December 9 – Jesus Rejected for “King” Joseph Smith. Zechariah 11:4-6c “Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”
John 19:13-15 “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.”
_____
Rejected in favor of another king …
Oh this scene makes my heart hurt now that I’m saved. The horror of the ramifications for this behavior is nothing short of shocking.
Before my day of salvation instead of feeling horror, I placed myself in the judge’s seat of condemning the Israelites for their behavior while turning a blind eye to my own sin of rejecting Jesus for Joseph.
Every day for 30 years I made excuses and today I see my own family in Utah doing the same.
Pray for those who believe Joe Smith had the right to crown himself king and share these passages of scripture with them won’t you?
_____
“Beloved Brethren,” Zion’s Harbinger and Baneemy’s Organ, v. 3, July 1853, p. 53; “Joseph suffered himself to be ordained a King, to reign over the house of Israel forever.” – William Marks
[…] Jesus Rejected for “King” Joseph Smith […]