or someone other than Christ.
- [09:17]
B
Yeah. So verse three picks up on this implication and asks, what is the rod spoken of in the first verse of the 11th chapter of Isaiah that should come of the stem of Jesse? So the stem of Jesse is identified as Christ. The rod is this branch shooting up from the tree trunk. The answer in the verses, behold, thus saith the Lord. It is a servant in the hands of Christ, who is partly a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Ephraim, or of the house of Joseph, on whom there is laid much power. Now, we are going to come back to this kind of cryptic answer in just a moment. Verse 5 asks about the 10th verse of Isaiah 11, which reads, and in that day that is the end of times era, there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people, and to it shall the Gentiles seek, and the rest shall be glorious. Now this phrase, the root of Jesse is understood to be a shoot coming up from the roots of the tree. Quite similar or maybe even identical, meaning the rod or the branch described in verse 1. And so D and C 1, 13, 5 asks, who is the root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter.
- [10:29]
A
Yeah. And so if you're still following this carefully, like, this is so fascinating. So, verse six. Listen to this. Behold, thus saith the Lord. It is a descendant of Jesse as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood and the keys of the kingdom for an ensign and for the gathering of my people in the last days. Note that the rod or branch sprouting by the trunk of Jesse in verse 1 and this root of Jesse in verse 10 both represent a descendant of Jesse as well as of Joseph of Egypt. This connection leads us to conclude that these are both referring to one and the same person. And when we synthesize the descriptions of this person into a single list, who does this describe? The answer quickly becomes obvious. Like if we ask, for example, to whom in the last days do the priesthood and the keys of the kingdom rightly belong? We would answer to Joseph Smith, as is borne out in multiple revelations of the doctrine and covenants, like section 27, section 42, section 86, section 90. The keys of the kingdom are rightfully his right. Like I'm thinking of section 86, verses 8 through 11, where the Lord says that you have been hid with Christ in God, and you are heirs of the priesthood. You have a right to the priesthood because of your lineage. He highlights that right. So that's Joseph. If we ask, is it fitting to describe Joseph Smith as a servant in the hands of Christ on whom there is laid much power, I think we would have to answer yes. Yeah. Joseph had laid upon him, literally, the keys of the Aaronic priesthood by John the Baptist, keys of the kingdom by Peter, James and John, keys of the gathering of Israel by Moses, the dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham by Elias, and the keys of the sealing power of the kingdom by Elijah. But what if we ask, but did Joseph Smith ever use the keys he had been given to raise an ensign for the gathering of the Lord's people in the last days, as Isaiah described? We would answer again, yeah. Yea, verily, the raising of the Gospel in Zion and the gathering of the Lord's people was at the heart of the work of Joseph Smith from the time that he published the Book of Mormon in 1830 until the end of his life in 1844. One more question we could ask, given the angel Moroni's repeated quoting of Isaiah 11 to Joseph back in 1823, and Joseph's subsequent pondering of this special chapter and the remarkable revelations and experiences he had had since then and now The Lord's response here in section 113, did Joseph Smith himself personally understand the important position that he occupied in fulfilling key parts of this prophecy in Isaiah? Like, did he know this was about him? I think it's fair to say, Casey he probably did.
- [13:07]
B
Yeah, I think he probably did.
- [13:10]
A
What's interesting is he does not point that out to this study group. He does not say, that's talking about me, that's talking about we have to kind of make those final connections. He's too modest to do that, but I think he understood this.
