One Mighty Among Them: The Interpretation of 2 Nephi 3

One Mighty Among Them

The Interpretation of 2 Nephi 3

After consideration of the Interpretation of Doctrine and Covenants 85, the One Mighty and Strong, and a glance at the language of Joseph Smith's last revelation appointing James Strang to be his successor, in the which, the Lord says of James:

Behold my servant James shall lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes of Zion, and my servant Aaron shall be his counselor, for he hath wisdom in the gospel, and understandeth the doctrines, and erreth not therein.

And I will have a house built unto me there of stone, and thee will I show myself to my people by many mighty works, and the name of the city shall be called Voree, which is being interpreted, garden of peace, for there shall my people have peace and rest and wax fat and pleasant in the presence of their enemies. 

The Letter of Appointment not only accurately prophesies the removal of the people from Nauvoo, but also that of the as yet unconceived Beaver Island colony with stunning accuracy and the preservation of Voree, which was never removed. 

Previous to the appointment, Joseph Smith gave James the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands in early 1844, and declared "I seal upon thy head against God's good time, the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood," and afterwards in the same blessing, "Thou shall hold the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood; shalt walk with Moses, Enoch and Elijah, and shalt talk with God face to face."

Hyrum Smith's prophetic blessing upon the head of James while ordaining him elder promised that by him, God would "save the pure of His people."

The Restoration's least convincing prophecy to the unconverted Gentiles of his generation, and to critics from that time to this, remains that which appears in the third chapter of 2nd Nephi in the Book of Mormon. While laying a blessing upon the head of his son, Joseph, Lehi refers back to an ancient prophecy spoken by Joseph of Egypt, which is otherwise lost to scripture, in which he proclaims a great prophet like unto Moses to be born in the last days, whose name was also Joseph and the son of Joseph. This could be none other than Joseph Smith, himself, the translator of the Book of Mormon. Critics point to the utility and convenience of Joseph translating a prophecy about himself, insinuating that he fabricated it along with the entire book.

However, what would be more surprising is if his prophecy also insinuated another to come after him, something a false prophet could not have known. A closer look at the text indicates, not one, but two great prophets of the Restoration. The first is described:

7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.

8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.

9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.

10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.

11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.

The next verse is often regarded as a prophecy of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon to be added to what the gentiles already have in the form of the Bible. However, with the publication of the Book of the Law of the Lord, we learn that the real Torah, or law of Moses, was lost to the children of Israel during the Babylonian Captivity, and the books now believed to be the Five Books of Moses were reconstructed during that period with abstracts of some of the laws from the missing book dictated by the Lord. The Book of Mormon, paraphrasing Isaiah, goes on to say:

12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.

This verse has the fruit of the loins of Joseph write first, and then the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write. It is known through revelation that Joseph was of the fruit of the loins of Joseph of Egypt, and James Strang was of the loins of Judah. He "wrote," or published a translation of the Book of the Law given to Moses after Joseph Smith performed his work of restoration with the Book of Mormon. The two volumes, The Book of Mormon and The Book of the Law of the Lord, grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions. 

Seeing the Book of the Law as the Stick of Judah is harder for Latter Day Saints to see at first who already find the bible to be a satisfactory interpretation, but the longer one considers it, the better the Book of the Law fits the bill. Consider that Isaiah and Lehi mention the fruit of the loins of Joseph writing first and then the fruit of the loins of Judah, whereas the most of the scriptures that make up the bible were written first anciently. Although the bible has been translated many times, it never needed a God-appointed spokesperson or prophetic revealer because it had never been dimmed by time as the Book of Mormon scriptures. However, Joseph Smith, a descendant of Joseph translated the Stick of Joseph first in the latter day restoration, followed by James Strang, a descendant of Judah, who translated the Stick of Judah. This more accurately follows the prophecy.

13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;

15 And his name shall be called after me [Joseph]; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.

16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.

17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand [The Book of the Law of the Lord]; and I will make a spokesman for him [James Strang].

18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins [Mormon]; and I will make for him a spokesman [Joseph Smith]. And I, behold, I will give unto him [Mormon] that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman [Joseph Smith] of thy loins shall declare it.

19 And the words which he [Mormon] shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins [The modern Church of Gathering of Israel]. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins [Mormon] had cried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith.

20 And they [The fruit of Joseph's loins] shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren [The modern Church or Gathering of Israel], even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words.

21 Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words [that they are hard for the carnal mind to believe] will I make strong in their faith [by revelation], unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.

22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did my father of old prophesy.

23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book [of Mormon].

After laying out the prophecy of Joseph Smith restoring the Book of Mormon, the very next verse goes further in indicating a second prophet, starting with the word "And" to indicate "in addition to" the choice seer named after Joseph:

24 And there shall rise up one mighty [James Strang] among them, who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.

The words "One Mighty" are the same as in the Lord's prophecy through Joseph Smith recorded in Utah Doctrine and Covenants 85, which can only refer to James Strang. "With exceeding faith" calls us back to the words of the Lord to Strang in the Letter of Appointment, in which he says "The faith which thou hast in the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel." "They" in 2 Nephi 3:23 refers to the gathering of Israel through the work of Joseph Smith, or in other words, the people who accept his declaration and the words of the book. In verse 24, it says One Mighty among THEM, being those who would hearken to Joseph. It thus cannot refer to Joseph himself,  the one who they would hearken to. Here we see the Lord hiding clues in his scriptures so subtle that only one who seeks with the Spirit can find them, as he has promised when he said that only one who seeks will find.

With a deeper analysis, this prophecy is much more remarkable. On the surface it only appears to be Joseph Smith revealing a prophecy about himself and the book he was then translating, albeit it unfolds a new interpretation of an obscure verse in Isaiah. However, it goes on to present details of a book that would come forward by another prophet nearly a quarter of a century later.