Get to Know Joseph Smith Part 6: The Gold Plates
Following Moroni’s visits on the night of September 21, 1823, Joseph Smith did as Moroni had instructed and made his way to the Hill Cumorah to find the buried gold plates.
Joseph Smith describes the hill in his own word:
Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario county, New York, stands a hill of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the neighborhood. On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all around was covered with earth.
Joseph Smith Continues:
Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them. (Joseph Smith—History 1:52)
Joseph’s Family was poor, and the temptation to take the plates for financial gain was real. As Joseph reached into the box to retrieve the plates, he received a shock that drained him of strength. Not learning the lesson the first time, Joseph again reached into the box to retrieve the plates and received a bigger shock this time. Still determined, Joseph Smith made third attempt and received a powerful, overwhelming shock.
Puzzled and humbled, Joseph asked himself, “Why cannot I obtain the book?”. To his surprise, he received an answer, “Because you have not kept the commandments of the Lord”. As Joseph Smith looked up, he saw the angel Moroni standing before him once again.
In deep humility, Joseph prayed and was shown another vision of Satan and his minions in their “diabolical fury”. The angel then instructed him saying:
All this is shown, the good and the evil, the holy and the 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. Behold, whatever entices and leads to good and to do good is of God, and whatever does not is of that wicked one. It is he who fills the hearts of men with evil, to walk in darkness and blaspheme God; and you may learn from henceforth, that his way are to destruction; but the way of holiness is peace and rest.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History, 48-50)
Following the vision, Joseph was forbidden to take the plates after he made one final attempt. He was told that it was not time to get them, but it would be after four years. Joseph was commanded to return to that location every year, where he would meet with Moroni and receive instruction about the work the Lord was doing to restore His kingdom.
Continue reading Get to Know Joseph Smith Part 7: Joseph Waits
Image Credit: Dallas Golden, Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
