Word of Wisdom Promises
D&C 89:18-21; “And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.”
Prophecy given in Kirtland, OH on February 27, 1833. History of the Church 1:327-329.
Joseph may have promised people good health but I’ve known hundreds if not thousands of Mormons who’ve been devout to the Church and obeyed the Word of Wisdom and have still died. I’ve been to countless funerals of my relatives alone and like Ed Decker once said;
“In fact, many of the highest leaders of the LDS church (who presumably are keeping this commandment) are sick and dying of degenerative diseases. The entire First Presidency just a few years ago was so ill with blindness, Parkinson’s disease and cancer that a Third Counselor to the Prophet had to be called to take over.”
First, just note that this is not a prophecy, but a promise.
Second, you will note that this does not promise perfect Health, nor does it say you will not have physical ailments to try you. What this means is that you will be as healthy as possible, and that is it.
Note that when I say as healthy as possible I am not using the standard of men, but that of God. If he has decreed that yo will suffer from Cancer you will suffer from cancer. However, a person who obeys the word of wisdom will have a much better experience, and a much better chance of overcoming the cancer than a person who has not been obedient.
Shem –
False prophecies come in many forms. They can be in the form of timing, doctrinal, self-contradictions, lying about events, etc.
Smith promised the Saints they’d find good health in his prophetic utterances in D&C. This qualifies as a false prophecy. You’ve inserted your own interpretation of what the prophecy must have meant by saying “you will be as healthy as possible”. Where in the Bible does God promise anything with the footnote of you’ll get this or that “as much as possible”? Nothing is impossible with God Shem and He NEVER goes back on what He says.
Michelle
Plus, the portion of the verse used in the D&C verse is taken from Isaiah 40:31 which has nothing to do with following any type of health standard or diet. The whole context of Isaiah 40 is that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength… ie; My strength comes from the Lord… not from observing religous rules.
Sure, it is smart to eat right and excercise… our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… We can not change the length of our lives, God has our days numbered. We can only improve our quality of life while we are here…
I like 2 Corinthians 4:16 – Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
MICHELLE
A prophecy is not conditional. If it was a prophecy it would not put a condition on its fulfillment. As this promise is conditioned on the keeping of the health standard it is not a prophecy, but a promise made by the Lord that “If you do this, I will give you this.”
By your definition of prophecy anything ever said is a prophecy, and so you have taken away any real meaning from the word.
By this definition, if I state that I will be home by 5 o’clock, but I don’t actually get home until 5:01 I have uttered a false prophecy.
God did promise that those who obey this command would find good health, but he did not promise them perfect health. I have inserted nothing at all. It is you who has inserted the idea of perfect health, which is never implied by the scripture.
Shem –
When you couple your statements with “thus saith the Lord” whether in implication or ink and you’re a SELF PROCLAIMED prophet of God you better not come in at 5:01 if you’ve PROMISED ANYONE you’d be there by 5:00.
Michelle
MICHELLE
If I had actually uttered this as a prophecy, as you suggest, I would agree.
So, if I claimed to be a prophet and declared “Thus saith the Lord, I will arive before 5:00” then any time after that would make me a false prophet.
However, if I declared “Thus saith the Lord, if you are diligent in doing yuor work than you will arive in a timely manner” it would make very little difference exactly what time I arrived, as no prophecy was uttered. If I worked hard and was blessed to finish quickly than I would arrive in a timely manner, which could mean anything between 4 o’clock and 7 o’clock.
This is the point. You are first claiming this to be a prophecy, when it is a promise; and then you are trying to restrict its meaning beyond what it actuall says.