“Ye Shall Know Them by Their Fruit”—Matthew 7:16
“How can we know if a message has not been spoken by the Lord? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.” Deut. 18: 21-22
Joseph Smith gave numerous prophecies, which if true, vindicate him as a true prophet of God. However, if his prophecies did not take place or come true, it proves that he was a false prophet. Using the Biblical standard in Deuteronomy, Joseph’s prophecies can and must be tested. Listed below are just a few:
1. Toronto Prophecy (1829)
According to David Whitmer’s testimony, Joseph Smith placed his peep stone into his hat and received a revelation that some of the brethren should go to Toronto, Canada, and sell the copyright for the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery went as the revelation directed, but failed to sell the copyright. They came back disillusioned because the prophecy had failed. Joseph again put the stone in his hat and asked the Lord why this had happened and was told the following: “Some revelations are of God; some revelations are of man; and some revelations are of the devil.” The brethren concluded that the revelation to go to Toronto was not of the Lord (David Whitmer, “An Address to All Believers” p. 31).
2. Independence Missouri Temple Prophecy (1832)
On September 22, 1832, Joseph Smith prophesied; “Verily, this is the word of the Lord, that the city, New Jerusalem, shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place [Independence, MO], even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation, for verily, this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord…” (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 83:2a,b) (LDS Sec. 84:4-5).
There was no temple built in Independence, Missouri, in Joseph Smith’s generation.
3) Civil War Prophecy (1832)
On December 25, 1832, Joseph Smith gave the following prophecy predicting the Civil War:
“Verily, thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls. The days will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place [South Carolina]; for behold, the southern states shall be divided against the northern States, and the Southern states will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations, and thus war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their Masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war…and with famine, and plague, and earthquakes and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightening also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath…of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations” (RLDS Church History, Vol. 1, pp. 262-263)
Note: 1.) War was not poured out upon all nations, beginning at South Carolina and 2.) The Civil War did not bring about the full end of all nations.
4) The Lord to Sweep the Wicked of Joseph Smith’s Generation Off the Land (1833)
Joseph Smith, writing to N.E. Seaton, January 4, 1833, prophesied that the Lord would “sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land…for there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they shall see all these things which I have spoken fulfilled” (RLDS Church History, Vol. 1, pp. 261-262).
5) Saints to Return to Jackson County (1834)
In 1833 the Latter Day Saints were driven from Jackson County, Missouri. In 1834 Joseph Smith, who was living in Kirtland, Ohio, at the time, gathered a group of “warriors” and marched to Clay County under arms intending to fight for the rights of his people to re-settle in Zion. When his plan was thwarted, he attempted to console his people with the following prophecy: “…within three years they [the saints] should march to Jackson County and there should not be a dog to open his mouth against them” (Reed Peck Manuscript, p. 3).
The Saints did not return to Jackson County within three years.
6) Far West Temple prophecy (1838)
“Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jr…let the city Far West be a holy and consecrated land unto me, and it shall be called most holy…I command you to build an house unto me…And let there be a beginning…made on the fourth day of July next [1838]…Thus let them from that time forth labor diligently until it shall be finished, from the cornerstone thereof unto the top thereof, until there shall not anything remain that is not finished” (RLDS Church History, Vol. 2, pp.151-152).
By November 1838, Governor Boggs of Missouri had issued an extermination order stating that the Mormons must leave the state. The Temple was never built.
7) Nauvoo House Prophecy (1841)
In 1841, Joseph Smith prophesied, “Let it [Nauvoo House], be built unto my name…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” (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 107:17-18) (LDS Sec. 124: 55-56).
Neither Joseph nor his seed lived in the Nauvoo House from generation to generation.
8) Thousands to Gather to Nauvoo Temple (1843)
Joseph Smith said “I prophesy in the name of the Lord, as soon as we get the Temple built, so that we shall not be obliged to exhaust our means thereon, we will have means to gather the Saints by the thousands and tens of thousand.” (Joseph Smith’s History, 5:255, as cited in Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi p. 208).
There was no gathering of thousands and ten thousands of Saints. Joseph was killed one year after he gave this prophecy. By 1846 most of the Saints had left Nauvoo with Brigham Young and in 1848 the unfinished temple was destroyed.
9) Prophecy Concerning the Overthrow of the U.S. Government (1843)
Joseph prophesied in the name of the Lord God that “…in a few years this government will be utterly overthrown and wasted so that there will not be a potsherd left for their wickedness…” (Clayton’s Secret Writings Uncovered, p. 46).
177 years (as of 2020) have passed and the government still stands.
These unfulfilled prophesies are “fruits” of Joseph Smith’s claims. And, the fact that none of them came to pass proves beyond doubt that he was a false prophet. Yet, millions of gullible souls continue to follow his deceptive teachings.
The prophetic words of the Apostle Paul are pertinent for us today as we witness the proliferation of false prophets; “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29-30).
The Apostle John admonished Christians to “…test the spirits to see whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (I John 4:1), and Jesus Himself warned, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt. 7:15-16). False prophets such as Joseph Smith are extremely dangerous — like “ferocious wolves” — because they espouse a false gospel and a false Jesus that cannot save their followers.
As the Community of Christ/Remnant Church/Restoration Branches/Mormons, etc., make their bold moves to present their respective churches as “Christian,” it is imperative that believers follow the Lord’s command to expose their ‘fruitless deeds of darkness’ (Eph. 5:11). Yet, Christians should also pray earnestly for opportunities to share the true gospel with all factions of Mormonism and in so doing should heed the Apostle Paul’s counsel to Timothy:
“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:23-26).