The following 15 prophecies relate to Joseph Smith and his mission in this life. Comment with questions or epiphanies! Check out this commentary on Isaiah 11 to decide if it’s about Jesus Christ or Joseph Smith.
George A Horton begins – “I am sometimes asked if there is any evidence in the Bible that foretells the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I usually reply that the only sure evidence of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s divine calling is a personal witness from the Holy Ghost. Still, there are many references to the Prophet in the Bible that confirm that testimony.”
Isaiah 11:1
“There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Isaiah 11:10-12
“In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people. …
“And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
JST, Gen. 50:27, 30-31, 33
“Thus saith the Lord God of my fathers unto me [Joseph, son of Jacob], A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins. …
“And unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins … to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days;
“Wherefore the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written … shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
“And out of weakness shall he be made strong, in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them, who are of the house of Israel, in the last days.
“And that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto you; for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.”
Ezekiel 37:16-17
“Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one astick, and bwrite upon it, For cJudah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and dwrite upon it, For eJoseph, the fstick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become aone in thine hand.”
JST, Isaiah 29:20-22
“Behold, it shall come to pass, that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book, Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee.
“And the learned shall say, Bring hither the book and I will read them; and now because of the glory of the world, and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say, I cannot bring the book for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say, I cannot read it.
“Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say, I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him, The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.”
Malachi 3:1-3
“Behold, I will asend my bmessenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly ccome to his dtemple, even the emessenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
But who may aabide the bday of his ccoming? and who shall dstand when he appeareth? for he is like a erefiner’s ffire, and like fullers’ gsoap:
And he shall sit as a arefiner and purifier of silver: and he shall bpurify the csons of dLevi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an eoffering in righteousness.”
Matthew 11:10
“For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my amessenger before thy face, which shall bprepare thy way before thee.”
John 1:23
“He said, I am the avoice of one crying in the wilderness, Make bstraight the cway of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”
Daniel 2:44
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
Isaiah 40:3-5
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
“Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Jeremiah 30:21
“Their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.”
John 1:22
Joseph Smith Translation (John 1:22), John the Baptist’s response is slightly different:
“They asked him, saying; How then art thou Elias? And he said, I am not that Elias who was to restore all things. And they asked him, saying, Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.” (Italics added.)
Deuteronomy 18:15
“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;”
Matthew 24:14
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come”
Revelations 14:6-7
“I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
“Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
These scriptures were collected by George A. Horton, Jr. – he was the associate director of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. If you’d like more details and explanation go here.
Again – please comment with questions or epiphanies! Do you think these are truly are prophecies about Joseph Smith? Did we miss any?
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Was your father George Horton who served in Middlesbrough England back in 1968 or thereabouts?
Sadly Sid this is a reprint of an older Ensign article, so we have not direct contact with the author
No he’s not my father, did you know him though Sid?
Jacob, your wonderful article pulls us into George A. Horton, Jr.’s well thought out and moving paper on our beloved Prophet Joseph Smith. Indeed, “Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!”
Thank you Gregorio! It’s interesting to think about these scriptures pertaining to Joseph Smith. Some may have multiple fulfillments.
The verses in Isaiah 11 are not of Joseph Smith. If so then why are we having wolf problems in Yellowstone and why are people still getting bit by snakes when verses 6 through 9 says it won’t be happening? “My holy mountain” (verse 9) is the Zion Kingdom and has not been raised from the dust yet. The timing is way off! Further evidence that it is not referring Joseph Smith (other than a witness from the Spirit) is D&C 113:3-6. That was a revelation given in 1838, 8 years after the church was restored. The Lord answers the questions about the rod and root yet never speaks as though it had been fulfilled and never identifies Joseph as being a fulfillment of either of those roles. Furthermore, we learn from those verses that the rod won’t even be a leader in the church but more like an “ordinary” member and THAT is why he will be rejected by the members of the church (3 Nephi 21:9).
Isaiah 29 is actually a bit confusing because it, too, is still a future prophecy. Nephi saw a shadow of it with the destruction of the Nephites thus made his own prophecy that is similar to it (2 Nephi 25:7) but does not fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. There are clues in the Isaiah prophecy that are being overlooked when concluding that the Nephites were an actual fulfillment rather than a shadow fulfillment, such as “David” having never dwelt there, the attackers being as a dream in a night vision (meaning there attacks ultimately did no harm), and that it will be multiple nations that fight against Ariel, not just one. The sealed record coming forth in the prophecy is the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon and, of course, is future prophecy.
Matthew 11 and John 1 was fulfilled during Jesus’ lifetime, not during Joseph Smith’s. Joseph is not tied to them.
Daniel 2:44 is a prophecy of the Zion Kingdom, not the church. Joseph Smith TRIED to establish the Zion Kingdom but was unable to thus that part of the prophecy is not in relation to him. The part that DOES relate to him is that the mountain which the stone is cut from is the church and, of course, he restored the church. But the prophecy itself is about the stone that is cut from the mountain (the mountain is the church and the stone is the Zion Kingdom) and is the political Zion Kingdom that breaks the feet of the statue, causing it to fall. Joseph Smith even stated that the church is not the kingdom that smites the image and made that comment while teaching the Council of Fifty.
Isaiah 40 refers to Joseph Smith? What are we told in the first two verses? That the timing is after Jerusalem has received double for her iniquity. And verse 10? It is speaking of His arm that shall rule: His arm is the “rod” of Isaiah 11 (see Isaiah 52:9-16 which is a personal message to that prophet and identifies him as the “arm”). The timing before verses 3-5 and the timing after those verses are future fulfillment from Joseph Smith’s days so why the assumption that Isaiah went back in time to include Joseph Smith in the prophecy?
