Sorry, I have been absent for so long. If I am ever asked to give a talk, the hardest, and most time-consuming task is to choose a topic. This, coupled with crazy, busy weekends, have put posts on hold. I'll try to get a couple more out before the end of the year, and resolve to do better next year.
The General Epistle of James connects the current dispensation with the meridian of time. Paul writes to specific cities and geographic areas, such as Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Rome, and others. The letters vary in topics according to the needs of church members in those areas.
But James is entirely different. He begins his epistle addressed to the following audience:
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting" (James 1:1).
Regarding the target audience, "the twelve tribes . . . scattered abroad," I once heard Joseph McConkie ask the question, "How much postage do you put on that letter?" You better hope (and I'm sure James did) it falls into the hands of a "gatherer." You need someone who can help gather the twelve tribes scattered abroad.
Well, James was in luck, or perhaps was the recipient of divine direction. Centuries later it would fall into the hands of one Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon makes a big deal about Joseph's name, and rightly so. Lehi has a son named Joseph, who shares the name with Joseph who was sold into Egypt.
This Joseph was named such for a specific purpose. When Joseph was born, his mother Rachel spoke of her new son by saying, "The Lord shall add to me another son" (Genesis 30: 24). The footnote for this verse tells us, "'Joseph' relates both to the Hebrew root yasaph, 'to add,' and to asaph, meaning both 'to take away' and 'to gather.' The context plays upon all of these meanings." Joseph was eventually "taken away" to Egypt where he "added to" the food supply by storing wheat and grains (and I'm sure other preservable food) for seven years to preserve the people against the seven years of famine, which would follow.
Later in Genesis we read, "And Joseph gathered corn (grain) as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number" (Genesis 41: 49). The "sands of the sea" echo the covenant made to Abraham as he was promised, "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" (Genesis 22: 17).
Joseph in Egypt gathered wheat to save his family, Israel.
The Book of Mormon tells of Joseph's prophecy (recalled by Lehi) that "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: 15).
Joseph Smith Jr., named after his father, Joseph Smith Sr. (which was another miraculous event since Joseph Jr. was the third son), helped to save the house of Israel by gathering them, and by helping to bring forth the process where the wheat would eventually be gathered from the tares (see D&C 86: 7).
Joseph Smith was instrumental in gathering the keys and dispensations, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants, section 128, verse 18, which states,
"For it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times."
Joseph not only participated in gathering the dispensations, keys, powers, and glories, but new revelations were "added," and keys and powers kept back from the foundation of the world were restored through him. Joseph certainly "added to" and "gathered" the canon of scripture.
Joseph received a vision where he sees his deceased brother Alvin (as well as others, including his parents) in celestial glory. He was surprised as he wrote,
"I saw Father Adam and Abraham; and my father and my mother; my brother Alvin, that has long since slept;
"And marveled how it was that he had obtained an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life before the Lord had set his hand to gather Israel the second time, and had not been baptized for the remission of sins" (D&C 137: 5-6).
Going back to the earliest seeds of restoration, as young Joseph, a fourteen-year-old boy, reflected on James, chapter 1, by relating, "Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know" (Joseph Smith History 1: 12).
Of course, the famous passage we quote as Latter-day Saints is verse 5. But I'm betting Joseph started reading in verse 1, and the Spirit touched his heart that there was something special about these verses. At least the first eight verses of James, chapter 1 read as a patriarchal blessing for Joseph. Certainly he was subject to many trials and afflictions. Certainly he learned patience from suffering.
This is another witness of God's work. Surely He can direct an epistle that would change the course of history, and carry it into the heart of one who lived many generations later.
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