This final use of Isaiah begins in Chapter 12 of Second Nephi. From Nephi’s perspective we see a prophecy of a latter-day Temple in the “top of the mountains” where all nations will be gathered to be taught the law of God. The verse has previously been so well discussed by so many people we will not make other mention here.
After that, however, is a lengthy description which applies to us all. We tend to disassociate these verses from Zion. Nephi, however, has attached them to Zion and made them applicable to us. They read:
Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not. O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee. And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan; And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, and upon all the nations which are lifted up, and upon every people; And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall; And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of? (2 Nephi 12: 6-22; emphasis added.)
This is wonderful to contemplate. At last all those who “fared sumptuously” will trade places with the “beggars” of this earth. At last those who occupy this world’s “chief seats” will be brought low. Those stinging words from Christ will resonate anew with relevance we hardly contemplate at present:
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Matt. 23: 2-12.)
Finally, in that day, with the Man of Holiness to stand as a guide for the comparison, we will “get it.” We will see how foolish and vain we have been in our meetings, counsels and conferences. We will forsake the veneration of lowly men and find what it means to “worship God.”
Identical warnings have been given anew in our day. We have been told the veneration of men will earn us a Telestial reward:
And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world; For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. (D&C 76: 98-101.)
We will at last see why Nephi cautioned us: “Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well! Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more! And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God!” (2 Nephi 28: 24-28.)
We will join Nephi and understand Isaiah’s words. We will soberly reassess our own pride and self-vaunting claims that we are a peculiar treasure, more valuable than the rest of mankind. We will realize we were only called to serve, not to claim for ourselves the right to be honored and respected. We were not called to be respected, but to be despised, rejected and outcast. We will eventually realize Nephi’s warning about seeking to become popular in the eyes of the world includes our own marketing of a good public image, and employing professionals to provide good public relations. We will find, to our horror, we were instead called to speak the truth, in soberness, and not to reduce the breadth of our warnings to accommodate or appeal to an increasingly wicked world. We are not, and can never be, another denomination. We must continue to assert, as offensive as it is to a disbelieving world, that we, alone, possess the message of salvation. We cannot blend into a crowd of Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics and Pentecostals. We are not a part of Historic Christianity, for the opening moments of the Restoration condemned “all their creeds.” Creedal acceptance is the foundation for joining the Historic Christian world. Unless you accept their creeds, you are not orthodox.
Nephi does a great service to us when he warns us in words of plainness. He is trying to help us avoid condemnation. We should accept his warnings in that light. He follows the consistent pattern the Prophets have always followed: They do not flatter us, they warn us, candidly, and even harshly, about what to flee if we are seeking safety.
Nephi accuses us of being “replenished from the east,” because we are living in a culture which has embraced Babylonian, Greek, Median, Persian, Roman and modern philosophies as ways of perceiving the world. We are corrupt in our minds, and therefore lack the faith to worship God in the way He would approve. He would like us to progress from “grace to grace” until we receive a “fullness” of light and truth. We lack the essential faith to do so. We fail to have angels minister to us, because we do not do what the scriptures teach us in great plainness. We substitute higher criticism and scholarly commentary for reading and doing what the Prophets have taught. Nephi’s criticisms cut to the bone, because they describe us so well.
We are a culture of excess and opulence. Nephi says: “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that whichtheir own fingers have made.” (2 Nephi, 12; supra.) Whether we are in North America, South America, Africa, Europe or Asia, there is almost no corner of the earth where the productivity of modern commerce could not feed the poor, clothe the naked, and house the unsheltered. Yet, we have the cold, hungry and naked in all those continents because we prefer to hoard excess, fill our lands with possessions in the pursuit of security, and neglect those in real need. We fail to realize security comes from God. And self-security comes from knowing you have treated the beggars with charity. Wealth will be no protection in the Day of Judgment.
Nephi tells us the judgments to come will be upon “all nations.” None will be spared. Our mantras about the United States’ Constitution being inspired will not prevent the desolation which is coming from making a full end of that nation, too. Nephi tells us there is no security in nationalism. But that is where we first look in our day of troubles. As a nation, we want our National Guard, our public welfare systems and our government health programs to save us from calamities. When they do, Americans feel vindicated in not depending upon God. We think we do not need Him to deliver us, do not believe He can do so, and have no need to expect miracles. And so we get noNephi It should not be so among the Saints. We should instead rely upon God’s warnings, have a home storage program, and contribute to the Church’s welfare programs.
