We May Have Misunderstood What Joseph Smith Really Found | Don Bradley E0061

Summary

Key Points

• Joseph Smith's finding of a lost book of scripture and using it to restore God's covenant with Israel directly parallels King Josiah's actions in ancient Israel. 1:24
• The restoration demonstrates that the world of the Bible is not merely distant history but an ongoing divine story in which modern believers actively participate. 2:58
• The Book of Mormon is presented as a "new covenant" that Latter-day Saints are called to remember and "do according to that which is written," echoing the ancient "book of the law" found by Josiah. 11:40
• The Nephites, having lost the original temple and Ark of the Covenant, established their own temple and created sacred relics to continue living the Law of Moses. 21:19
• The ancient Israelite Ark of the Covenant was a crucial temple relic, housing God's presence and serving as the altar for the most important sacrifice, the Day of Atonement. 23:31
• Each of these items found by Joseph Smith directly parallels biblical temple relics: the gold plates to the high priest's crown, the interpreters and breastplate to the Urim and Thummim and breastplate, and the Liahona to Aaron's rod and the pot of manna. 59:02
• Joseph Smith's translation process, involving the interpreters, breastplate, and a veil, symbolically mirrored the high priest's access to the Holy of Holies in the ancient temple. 60:56
• Joseph Smith discovered a "stone box" at Cumorah, which Martin Harris called an "ark," containing engraved gold plates, interpreters (Urim and Thummim), a breastplate, and the Liahona. 62:51
• Even the Sword of Laban, also found with the plates, is identified as a temple relic, paralleling David's sword of Goliath, which was kept in the tabernacle. 73:53
• The timing of Joseph Smith's acquisition of the plates on September 22nd, 1827, coincided with the Jewish Feast of Trumpets, suggesting a divinely orchestrated sacred timetable for the restoration. 79:46