The revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 3 was given shortly after Martin Harris lost the earliest manuscript of the Book of Mormon. It was given through the Urim and Thummim and is the earliest revelation given to Joseph Smith of which we have record. Martin Harris arrived in Harmony in February 1828 and began working on the translation with the Prophet. By June, they had produced a substantial manuscript of what Joseph Smith described as “one hundred and sixteen pages, the which I took from the Book of Lehi, which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of Mormon.”1
According to Joseph Smith’s 1832 history, Martin took the manuscript because “he desired to carry them to read to his friends that peradventure he might convince them of the truth.” Joseph sought the will of the Lord and was told “no” twice, but upon his third request the Lord told Joseph to “let him go with them only he shall covenant with me that he will not shew them to only but four persons.”2 The 1838 history written by the Prophet added one more person identifying the five people to whom Martin was allowed to show the manuscript as his brother, Preserved Harris; his wife, Lucy Harris; his father, Nathan Harris; his mother, Rhoda Lapham Harris; and Polly Harris Cobb, his wife’s sister. Martin willingly entered into this covenant with the Lord.3
We know almost nothing about Lucy Harris except what Lucy Mack Smith shares in her 1845 history. She depicts Harris as a woman who, because of a vision shown to her, was initially convinced of the importance of Joseph’s work and who at first assisted in the work. Harris’s faith wavered, however, and she began to pester her husband and Joseph for proof of the plates and the translation. Lucy Mack Smith even describes an incident in which Lucy Harris went to Joseph and Emma’s home in Harmony and ransacked it in an attempt to locate the plates. Unable to locate the record, Lucy Harris left in a rage and “went from place to place and from house to house, telling her grievances to everyone she met but particularly bewailing the deception which Joseph Smith was practicing a deception upon the people which was about to strip her of all that she possessed.”4 Martin took the manuscript with him to Palmyra, to placate his wife and to dispel rumors spreading in the community.
Joseph remained in Harmony with Emma, who was about to give birth to their first child. The child, which Joseph and Emma named in honor of Joseph’s deceased brother Alvin, lived only a few hours, and Emma very nearly died during the delivery. For the next two weeks, Joseph took care of Emma while his anxiety over the manuscript grew steadily as no word arrived from Martin. Finally, at Emma’s urging, Joseph undertook the journey to Palmyra to find out what had happened to Martin and the manuscript.5
Lucy Mack Smith provides the most vivid description of what happened when Martin finally arrived at the Smith home to meet with Joseph. Arriving four hours later than expected, he hesitated to enter when the Smiths welcomed him in and offered him food. Martin sat in silence until he burst out, “I have lost my soul!” Lucy wrote, “Joseph who had smothered his fears till now sprang from the table exclaiming Oh! Martin have you lost that manuscript! have you broken your oath and brought down condemnation upon my head as well as your own.” “Yes,” replied Martin, “it is gone and I know not where.” “Oh! My God My God,” said Joseph clenching his hands together, “All is lost what shall I do I have sinned it is me that tempted the wrath of God.” After Martin left, Joseph wept and walked the floor continually while “sobs and groans and the most bitter lamentations filled the house.”6
Unable to locate the manuscript, Joseph returned to Harmony in defeat. According to his 1838 history, “Immediately after my return home I was walking out a little distance, when Behold the former heavenly messenger appeared and handed to me the Urim and Thummim again (for it had been taken from me in consequence of my having wearied the Lord in asking for the privilege of letting Martin Harris take the writings which he lost by transgression) and I enquired of the Lord through them and obtained the following revelation [Doctrine and Covenants 3].7
1 The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught.
2 For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.
3 Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men;
The Lord begins the revelation recorded in section 3 by answering what must have been the most pressing question on Joseph’s mind: Have I seriously set back the work of the Restoration? The Lord gives an assurance that the progress of His plan is never deterred. In the Book of Mormon, Jacob teaches, “O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it” (2 Nephi 9:20). Mormon held this principle in his mind when he prepared the record used to replace the lost manuscript. He wrote that “the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore he worketh in me to do according to his will” (Words of Mormon 1:7). When we understand that the Lord was aware beforehand of the perils of giving the manuscript to Martin and of the manuscript’s eventual loss, the question then becomes, why did the Lord reject the first two requests and then grant the request for Martin to take the manuscript?
Accepting that the Lord knew the eventual outcome and prepared a backup plan, the answer must be that the Lord took the opportunity to teach Joseph a hard, but necessary, lesson. While Joseph and Martin must have felt immense pressure to produce proof of the validity of their work, the care of the plates and the interpreters required absolute obedience to the Lord’s instructions, no matter how great the pressure from others. Allowing the loss of the manuscript may have been a careful way of teaching this lesson without damaging the still fragile work of restoration. It was a lesson Joseph took to heart, later writing, “I made this my rule, when the Lord commands, do it.”8
4 For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him.
5 Behold, you have been entrusted with these things, but how strict were your commandments; and remember also the promises which were made to you, if you did not transgress them.
6 And behold, how oft you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in the persuasions of men.
7 For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and despise his words—
8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble.
9 Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall.
