Chapter 6—Hidden Things
The light of His gospel is given “that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you” (D&C 50:25). To not expose darkness and iniquity leaves us blind and deceived, so revealing truth should be an utmost priority.
Within days, the Haun’s Mill massacre further ignited tensions. Joseph and those with him were arrested under the deceptive guise of an interview. Parley Pratt described their first night in jail as a trying and “dreadful night.” The next day, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman joined the captives. “The officers of the militia held a court martial and sentenced us to be shot on Friday morning on the public square of Far West as a warning to the ‘Mormons.’ However, notwithstanding their sentence and determination, they were not permitted to carry their murderous sentence into execution.” A miraculous deliverance, attributed to prayer, preserved their lives although Joseph and his companions remained imprisoned. The deplorable and harsh conditions were “enough to appall the stoutest heart” and only “the power of God” kept them alive. The irony did not escape Joseph’s notice as he wrote, “Thus, in a land of liberty, in the town of Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, my fellow prisoners and I in chains, and dungeons, saw the close of 1838.”
Much oppression and tragedy met the saints while Joseph remained in the dark dungeon of Liberty Jail, a room so small that he could not fully stand up. This “cell, which had two small grated windows on the south and the north, was a dirt-floored dungeon accessible only by a ladder lowered through the floor of the room above.” Bars and walls isolated Joseph from the world, but nothing could keep him from communing with his God. “It was more temple than prison, so long as the Prophet was there. It was a place of meditation and prayer . . . Joseph Smith sought God in this rude prison and found him.”
Having survived the brutal winter, in this setting of darkness Joseph drafted this inspired epistle to the saints in March 1839, the very time of year when the light of the sun was reappearing. Knowing he was “a prisoner for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,” Joseph asked, “O God! Where art Thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth Thy hiding place? How long shall Thy hand be stayed” against the wickedness, wrongs, and oppression? After enduring months of indescribable depravation, he prayed, “Stretch forth thy hand . . . Let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered” (D&C 121:1–2, 4).
Persecution is the lot of God’s most faithful. Joseph wanted God to come out of “His secret place” that was obscured by darkness. Joseph sought the highest blessings, which God intended to bestow if he endured it well. In one of the most powerful revelations in scripture, God responded to Joseph’s prayer:
Years before, at age 14, Joseph experienced the same pattern of confronting darkness to bring truth to light. God comes from His hiding place only after darkness is exposed. Knowing this, Joseph instructed the saints to gather “up a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings, and abuses put upon them . . . that we may not only publish to all the world, but present them to the heads of government in all their dark and hellish hue” (D&C 123:1, 6). Such reports are of great significance, being
A record of the nation’s wickedness, evils, and abominations will “fully and completely” call God forth, leaving “the whole nation” without excuse. “If the president heed them not, then will the Lord arise and come forth out of his hiding place, and in his fury vex the nation” (D&C 101:89). Joseph later said, “The earth is groaning under corruption, oppression, tyranny and bloodshed; and God is coming out of His hiding place, as He said He would do, to vex the nations of the earth.”
Many whose “works are in the dark . . . seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord” (2 Nephi 27:27), but no matter how clever we are, our sins will be discovered and our own hiding places will fail. God “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5). His all-seeing eye will uncover all darkness and secret places—none can hide. “For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret” (John 7:4). “For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret but that it should come abroad” (Mark 4:22). Covert wickedness, error, perverse worship, and hypocritical piety will be “revealed at the proper time” (2 Thessalonians 2:6, NIV). “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:16).
To those who “held fast to the commandments of God He made His covenant with Israel for ever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray.” According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the wicked “have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence,” so their condemnation remains.
When trouble arises, “they shall not find him. He hath withdrawn himself from them . . . I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face” (Hosea 5:6, 15). The Lord remains hidden until we seek and find Him. To seek does not imply He is lost, only hidden, for He remains near to us and has revealed the way to Him. The Expositor’s Dictionary explains that to seek Him is to “turn to Him in trust and confidence. Seek me that you may live” (Amos 5:4, NASB).
The Lord “shall reveal all things—things which have passed and hidden things which no man knew” (D&C 101:32–33)—to those who serve Him “in righteousness and truth unto the end. To them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom” (D&C 76:5–7). “Bring[ing] to light all the hidden things of darkness wherein we know them” is a serious task. We must know how to receive revelation to fulfill this duty, for such things “are truly manifest from heaven” (D&C 123:13). Exposing sin and darkness is a major role of seers, who arise as iniquity becomes full.
Enoch, the righteous seer whose “father taught [him] in all the ways of God” (JST Genesis 6:43), was not well received. When he “cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works, all men were offended because of him” (Moses 6:37). Such opposition did not deter Enoch from fulfilling God’s command to preach against their sins. The Nephite prophet Jacob similarly knew that “notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations” (Jacob 2:10).
The brother of Jared, also a seer, received two stones that will again be used as interpreters when his now-sealed record is brought to light (Ether 3:21–24). Abraham also had interpreters, or “the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me” (Abraham 3:1). Urim means lights and truths, a gift from the Father. Thummim, perfections, refers to the fulness. In this dispensation, Joseph Smith also received interpreters that he described as “two stones in silver bows . . . fastened to a breastplate.” The ancient high priest wore interpreters “in the breastplate of judgment” (Exodus 28:30). A seer has divinely-sanctioned power and authority to reveal or to curse.
Seers or interpreters translate records and restore lost truths “by the power of God” (Mormon 8:16), “unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men” (Mosiah 8:19). Ancient records were kept so “the mysteries and the works of darkness . . . may be made manifest.” When “the Lord saw that his people began to work in darkness . . . interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled which he spake, saying, I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations” (Alma 37:21–22, 24–25). Once ripe in iniquity, records of “all their ungodly deeds which they have committed against” Him will stand as a witness against them. The secret and wicked works of those entrusted with the covenant will be exposed in the last days.
What has been lost must be restored so “that our children . . . may come to that which will give them true knowledge of their Redeemer” (2 Nephi 10:2). The scattered “are exhorted to return to the Lord from whence they have fallen; which if they do, the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them or give them revelation” (D&C 113:10). In other words, true revelation is a sign that we have repented and turned to Him.
Sacred records—old and new, past and future—lead the lost “to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer” (3 Nephi 16:4). Truth brings believers “out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom” (2 Nephi 3:5). Paul brought light into a world of darkness as he “rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2, Net Bible). Joseph of Egypt was called to “be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity from bondage, and to bring salvation unto them when they are altogether bowed down under sin” (JST Genesis 48:11).
With so much at stake, bringing darkness to light is a solemn and serious obligation. If we do not accomplish this duty, we cannot expect the highest eternal rewards. We must be (1) built “up unto the most holy faith,” (2) heed “all his words and commandments,” (3) walk in “all holiness” before Him, and (4) receive His words in faith. Only
It is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation and to all the pure in heart—for there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.
Therefore, we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—these should then be attended to with great earnestness. Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. (D&C 123:11–15)These profound truths (later abridged and canonized as D&C 121–123) were from a letter written by Joseph Smith while he was in Liberty Jail. Many incidents led up to Joseph’s incarceration as tension between the church and nation escalated. On 4 July 1838, First Counselor Sidney Rigdon rebuked the country for its tolerance of religious persecution and he appealed for freedom from inflicted injustices. On 12 August, “a communication was sent to Governor Boggs, dated Daviess county, containing all the falsehoods and lies that the evil genius of mobocrats, villains, and murderers could invent, charging the ‘Mormons’ with every crime they themselves had been guilty of.” In response to the growing conflict, the state militia was called out. On 27 October 1838 Boggs declared, “Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good.”
Within days, the Haun’s Mill massacre further ignited tensions. Joseph and those with him were arrested under the deceptive guise of an interview. Parley Pratt described their first night in jail as a trying and “dreadful night.” The next day, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman joined the captives. “The officers of the militia held a court martial and sentenced us to be shot on Friday morning on the public square of Far West as a warning to the ‘Mormons.’ However, notwithstanding their sentence and determination, they were not permitted to carry their murderous sentence into execution.” A miraculous deliverance, attributed to prayer, preserved their lives although Joseph and his companions remained imprisoned. The deplorable and harsh conditions were “enough to appall the stoutest heart” and only “the power of God” kept them alive. The irony did not escape Joseph’s notice as he wrote, “Thus, in a land of liberty, in the town of Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, my fellow prisoners and I in chains, and dungeons, saw the close of 1838.”