- [13:23]
B
This isn't revelatory language too. It's in Thus saith the Lord contrast that we mentioned earlier. Verses 7 through 10 contain two additional question and answer pairs, but this time about Isaiah 52. And this time they were designated as being asked by Elias Higbee. So before examining these, let's contextualize Isaiah 52 a little bit. It deals primarily with a prophecy foretelling the day when the scattered outcasts of Israel will be re redeemed from that condition, the scattered condition they're in, and brought back to and reinstated in Jerusalem at a time when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Verse 1 of Isaiah 52, for example, reads, Awake, put on thy strength, O Zion. Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. And speaking of this verse, Elias Higbee asked what is meant by the Command in Isaiah 57, second chapter, first verse, which saith, put on thy strength, O Zion. And what people had Isaiah referenced to? So what does this mean? And who is Isaiah talking about? Then in verse 8, which again may be the voice of Joseph Smith, he answers, he had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of the priesthood to bring against Zion and the redemption of Israel. And to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she Zion, had a right to by lineage also to return to that power which she lost. Now, this response captures sort of the essence of God's work in the latter days. In its most simple conception, it's the project of restoration. It's the project of restoring God's people to him by fulfilling the promises he made to their ancestors anciently. And this involves the work of reconstituting Zion and redeeming Israel, which is primarily the work of those called to God in the last days to operate under the power or authority of the priesthood to which they have a lineal right to belong. So speaking on a similar point, the Lord had told a group of church leaders nearly six years earlier that the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers. That's in section 86. And explaining his meaning, he said, for ye are lawful heirs according to the flesh therefore the priesthood must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began. Then, speaking of their purpose, he declared, they are to be a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood a savior unto my people Israel. That's in section 86, verses 8 through 11.
- [15:58]
A
Okay, this is pretty dense stuff, but it's all relevant to the latter days. Seems to be the theme here. And the next question is about verse two of Isaiah 52. So Isaiah 52:2 reads, quote, shake thyself from the dust. Arise and sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Close quote so Elias Higbee asked, quote, what are we to understand by Zion loosing herself from the bands of her neck? Verse 10 of section 113 answers, we are to understand that the scattered remnants of Israel here are exhorted to return to the Lord from whence they have fallen, which if they do, the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them or give them revelation. The bands of her neck are the curses of God upon her, or the remnants of Israel in their scattered condition among the Gentiles. So notice here that Zion is synonymous with Israel here. So Zion will loose herself from the bands of her neck when scattered Israel chooses to return to the Lord as exhorted to do so. And this work of exhortation was already well underway in 1838, and continues apace today. The keys of the gathering of Israel are activated. The keys of preaching the gospel to the nations of the earth and opening up the nations of the earth earth for the preaching of the gospel are being exercised. And so these passages in Isaiah 11 and 52 seem highly relevant to the Latter Day Project prophecies about the very work that Joseph and his associates were inaugurating that so that's the content of section 113. All right, Casey, I have a controversy I would like to throw your way and see how you handle this. This it comes from verse six. All right, let me read this again. Behold, thus saith the Lord. It is a descendant of Jesse as well as of Joseph. This is asking about what the root of Jesse is spoken of in the 10th verse of chapter 11. So who is that? It's a descendant of Jesse as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priest. We believe that the evidence is pretty concrete that this is a reference to Joseph Smith, even though the revelation doesn't name him directly. Right. I think all. All arrows point to Joseph Smith. Smith. Here's the question. Is this verse saying, Casey, that Joseph Smith is a descendant of Jesus? I have heard people use that verse to say that. What do you think about that?
- [18:26]
B
Yeah, that is one of the distinct possibilities. Now, let me. Let me throw a little of water onto this. Onto this fire. Number one. It just says a descendant of Jesse and Jesse had a lot of sons, not just David. And so it's possible that the servant, who, by the way, the servant, isn't positively identified as Joseph Smith. But you did a great job running us through the reasons why it probably is Joseph Smith. He could be a descendant of one of Jesse's other children, or he could be a descendant of David but not a descendant of Christ. Or I think we're comfortable with the idea that he could be a descendant of Christ. Before we jump off the reservation here, let's qualify things. We don't know if this is Joseph Smith to begin with. It seems really likely that it is. We don't know if this means he. He's a descendant of David. It's just that he's a descendant of Jesse, but also of Joseph in Egypt, which every member of the church feels comfortable with saying that Joseph Smith was a descendant of Joseph in Egypt and Jesus is a long way down that family tree before we get there. So it's a distinct possibility. But I wouldn't make any rash assumptions based on it. And if it's 100% true, then it really doesn't affect anything for us. I'm just going to say the stuff about lineages is cool because it means that God fulfills promises made to ancestors. We also believe in adoption. We believe that you don't have to be, for instance, a literal descendant of Abraham or of Israel or anybody else to receive the blessings, that you can prove your worth through your choices and become a member of those families without having any kind of blood association with them. And that's another distinct possibility, is that there is no blood association, but that Joseph Smith, because of his actions, because of his calling, was adopted into this family, too. So it's neat. There's also a lot of assumptions that you have to make to come to that conclusion, that it's saying Joseph Smith is a descendant of Jesus Christ. We don't have enough information right now to make any final judgments.