It is remarkable that what is essentially the earliest revelation printed in the Doctrine and Covenants is a stern rebuke to the prophet who received it. Joseph is taken to task for fearing man more than God. Reminded that he was chosen of God to do the work, he is also told in a direct fashion that he will be subject to a number of different forms of temptation and that “if thou art not aware thou wilt fall” (D&C 3:9). This reproof of the Prophet is also a firm reminder that Latter-day Saints do not believe in prophetic infallibility. Prophets are flawed and mortal people who make mistakes, even when acting in the role of the prophet. Joseph is in good company here, joining such lofty figures as Moses (Exodus 4:24–26), Peter (Mark 8:33), and the brother of Jared (Ether 2:14), who received chastisement at the hand of the Lord for their mistakes.
The most well-known statement of prophetic fallibility comes from Wilford Woodruff when he taught, “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God” (Official Declaration 1). President Woodruff’s words do leave room for the Lord’s chosen servants to make mistakes, sometimes very significant ones, as in the case of Joseph’s loss of the original manuscript produced during the first phase of translation.
At the same time the Lord prevents his servants from doing anything which would seriously impede the work. He also recognizes the difference between a deliberate act of rebellion against his will and an error in judgment. President Brigham Young taught, “Can a prophet or an apostle be mistaken? Do not ask me any such question for I will acknowledge that all the time. But I do not acknowledge that I designedly lead this people astray one hair’s breadth from the truth, and I do not knowingly do a wrong, though I may commit many wrongs.”9
10 But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work;
11 Except thou do this, thou shalt be delivered up and become as other men, and have no more gift.
In verses 10–11, the tone of the revelation shifts from condemnation to reconciliation. The Lord always extends forgiveness, even after the most egregious folly. In Joseph’s defense, the pressure to allow Martin to take the manuscript must have been immense. At the time, Joseph was only twenty-two years old, while Martin was forty-three. Martin was a successful farmer and was well respected in the community where Joseph grew up. Martin had also provided financial support when Joseph moved to Harmony and continued to generously support the work of translation. It is also likely that Joseph wanted the people of his hometown, Palmyra, to see proof of his prophetic calling, even if the manuscript was only supposed to be shown to a small number of people.
12 And when thou deliveredst up that which God had given thee sight and power to translate, thou deliveredst up that which was sacred into the hands of a wicked man,
13 Who has set at naught the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgment and boasted in his own wisdom.
14 And this is the reason that thou hast lost thy privileges for a season—
15 For thou hast suffered the counsel of thy director to be trampled upon from the beginning.
The Lord calls Martin a “wicked man” in these verses, and certainly it appears that Martin disobeyed the Lord’s words and violated the covenant he made to safeguard the manuscript and show it only to the designated people. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Martin initially abided the conditions of the covenant but cast it aside when an additional friend arrived and asked to see the manuscript. After showing it to one friend, Martin showed little regard for the covenant and began showing the manuscript to others. This caused contention between Martin and his wife, Lucy Harris, who was enraged when Martin broke the lock on the cabinet in which he had been storing the manuscript. Lucy Mack Smith wrote, “Her irascible temper knew no bounds and an intolerable storm ensued throughout the house when descended with greatest force upon the head of the devoted husband.”10
One of the most ardent defenders of Martin Harris has been Dallin Harris Oaks, a descendant of Harris’s brother, Emer. In a general conference address, President Oaks stated, “Having a special interest in Martin Harris, I have been saddened at how he is remembered by most Church members. He deserves better than to be remembered solely as the man who unrighteously obtained and then lost the initial manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon.”11 While Martin committed a serious transgression in his actions with the manuscript, we should note that the Lord continued to tenderly help Martin through the repentance process (see D&C 19). Though he was restricted from further service as a scribe, he continued to provide funding and support, even selling his farm to pay for the publication of the book. Martin was called to serve as one of three special witnesses of the Book of Mormon (see D&C 17). He also assisted in the call of the original Quorum of the Twelve in this dispensation. Most important, though Martin was still subject to many other shortcomings, he stood by his testimony of the Book of Mormon for the remainder of his life.
16 Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of a Savior come unto my people—
17 And to the Nephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—
18 And this testimony shall come to the knowledge of the Lamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their brethren the Nephites, because of their iniquities and their abominations.
19 And for this very purpose are these plates preserved, which contain these records—that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his people;
20 And that the Lamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the promises of the Lord, and that they may believe the gospel and rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be glorified through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved. Amen.
In the final part of this revelation, the Lord acknowledges the historicity of the Book of Mormon and hints at the greater ethnic complexity of the Israelite civilization than perhaps was possible in the abridged record prepared by Mormon. Mormon himself notes that the book in our possession is a summary, explaining that he could not “write the hundredth part of the things of my people” (Words of Mormon 1:5). While the narrative in our possession presents a streamlined story of the Nephites and Lamanites, the Lord speaks of Jacobites, Josephites, and Lemuelites as distinct people and hints at a more complex and rich tradition in the ancient American civilization. At the same time, Mormon was directed specifically to choose the parts of the records that would be most likely to assist the lost members of the House of Israel to “come to the knowledge of God, yea the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people” (Words of Mormon 1:8).
This revelation ends with the Lord’s statement of purpose for the preservation of the Nephite records. The purposes given here in verses 16 to 20 are remarkably similar to the purposes of the Book of Mormon given on its title page, which would not be translated for nearly a full year after this revelation was received. The revelation states that the purpose of the plates is to preserve the “promises of the Lord” in order “that the Lamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers.” The title page proclaims that the purpose of the book is “to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord.” The revelation states that the purpose of the record is “that they may believe the gospel and rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be glorified through faith on his name, and that through their repentance might be saved.” The title page urges the remnant to know “that they are not cast off forever” and that the book is designed “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”
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