101 Reasons Why I Believe Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God.
Evidence Seventy-Four:
“Joseph Smith and the ‘Lamb of God’”©
If you keep studying the Book of Mormon and trying to keep up on current literature on this amazing volume you inevitably run into new things that set you back in your chair. That happened to me this week. It involved an interesting set of circumstances. For many years I have met with several friends (now on Zoom) to discuss the temple. We read and discuss books and articles, and currently we are reading Margaret Barker’s book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ Which God Gave to Him to Show to His Servants What Must Soon Take Place (Revelation 1:1). It is basically her commentary about the temple as found in the Book of Revelation.
Then three days ago I started reading Joseph Spencer’s wonderful little volume 1st Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction. Last night and this morning the two came together in an amazing “ah ha!” I learned from Joseph Spencer a remarkable series of little facts. Here is my summary of his discussion of Nephi’s use of the title “The Lamb of God” in First Nephi. Spencer calls the title “theologically fraught,” which is central to Nephi’s visions in 1 Nephi. The title does not appear in the Old Testament, but 30 times in the New Testament–twice in John 1 and 28 times in the book of Revelation! Here is its distribution in Restoration scriptures. Once in the Pearl of Great Price, 14 times in the D&C, and 70 times in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon distribution is very interesting. It is used 57 times in 1 Nephi 10-14–Nephi’s account of his visions, 4 times in 2 Nephi 31-33, 4 times in Mormon’s writings, and 5 times in Moroni’s writings.(1)
Here is Spenser’s analysis of the meaning and importance of all of this:
...the Messiah’s baptism introduces readers to a key theological title for the Messiah. Lehi prophesies not only that the Messiah’s prophetic forerunner would baptize him but also that this forerunner would “behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God” (1 Ne. 10:10).The preparatory prophet would thus do more than administer a necessary ordinance. He would see something others wouldn’t, and he would bear public witness to it: that the Messiah is God’s Lamb. This theologically fraught title–”the Lamb of God”–proves central to Nephi’s vision. We’ll see that it’s the Lamb that lies at the heart of the presentation of Israel’s God in 1 Nephi.(2)
He goes on to tell us that the title first appears in the New Testament testimony of John the Baptist in John 1:29, and 36. Interestingly, its use in the scriptures of the Restoration are almost exclusively used in reference to 1) John the Baptist’s testimony, 2) Nephi’s “apocalyptic” vision , or 3) John’s Revelation!. Spencer writes,
In the Book of Mormon, the title is almost entirely restricted to Nephi’s vision. Lehi introduces it in 1 Nephi 10, and then it appears fifty-six times in the course of Nephi’s vision, which is explicitly related to John’s Revelation (see 1 Ne. 14:18-27). After that, the title mostly disappears. Nephi uses it late in 2 Nephi, referring back to his vision. And then it appears a few times in the remainder of the volume, but always mirroring the book of Revelation or the Baptist’s words in John.
Thus, references to God’s Lamb throughout scripture derive either from the Baptist’s testimony or from the apocalyptic visions of John and Nephi. (3)
It only requires a little reflection to see that this information uncovers some remarkable evidence for the Prophet Joseph’s inspired translation of the Book of Mormon. For one, the bulk of the uses of the title “Lamb of God” appear in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, in the recounting of apocalyptic visions of Lehi/Nephi and John the Revelator. Nephi knew of John’s future work and was told not to encroach upon it, but we do not know whether John knew of Nephi’s visions. (See 1 Nephi 14:19-27.) Indeed, Nephi is told, “behold, the things which this apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen; and behold the remainder shalt thou see.”(4)
My simple faith leads me to ask myself, isn’t it amazing that the very first thing in the Book of Mormon, the thing that becomes one of the core themes of the entire book, is a series of visions given to Nephi that are exactly the same things John saw? And... both speak of Jesus Christ using the same title! Since Nephi was restricted from relating what John would see and he is careful not to do so, one cannot accuse the Prophet of plagiarizing John. If one is inclined to attribute the origin of the Book of Mormon to the Prophet Joseph, the worst one could say is that his genius, creativity, and unbridled hubris led him to mimic the Book of Revelation in 1st Nephi.