- [20:29]
A
You said it great. Jesse had a lot of sons. David was one of Jesse's sons. Yep. And David had a lot of kids. A lot of descendants came from David. So why you would read verse six to say that this descendant had to be from Jesus? That's reading into the text. It's a great way to put your ideas into the text, but it's not a great way to understand what the text is actually saying. Right. And so, yeah, I would. I would steer way clear of reading verse six that way.
- [21:00]
B
Caution is warranted is all I would say. And again, I gotta emphasize, even if it did just flat out say that, it doesn't change anything for us, really. It'd be a neat factoid, but would essentially leave the game unchanged. ScottLetstotcon Consequences of Section 113 what's the outcome of this?
- [21:16]
A
I would call it two things, two outcomes. It reaffirms core themes of the restoration found in Isaiah from, like, the indispensable mission of Joseph Smith to the vital priesthood work of restoring God's people by reconstituting Zion and gathering scattered Israel. Like that's. That is central to everything that we do. I think. Secondly, we wonder, in light of the recent difficulties that happened in the Kirtland apostasy, former friends calling Joseph Smith a fallen prophet turning against him. We wonder if Joseph Smith didn't feel particularly comforted and reassured by the Lord's affirmations here in section 113 of his long anticipated prophetic work, which seemed destined to succeed. Right. That no unhallowed hand could stop these prophecies of Isaiah 11 and 52 from being fulfilled. Now, Joseph Smith had a place in that. I think this came as a personal reassurance. Casey, I don't have him saying that in a journal anywhere. I don't know of anything official in the history that says that, but I can't help but think that Section 113 would have comforted Joseph at such a time as he had just experienced.
- [22:20]
B
Call it a refocusing, call it a confidence booster, but you got to imagine that some of the things Joseph Smith had gone through during the Kirtland apostasy had shaken him. And this might have been a nice little reaffirmation of where he was. And if the passages aren't about him, if that's an assumption we're making, making it was still a good way to emphasize eyes on the prize. Here's what we're going for. We're going to restore Israel, to restore Zion, to rebuild Jerusalem. You've had some setbacks, but we're still on mission here. Let's do what we were asked to do. I think to that extent it's a great reminder and a powerful way of emphasizing how important the work that Joseph Smith and others were engaged in.
- [23:04]
A
Perfect. Well, that's the story of section 113. So to land the plane today, let's, let's go over to section 114. Casey. And this is just a cute little two verse revelation. Tell us what's going on with section 114.
- [23:23]
B
Section 114 is a short revelation given to Apostle David W. Patton. And at the time, Elder Patton is serving with the apostles Thomas P. Marsh and Brigham Young in the temporary Stake Press presidency of the Church in Missouri. So they're the Stake Presidency when Joseph Smith arrives in Missouri.
- [23:41]
A
Okay, so this is like before Thomas B. Marsh's apostasy.
- [23:45]
B
Yes. There's been unsettling things that happen in the church in Missouri. For instance, these weren't the Stake Presidency. David Whitmer was the stake President and he's just been excommunicated. Oliver Cowdery's left. David Patton had to play a role in that, as did Thomas B. Marsh, as did Brigham Young. They basically replace the original Stake Presidency in Missouri because like you illustrated earlier, there had been a grow rift between Joseph Smith and David Whitmer. But part of it was that David Whitmer had almost been sustained to take Joseph Smith's place as leader of the church. Now I'm oversimplifying here. It's way more complicated than that. But that's the essence of what's going on. The revelation just simply directs Elder Patton to settle his affairs and prepare to depart for a mission the next spring. Which isn't surprising. The whole quorum of the 12 is going to be called on a mission in section 118. But this command is similar to section 118, where the 12 are told to depart to go over the great waters, to go to Great Britain and there promulgate my gospel in the spring of 1839. This is the follow up mission to that first one that was led by Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde. And this one is a huge game changer. It unites the 12 converts thousands in England and really sends the church off in a different direction. Now focusing more closely on David Patton. Elder Patten was an original member of the first quorum of the 12 called in this dispensation and he was also known for his courage in the face of trials and afflictions. In fact, one description of him him reads, elder Patton has become most legendary in the history of the church for his courage and personal power in the face of adversity. He was a fearless defender of the faith and also the prophet Joseph Smith. Elder Patton stood 6ft 1 inch tall, weighed over 200 pounds, and he was a man of great physical strength. In fact, among the saints at far west, David Patton was known as Captain Fear not. That was his nickname. And with tensions rising in Missouri, we're about to go into the second Missouri persecutions, which are worse in every way than the first ones. His courage was going to be put to the test. Test just a few months after this revelation was given.