It is a picture of proud, vain and faithless people being portrayed here. Nephi is trying to get us to realize Zion is not immune from these defects. He wants us to associate these blunders with the “house of Jacob” or “Zion,” itself. So much so that he cautions us from ever crying: “All is well in Zion, yea, Zion prospereth, all is well.” Zion’s apparent prosperity is nothing. It is not bricks and mortar, or spires and fiberglass statues overlaid with gold-leaf that will protect us. It is instead our humility and hearkening to the Spirit.
We should not find this surprising, though. Christ also confirmed His Saints would be unprepared at His coming. He taught the Gospel net (His Church) would have many fish, which would be discarded. Half of His welcoming “virgins” would be unprepared. Similarly, even those who will bear fruit (i.e., have accepted the Gospel) will receive varying degrees of glory at His return. If Nephi were not warning Zion, he would not be consistent in his message with his Lord.
Nephi’s warning is: “Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well! Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more! And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God!” (2 Nephi 28: 24-28.) This is the problem. We think we can hearken to the precepts of men, and deny the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, but we cannot. Nephi foresaw that many in Zion will never search the truth of a proposition by resorting to the voice of the Spirit. Instead, they will presume the infallibility of the channel of communication established in the Church, and feel no need to look to God for personal revelation. The Church’s leadership was not established, and never has claimed, to be the only source receiving inspiration and revelation in the latter-days. Every convert is expected to receive revelation for him or herself. Saints are expected to bear testimony to each other. None of us are free to disregard the inspired words of others as they bear testimony. And, more importantly, none of us are free to reject the words of the Holy Ghost as it speaks to us.
We ignore the Lord’s own words of inspiration which direct us that: “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile-” (D&C 121: 41-42.) We have rewritten this to say, in effect: “all power and influence is exclusively maintained solely by virtue of priestly presiding office. Nothing else, however loving, gentle, inspired or stirring from any other source can be accepted.” We needn’t ask. We needn’t listen. We needn’t have a broken heart and contrite spirit. All we need is to remain true to the organization of the Church and all will be fine with us. However, salvation is always an individual event, and not a collective enterprise. Therefore our association with a group will not help us have oil in our individual lamps.
Saving faith must be focused upon God aloNephi Faith in any man or group of men will not save anyoNephi When God sends a messenger, He does not send him or her to be worshiped. The messenger is only important for the message he or she brings. This is illustrated wonderfully in John’s Revelation. An angel appears to John with a message from God, and John’s reaction is to worship this messenger. He is forbidden to do so: “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” (Rev. 22: 8-9.) When it comes to worship of any messenger “See thou do it not!” For there is only One worthy of worship: “worship God.”
The angel’s admonition comes just moments before (and three verses before) the angel delivers the following words to John: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” (Rev. 22: 12-13.) This angelic messenger speaks to John in the first-person as God, Himself. Yet, he is only a messenger. He is not God. And because he is not God, he forbids John from showing any reverence or worship to him. Christ forbids worship of any but the Father. Christ’s ministry was to bear witness of the Father, and the Father bore witness of Christ by giving Christ works to do. As Christ states in John 5:36: “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.” Christ did all of the great works He performed under the directing commandment of the Father. As Christ put it: “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5: 30.) Christ was first, last and always, acting under the Father’s command, using the Father’s power, and doing the Father’s will. As Christ stated after His resurrection: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” (3 Nephi 11: 10-11, emphasis added.) As Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained it: “We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost.” McConkie, Bruce R., The Promised Messiah, (Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, 1981) p. 13. We should not be worshiping, reverencing, adoring or kneeling to men.
Just as the angel corrected John the Revelator, Nephi is attempting to correct us. He foresaw our unnatural deference for and admiration of the latter-day messengers. He warns us to seek counsel from, and obtain saving faith through, the Holy Ghost. Zion may prosper in the latter-days. Zion may seem to be getting along well enough, at times. However, that should never distract those who claim to follow God from taking their eyes away from Him. We should never be distracted or focused on Zion or the leaders of Zion.
We get a terrible warning about the consequences of focusing on the messenger, rather than God who is the author of salvation, in the Vision of the Three Degrees of Glory. In it we read that those who worship the messengers wind up in company with murders, whoremongers, thieves and liars. They are damned. Look again at Section 76, and pay attention to the highlighted words below:
And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world; For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud. These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth. These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work. (Verses 98-106, emphasis added.)
The words of scripture are clear. They all agree with Nephi’s warning. What Nephi does, however, is make these warnings directly applicable to latter-day Zion. He says this problem is going to be endemic to us. We are in peril by this failing.
There is good reason for this. Men fail. Very good men, with very good intentions, doing their best to follow God, still fail. We do not believe in human infallibility. Joseph Smith never claimed infallibility, indeed he claimed the contrary. He recorded in his journal: “This morning I visited with a brother and sister from Michigan, who thought that ‘a prophet is always a prophet’; but I told them that a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such” (TPJS, p. 278.)
Brigham Young cautioned: “What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire of themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path that the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually.” (JD, 9: 149-50.)
George Q. Cannon put it in this way: “Put trust in no man. Do not, brethren, put your trust in man though he be a Bishop, an Apostle or a President; if you do, they will fail you at some time or place; they will do wrong or seem to, and your support be gone; but if we lean on God, He never will fail us. When men and women depend on God alone and trust in Him alone, their faith will not be shaken if the highest in the Church should step aside. They could still see that He is just and true, that truth is lovely in His sight and the pure in heart are dear to Him.” (Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, selected, arranged, and edited by Jerreld L. Newquist, p.249.)
More recently, President Harold B. Lee taught: “And if he says something that contradicts what is found in the standard Church works, you may know by that same token that it is false, regardless of the position of the man who says it. We can know or have the assurance that they are speaking under inspiration if we so live that we can have a witness that what they are speaking is the word of the Lord. There is only one safety, and that is that we shall live to have the witness to know.” (Harold B. Lee, The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, edited by Clyde J. Williams, p.541.)
Our dispensation of the Gospel is utterly unique in the role which has been handed to the Prophets. In all past dispensations, the prophets have been outcast, isolated and working as solitary or near-solitary figures. From Adam, whose ministry was within his family unit, through the Patriarchs to Abraham, the ministries of the prophets were familial. A greater, apostate and opposing population engulfed the families over which the Patriarchs ministered. Until Noah, these prophet-Patriarchs labored against a greater opposing host. Noah saw the end of this, and founded a new generation of mankind. Once again, Noah ministered inside a small family unit.
Abraham served inside his family; Isaac and Jacob, also. Not until Moses did a prophet administer a greater people. However, Moses’ ministry was over an unruly, difficult and stiff-necked people who challenged his administration repeatedly. At one point the Lord threatened to destroy all of Israel, and start over with Moses and his descendants making a new covenant people. Though Moses handed over rule of Israel to Joshua, Israel quickly devolved into tribal life; with inspired “Judges” providing prophetic leadership on a local-clan basis.
When Israel demanded of Samuel that they be given a king to rule over them, leadership was divided between the king, who had political, economic and administrative authority; and the Prophets, who had spiritual authority. From that time forward, the Prophets’ office was more often than not called upon to rebuke, remind and call to repentance the authority of the kings.
As these Old Testament Prophets served, they often did so at great personal peril. They risked their lives to present their messages. They held no economic clout, no political rule, and no administrative authority. Rather, they were compelled by their circumstances and vulnerability to rely upon God for not only guidance, but also protection.
In the New Testament Church, under Emperor Nero the chief apostle Peter would be crucified; Paul would be beheaded; James killed in Jerusalem; Steven stoned to death, and miserable treatment, persecution and opposition attended their every move. They held limited means, presided over a limited organization, and faced terrible opposition. They never had economic clout, political power or successful administrative organization given them. They were situated just as the Old Testament Prophets before them.
In the Restoration, Joseph Smith suffered persecution, ultimately being martyred for his testimony. Brigham Young through Wilford Woodruff suffered under official, governmental persecution. It was not until the administration of David O. McKay that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew out of obscurity. From then forward, Presidents of the Church have had to face all the difficulties of administering an extensive organization, now worldwide in scope, possessing great economic power, and holding enough political clout to change the outcome of debate in several States of the United States. These challenges are unlike those faced by prior dispensations’ prophets. These challenges mark an added degree of challenge to the spiritual mission of Church Presidents.