Much oppression and tragedy met the saints while Joseph remained in the dark dungeon of Liberty Jail, a room so small that he could not fully stand up. This “cell, which had two small grated windows on the south and the north, was a dirt-floored dungeon accessible only by a ladder lowered through the floor of the room above.” Bars and walls isolated Joseph from the world, but nothing could keep him from communing with his God. “It was more temple than prison, so long as the Prophet was there. It was a place of meditation and prayer . . . Joseph Smith sought God in this rude prison and found him.”
Having survived the brutal winter, in this setting of darkness Joseph drafted this inspired epistle to the saints in March 1839, the very time of year when the light of the sun was reappearing. Knowing he was “a prisoner for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,” Joseph asked, “O God! Where art Thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth Thy hiding place? How long shall Thy hand be stayed” against the wickedness, wrongs, and oppression? After enduring months of indescribable depravation, he prayed, “Stretch forth thy hand . . . Let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered” (D&C 121:1–2, 4).
Persecution is the lot of God’s most faithful. Joseph wanted God to come out of “His secret place” that was obscured by darkness. Joseph sought the highest blessings, which God intended to bestow if he endured it well. In one of the most powerful revelations in scripture, God responded to Joseph’s prayer:
My son, peace be unto thy soul. Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high. Thou shalt triumph over all thy foes . . . and although [the wicked’s] influence shall cast thee into trouble, and into bars and walls, thou shalt be had in honor; and but for a small moment and thy voice shall be more terrible in the midst of thine enemies than the fierce lion, because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever.
If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; if thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee . . . if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? (D&C 121:7–8, 122:4–8)The weary saints were comforted with a promise of God “pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads” of the faithful.
God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fulness of their glory; a time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld. (D&C 121:26–28)On 6 April 1839, not even two weeks after Joseph penned this beautiful letter and revelation, he was released from Liberty Jail.
Years before, at age 14, Joseph experienced the same pattern of confronting darkness to bring truth to light. God comes from His hiding place only after darkness is exposed. Knowing this, Joseph instructed the saints to gather “up a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings, and abuses put upon them . . . that we may not only publish to all the world, but present them to the heads of government in all their dark and hellish hue” (D&C 123:1, 6). Such reports are of great significance, being
the last effort which is enjoined on us by our Heavenly Father before we can fully and completely claim that promise which shall call him forth from his hiding place; and also that the whole nation may be left without excuse before he can send forth the power of his mighty arm. (D&C 123:6)Joseph appealed to the U.S. government to protect the saints from relentless hardships. He prophesied that “the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted” if the wrongs were not addressed. The saints were to importune judges, the governor, and the President of the United States for redress and justice, the very procedures established by the Constitution.
A record of the nation’s wickedness, evils, and abominations will “fully and completely” call God forth, leaving “the whole nation” without excuse. “If the president heed them not, then will the Lord arise and come forth out of his hiding place, and in his fury vex the nation” (D&C 101:89). Joseph later said, “The earth is groaning under corruption, oppression, tyranny and bloodshed; and God is coming out of His hiding place, as He said He would do, to vex the nations of the earth.”
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11, ESV)Exposing darkness is the greatest weapon we have to eradicate evil and receive light so we must “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power” to expose it (D&C 123:17). Because darkness prevailed, “there was no point which the Prophet Joseph Smith dwelt more than the discerning of spirits.”
A man must have the discerning of spirits before he can drag into daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul-destroying, diabolical, and horrid colors; for nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God.“They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness” (Hosea 7:2). “You say, What does God know? Is it possible that he can judge through thick darkness?” His response: “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:24).
Many whose “works are in the dark . . . seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord” (2 Nephi 27:27), but no matter how clever we are, our sins will be discovered and our own hiding places will fail. God “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5). His all-seeing eye will uncover all darkness and secret places—none can hide. “For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret” (John 7:4). “For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret but that it should come abroad” (Mark 4:22). Covert wickedness, error, perverse worship, and hypocritical piety will be “revealed at the proper time” (2 Thessalonians 2:6, NIV). “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:16).
Mine eyes see and know all their works, and I have in reserve a swift judgment in the season thereof for them all; for there is a time appointed for every man, according as his works shall be . . . There shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles, for their folly and their abominations shall be made manifest in the eyes of all people. (D&C 121:24–25, 35:7)How often He calls, “Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief” (Ether 4:13), including knowledge of their sins and iniquities.
