6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the
Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.
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.
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.
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; 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.
Lehi continues to discuss Joseph1’s prophecy. He explains that he saw the time the Lord would raise “a choice seer “(2 Nephi 3:6). This seer will be given a work to do. This work “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” (2 Nephi 3:7).
Joseph1’s prophecy would provide more information
about this seer.
“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;
“And his name shall be called after me; 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” (2 Nephi
3:14-15).
It is clear that Joseph1 was telling us about
Joseph Smith.
“Lehi delivered to his family a prophecy given by the Lord
to Joseph of Egypt that a ‘righteous branch’ of the house of Israel, not the
Messiah (2 Nephi 3:5), would be broken off, and in the future a choice seer
would be raised out of this lineage (see 2 Nephi 3:6), who would bring many to
the knowledge of the covenants made with the fathers (see 2 Nephi 3:7)…
“Lehi, a descendant of Joseph, founded the people that would
author the Book of Mormon. In 1827 Moroni delivered the gold plates, containing
a record of Lehi's descendants, to Joseph Smith, fulfilling the prophecy of
Joseph of Egypt. For Joseph Smith was ‘a choice seer’ from the loins of Joseph
(2 Nephi 3:7) with the power to bring forth the word of the Lord to Lehi's seed
(see 2 Nephi 3:11).”[1]
“His father Lehi, drawing on the writings of Joseph of old
as contained on the brass plates, prophesied about the coming of Joseph Smith,
a "choice seer" who would do much to bring the scattered Israelites
to a knowledge of the promises made to their ancestors. ‘Thus prophesied Joseph
[in Egypt], saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek
to destroy him shall be confounded; . . . and his name shall be called after
me; 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 [the Book of Mormon
and the Restoration], by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto
salvation’ (2 Nephi 3:7, 14-15).”[2]
He will be called to perform only the work the Lord commands
him to do. The Lord would emphasize this
to Joseph Smith.
“Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but
endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.
“And in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for
this is not thy calling. Attend to thy
calling and thou shalt have wherewith to magnify thine office, and to expound
all scriptures, and continue in laying on of the hands and confirming the
churches” (D&C 24:8–9).
He will be like unto Moses, in that he will deliver the
fullness of the gospel to the world, guiding them to the truth. Moses also saw this event. “And in a day when the children of men shall
esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt
write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had
again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe” (Moses 1:41).
[1] Lehi
and Jeremiah: Prophets, Priests, and Patriarchs, David Rolph Seely,
and Jo Ann H. Seely, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[2] The Gathering of Israel in the Book of
Mormon: A Consistent Pattern,
Robert L. Millet, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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