House of Joseph

“ They of the " house of Joseph," as being in an appar ently even more hopeless condition, are therefore especially assured that under the true son of David, the Redeemer- King, whose advent to " Zion " and " Jerusalem " the prophet had jubilantly announced in the 9th chapter, and who, in the 4th verse of the I oth chapter is spoken of as coming forth out of Judah, would fully share in all the blessings promised to the " house of Judah." ”

“ Joseph threw open the doors, and taking a hint from the stratagem of his grandfather Mack, hallooed as if he had a legion at hand, in the meanwhile, giving the word of command with great emphasis; while all the male portion of the family, from the father down to little Carlos, ran out of the house with such fury upon the mob, that it struck them with terror and dismay, and they fled before the little Spartan band into the woods, where they dispersed themselves to their several homes. ”

“ To this end, she undertook to prove, that Joseph never had the Record which he professed to have, and that he pretended to have in his possession certain gold plates, for the express purpose of obtaining money. Accordingly, she mounted her horse, rode from house to house through the neighborhood, like a dark spirit, making diligent inquiry wherever she had the least hopes of gleaning anything, and stirring up every malicious feeling which would tend to subserve her wicked purpose. ”

“ The present course and sufferings of Joseph were the means by which Providence was to work out a higher place and name than he had enjoyed in the house of Potiphar, captain of the guard.
Again abandoned and cast into the lowest depths of misery, even for his virtues' sake, Joseph is not left without succour. He, without whom a sparrow falls not to the ground, allows not this faithful one to fall without a purpose, nor to suffer without His care. "The Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison." ”

“ After I had examined it, Joseph placed it in the chest with the Urim and Thummim.
Shortly after this circumstance, Joseph came to the house in great haste, and inquired, if there had been a company of men about. I told him, not a single individual had come to the house since he left. He then said, that a mob would be there that night, if they did not come before that time, to search for the Record, and that it must be removed immediately. ”

“ Joseph was foreordained to be the temporal Saviour of his father's house, and the seed of Joseph are ordained to be the spiritual and temporal saviours of all the house of Israel in the latter days. Joseph's seed has mixed itself with all the seed of man upon the face of the whole earth. ”

“ 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. 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, of which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of thy loins, shall be fulfilled. ”

“ According to the decree every man was to go to his own city to be taxed. Because he was of the house and lineage of David, Joseph went up from Nazareth in Galilee, to the city of Bethlehem in Judaea to be taxed. With him was Mary, his espoused wife, who was great with child. While they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. ”

“ And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon."
And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses." ”

“ In a few minutes after this, Joseph, Martin, Oliver and David, repaired to a grove, a short distance from the house, where they commenced calling upon the Lord, and continued in earnest supplication, until he permitted an angel to come down from his presence, and declare to them, that all which Joseph had testified of concerning the plates was true. ”

“ The angel rejoined, "He will believe every word you say to him."
Joseph then promised the angel that he would do as he had been commanded. Upon this, the messenger departed, and Joseph returned to the field, where he had left my husband and Alvin; but when he got there, his father had just gone to the house, as he was somewhat unwell. Joseph then desired Alvin to go straightway and see his father, and inform him that he had something of great importance to communicate to him, and that he wanted him to come out into the field where they were at work. ”

“ Joseph as the protector of the whole house of Austria, and the ruler of his kingdom and country, begging at the same time all the other electors and princes of the Roman empire to choose the same saint as their patron, especially in Germany, and to show him special honor. And most of those princes followed his example. " Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land, "said also one of the first of the archbishops of Treves, Charles Gaspar von der Layen of glorious memory, when he dedicated himself and his whole diocese to St. Joseph and chose him as the father of his country. ”

“ You will see men occasionally here who, so far as the spirit of improvement goes, are like some old "Mormons" who lived in the days of Joseph. That is, their bodies breathe, and they move and have a being; but they died when Joseph died. There has been no spirit of progress or improvement in them since. As far as regards gathering and organizing the elements, and making the earth beautiful, these old "Mormons" have no taste for it, and they see nothing, hear nothing, and know nothing, only they knew Joseph. Say they, "Oh, I was acquainted with Joseph, I knew brother Joseph." ”

“ Joseph had been so hurried with his secular affairs, that he could not proceed with his spiritual concerns so fast as was necessary for the speedy completion of the work; there was also another disadvantage under which he labored, his wife had so much of her time taken up with the care of her house, that she could write for him but a small portion of the time. On account of these embarrassments, Joseph called upon the Lord, three days prior to the arrival of Samuel and Oliver, to send him a scribe, according to the promise of the angel ”

“ Reid has been a faithful friend to Joseph, although he has never attached himself to the Church.
After escaping the hands of the mob, Joseph traveled till daybreak the next morning, before he ventured to ask for victuals, although he had taken nothing, save a small crust of bread, for two days. About day-break he arrived at the house of one of his wife's sisters, where he found Emma, who had suffered great anxiety about him, since his first arrest. They returned home together, and immediately afterwards Joseph received a commandment by revelation, to move his family to Waterloo. ”

