By Shane J. Hunt
More than two hundred years
have passed since the Prophet Joseph Smith’s birth,
and his singular life stands out in bass relief against
the granite of history. As the light of scholarship and
revealed knowledge passes across the horizon of time, it
accentuates the height and depth of the prophet’s
contribution to the salvation of mankind.
The divine promise of his mission
expands our understanding and appreciation of his prophetic
mantle “while the pure in heart, and the wise, and
the noble, and the virtuous… seek counsel, and authority,
and blessings constantly from under [his] hand.”
1
Two striking symbols that powerfully
testify of the divinity of Joseph’s calling as prophet
of the restoration are the two places that define the beginning
and end of his earthly ministry — Palmyra and Carthage.
These two towns are like bookends in the library of the
prophet’s life between which stand the volumes of
revelation, insights, doctrines, ordinances, and authority
that bless our lives and prepare the world for Christ’s
millennial reign.
Palmyra: City of Palm
Trees
After passing from difficulty
to difficulty in his various occupations, Joseph’s
father settled in the area of Palmyra, New York. Little
did he, or his family, realize the blessings that would
flow to the world as a result of this move.
At the time of the Smith’s
move to Palmyra, the town was a little more than 25 years
old. Two developers, John Swift and John Jenkins, had purchased
Tract 12, Range 2, in the winter of 1788. In the spring
of the following year, they began to subdivide the property
into smaller farms. The development was initially named
after John Swift, but then renamed, Tolland. By 1797, the
leading citizens were determined to select a permanent name
for their growing town. A local resident, Daniel Sawyer,
who had been reading a book about the ancient city of Palmyra,
proposed that name which was adopted by the assembly.2
The recommendation proved to be an inspired one.
For thousands of years, the
Old World city of Palmyra (located in present day Syria)
was an important stopping point for travelers crossing the
caravan trade routes that cut through the rugged desert
between Babylon and the Mediterranean. In Palmyra, caravans
could obtain life-sustaining water that bubbled up from
an underground aquifer. Date palm trees grew around the
oasis providing food and shade to travelers.3
This strategic location on
the trade route helped the outpost prosper. When the Romans
conquered the region in the first century A.D., they changed
the Aramaic name, Tadmor, to the Greek translation, Palmyra,
meaning city of palm trees.4
City of palm trees was an appropriate
name for this town and the oasis that gave life to the desert.
The date palm tree has been the city’s most visual
symbol for thousands of years. Drawing living water from
beneath the soil, the palm tree rises to a height of between
60 to 80 feet. It grows tall and straight like a slender
column. At its top is a crown of pale-green fronds which
grow to a length of six to twelve feet, bending outwards.
As the tree grows, the old
fronds gradually drop off and new leaves sprout from the
center, keeping the top full and green and providing shade
to those camped beneath. The sweet yellow fruit of the date
palm as well as its trunk sap, wood, and palm fronds are
used in a variety of ways for food and shelter.
5
For countless nomadic people,
the date palm tree was a tree of life.
Interestingly, in the opening
scenes of the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi flees to
the desert after his life is threatened in Jerusalem. It
is in the wilderness that the Lord begins to more fully
teach the now nomadic Lehi of the gospel covenant through
a foundational vision. The centerpiece of his vision is
“a tree whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.”
7
In his dream, Lehi says “I
[partook] of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was
most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and
I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all
the whiteness that I had ever seen. And as I partook of
the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great
joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should
partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above
all other fruit.” 6
Perhaps the date palm was the
tree of life in Lehi’s dream.9
The Book of Mormon account
teaches that the meaning of the tree that Lehi saw “is
the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts
of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable
above all things.” 10
The tree of life represents the love that God the Father
and His son Jesus Christ have for mankind. It is supreme
love that directs their work and infuses the gospel covenant
“to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life
of man.” 11
Like its Namesake
Like its namesake, the New
World Palmyra would also provide the world a wellspring
of water. However, this was everlasting water to refresh
the soul which “thirsteth for God.”
12
Approximately four years after
his family settled in Palmyra, Joseph entered a stand of
trees near his home seeking answers to deep spiritual questions.
Sheltered from prying eyes, he knelt to pray. After expressing
the desires of his heart, he records: “I saw two Personages,
whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling
me by name and said, pointing to the other — This
is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” 13
After centuries of apostasy,
the tree of life had sprung from the rocky soil of New England
bearing the fruit of eternal life. “And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”14
The resumption of personal revelation between God and man
— providing the way for all to be perfected in Christ
— was only the beginning of this emerging endowment
from the tree of life.
