False Prophecies & Heresies of Joseph Smith - Part 1

False Prophecies & Heresies of Joseph Smith; Foundational Truth from Bible.

BIBLE WARNINGS ON FALSE PROPHETS: PRELUDE

PRELUDE

Matthew 7:15-20 

¹⁵Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 ¹⁶Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

 ¹⁷Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

 ¹⁸A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 ¹⁹Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

 ²⁰Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

2 Corinthians 11:4

 ⁴For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

¹³For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

 ¹⁴And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

 ¹⁵Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Galatians 1:6-9

 ⁶I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

 ⁷Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

 ⁸But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

 ⁹As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

1 Timothy 4

 1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 

2 Peter 3

 1This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

 2That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

 3Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

1 John 4 

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that^[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Jude 1

 ¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

 ¹⁷But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

 ¹⁸How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

 ¹⁹These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

 ²⁰But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

 ²¹Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Romans 10:2-4

 2For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

 3For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Synopsis:

 We will with the above references go through one by one of his prophesies, how it failed and every time reference the verses as published in the Bible that proves time and again that Joseph Smith is a false prophet. 

FAILED PROPHESIES [Part 1]

Prophecy # 1 — The Coming of the Lord

President Smith then stated that the meeting had been called, because God had commanded it; and it was made known to him by vision and by the Holy Spirit. . . . it was the will of God that they should be ordained to the ministry and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, for the coming of the Lord, which was nigh — even fifty six years should wind up the scene. (History of the Church, Vol. 2, page 182).

This prophecy was spoken by Joseph Smith in 1835, and recorded by Oliver Cowdery. The fifty-six years were passed by 1891. 

Prophecy # 2 — David W. Patten to go on a mission

Verily, thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can, and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto the world. (Doctrine & Covenants 114:1)

This prophecy was made on April 17, 1838. David W. Patten died in October of 1838 and thus never went on a mission the following spring.

Prophecy # 3 — The United States Government to be overthrown in a few years

I prophecy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left for their wickedness in permitting the murder of men, women and children, and the wholesale plunder and extermination of thousands of her citizens to go unpunished (History of the Church, Vol. 5, page 394).

Joseph Smith made this prophecy in May 6, 1843. However, the United States Government did not redress any of the wrongs committed against the Mormons in Missouri, and now over 150 years later, the U.S. Government still stands.

Prophecy # 4 — Congress to be broken up as a government

While discussing the petition to Congress, I prophesied, by virtue of the holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government, and God shall damn them, and there shall be nothing left of them — not even a grease spot. (Millennial Star, Vol. 22, p. 455. See also History of the Church (HC), vol. 6, p. 116, though when this prediction was incorporated into the official history, Mormon Church leaders decided to leave out the "grease spot" part.)

The petition was not heard nor was protection granted (Deseret News, Vol. 1, p. 59). Yet, Congress was never broken up and continues to function to this day. It is interesting that the compilers of History of the Church, added an editorial note in an attempt to soften or explain this prophecy. They state that: "This prediction doubtless has reference to the party in power; to the ‘government’ considered as the administration;" (note, p. 116). According to the note in HC, this means the Democratic Party, which was in control at the time. However, the prediction is that "Congress shall be broken up as a government" and Congress is made up of representatives from both parties. The Saints were making an appeal to the General Government, not to the Democratic Party, a point made by a summary statement in the left margin beside this prophecy as it is recorded in HC.

CONCLUSION

THE TEST OF PROPHETS FROM GOD

The Bible, in Deuteronomy chapters 13 and 18, provides 2 tests for anyone claiming to be a prophet and speak for God. If the person fails either test given by God, then we can know for sure they are a false prophet and we are to reject their teaching. Here we will focus on the test found in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 which reads as follows:

Deuteronomy 18:21-22

 21And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

 22When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 13 

1If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

 2And 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;

 3Thou 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.

 4Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

 5And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

 6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

 7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

 8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

 9But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Here God almighty tells his people how they can keep from being deceived by someone claiming to be a prophet — if even one of the prophet’s prophecies do not come true he is a false prophet. 

What was the punishment if a prophet did speak a false prophecy? According to verse 20 the prophet was to die. So God takes the area of false prophecy very seriously. If we are aligned to the false prophets we too are cursed as we do not use th ewisdon and intelligece provided to us to analyze the facts that unravels itself in front of our eyes. We need to accept the truth; refusal to accept the truth will ensure that we rot and rot thus in hell along with the false prophets. 

Joseph Smith's false prophecies in the name of the Lord constitute one of the single greatest objections to his claim to be a latter-day prophet of God.