Our scriptures caution us: “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (D&C 121: 39.) This revelation was confined to priesthood authority and its abuse. It is an added modern caution, echoing the same theme as Nephi’s. We do ourselves and our President-Prophet a disservice when we ignore the message by fawning and over-reverencing them. The Saints are imposing upon the Prophet the imperial trappings of worldly, presidential office.
Unlike the prior prophets of the Old and New Testaments, our President-Prophet operates atop a modern economic, political and administrative empire. In addition to holding authority over spiritual things, his decisions literally influence the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families. This is not an inconsequential burden to shoulder. It is an added distraction for any man to bear alongside the charge of providing spiritual guidance to millions.
As Latter-day Saints, we are obligated to sustain the Presidents of the Church with our confidence, faith and prayers. We are not charged with rendering to them flattery, obeisance, fawning, or petitioning for their favor. We add to their burdens when we act that way. We make it more difficult for them to keep spiritual balance when we erect monuments to them, hold celebrations for them, and render them uninterrupted flattering praise. Anciently, the Greeks thought flattery was only sought by a tyrant. Whatever else the Greeks got wrong, they were right on this. We create tyrants when we address them only with flattery.
Just as Christ reacted with sharpness at tempting flattery, we should refrain from tempting the Church Presidents by fawning over them. They deserve much better. They deserve our “confidence, faith and prayers.” Included in those prayers should be our own petitions for their continued humility as they face the challenges of spiritual guidance for us, while bearing economic, political and administrative power unlike anything past prophets have had to bear.
When reading scripture about the failings of past figures, we see Satan does not develop new tools of temptation. He uses the same ones repeatedly, across generations, cultures and people. The same lusts and ambitions work among every people. There is no need for inventiveness when it comes to sin. If you want to see how Satan will work against you, look at how he has tempted others.
It follows therefore, if you want to see how Satan will work against the restored Church of Jesus Christ then you should study how he worked against the New Testament Church. How did the Church founded by Christ upon the foundation of Apostles, Prophets and personal revelation, decay into a worldly institution without any spiritual power? It is clear the coup-de-grace came when Constantine made Christianity the official state religion of Rome. Upon ascending to political and economic power, a wholly different sort of person was attracted to Christianity. W.H.C. Frend observed: “Whatever the theoretical reservations of the Western Christian leaders, church and state were blending rapidly in these years, and the church itself was emerging as a vast, privileged corporation, the connection of many of whose leaders with the lives of the provincials was becoming increasingly tenuous.” (The Rise of Christianity; (Fortress Press; Philadelphia; 1984), p. 537.) He observes later: “Thus, during the fourth century, the wheel had turned the full circle. From being persecuted, the Christians were now the persecutors. …Precedents were being set in dealings with heretics which Christian monarchs were to follow for many centuries to come. With Ambrose, Theodosius shares both the credit and discredit of founding the medieval church-state.” (Id., p. 640.) As Christianity gained in economic, political and administrative power, it felt less inhibition at wielding that power to insure compulsory compliance with its agendas. “[D]eviation from orthodoxy would become an offense punishable by the state. Persecution of Christians by Christians was the final step in a long development extending back to the time when Constantine had denied heretics the privileges he granted to orthodox clergy. …What Augustine was to do in his letters and discussions between 399 and 412 was to justify the state’s intervention in the religious lives of its subjects so that persecution became an accepted part of its role.” (Id., p. 670.)
If you want to foresee how Satan will challenge the continuing spiritual life of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you need only consider how he accomplished it before to that same Church as it existed in the Meridian of Time. He will do it through worldly success. He will do it by allowing her to amass economic, political and administrative power, and then tempting her to abuse it. He will do it through her very prosperity. Little wonder, then, that Nephi sounds the alarm loudly to us: “Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well! Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more! And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God!” (2 Nephi 28: 24-28.) Our prosperity is not a sign of God’s favor. It is instead, one of the great temptations we will face as a people and in particular a distraction to our leadership. Our leaders face grave spiritual temptations and deceptions. When we uphold them with our “confidence, faith and prayers,” we should be petitioning on their behalf for the strength to face this terrible adversity. Poverty is nothing; it brings humility. It is wealth which corrodes all spiritual power.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, quoting from Brigham Young, said this about the challenge: “The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, What of the Mormons? (Salt Lake City, 1947), p.180-181.)
When we read Nephi’s cautions for us, we are reading counsel from a prophet who saw our day, but had the added advantage of not living in it. He is a more objective observer than any of us who live inside the latter-day milieu. He worried for latter-day Zion as she prospered. When the Restoration began, the Church was weak, vulnerable and hounded from state to state. She was persecuted, prosecuted and mobbed. That initial effort to overwhelm her failed; but it also became a fountain from which she drew spiritual power. Persecution has been replaced by prosperity. We see that prosperity all around us. As we do, we should be driven to our knees in fear for our spiritual decliNephi
When I joined the Church in New Hampshire in September, 1973, I qualified to attend a “Religious Retreat” once a year under a then-existing military program. Taking advantage of that program, in October, 1973, I attended General Conference and heard President Harold B. Lee give what turned out to be his final General Conference addresses. He died in December of that year. In his place, President Spencer W. Kimball became the next Church President, Prophet, Seer and Revelator. We all watched as President Kimball struggled to talk in a voice rendered hoarse from cancer removal. He suffered from other infirmities, including having had a heart valve replaced with a mechanical valve. His health declined as he suffered from boils, and subdural hematomas requiring multiple cranial surgeries. His health declined until his final months of service as Church President resulted in him being confined to his apartment. When he died, Ezra Taft Benson became successor President.
President Benson also suffered from the ill-effects of advanced age. His mental faculties degenerated through the last months of his administration. Then, President Hunter served only briefly, while suffering from advanced age and ill health. Now we have President Hinckley, who had vigor for over nine years, but presently suffers from cancer and has recently had a bowel obstruction surgically removed.
At first blush, it may seem this unfortunate series of health problems for the Church’s Presidents is a great burden for them to bear. However, these infirmities may prove to be a great string of blessings poured out by the Lord in His wisdom for the benefit of each of these men. As President Kimball, who was among those who suffered the most, taught: “I am grateful that even through the priesthood I cannot heal all the sick. I might heal people who should die. I might relieve people of suffering who should suffer. I fear I would frustrate the purposes of God.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 1972), p.99.)
There is a great power watching over this latter-day work. In the wisdom of God, the tradition continues of having men preside over this Church and kingdom who are the senior-most Apostles of their day. This insures their advanced age and, therefore, declining health when they become President. Such physical difficulties allow them to preside over a great economic, political and administrative powerbase while being reminded of the Lord’s final authority in matters of life and death. They frequently experience crushing physical burdens while enjoying great worldly power. This shows the great wisdom of a kind, gentle and benevolent Father.
And so as we consider Nephi’s warnings and our own obligation to uphold the Church leaders with our “confidence, faith and prayers,” we should keep in mind the office of Prophet, Seer and Revelator at this time in this Dispensation carries with it the very worst of temptations. It carries with it the very seeds which caused the complete spiritual failure of the New Testament Church. Our petitions to God on behalf of the leaders should therefore include appropriate requests for their ability to keep in balance the great responsibilities devolving on them. Our actions should never tempt them to arrogance and pride by fawning, flattering, and ego building praise directed to them. When speaking to them or about them, “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” (Matt. 5: 37.) We should never be a source of temptation for men bearing such terrible burdens. However, oftentimes we are. WE are a great part of the problem Nephi laments about latter-day Zion prospering, and then thinking: All is Well! Even as material things get better, they get spiritually worse. We should never equate Zion’s material success with our own worthiness before God.
Perhaps the Lord will, in His infinite mercy, extend setbacks to Zion for her benefit. He has promised to begin His judgments upon His own people: “Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.” (D&C 112: 24-26, emphasis added.) These words, coupled with Nephi’s, reconfirm salvation is always individual. Zion may prosper, but it is our individual standing before God that should concern us. Zion’s prosperity has nothing to do with this. Other than, perhaps, to mislead us into thinking our lot is better than it is.