Mormon Dilemma 73
Revelation 22:18-19; “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Whenever I am witnessing to a Mormon I try to remind them of the warnings from God in the book of Revelation. Now in the midst of these discussions the Mormon will invariably argue that this is referring to only the book of Revelation.
While my next inquiry for them must seem mundane to most, I need to know what they think of what Smith did to God’s holy word. Why did Smith change major portions of John’s text in Revelation? In the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, Smith took it upon himself to change 83+ verses in the book of Revelation.
Here are just a few examples:
|
KJV |
JST |
|
Revelation 9:14 |
|
| Saying to the sixth angel
which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. |
Saying to the sixth angel
which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the bottomless pit. |
|
Revelation 9:16 |
|
| And the number of the army
of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. |
And the number of the army
of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand; and I saw the number of them. |
|
Revelation 20:6 |
|
| Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. |
Blessed and holy are they
who have part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. |
So now what? Why did Smith feel that he had to change God’s word and in doing so act out in defiance of what His holy word says? Do not add and do not subtract from this book. Here we see how Smith did just that.
Remember, God said that anyone who does this will have the plagues in this book added to him. Is nothing sacred to this guy?
Actually, we see Joseph Smith restoring those parts that others had previously removed.
The warning is there, and anyone who adds or subtracts from the Book of Revelation will incur the curse stated.
So, what do you do if a person does add or subtract from the Book of Revelation? You fix the error that was made, restoring that which was subtracted, and removing that which was added.
This is all that Joseph Smith did, and only at the direct command of God to restore it.
Isaiah 40:8
“The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever”
CAMDEN
So true. but then, the paper and parchment on which it is recorded has no such guarantee. What God says will happen, for he cannot lie. But that does not stop people from lying about what he said.