Even this Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff up[on] which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction.” – Ezra Taft Benson, Prophet, in Howard and Martha Coray Notebook, July 19, 1840, quoted by Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, comps. and eds.
Deuteronomy 13:1-3; “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
The third verse in this passage is a wakeup call for everyone not just the Mormons! If you are Mormon do you love Joseph more than Jesus?
Joseph was an end of the world sensationalist. He predicted many things and declared doom upon America whenever the local townsfolk admonished him for polygamy or his failed banking schemes.
The sad part of this is how the Mormons today have carried this into their daily psyche and lives. The majority of Mormons have no clue that Smith threatened the country with these prophecies, yet their behavior is reminiscent of their ancestors who were taught to dislike outsiders through Smith’s oratory comments. This behavior pattern was passed down from one generation to the other while they omitted the reason why.
A classic example of this is my own mother. If you ask her why she doesn’t trust or care for outsiders she can’t give any specific reasons for her decided mindset. All she knows is that outsiders are “ignernt” (rude) and they don’t like Mormons.
The other problem with Smith’s prophecy lies in the shadows of previous prophetic utterances he proclaimed about his mighty works in the Book of Mormon.
God supposedly cleared the way for Lehi and his progenitors to settle in the new Promised Land here in America and then God once again cleared the way for Joseph to install the kingdom of God here in America.
If America was such a choice land then however did it get to the point where Joseph needed to warn her residents that it would soon see the wrath of God?
D&C 101:80; “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.”