- [25:45]
A
Okay, let's head over to the content of the revelation itself then. Verse 1. Verily, thus saith the Lord. It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patton, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can and make a disposition of his merchandise that he may perform a mission unto me next spring in company with others even 12, including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto all the world. For verily, thus saith the lord that inasmuch as there are those among you who deny my name, others shall be planted in their stead and receive their bishopric. Amen. So this is brief, but it plays an important role actually in commemorating some of the labors of David W. Patton. So David Patton is baptized by his brother John back in 1832. And it doesn't take long before he proves himself to be a very gifted missionary, noted for his faith, faith in several remarkable healings, actually, like according to Abraham O. Smoot and Wilford Woodruff, who were contemporary missionaries with David, they said, quote, that neither knew an instance in which David's petition for the sick was not answered. Close quote. Every time he prayed for sick people, they healed. One of his earliest converts. Lorenzo Snow wrote, what impressed me most was his absolute sincerity, his earnestness, and his spiritual power. In 1835, Patton was selected to serve as one of the original apostles of this dispensation. And since all the apostles received their call around the same time, seniority in the quorum was determined just by age. Today we do it by when you were ordained an apostle. But since they were all basically ordained in the same span of a couple days, like they did it by age, Thomas B. Marsh actually misremembered his own birthday, which was not uncommon at that time. And so he was chosen to serve as president of the quorum of the 12. But research that's been carried out by scholars in the 20th century actually revealed that David Patten was born on November 17, 1799, while Marsh was born November 1, 1800. Marsh forgot that his birthday was in 1800, and he said 1799. And so he was the president of the 12. But it actually should have been David W. Patton anyways, that was not discovered in Patton's lifetime, so it doesn't really matter. But it's just kind of a fun little church history tidbit. But the bottom line is that the Lord trusted David W. Patton. He was not one of those who ever fell away. Tragically, as you mentioned, he's going to be killed. In fact, that's going to bring up one of our controversies, Casey. He's killed before he is able to fulfill this mission that the Lord called him to the next spring. Maybe that can be our segue into the controversy section.
- [28:29]
B
First of all, how did David find himself in opposition to Joseph Smith? We've covered the Kirtland apostasy, but this is a particularly interesting story. What happens with David Patton during the Kirtland apostasy?