Jeremiah 30:21?!? Apparently the chapter is not understood. In verse 3 it speaks of the captivity again of the covenant people – did that happen yet? Nope (hint: WE are the ones making covenants with God). Verse 7 speaks of the day of the Lord – that hasn’t happened yet, either. Verse 8 speaks of the bondage (yoke) upon the covenant people just like in Isaiah 10:24-27… has that happened yet? Nope. The timing of the chapter is during the cleansing of wickedness which we are near to enter so why would it be assumed that the prophecy goes way out of time to include Joseph Smith? It doesn’t.
John 1:22… John was asked if he was Elijah (which was sometimes written as Elias) and he said that he was not. But there is also an Elias that is the title to a calling and is translated as “forerunner”. John WAS Elias (the forerunner), not Elijah. But that really has nothing to do with Joseph Smith.
Deuteronomy 18:15 is Joseph Smith?!? Someone doesn’t know their scriptures! Nephi declared that prophet to be Jesus Christ (1 Nephi 22:20-21). Jesus validated that HE is that prophet (3 Nephi 20:23). Now if we want to discuss Deuteronomy 18:18-19 then THAT is a different prophet but still not Joseph Smith. That is the rod of Isaiah 11, and the arm of Isaiah 51:5, and was mentioned by Jesus in 3 Nephi 21:11.
Matthew 24:14… how can I break this to you? Ok, like the tenderness of a Sherman tank among daisies. The gospel of Jesus Christ is heavily reliant on faith, repentance, and obeying the commandments. If you take away repentance and obeying the commandments then are you still preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? No, because NOBODY gets into the kingdom of heaven that is not obeying the commandments (3 Nephi 12:20) and truly repenting.
Q: What are the commandments that we are to be obeying under the gospel of Jesus Christ?
A: *cricket sounds*
IF the ten commandments are taught in the church it is ALWAYS the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant (Law of Moses). Uh… that was superseded and that’s why we don’t do sacrifices anymore. Jesus gave ten new commandments to go with the New Covenant but those commandments are NOT being taught nor are members putting forth any reasonable effort to obey them. Missionaries are NOT teaching those commandments and fewer than 1 in 1,000 even know what they are. They are NOT found being taught in the church publications, either. It is indisputable that the commandments of Jesus Christ are not being taught, preached, or knowingly followed by the church.
A form of repentance is being taught but true repentance is not. Did you know that true repentance hinges on whether the Spirit’s presence is being felt? If that presence is not being felt then repentance is due because we will ALWAYS feel that presence if we have no sin – it is sin that causes the presence to fade. But how many know that? And, if they do know that, they immediately begin repenting to get the presence back once the presence fades? It is not taught that way. It is suggested to wait until Sunday to partake of the Sacrament to get the presence back or go to the temple. It is NOT being actively taught to immediately drop to the knees and repent but THAT is true repentance. Remember the commandment to be perfect? There is no push for that, either, yet being perfect means that we never offend the Spirit thus the Spirit’s presence is always felt. Why the failure to teach true repentance? Why do we hear from the pulpit words of doubt in being able to be perfect which is to never offend the Spirit?
So, we are in a situation where missionaries are sent throughout the world but they do not teach the commandments nor do they preach true repentance… how does that qualify as ‘preaching the gospel’ to the world? In reality it does not. And it is no coincidence that the church is in the 188th year of condemnation BECAUSE the New Covenant Commandments and repentance is not a part of our life nor a part of our church (D&C 84:57). Does anyone REALLY think that if the church is STILL under condemnation at the Second Coming that Jesus will declare “well done”??? It will not happen! First the members must learn the commandments and learn true repentance then practice it. Once that happens THEN they will know enough about the gospel to be able to preach it to the world. Unfortunately, time has run out. 188 years was plenty of time yet it was squandered away. Even if President Nelson declared at the next conference that we are going to do whatever it takes to remove the church from under the condemnation it would STILL take years before the members will understand the commandments and repentance well enough to take it to the world. Too late. It will be the 144,000 that will be doing that, and that will not happen until after the cleansing. Oh yes, the cleansing…. yep, the Lord Jesus is not pleased that the covenant (church) members don’t even know that He gave ten commandments as part of the New Covenant. Study 3 Nephi 12:19-20 closely to discover them. But as far as Joseph Smith being a part of the prophecy of Matthew 24:14, that is incorrect.
Revelation 14:6-7…. yes, that is frequently misinterpreted! That is a 7th Seal prophecy. We are not in the 7th Seal, thus it hasn’t even taken place yet. Remember that Moroni was NOT limited to flying through heaven only once! A shadow of that prophecy took place at the restoration (D&C 133:36) but they were not in the 7th Seal at that time nor ate we at this time in history thus it is still a future prophecy. Those verses do not tie to Joseph Smith because of that.
There are a few things to point out in conclusion. The first is that scriptures should never be taken out of context as had been done so many times in that article. The Spirit will NEVER bear witness of a falsehood nor when scriptures are misinterpreted. We are to conform to truth, not for truth to conform to our perspective and beliefs. Saying “the scriptures say…” means nothing if the Spirit isn’t going to witness to it if it is a misinterpretation.
The second point that might be of interest is that the ONLY prophet that has more prophecies about Him than the rod (Isaiah 11) is Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was not that prophet but rather he is a future prophet and servant of/for Jesus Christ. There are specific prophecies of him in the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and the D&C. It isn’t President Nelson, either. There will be BIG changes coming our way which are part of the “ignored prophecies”.
Wow Don!
Thank you for your incredibly well thought out response. You make many great points.
I’m curious what you mean by the “ignored prophecies?”
Thanks