However, there are some things that make this theory more than a little suspect in this case. First, as Spencer discusses his analysis of First Nephi he repeatedly argues that LDS are so familiar with its story that they often overlook and miss such subtleties as these. Second, the theory presupposes that Joseph Smith had a thorough knowledge of the Book of Revelation, yet family members and others who knew him, confirm his account of the First Vision, that his religions inclinations were aroused about the age 12 to 14, and there is virtually no evidence this author knows of that he pursued an understanding of the book of Revelation between 1819-20 and 1829-30 when the Book of Mormon was translated. Third, Spencer also discusses the relationship of the Lamb to the Old Testament temple sacrifices, and observes;
Although there is disagreement among scholars about exactly which form of Israelite sacrifice ... the image derives from, numerous Book of Mormon passages show that it’s the blood of the Lamb that’s most essential to the Nephite prophets.(5)
This is interesting, because again Nephi and John are one on this, but only quietly so. The word “blood” shows up seventeen times in the Book of Revelation. The same emphasis on Christ’s blood is found only in the following: Revelation 1:5, 5:9, 7:14, 12:11, and 19:13(?)
Fourth, as our understanding of the complexity of the Book of Mormon grows through ongoing studies such as Spencer’s, the more difficult it is to attribute the multitudes of such subtle details with so many combinations and permutations to plagiarism.
Fifth, although I have no question that Joseph Smith had an ego which tended to surface when he faced opposition, I am also aware of an amazing humility before God that flows through his life. That is another topic for another time, but it is easier to attribute the boldness of the Book of Mormon to the idea that Joseph Smith translated it by the gift and power of God as to it is to ascribe it to Joseph’s ego. Here it is a choice. I choose to believe the evidence suggests ego was not Joseph’s impetus for producing the Book of Mormon. That doesn’t explain much that follows.
Sixth, Spencer’s summary of the pervasiveness of the Lamb in Nephi’s story, suggests it is possibly a broader view of the Lamb than found in Revelation.
What Nephi sees in vision regarding the destiny of Lehi’s children is principally the story of the Lamb. Christ is the Lamb when Nephi first sees him in the arms of the Virgin (see 1 Ne. 11:21), and he is the Lamb again when Nephi sees him baptized (see verse 27). He’s the Lamb in his mortal ministry (see verse 31), and he’s the Lamb when he’s “judged of the world” and killed (verse 32). He’s the Lamb when he descends from heaven to visit Lehi’s children (see 12:6), and he’s the Lamb when the Nephites write and seal up his teachings (see 13:35). The pure gospel corrupted by the abominable church belongs to the Lamb (see verse 26), as does the pure book that goes from Jews to Gentiles before its corruption (see verse 28). It’s also the Lamb who reaches out in mercy in the last days (see verse 33), brings forth the Book of Mormon (see verse 39), and destroys the abominable church (see 14:3). And, of course, it’s to the Lamb that “all men must come” in the end, “or they cannot be saved” (13:40). In the vision that forms the theological heart of 1 Nephi, it’s the Lamb of God who requires our worship.(6)
Finally, once again I point out that all of this is consistent with and reinforcing to the central purpose of the Book of Mormon. If Joseph Smith was a dupe of Satan when he produced the Book of Mormon and organized the Church of Jesus Christ, Satan sure had an odd way of trying to draw us to his side buy making one of the central visions of the book and doctrine of the Church about the Lamb of God!
I finish as I began. I’m in my 81st year of life and I still get a buzz when I encounter this kind of wonderful information, and I almost always sense the whisperings of the Spirit saying something like, “See, Dan, here is another piece of evidence to add to the mountain you already have, that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is of divine origin, and the Church Joseph Smith organized is the restored Church of Jesus Christ.”
Thank God for Joseph Smith!
Let’s think together again, soon.
Notes:
1. Joseph Spencer, 1st Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2020, 48.
Ibid.
3. Spencer, 1st Nephi, 49.
4. 1 Nephi 14:24.
5. Spencer, 1st Nephi, 49.
6. Ibid, 49-50. Barker emphasizes several things about the Lamb in the Book of Revelation that are not strong motifs in Nephi’s vision. A particular one is her view that the Lamb goes through “apotheosis”–become a God, (“the vision of Revelation 5 is a scene of apotheosis, corresponding to temple ritual underlying Psalm 2 and Psalm 110") and is enthroned (Rev. 7:17). See Margaret Barker, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, London: T&T Clark, 2000, 139-41.
