A Greater Understanding of the First Vision

I did two things this afternoon that I have not done in quite a long time - I sat down and watched a Disney movie (Hercules on ABC Family) and ate Macaroni and Cheese (with hot dogs in it to boot). As my roommate and I were watching the movie, I jokingly made the remark at the point of the movie where Hercules has his power taken away by Hades and how Hercules was a good parallel to the Plan of Salvation and the gospel (its a lot closer in some regards than one might think).

In any case, through the course of this conversation, I explained an interesting insight to my roommate that I have known for some time, but have not really shared. Thus, this will be the place where I explain such insight to everyone.

We are all aware of the account of the First Vision given in Joseph Smith's words:

After I had retired to the place where I had previously deigned to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction - not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me 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! (JSH 1:15-17)

While we often focus on the deliverance of young Joseph from the "unseen power" I don't think that a good majority of anyone really understands the nature of the power which held him bound. While it is understood that it was the Adversary attempting to get to the young boy, that alone does not fully help us comprehend the pains that the future prophet encountered that spring morning. The beauty of having the scriptures in our lives though is that we do have the understanding of those - which in turn help us to understand Joseph's experience.

There are in the scriptures two major experiences that help us to understand the trials that Joseph encountered prior to being introduced to the Godhead:

1) In Moses 1, we learn of Moses' own trials in understanding the Lord and realizing his own potential. His greatest level of despair is illustrated in the 20th verse where we read:

And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded , saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.

From this we see that Moses struggled against Satan even through the point of prayer - at which point that prayer was answered upon his head with the strength from God. This similar strengthening is also seen in another story we are also familiar with:

2) In Luke, the account of Christ's sacrifice in the garden is given - more descriptive than other accounts in some regards - which description offers us valuable insight:

And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed.

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.

And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. (Luke 22:40-43)

In all of these accounts we see that the superbly righteous person is brought under an unfathomable amount of stress in one form or another - and their pleadings toward the heaven endow them with extra strength in some form, such that their original objectives can be carried out.

Do we know who the angel is that blessed the Lord? No, we don't. I personally speculate that it was probably the archangel Michael - as he would be the strongest individual to have dominion over the adversary short of God himself. In fact, it would be almost appropriate that Michael was present as the Lord suffered the sins of the world - and brought Michael's (Adam's) Fall into full circle again.

In any case however, we are told through other scriptures that the pains Christ suffered in the Garden were known as the "buffetings of Satan" - which when studied are nearly identical to those pains suffered by the boy Joseph in the Grove.

Notice also the similarities in the accounts of both those given in the Garden and in the Grove. Christ - withdrew himself away from others as much as he could and supplicated Himself to the Father to know of His will and to be able to do accomplish it. When the pains grew too great for even Christ himself to bear - an angel was sent to strengthen Him and allow His preparations to the children of men to be finished. Following the accomplishment of His divine work, he was betrayed by His own disciple and brought before the court of public opinion to be crucified there, and later lifted upon the cross and sent out of mortality.

Joseph, withdrew himself away from his family a good distance and supplicated himself to an unknown God at the time, inquiring to know of His will and desiring to accomplish it accordingly. When the buffetings of Satan grew to an intolerable and unconquerable level, the Father and the Son appeared to the boy Joseph and allowed him to make his preparations to the children of God. Following the manifestation beheld by the young boy, he was betrayed by his closest friends at times and those in his community; spent a life being run through the courts of public opinion and persecuted accordingly, only to later on be held in prison until his martyrdom sent him out of mortality.

Thus, we come to understand that the pains suffered by Joseph prior to his manifestation by Father and Jesus Christ were undoubtedly similar to those endured by the Savior in the Garden on a much smaller scale. While Joseph was not responsible to suffer the sins of the world and redeem them from the Fall, I would speculate that the despair and feeling of utter destruction that he felt were largely that pain and despair felt by the world as a whole because of the lack of the gospel upon it. I believe that this feeling that he felt prior to his deliverance allowed him to fully understand the nature of God, and to accomplish all that he did while in his mortality.

How grateful we should be for the pleadings of that young boy on that spring morning in 1820! Through his courage and persistence, we are able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel in our lives today, but also, because of the account given by the young boy, we are also able to more fully appreciate the pains suffered by the Savior in the Garden as he atoned for our sins individually!

And those are my thoughts for tonight!