Three more years passed then
the angel Moroni, holding the keys of the Book of Mormon,
appeared to Joseph Smith.15
After an evening of instruction, Joseph was directed
by Moroni to enter another stand of trees on “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.” 16
From the soil emerged a record
“which are the words of those who have slumbered in
the dust”, the words of a people sharing their hopes
and dreams, their weaknesses and desolation, with a future
generation.17 The
“saints… who have possessed this land, shall
cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord;
and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which
he hath made with them… that the Lord should suffer
to bring these things forth.” 18
Joseph translated the plates
that became a rod of iron leading the honest in heart to
the fruit of the tree of life. From the pages of the Book
of Mormon, we hear Lehi’s voice calling to his family
and all who would harken to his invitation to “come
unto Christ.”19
This sacred record stands as another testament of Jesus
Christ, witnessing of His divine mission and covenant with
the House of Israel.
It is profoundly symbolic that
the inaugural events of the restoration took place in the
environs of Palmyra, a town named after a tree of life.
Since these two defining events, millions have made their
way across their own spiritual wilderness to stand with
Lehi in fulfillment of prophetic vision that “multitudes
[of people would] press their way forward, continually holding
fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell
down and partook of the fruit of the tree.” 20
In our day and time, the family
of God is invited to make their way to the tree of life
just as caravans of travelers made their way to the ancient
city of Palmyra, drawn by the promise of sustaining life.21
Palmyra had yielded up her
treasures. To Joseph’s heart came a sure knowledge
of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. To Joseph’s
hands came a record more precious than the golden plates
they were preserved on. Both the divine revelation and the
sacred record that he received in Palmyra were portable
endowments allowing the honest in heart who would receive
them to press “forward, that they might obtain the
path which led unto the tree” of life.
That path led the saints to
Kirtland then to Nauvoo, and ultimately to the Salt Lake
valley. Today the pathway leads the saints to the stakes
of Zion throughout the world. While the events of the restoration
moved on from Palmyra, the city remains a landmark —
a place made sacred by the events that transpired there.
A City of Martyrs:
Carthage
The second city that defines
Joseph’s prophetic mission and is infused with symbolism
is Carthage, Illinois, the place where Joseph as martyr
sealed his testimony with his blood. The Bible Dictionary
states that the word “martyr” comes from a Greek
word meaning witness.22
Over time, the term martyr has been applied to those who
have been exiled, imprisoned, or killed for their beliefs
as a witness to those who disbelieve their words or discount
the commitment of their faith.
Our scriptural record recounts
the experiences of many faithful saints and prophets who
died as martyrs. For example, we read in the New Testament
about Paul’s eyewitness account of the martyrdom of
Stephen, who bore testimony of his vision of “the
Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” 23
The Book of Mormon testifies
of the martyrdom of the prophet Abinadi that sealed his
powerful, uncompromising testimony of repentance and salvation
which he delivered to King Noah and his priests.
24
The single greatest account
in the scriptures of one who laid down his life in doing
His Father’s will, and showed that “greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends” is that of Jesus Christ.25
Our very salvation is centered on the prophet of prophets,
the king of kings, the martyr of martyrs, the Lord Jesus
Christ who “hath poured out his soul unto death.”
26
Although the names of martyrs
and the cities in which they met their fate have been recorded
in the pages of scripture and early Christian history, the
name of one ancient city has become closely associated with
martyrdom: Carthage. Carthage was a great city in North
Africa, located in present day Tunisia. It was founded thousands
of years ago by the Phoenicians, and its name means New
City. 27 In 146
B.C., Carthage was destroyed by the Romans but later rebuilt
by Julius Caesar on the site of the original city. It became
the capital of Roman Africa. 28
Scholars do not know when Christianity
was first introduced to Carthage, but amidst established
pagan religions the new faith flourished. By the third century
A.D., Christians were fast becoming a majority in the region.
One of the early Christian
writers, Tertullian, wrote to the Roman provincial governors
in approximately 197 A.D. that Christians "have filled
every place among you — cities, islands, fortresses,
towns, market-places, the very camp, tribes, companies,
palace, senate, forum, — we have left nothing to you
but the temples of your gods." He writes that if all
the Christians were to leave Carthage then the government
“would be horror-struck at the solitude in which you
would find yourselves.” 29
The situation posed an uncomfortable
situation for the ruling class, who thought that the increase
in number of Christian adherents would erode their grasp
on power. Regional governors employed the law to check the
growth of the Christians. Attacks on Christians accelerated,
and many believers chose to die for their faith rather than
deny their convictions. Soon the prisons of Carthage were
filled and Christians were exiled, tortured, or put to death.
30
Some fifteen years later, Tertullian
again noted the growth of Christianity throughout the Roman
province of Africa Nova in spite of the repeated persecutions,
and pointed to the number of believers who were willing
to die for their faith. In a letter to the Proconsul Scapula,
he wrote:
