We all have things we want to see with our own eyes. For some of us it may be natural wonders; for others, it might be an incredible feat or a rare collectors item or a prayed-for event.
For Martin Harris in March of 1829, the thing he wanted to see most was the gold plates Joseph Smith was translating into what we now call The Book of Mormon. He had invested considerable time and money in the translation and his wife was increasingly upset with his involvement. Lucy Harris thought her husband had been deceived and even filed a legal complaint against Joseph Smith and gathered a number of people willing to testify that he had lied about the plates. She told Martin he would join Joseph in jail if he did not also testify of Joseph Smith's deception and fraud.
Martin believed the plates were real, but he decided to travel from his home in upstate New York to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to ask Joseph if he could see the plates. Perhaps he thought that seeing the plates would justify his involvement with the work of translation and avoid further conflict with Lucy.
When Martin arrived in Pennsylvania, Joseph took Martin's question to the Lord and received a revelation now canonized as Doctrine and Covenants Section 5. In this revelation, the Lord gives two answers to Martin's question. First, he directs Joseph:
And now, behold, this shall you say unto him...: I, the Lord, am God, and have given these things [the plates] unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and have commanded you that you should stand as a witness of these things; And I have caused you that you should enter into a covenant with me, that you should not show them except to those persons to whom I commanded you; and you have no power over them except I grant it unto you (v. 2-3).
Martin was not allowed to see the plates at that time. Instead, the Lord affirmed that it was Joseph Smith's role to witness the plates were real. Martin would be required to walk by faith a little longer, even and perhaps especially in face of opposition to his belief.
More than 120 years later, President Joseph Fielding Smith shared that he had often observed similar inquiries:
Frequently when [people] … hear the story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, they ask if the plates are in some museum where they may be seen. Some of them with some scientific training, [suggest] that if the scholars could see and examine the plates and learn to read them, they would then bear witness to the truth of the Book of Mormon and the veracity of Joseph Smith, and the whole world would then be converted (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:40).
The Lord's ways are not our ways however, and on this occasion there is more to the explanation. The Lord continued the revelation:
If they will not believe my words, they would not believe you, my servant Joseph, if it were possible that you should show them all these things which I have committed unto you... I have reserved those things which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations; But this generation shall have my word through you (v. 7, 9-10).
Had Martin Harris, or anyone else, seen the plates; or if we could see the plates in a museum somewhere; he or she or we still may not believe. Certainly those inclined not to believe could dispute the translation and origins even with the plates right before their eyes. So the Lord reserved the plates to emphasize Joseph Smith's unique calling and for "a wise purpose" he didn't immediately elaborate.
Rather than relying on our senses alone, the Lord teaches that it is crucial for each of us, as it was important for Martin Harris, to have a testimony of his gospel and the great work of restoration. A testimony is a divine witness or evidence that is impressed upon our hearts and minds. Its effects are often deeper and more profound than what we learn from our senses.
When we come to really believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God to translate the Book of Mormon and restore the priesthood and organization of Christ's church upon the earth, we can know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church upon the earth today. This testimony guides us to the covenant blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ordinances that can be performed by proper authority and ultimately, if we are faithful, salvation from sin and death through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God.
Among the millions, three men in addition to Joseph Smith were called to be witnesses of the plates themselves. The Lord taught Joseph Smith on that day in March 1829:
And in addition to [the testimony of Joseph Smith], the testimony of three of my servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through you. Yea, they shall know of a surety that these things are true, for from heaven will I declare it unto them. I will give them power that they may behold and view these things as they are; And to none else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this generation.... And the testimony of three witnesses will I send forth of my word (v. 11-15).
Each copy of the Book of Mormon begins with a title page, introduction and a copy of the written testimony of Three Witnesses, which stands as another evidence of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The Lord continued:
And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit... And their testimony shall also go forth unto the condemnation of this generation if they harden their hearts against them (v. 16, 18).
President Ezra Taft Benson taught that "we each need to get our own testimony of the Book of Mormon through the Holy Ghost. Then our testimony, coupled with the Book of Mormon, should be shared with others so that they, too, can know through the Holy Ghost of its truthfulness" (“The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants,” Ensign, May 1987, 84).
After admonishing Joseph Smith to "walk more uprightly" and "yield to the persuasions of men no more", the Lord provides the second answer to Martin Harris' question:
And now, again, I speak unto you, my servant Joseph, concerning the man that desires the witness-- Behold, I say unto him, he exalts himself and does not humble himself sufficiently before me; but if he will bow down before me, and humble himself in mighty prayer and faith, in the sincerity of his heart, then will I grant unto him a view of the things which he desires to see (v. 23-24).
Through a multi-step process, the Lord offered Martin Harris the opportunity to become one of the Three Witnesses. As with the first answer, the Lord provided more explanation of this promise, including an admonition to testify to the world of what he saw and a warning that failure to be sufficiently humble and obedient would result in not seeing the plates and Martin's condemnation and destruction.
Often the Lord responds to us the way he responded here to Martin Harris. He doesn't usually give us what we want outright, but he provides a way for us to receive the blessings we desire. We don't usually have to travel the world to find them, but the Lord does require us to pursue our desires with humble and sincere prayers and acts of faith. Along the way, he provides guidance and commandments that protect us from the obstacles, including sometimes those we love, who would take us off the path and lead us another way toward worldly approval and the destruction of our souls.
Three months after the Lord's responses to Martin's question, Martin Harris was one of three men who saw the plates and testified to the world of their reality. Likewise, if we walk the path the Lord lays out for us, he will send the proverbial rain and part the clouds so we can receive the blessings we desire.
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