Source: https://rsc.byu.edu/pt-pt/archived/joseph-smith-translation-restoration-plain-and-precious-things/13-insights-jst-book
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 12:22:54+00:00

Document:
Gerald N. Lund, “Insights from the JST into the Book of Revelation,” in The Joseph Smith Translation: The Restoration of Plain and Precious Truths, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Robert L. Millet (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1985), 251–70.
Gerald N. Lund was director of the Curriculum and Instruction Division in the LDS Church Educational System when this was published.
The book of Revelation is one of the most intriguing and controversial books in the biblical library. Most scholars agree that it is one of the most difficult books in either the Old or new Testaments.  Typically, modern readers, including Latter-day Saints, find its imagery strange, its prophecies filled with the bizarre and baffling imagery, its message unclear. Not surprisingly, therefore, it is largely left alone and unread.
The title of the book in Greek is Apocalypsis, from which we get its other common name, the Apocalypse. Apocalypsis is formed from two Greek words—apo, a preposition meaning separated or removed from, and kalypto, a verb meaning to cover, hide or conceal.  Apocalypsis literally means to remove or to take away the covering or veil.  Hence its title in English, the book of Revelation (or the uncovering or unveiling).
Some would say that without question that title is one of the mot ironic or misleading titles in the whole of scripture. There is no book, they say, that is more veiled or unrevealing than this one.
Even some latter-day Saints find it difficult to believe that the book reveals or uncovers much truth. One teacher explained the difficulty of the book by noting nephi’s prophecy that when first written, the Bible would include many “plain and precious” truths. However, evil men would remove many of those truths. (See 1 Nephi 13:28, 14:23) The teacher’s conclusion? All the plain and precious things in the book of Revelation were removed! That is why we cannot understand it today.
While this sounds plausible and has some attractive elements, it is not justified by other evidence. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in a sermon delivered in 1843, stated that “the book of Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written.”  And his work on the new translation of the Bible bears that out. If the book is obscure and mystifying because of a great loss of original material, the Prophet did not see fit to restore the lost material. While admittedly this is an argument from silence, it is interesting to compare his work on Revelation with this work on some other books thought to be more plain and clearly understood.
For example, the Gospel of Matthew is not generally considered to be a mysterious or difficult book. Yet in his work on the book, the Prophet made changes in 618 of the 1071 verses in Matthew, or 58 percent of the total. In addition to the changes, he added the equivalent of 51 verses of totally new material, which is an expansion of another 5 percent of the total text.  Compare these changes with the book of Revelation, where he added only three new verses (JST Revelation 1:7; 2:27; 12:7) and made changes in only 90 of the 394 verses, or 23 percent of the total.  In the book of Genesis, as another comparison, the Prophet changed about half the verses and added the equivalent of about 250 new verses,  literally pages and pages of new material. Yet the book of Revelation gets only three new verses and relatively few other changes.
Some might think those figures could be the result of the fact that the Prophet worked through the Bible sequentially. Since the book of Revelation is last, it received the least amount of work and therefore reflects the smallest number of changes. Again the evidence does not substantiate this.
An understanding of the book comes only when a price is paid in study, pondering and general gospel knowledge. But that alone is not enough. Bible scholars pay the price in terms of time and effort. They study the culture and background. They pore over the original Greek, looking for every nuance and clue. They know the emperors and the historical milieu in which John wrote. They know all of that, and yet there is till no consensus as to what is truly revealed by John.
These are the acknowledged experts in the New Testament and yet still cannot come to a consensus of opinion. But, one asks, doesn’t this very confusion disprove your statement that the book of Revelation was meant to be understood? No. What we are saying is that to the world it is a confusing book and that study alone is not enough to open its mysteries to our view.
It is through the instrumentality of a prophet, the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the corrected interpretation of John’s vision is to be had. Without it, it is indeed a book covered by a veil, hidden from our view. But with what the Prophet has revealed it becomes understandable. It fulfills and justifies its title as a book of Revelation.
2. Nonscriptural sermons and writings.
3. Doctrine and Covenants 77.
Since the focus of this paper is the contributions of the JST to our understanding of the book of Revelation, we shall skip over the first two quickly, giving only an example or two of each.
One example of a contribution from latter-day scripture is found in Doctrine and covenants 130:7–11. There the Prophet explained the meaning of two important symbols used by John, namely the sea of glass before the throne of God (see Revelation 4:6), and the white stone given to the faithful (see Revelation 2:17). Another is found in Moses 4:1–4 and Doctrine and Covenants 76:25–30, which give more information about the war in heaven, which John barely mentions (see Revelation 12:7).
The third area of contribution in which the Prophet Joseph added to our understanding of the book of Revelation is section 77 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In his journal, the Prophet noted, “About the first of March, in connection with the translation of the Scriptures, I received the following on the Revelation of St. John.”  Section 77 was then given.
