At Cumorah

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At Cumorah

God does much of his work by mortal men, and sometimes so much depends on those men.

Monday morning September 22, 1823, 17 year-old Joseph Smith Jr. climbed up the forested west face of a Hill later to be called Cumorah. (Barrett p. 65)The night previous, Joseph had been visited by an angel, who had told him of an ancient record buried in that hill, and showed him by vision the exact place. Joseph now stood before a large stone that covered that record. It was too heavy to lift so Joseph found a lever and “with a little exertion raised it up.” Under the stone was a box formed of stones and mortared together with cement. Inside the box was an ancient record written on gold plates giving an account of the former inhabitants of the Americas.

“On attempting to take possession of the record a shock was produced upon his system, by an invisible power which deprived him, in a measure, of his natural strength. He… made another attempt, but was more sensibly shocked than before.”

Calculating that he needed to try harder, he reached again “when his strength failed him more than at either of the former times…he exclaimed, “Why can I not obtain this book?”

From nearby came a voice, “Because you have not kept the commandments of the Lord.” (Messenger and Advocate 2:198) It was the angel of the Lord.

Joseph had been warned that he must have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God (JSH 1:46). He realized that in his thoughts he had been “tempted of the adversary and sought the plates to obtain riches (Joseph Smith 1832 History).

Humbled, Joseph prayed. “The heavens were opened and the glory of the Lord shone round about, and rested upon him. While he thus stood gazing and admiring, the angel said, “Look!” and as he thus spake he beheld the prince of darkness, surrounded by his innumerable train of associates. All this passed before him, and the heavenly messenger said, “All this is shown, the good and the evil, the holy and impure, the glory of God and the power of darkness, that you may know hereafter the two powers and never be influenced or overcome by that wicked one.” (Messenger and Advocate 2:198)

One year later, September 22, 1824, “Joseph again visited the place where he found the plates the year previous….He fully expected to carry them home with him” He removed the plates from the box, and then thinking there might be something else in the box of monetary value, he set the plates down, turned back, and carefully covered the box again. “He turned [around] to take the Record again, but…it was gone….He was much alarmed. He kneeled down and asked the Lord why the Record had been taken from him.” Once again, the angel appeared and reminded him that “he had been commanded not to lay the plates down.”

He was permitted to open the box again. Upon seeing the plates once more inside the box he reached for them, but “was hurled back upon the ground with great violence.” Joseph returned home weeping with disappointment “aware that [his family] would expect him to bring the plates home with him” (History of Joseph Smith p. 83-84).

The commandments of God are strict. It is not enough for any of us to be willing to keep the commandments of God we must practice obedience until, by the grace of God, we are obedient.

September 22, 1825, Joseph returned again to the Hill, but we have no account of what happened.

Then September 1826, Joseph returned to the Hill and met the angel. He asked for the record but was told that this was not the year, but, “If he would do right according to the will of God he might obtain it on the 22nd of September next, and if not he never would have them.” The angel also added that he “might have the book if he brought with him the right person.” When Joseph asked who was that right person, he was told that he would know. That person was later revealed to be Emma Hale. (Joseph Knight Sr. Recollection)

Just after midnight on September 22, 1827, Joseph and Emma Smith, now married, returned to the Hill. Emma stayed with the carriage while Joseph climbed the Hill and took up the record. “The angel of the Lord stood by and said, Now you have got the record into your own hands, and you are but a man, therefore you will have to be watchful and faithful to your trust, or you will be overpowered by wicked men…Beware, and look well to your ways, and you shall have power to retain it, until the time for it to be translated.”