- [28:40]
A
Yeah, it's intriguing because Joseph Smith, he once made this statement. It was a compliment to Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, but it makes us wonder about all the rest of the twelve. He said, of the twelve apostles chosen in Kirtland, there have been but two, but would have lifted their heel against me, namely Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. Meaning that every other apostle, the other 10, had a moment where they actually lifted the heel or turned against Joseph at some point. Some of them were really small, like we mentioned with Parley P. Pratt. It was probably just over a couple days. And then he reconciles and everything's fine. David's another one like that. David did have his moment where he turned on Joseph, but he'll repent shortly after that. So here's the story. So he travels from Missouri with Thomas B. Marsh, who's the president of the 12. They come to Kirtland when they hear about the Kirtland apostasy and some of the problems with the 12 apostles, right? The financial crisis, all that's going on in Kirtland that we talked about in our previous episode. So when he arrives in Kirtland with this crisis at its height, instead of going to Brigham Young and the other apostles, he goes on and meets with his brother in law, Warren Parish. Now, Warren Parish was one of the primary leaders of the insurgency against Joseph Smith's. Leadership. He was. Was one of the leaders of the antis. Okay, right there. And David Patton goes directly to Warren Parish to get his information. After he listened to Parish and what others around Parish had to say about Joseph Smith, David had his mind turned against the prophet, and he actually goes and confronts the prophet, and he says something to the prophet so offensive that the following thing played out. This is from Wilford Woodruff, who says he heard it from Brigham Young. Okay, so third hand. But here's what he says. Quote, he, Brigham Young said that David Patton and Thomas B. Marsh came to Kirtland in the fall of 1837. He said, as soon as possible, I got Marsh to go to Joseph. But Patton would go to W. Parish, to Warren Parish. And he got his mind. David got his mind prejudiced. And when he went to see Joseph, David insulted Joseph. And so Joseph slapped him in the face and kicked him out of the yard. And then Brigham says, this done David good, actually. So. Whoa. So David. David Patton said something so offensive to Joseph that Joseph slaps him in the face and kicks him out of his yard. Shortly after that incident, David Patton felt so bad about whatever he had said that he goes back to Joseph Smith and they reconcile. And there's no further mentions of any sort of apostasy from that time forward. So whatever happened, we don't. We don't know the details. And that's the end of the story. So that's his little moment of lifting the hill against Joseph, I guess.
- [31:13]
B
I guess. Another nearby miss. If Joseph Smith hadn't slapped him, we might have been talking about another apostate member of the 12 rather than the first apostolic martyr.
- [31:24]
A
Which, by the way, how cool is it that we have this moment of Joseph slapping him in the face? Like, I don't think we hear stories like that hardly ever. But in this moment, it sounds like it was the right thing to do. As Brigham said, this done David good. Snapped him out of it.
- [31:42]
B
Classic quote. So I guess you know this isn't really a controversy, Right? He followed the pattern that most of the apostles did, which he had a spell of doubting and maybe even opposition to Joseph Smith. But David Patton course corrected and was.
- [31:55]
A
Okay, okay. So. Well, let me bring up something that is maybe a little more controversial then. And I alluded to it previously, but we know that David Patton dies before he's able to actually serve the mission that he's called on here in section 140 14. Like he's called on a mission to go with the 12 to England. But he dies before that. Maybe, maybe you could tell us a little about the death. Like what happens. Like you mentioned, he was murdered, he's the first martyr. And then maybe theologically, Casey, like, how do we make sense of this, that the Lord called him on a mission to England, but he died before. That kind of feels a little bit like the Lyman Sherman thing that we were talking about, where he dies before he's able to be ordained an apostle, even though the Lord had called him to that.
- [32:33]
B
So first of all, could I, I just describe his death because there's so much interesting stuff surrounding it. So after the church collapses in Kirtland, David Patton relocates to Missouri. That's where this revelation is received. At least one of the biographers of David Patton and there's some interesting stuff out there. David Patten is the one, for instance, who had a vision of Cain. But at least one of David Patton's biographers connects this revelation to a conversation that Wilford Woodruff recorded. Wilford Woodruff wrote, david made known to the prophet, prophet that he has asked the Lord to let him die. The death of a martyr. At which the prophet greatly moved, expressed extreme sorrow. For he said to David, when a man of your faith asks the Lord for anything, he generally gets it. Several months later, when the second Missouri persecution startup elder Patton leads a contingent of Far west militia to rescue three hostages that were captured by the Missouri militia. And David Patton's company discovered the encampment of this hostile militia. But they came under fire from fortified defensive positions. We don't know who fired first, but it quickly became clear that the Missourians held a strategic advantage from their positions of COVID And realizing that he and his men were completely exposed to enemy fire, David Patton ordered a charge directly into the enemy