Though not actually part of the JST text, section 77 was given as part of the translation process and therefore must be considered as part of the Joseph Smith Translation contributions. And though not part of the actual text, section 77 certainly ranks as one of the most important, if not the most important, contributions of the Prophet in aiding our interpretation of the book of Revelation.
The key lies in the fifteen questions asked and answered in the section.
The final contribution of the Prophet to our understanding of the Apocalypse is in the actual work he did on the text of Revelation as part of his inspired translation of the Bible. As was noted above, he deleted from, added to or changed a total of ninety verses. Obviously, not every one of those changes are of equal significance. The committee that worked on the LDS edition of the King James Version included changes for only forty-seven of the ninety verses, or just slightly better than half of the total changes. Taking that as some indication of the number of significant changes, we could say that the prophet significantly altered only 12 percent of the total verses. Twelve percent is not a staggering proportion, but the percentage does not convey the importance of the contribution made by the Prophet’s work on the text of the apocalypse. Much in the same way as section 77, the verses so changed often become a key to opening our understanding to a passage or even sometimes to a whole concept taught by John.
Now that we have briefly discussed the four areas of contribution made by the Prophet, we shall begin an analysis of the Revelation of John to see how the Prophet has opened this book to our understanding. Since our focus in this paper is primarily on the contribution of the JST to our understanding of Relation, we shall focus on the contributions of section 77 and the actual textual changes of the JST, though where appropriate we may note contributions from Latter-day scripture or the Prophet’s other writings. Space allows discussion of only the most significant of the contributions from all four areas.
1. The Revelation is of John. It is his testimony and witness that is being recorded (see JST Revelation 1:1, 2, 4, 5). This in no way lessens the fact that the source of the vision and inspiration is divine, but the KJV suggests that the revelation is from God to Jesus Christ (see v. 1). The JST clearly identifies is as being given to John, a servant of God, from Jesus Christ. Why is this significant? It is another example of how the Savior views his prophets and apostles. They are his servants and he honors them fro their faithfulness.
2. The KJV indicates that the revelation was given because “the time is at hand” (v.3). The JST clarifies what time is meant when it says “for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (JST v. 3).
3. In several places in the opening chapters, reference is made to “seven Spirits” (1:4; 3:1, 4:5) and “seven angels” (1:20; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1). As is, this makes it sound as though the seven spirits and the seven angles are different things. But the Prophet changed or explained all references to the seven Spirits and the seven angels to show that the seven Spirits and the seven angels both refer to the leaders of the seven churches (see JST for all of the above verses). John, who at this time is the leader of the Church, is writing to seven branches of the Church in Asia. The JST makes it clear that he specifically addresses the leaders (the bishops or branch presidents, as it were) of each of these branches.
4. Also the JST makes it clear that the seven Spirits (now servants) are the receivers, not the source, of the vision (see JST v. 4).
5. Finally, the Prophet added to the concept of Christ’s second coming that he would come clothed in “the glory of his Father” and be accompanied by “ten thousand of his saints” (JST 1:7). Perhaps here is a good time to note that in Greek the largest named number was ten thousand, which is the world “myriad.”  Often it is used symbolically to express uncountable numbers.
1. As noted above, throughout these letters the Prophet changed the wording to make it clear that each letter was addressed to the presiding authority of each church.
2. The bed into which the false prophetess and those who followed after her was to be cast is actually “hell” (see JST 2:22).
3. Those who are faithful in Thyatira are promised that they will be given power over nations and will rule them with a rod of iron, smashing them to pieces like clay pots (2:26–27). This seems contradictory in the KJV. Faithful saints are promised the power to smash the nations to pieces. This symbolism is strongly suggestive of tyranny. The imagery of Nephi’s vision shows that the iron rod is a symbol of the word of God (see 1 Nephi 15:23–24) which helps somewhat, but in the JST, the Prophet dropped the imagery of smashed pottery and turned it instead into the idea of potter shaping and molding vessels. He said that those who were faithful in keeping the commandments would rule the nations “with the word of God; and they shall be in his hands as the vessels of clay in the hands of a potter; and he shall govern them by faith, with equity and justice (JST 2:26–27). This is a very different imagery from that of the KJV.
Once the seven letters are finished, John is invited to come into the heavens so that he can see things which will be “hereafter” (4:1). Thus opens the great prophetic vision for which the Apocalypse is famous. John first describes, or rather attempts to describe the majesty and magnitude of the celestial kingdom where God dwells. In a way it is an impossible task—trying to use the finite to describe the infinite. Almost instantly the reader is confronted with a baffling array of symbols, figures and images, some of which, on the surface at least, border on the bizarre.
1. The earth in its celestialized future state will become like a massive Urim and Thummim to its inhabitants (see D&C 77:1; 130:7–9).
3. The rather bizarre imagery of beasts covered with eyes and wings is actually symbolical of their celestial nature (see D&C 77:4).
4. The seven leaders of the churches as well as twenty-four elders from the seven churches were going to dwell in the presence of God (see JST Revelation 4:5; D&C 77:5). In times of intense persecution and martyrdom, this would have served as a great encouragement to the faithful to stay true to their commitments.
