Orson Pratt

“ Recollect what Jacob said, concerning the seed of Joseph, in the 48th chapter of Genesis—they were to become a multitude of nations. They never were a multitude of nations in Palestine, neither in Asia, Europe, nor Africa, and if the prophecy is not fulfilled upon the great western continent, it will not be fulfilled at all. But it has been fulfilled on the continent of America; and we behold throughout the whole of its vast extent, from the frozen regions of the north, to Cape Horn in the south, a multitude of nations. ”

“ Again, he says that the multitude of all the nations that fight against the people of God, shall become like the dream of a night vision, shall be as a hungry man who dreams, and behold he eats, but he awakes and his soul is faint; like a thirsty man that dreams, and behold he drinks, but he awakes and his soul hath appetite. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. ”

“ The powers of eternity will be moved to bring about the great work of the restitution of the house of Israel. Then the mountains shall tremble, and the little hills shall skip like lambs, as is prophesied by the Psalmist David. Then all things shall feel the power of God, and his arm will be made bare in the eyes of all the nations, until the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God, manifested in behalf of his covenant people Israel. ”

“ Read what is said in the 20th and 21st verses, and you can judge of the age of the world in which this book was to come forth. "The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." Not the rich particularly, unless they have a mind to; but the poor are to be gathered out from the nations to get homes for themselves. "For the terrible one is brought to nought, the scorner is consumed; and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, and they that make a man an offender for a word and that lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate." ”

“ The Bible professes to be a history of the people who lived on the eastern continent, while the Book of Mormon professes to be a history of the people who lived in ancient America. We have denominated the Jewish record the Bible, because it is a collection of books said to have been written by inspired men. ”

“ That is the condition of the people; or as is expressed by Isaiah in another place, "Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people." The Prophets are covered; the seers are covered, the revelations of God that were given in ancient days are covered to them. They are taught, not by inspired men, not by communications and revelations from heaven, but by the precepts of men, is the fear of the Lord taught to them. ”

“ Has any such period ever arrived since Isaiah uttered this prophecy? No; but when a certain book should come forth it should bless the meek and lowly in heart, for their joy should increase in the Lord. And the poor among men be gathered out from the nations. ”

“ And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops, and they shall he read by the power of Christ, and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men, which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be, even unto the end of the earth. ”

“ After seeing the plates, the engravings upon them, and the angel, and hearing the voice of the Lord out of heaven, every person will say that there was no possibility of either of these men being deceived in relation to this matter; in other words, if it were to be maintained that in their case it was a hallucination of the brain, and that they were deceived, then, with the same propriety might it be asserted that all other men, in every age, who profess to have seen angels, were also deceived ”

“ David Whitmer still, in the most solemn manner, declares that he saw the angel and that he saw the plates in his hands. But he is not here with us; he has not gathered up with the people of God. That, however, does not prove that his testimony is not true, by no means.
Now then, let me bring forth some predictions or prophecies concerning these three witnesses. In the forepart of the Book of Mormon, we have a prediction that there should be three witnesses ”

“ As it was in the days of Noah so will it be in the days of the work preparatory for the second coming of the Son of man—every wicked person will be destroyed from the face of the earth, showing clearly that the revelations of this book refer to a latter-day work. ”

“ I will gather them on every side, I will bring them into their own land, I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. They shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all."
Has that ever been fulfilled? "Oh, no," says one, "that has never yet come to pass;" and it never will until the Lord brings forth the writings of Joseph and joins them with the Jewish record. Then we may look out for the restitution of Israel ”

“ And Joseph fulfilled the commandment of the Lord, and Martin Harris wrote the first 116 pages of manuscript; and Oliver Cowdery and others also wrote from the mouth of Joseph, while he was engaged in translating. Was not this a marvelous work? What could be more marvelous? A young man, a ploughboy, a boy that had scarcely any education, only as he obtained it in a country school; a man who had never studied theology, probably had never read the Bible through in his life. ”

“ For instance, has either of these witnesses, or the translator of the engravings on the plates, ever, under any circumstances, denied his testimony? No. We have some accounts in the Bible of men of God, some of the greatest men that lived in ancient times, denying the things of God. We read of Peter cursing, and swearing that he never knew Jesus, and yet he was one of the foremost of the Apostles. His testimony was true so far as seeing and being acquainted with Jesus was concerned, and in regard to the divinity of Jesus. Why? ”

“ With these plates that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, obtained through the instructions of the angel, he also obtained the Urim and Thummim, and by their aid he copied a few characters from the plates, and translated them. He was not a learned man himself, but an ignorant farmer's boy, scarcely having the first rudiments of education. ”

“ This book, when it came forth, was to set them in the right track. "The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord," In what way? "Because," says the Prophet, in the 24th verse, "they who erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they who murmured shall learn doctrine." However much you may have erred, because you have been taught by the precepts of men; however much you may have walked in darkness and blindness, with the Prophets, seers, and revelations of God covered, and no voice of inspiration in your midst ”

“ God gave many commandments in those days concerning what might be termed the United Order; in other words, concerning the consecration of the properties of the Church. These things were given by revelation through the Prophet. Martin Harris was the first man that the Lord called by name to consecrate his money, and lay the same at the feet of the Bishop in Jackson County, Mo., according to the order of consecration. He willingly did it; he knew the work to be true ”

“ Because they had read these things, and they saw that there were to be three witnesses that should know by the power of God, being revealed to them from the heavens, concerning these matters, and they felt anxious that God might show them these things, that they might be the favored three. ”

“ As the revelation states, as an example to the rest of the Church.
As I have already mentioned, one more witness remains who saw that angel and the plates. Who is it? David Whitmer, a younger man than Martin Harris, probably some seventy years of age, I do not recollect his age exactly. Where does he live? In the western part of Missouri. Does he still hold fast to his testimony? He does. Many of the Elders of this Church, in going to and fro among the nations, have called upon him from time to time, and they all bear the same testimony—that Mr. ”