positions. His militia rescued the hostages. They chase off the Missourians. But when the smoke cleared, one Missourian was dead. But however, the saints fared worse. A non Latter Day Saint guide who had been held helping David's group had been killed. And two members of the militia were fatally wounded. Gideon Carter and David Patton. On his deathbed, maybe thinking of the recent apostasy of several apostles, David Patton reaffirmed his testimony of the gospel and his faith in eternal life. In fact, he was speaking to his wife Phoebe Ann, and they don't have any children by the way, he said, whatsoever you do else, oh, do not deny the faith. And that a few minutes before his death he prayed, father, I ask thee in the name of Jesus Christ Christ that thou wouldst release my spirit and receive it. Unto thyself. He turns to the people surrounding his bed and he says, brethren, you have held me by your faith, but do give me up and let me go, I beseech you. And then he dies a few moments later. At David Patton's funeral, which was held the following day, Joseph Smith remarked, there lies a man that has done just as he said he would. He has laid down his life for his friends. That's a remarkable story. And again, it raises the question of in section 114, why is David called on a mission if he's going to be killed? This doesn't trouble me at all because I've heard this question at least in a dozen different forms. Someone's patriarchal blessing said they'd serve a mission, but they died in a car accident. Or Lyman Sherman was called to be an apostle, but he died before he was able to fill that position. The Lord just has a bigger perspective on things than we do. It's interesting that he gives David this mission call and then gives the entire 12Amission call. It's possible that he. He wasn't going on the mission to England, that section 114 is a completely separate mission call that they just misunderstood and then met a mission in the spirit world or some other venture that the Lord had asked him to go on. But I mean, when it comes to a premature death and not all promises have been fulfilled, we have to recognize that, yeah, from our mortal perspective, it seems that way. But eternal promises are made in patriarchal blessings. They can be fulfilled outside the scope of a person. Person's mortality. So this doesn't trouble me at all, not in the least. I think David Patton was called on a mission just on the other side of the veil.
- [36:08]
A
I'm looking back at verse one to look at the wording carefully. It says, it is wisdom in me that David Patton should settle up and make a disposition of his merchandise that he may perform a mission unto me next spring in company with others. Even the 12 to go bear tidings, glad tidings to the world. I guess it's not a prophecy, it's not a you will serve a mission, but it's in wisdom in me that you settle up your business business so you can perform that mission to me.
- [36:34]
B
Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde both apostatize while things get really bad. And both of them share a story that David Patton comes to them and warns them of the consequences of leaving the church. And it apparently affects Orson Hyde so much that Orson Hyde immediately goes back. We've already mentioned this, but it takes Thomas Beamer Marsh a longer time to go back. I would say that David serving a mission and it being involved with the 12 is all fulfilled just maybe in that one story. But I'm going to leave it open for a story of a bigger scope one day when we know the full thing. He is one of the people that the Lord recognizes in section 124 as having gone on to a greater award. Like they're literally told in section 124 that David Patton is with Christ. I think everything here is fulfilled just in the scope of eternity, not in the scope of mortality.
- [37:27]
A
Do you think there's like a couple different options of how things could happen? Like, I know we've debated the. The omniscience of God a lot and open theology and closed theology, but I can hear someone who's an open theist, someone who thinks the future is not fully set, quoting section 114 and saying, See, David Patton could have served a mission, but instead he chose to do this raid on these enemy encampment to free these three church members who had been taken hostage. And as a consequence, he got shot in the stomach and got killed and went to the spirit world, probably performed a mission there that was totally fine with the Lord as well. There's different contingencies, different branches, if you will, of options that are available and that the future is not fully fixed. I could see section 114 being invoked to support that idea. I don't know where I come down on that, Casey, but yeah, for some reason I'm not bothered by this. I either, but maybe for different reasons than you, but it's a tribute to David Whitmer's worthiness. It's a tribute to what the Lord thinks he's capable of and the work that he could have done. And I think that's. That's a beautiful tribute too. So, yeah, there's some complexity there.
- [38:34]
B
Well, we may have already covered the consequences. We just kind of did it all together. He becomes. He becomes the first apostolic martyr. He still affects his brethren in the quorum by getting Orson and Hyde to come back, which has innumerable consequences, and he stays true. The consequence of this section is that David Patton is faithful to the day he dies and continues to influence the church after. So, like I said, just a short section, but it introduces us to one of the great figures in church history and one that I hope more people become aware of.
- [39:03]
A
Well, with that, that wraps up this week's. Come Follow me. Casey, stay tuned. Next week, more Far west revelations. Some big ones, actually. So buckle up.
- [39:12]
B
Okay, we'll see you then.