To those who “held fast to the commandments of God He made His covenant with Israel for ever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray.” According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the wicked “have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence,” so their condemnation remains.
When trouble arises, “they shall not find him. He hath withdrawn himself from them . . . I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face” (Hosea 5:6, 15). The Lord remains hidden until we seek and find Him. To seek does not imply He is lost, only hidden, for He remains near to us and has revealed the way to Him. The Expositor’s Dictionary explains that to seek Him is to “turn to Him in trust and confidence. Seek me that you may live” (Amos 5:4, NASB).
The Lord “shall reveal all things—things which have passed and hidden things which no man knew” (D&C 101:32–33)—to those who serve Him “in righteousness and truth unto the end. To them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom” (D&C 76:5–7). “Bring[ing] to light all the hidden things of darkness wherein we know them” is a serious task. We must know how to receive revelation to fulfill this duty, for such things “are truly manifest from heaven” (D&C 123:13). Exposing sin and darkness is a major role of seers, who arise as iniquity becomes full.
A seer is a revelator and a prophet also, and a gift which is greater can no man have except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God. But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known. Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings. (Mosiah 8:16–18)Those who call themselves seers must expose darkness and possess divine gifts and powers or they are false prophets. “Whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord bless. For none can have power to bring it to light save it be given him of God; for God wills that it shall be done with an eye single to his glory or the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord” (Mormon 8:14–16).
Enoch, the righteous seer whose “father taught [him] in all the ways of God” (JST Genesis 6:43), was not well received. When he “cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works, all men were offended because of him” (Moses 6:37). Such opposition did not deter Enoch from fulfilling God’s command to preach against their sins. The Nephite prophet Jacob similarly knew that “notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations” (Jacob 2:10).
The brother of Jared, also a seer, received two stones that will again be used as interpreters when his now-sealed record is brought to light (Ether 3:21–24). Abraham also had interpreters, or “the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me” (Abraham 3:1). Urim means lights and truths, a gift from the Father. Thummim, perfections, refers to the fulness. In this dispensation, Joseph Smith also received interpreters that he described as “two stones in silver bows . . . fastened to a breastplate.” The ancient high priest wore interpreters “in the breastplate of judgment” (Exodus 28:30). A seer has divinely-sanctioned power and authority to reveal or to curse.
Seers or interpreters translate records and restore lost truths “by the power of God” (Mormon 8:16), “unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men” (Mosiah 8:19). Ancient records were kept so “the mysteries and the works of darkness . . . may be made manifest.” When “the Lord saw that his people began to work in darkness . . . interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled which he spake, saying, I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations” (Alma 37:21–22, 24–25). Once ripe in iniquity, records of “all their ungodly deeds which they have committed against” Him will stand as a witness against them. The secret and wicked works of those entrusted with the covenant will be exposed in the last days.
I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations . . . and except they repent I will destroy them off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations. (Alma 37:23, 25)The Dead Sea Scrolls speak of an ‘Interpreter,’ a righteous one who “shall not conceal from them . . . any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discovered by him.” God will raise up an Interpreter again “to rule in Zion at the end of time.” Bringing ancient records to light, restoring lost knowledge, and exposing works of darkness is an imperative and urgent duty. We need light to reveal darkness.
What has been lost must be restored so “that our children . . . may come to that which will give them true knowledge of their Redeemer” (2 Nephi 10:2). The scattered “are exhorted to return to the Lord from whence they have fallen; which if they do, the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them or give them revelation” (D&C 113:10). In other words, true revelation is a sign that we have repented and turned to Him.
Sacred records—old and new, past and future—lead the lost “to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer” (3 Nephi 16:4). Truth brings believers “out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom” (2 Nephi 3:5). Paul brought light into a world of darkness as he “rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2, Net Bible). Joseph of Egypt was called to “be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity from bondage, and to bring salvation unto them when they are altogether bowed down under sin” (JST Genesis 48:11).
With so much at stake, bringing darkness to light is a solemn and serious obligation. If we do not accomplish this duty, we cannot expect the highest eternal rewards. We must be (1) built “up unto the most holy faith,” (2) heed “all his words and commandments,” (3) walk in “all holiness” before Him, and (4) receive His words in faith. Only
by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good and His name’s glory. (D&C 21:2, 4–6)
For footnotes and references, click HERE.