“ The nearer they approach the character of Joseph, so loving and wise, so generous and forgiving, the more will they acquire for themselves the high character and the rich blessings which Jacob gave to this son of his old age, to whom he and all his house owed their life and prosperity. ”

“ They protested their innocence, but on searching their sacks, the cup was found in the sack of the youngest. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. When Judah and his brethren were come into Joseph's house, they fell before him to the ground. When Joseph accused them of having done an evil deed, Judah addressed him, detailing the circumstances under which they appeared before him, entreating in conclusion to be allowed to take Benjamin's place as a bondman unto my lord, that the child might return to his father. ”

“ These the mob swore they would take, and then burn every one of them. Accordingly, they obtained an execution upon them for an unjust debt of fifty dollars; but, by various stratagems, we succeeded in keeping them out of their hands.
The persecution finally became so violent, that Joseph regarded it as unsafe to remain any longer in Kirtland, and began to make arrangements to move to Missouri. One evening, before finishing his preparations for the contemplated journey, he sat in council with the brethren at our house. ”

“ While they were at this place, Joseph had poison administered to him in his food, which operated very violently upon his system, but he soon recovered, and the next morning they pursued their journey again, and arrived in Kirtland some time in the month of June. When Joseph got home, he immediately procured a house for his wife; and, after making his family comfortable, he went on a mission to the east, leaving his family in the care of Hyrum. Shortly after he left, Joseph Smith the third was born. ”

“ The salvation that follows reconciliation was presented by the house of Israel being saved from famine and kept alive by the provision which Joseph made for them, after he reconciled his brethren to himself, when our Divine Saviour has overcome enmity, and by His inconceivable love turned us into friends, then does He save by His life, feeding our souls with the living bread which is Himself. ”

“ After hearing this recital, I took Joseph and Hyrum with me, and showed them the new meetinghouse, with which they were highly pleased, and they approved of all that I had done relative to the matter. [A]
[Footnote A: The house referred to was not completed for some time after Joseph's return. Most of the carpenter work was done by Brigham Young.—Note by Geo. A. Smith.] ”

“ When any business calls Joseph away, either to preside in the Senate here, or to travel in the provinces, he notifies the visitors, telling them at the same time not to displace themselves on account of his absence, but wait till his return, as they would not observe any difference in the economy of his house, of which Madame Joseph always does the honours, or, in her absence, some lady appointed by her. ”

“ After Joseph, like his intelligent fellow-mortals, had been consigned to his "narrow house," a young man, in the parish of Orton, composed the following elegy to his memory:—
"Beneath this lowly, grass-encircled spot,
Lie the remains of Joseph of the Knot.
Death, grisly tyrant, no distinction shows
'Twixt him who all, and him who nothing knows.
Yes, ye! ye mighty sons of boasted wit!
All—all, like Joseph, must to death submit. ”

“ And thus We established Joseph in the land, and that We might teach him the interpretation of sayings. And Allah has full control over His affair, but most people know not.
22 And when he attained his maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. And thus do We reward the doers of good.
23 And she in whose house he was, sought to seduce him, and made fast the doors and said: Come. He said: Allah forbid! Surely my Lord made good my abode. The wrongdoers never prosper. ”

“ CHAPTER VI.
1 Joseph draws back his rod.
5 The dove pitches on it. He betroths Mary and
returns to Bethlehem.
7 Mary returns to her parents' house at Galilee.
AMONG the rest there was a
man named Joseph of the
house and family of David, and a
person very far advanced in years,
who kept back his rod, when every
one besides presented his.
2 So that when nothing appeared
agreeable to the heavenly voice,
the high-priest judged it proper to
consult God again. ”

“ Full of faith and hope, Joseph and "the strength of the Lord's house" reached the place of action, preaching, praying, and exhorting each other to courage, for had not a Hebrew Prophet said that one of the chosen of the Lord should chase a thousand, and two should put ten thousand to flight? ”

“ He lived then before me; he lived as much as he had ever lived—a shadow insatiable of splendid appearances, of frightful realities; a shadow darker than the shadow of the night, and draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence. The vision seemed to enter the house with me—the stretcher, the phantom-bearers, the wild crowd of obedient worshipers, the gloom of the forests, the glitter of the reach between the murky bends, the beat of the drum, regular and muffled like the beating of a heart—the heart of a conquering darkness. ”

“ I will here say, before closing, that two weeks before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, "You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God." These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. ”

“ Over this fertile, favored, and civilized nation Joseph reigned,--with delegated power indeed, but with power that was absolute,--when his starving brothers came to Egypt to buy corn, for the famine extended probably over western Asia. He is to be viewed, not as a prophet, or preacher, or reformer, or even a warrior like Moses, but as a merely executive ruler. As the son-in-law of the high-priest of Hieropolis, and delegated governor of the land, in the highest favor with the King, and himself a priest, it is probable that Joseph was initiated into the esoteric wisdom of the priesthood. ”