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George Miller and Lyman Wight were the
subjects of our last article on Doctrine and
Covenants 124. In Doctrine and Covenants
124:22-23 it says they along with John Snider and others
are to
…build a
house unto my name, such a one as my servant
Joseph (Smith) shall show unto them, upon the place
which he shall show unto them also. And it shall be
for a house for boarding, a house
that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein;
therefore let it be a good house worthy of all
acceptation, that the weary traveler may find
health and safety while he shall contemplate the
word of the Lord; and the corner-stone I have
appointed for Zion.
Then in verses 56-60 "the Lord" told
Joseph Smith,
And now I
say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding house
which I have commanded you to build for the boarding
of strangers, let it be built unto my name,
and let my name be named upon it, and
let my servant Joseph and his house have place
therein, from generation to generation. For
this anointing have I put upon his head, that his
blessing shall also be put upon the head of his
posterity after him. And as I said unto Abraham
concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say
unto my servant Joseph: In thee and in thy seed
shall the kindred of the earth be blessed.
Therefore, let my servant Joseph and his seed
after him have place in that house, from generation to
generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.
And let the name of that house be called Nauvoo
House; and let it be a delightful habitation for
man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that
he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of
this, the corner-stone thereof.
A month after Smith said he received this
revelation, on February 23, 1841 an "Act to Incorporate
the Nauvoo House Association" was signed by the Governor
of Illinois. Section one said, "Be it enacted by the
people of the state of Illinois, represented in general
assembly, that George Miller, Lyman Wight, John Snider,
and Peter Haws, and their associates, are hereby
declared a body corporate, under the name and style of
the ‘Nauvoo House Association;’ and they are authorized
to erect and furnish a public house of entertainment, to
be called the ‘Nauvoo House’" (History of the Church,
vol. IV, p. 301). According to page 243 in Church
History in the Fulness of Times, "The cornerstone of
the building (Nauvoo House) was laid on 2 October 1841."
Not much more is said about building the
Nauvoo House or the Association responsible for building
it until 1844. Then Lyman Wight, who was one of
the men responsible for building the Nauvoo House
according to this "revelation," wrote to the LDS First
Presidency on February 15, 1844 and said, "Having also
become convinced that the Church at Nauvoo or in the
Eastern States will not build the Nauvoo House
according to the commandment, neither the Temple in a
reasonable time…" (History of the Church, vol.
VI, p. 256). Church History in the Fulness of Times
says of Joseph Smith "The Prophet considered the
construction of the Nauvoo House hotel nearly as urgent
as construction of the temple…In March 1844 Joseph
Smith postponed further construction on the hotel in
order to press forward on the temple" (p. 243). And on
May 3, 1844, Brigham Young and Willard Richards wrote a
letter to Reuben Hedlock saying, "We have dropped the
Nauvoo House until the Temple can be completed and
the Temple is going finely" (History of the Church,
vol. VI, p. 353).
An official publication of the LDS Church
entitled The Restored Church says of the Nauvoo
House, "The building was never completed as originally
designed, the martyrdom of the Prophet and the
contemplated exodus West causing a change in plans.
The part completed is still standing in Nauvoo not far
from the Mansion House; but it has been changed to make
a dwelling" (page 160).
If you didn’t notice the difference
between what "the Lord" said in Doctrine and
Covenants 124 about the Nauvoo House and what
actually happened, then read the first and second
paragraphs in this article again. It was never finished
as a "boarding house" so it never became a place for
boarding strangers. Doctrine and Covenants 124:59
says, "Let my servant Joseph Smith and his seed after
him have place in that house, from generation to
generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord."
But even that part of the Nauvoo House
that became a private house instead of a boarding house
was not built while Joseph Smith was alive, so he
never lived in it. After the Mormons moved west,
Smith’s wife lived in it for awhile, but most of the
time it has sat empty. The Reorganized LDS Church later
bought the building but no one lives in it, so
Smith’s descendants did not live in it forever and ever
as "the Lord" said.
Doctrine and Covenants
124:74 also says, "Therefore, I say unto you concerning
my servant Vinson Knight, if he will do my will let him
put stock into that (Nauvoo) House for himself,
and for his generation after him, from generation to
generation." But Vinson Knight died on July 31, 1842,
just nine months after the cornerstone was laid (History
of the Church vol. V, p. 84). He never even saw the
part of the Nauvoo House that was finally built, so if
he put stock in it, it didn’t do him any good and
his family never got any use of that house either. So,
was this a revelation from "the Lord?"
Notice what Mormon scripture says: "The
works, and the designs, and the purposes of God
cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to
naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths…neither
doth he vary from that which he hath said… Remember,
remember that it is not the work of God that is
frustrated, but the work of man" (Doctrine and
Covenants 3:1-3). It also says, "Search these
commandments for they are true and faithful, and
the prophecies and promises which are in them
shall all be fulfilled" (Doctrine and
Covenants 1:37). In the light of such claims, is
there a problem in Doctrine and Covenants 124?
Our next article will look at a few other
problems in Doctrine and Covenants 124. Those who
would like to read more about failed prophecies in the
Doctrine and Covenants can do so in Mormon
Claims Answered.
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