The Savior in Kirtland: Personal Accounts of Divine Manifestations

by Karl Ricks Anderson

were white as snow, and their faces shone with immortal youth. They were the two most beautiful and perfect specimens of mankind I ever saw. . . . Adam was a large broad shouldered man, and Eve, as a woman, was as large in proportion.”

The Savior loved Joseph. He used the endearing word friends fourteen times in addressing Joseph and his companions in revelations. In one revelation, the Savior clearly defined His relationship, both formal and informal. He told Joseph and other leaders that in front of the world He called them servants, but on a personal level they were His friends. In Kirtland, the Savior gave Joseph this assurance, “I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me.”66

“The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes.”

I have never since seen a happy moment.82

“I see, the Lord could get along very well without me and He has lost nothing by my falling out of the ranks; But O what have I lost?! Riches Greater Riches than all this world or many planets like this could afford.”

Dear Sir:—I was somewhat disappointed on receiving my paper with only a part of my letter inserted in it. The letter which I wrote you for publication, I wrote by the commandment of God, and I am quite anxious to have it all laid before the public. . . . . . . I now say unto you, that if you wish to clear your garments from the blood of your readers, I exhort you to publish that letter entire; but if not, the sin be upon your head. Accept, sir the good wishes and tender regard of your unworthy servant, Joseph Smith, Jun.40 Although the Prophet clearly understood his responsibility to gather Israel, he also knew that Israel’s gathering could not commence until the Kirtland Temple was completed. In 1832, missionaries who would be sent out into the world were told to wait until the temple was built. The Lord declared, “Tarry ye, tarry ye in this place [Kirtland]. . . . and establish a house, even . . . a house of God.”41

As a direct consequence of Moses appearing in the temple, Orson Hyde was commissioned in 1840 to go to Jerusalem. On October 24, 1841, Elder Hyde dedicated that land where about twenty-five thousand Jews then lived, for the return of scattered Israel. In the God-given dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, Joseph prayed that “Jerusalem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed; and the yoke of bondage may begin to be broken off from the house of David; and the children of Judah may begin to return to the lands which thou didst give to Abraham, their father.”49 When Moses appeared in Kirtland in 1836, it was unthinkable that the Jewish people could return to their homeland. By the year 2012, more than three million Jews had returned to Israel.50

Is it coincidence that Moses returned during Passover, a

Jewish holy day that began thousands of years earlier when Moses led and guided the children of Israel out of Egypt?

The difference between the keys of 1829 and 1836 are not fully understood, but we do know that Moses’ keys broadly pertained to gathering Israel from the four parts of the earth. Those of Peter, James, and John were used to initiate missionary work in Canada and the United States.

Joseph Fielding Smith, drawing a distinction between the keys to preach and the keys to gather, taught: “The keys or power to go forth and proclaim the gospel was restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery when Peter, James, and John conferred upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood before the organization of the Church.”66 He said, “Moses was sent to restore the keys of the gathering, not the preaching of the gospel. It was after people were converted that the spirit of gathering entered their souls.”67

The ancient Passover and Moses’ leading Israel out of Egypt.

The children of Israel were brought to the promised land.15 3. Christ’s birth. 4. The beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. 5. Christ’s atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection. 6. The formal founding of Christ’s latter-day Church on April 6, 1830.16

April 3, 1836, was no ordinary calendar date. It was a day replete with correspondences. It fell on a Sunday. It was Easter. It was a holy day of Passover. It was one of two Seder (Passover meal) days celebrated throughout the Jewish world.50 It seems that Christ, when He appeared in the Kirtland Temple, desired to establish evidence, both symbolic and literal, for Jews and Christians to see. Jewish Symbolism • In a symbolic message to Israel, the Lord was identified as “Jehovah.”51 • In the prayer dedicating the Kirtland Temple, He identified Himself as “the Lamb.”52 The heart of the Passover was the lamb whose blood redeemed the children of Israel and freed them from bondage. • He identified Himself as “he who was slain.”53 This was another reference to the lamb that was slain, whose blood on the doorposts during the first Passover protected them.

The Lord established a timetable in advance for the Kirtland years. In 1831, He disclosed that His purposes for Kirtland would be completed by 1836. He told Joseph that the Saints were to remain in Kirtland “for the space of five years.”60 In June 1833 the Lord severely chastised the Saints for delaying construction of the Kirtland Temple after He had commanded them to build it. He called it a “very grievous sin.”61 To have the events of April 3, 1836, meet His deadline, it is no wonder that He chastised Joseph Smith so severely. He had a deadline to meet. Much work needed to be done in a short time. Apparently, the Lord set these dates well in advance just as He had set other key dates in religious history.