It doesn’t take a lot of study of the book of Revelation to come to the conclusion that the imagery of chapter 5 is pivotal to the whole structure of the book. John saw in the right had of the father a book (most likely a scroll) which was sealed with seven seals (see 5:1). He also saw that no one in heaven or earth was able or worthy to open the book, except for the Savior (vv. 2–14). Since the rest of the vision describes what John sees as each of the seven seals is opened by the Lamb, an understanding of the sealed book is critical to our whole understanding of the book of Revelation.
1. The book in the right hand of the Father represents the history and destiny of the world. It is in his right hand to suggest he controls everything in and about our world. No one except the Savior was worthy to open the book because the atoning sacrifice was what made the whole of world history possible and meaningful.
2. The seven seals represent the seven thousand-year periods which the earth will have during its temporal existence. This not only provides us one of the most specific clues we have as to the closeness of the Second Coming, but it also shows that the book of Revelation is basically structured chronologically, unfolding the earth’s history from the time of Adam until the earth is celestialized.
3. Studying that chronological structure carefully, we can see that John’s Revelation focuses most heavily on that short period of time between when the last period of a thousand years begins and when Christ comes. Note the amount of time spent on earth of the seven seals. The first five (6:1–11) are covered briefly, merely highlighting the thing of greatest import to the covenant people that happened in that time frame. The sixth seal, the one in which we currently live, is expanded considerably (6:12–7:17) but still takes only a few verses of the total. Knowing that the Millennium is the major event of the seventh seal, we might expect John to dwell at great length on that. But the opening of the seventh seal begins in the first verse of chapter 8. The Second Coming and the Millennium are not seen until chapters 19 and 20. Thus, clearly, the majority of the revelation focuses on that period “after the opening of the seventh seal, before the coming of Christ” (D&C 77:13).
4. This understanding of the time frame aids us greatly in interpreting the symbols used by John. For example, a man on a white horse is seen in 6:2. That same imagery is used of the Savior in 19:11. Therefore, one might think both places refer to the Mater, and this is indeed a common interpretation of the scholars.  But knowing that the first seal represents the first thousand years of the earth’s history (approximately 4000 to 3000 B.C.) makes that interpretation no longer tenable. That single piece of information helps us look for someone or something in that period of time that meets all of the symbolic conditions. With that we conclude it is not Christ but Enoch that is represented.  And there are other examples of how this key to the chronology becomes a key to the correct interpretation of the symbolism.
Similarly, the rather ingenious interpretation mentioned above—the locusts not hurting grass and trees being interpreted as the Arab general’s order to his troops to leave vegetation alone—can now be rejected, since the events described occurred midway in the fifth seal, and John sees the locusts appear after the opening of the seventh seal.
The Prophet also said, shortly before his death, “I attended prayer-meeting with the quorum in the assembly room, and made some remarks respecting the hundred and forty-four thousand mentioned by John the Revelator, showing that the selection of persons to form that number had already commenced.”  This statement would seem to indicate that this great body of missionaries may be composed of mortals and immortals together.
3. Though the Prophet did not give us specific help in interpreting the various images mentioned under the sounding of the seven trumpets that begin in chapter 8, two things he revealed are of great help as we study this section of Revelation. First, he revealed that the trumpets represent the judgments of God which will prepare the world and cleanse it for the millennial reign of Christ (see D&C 77:12). Second, he clearly specifies that these trumpets (or judgments) happen in the seventh seal (see D&C 77:12–13). Since the evidence suggests we have not yet entered that last period of a thousand years, this prophecy is yet future to us. In fact, once the judgments happen it may be that the imagery used by John in this section will become much more clear. It also tells us that any attempt to tie these judgments with past historical event is not justified.
After the sounding of the seven trumpets of judgment, John heard “great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ” (JST Revelation 11:15). Then, much as a teacher pauses in the course of his lecture to explain an important point, the Lord pauses in his vision of the judgments to explain some significant things about these kingdoms he has just mentioned.
Chapter 12, where this explanation begins, was altered more by the Prophet in his revision of the book of Revelation than any other chapter. He changed most of the verses, rearranged the order of them, and added one new verse—the only place where a significant amount of new material is added in all of Revelation (see JST Revelation 12:7).
While there is much we could study in these changes, space permits us to focus only on the most important insight derived from those changes. Chapter 12 contains three great figures or signs “in the likeness of things on the earth” (JST v. 1)—a woman who is pregnant, a man child to whom she gives birth, and a great red dragon. The dragon is clearly identified as Satan (see JST v. 8) Most commentators agree that the woman represents the Church of Jesus Christ, a fact which Joseph Smith definitely confirmed (see JST v. 7). But it is the man child that has caused commentators the most difficulty. We are told in both the KJV and the JST that the man child is to rule all nations with the rod of iron and that he will be caught up to the throne of God (see v. 5; JST v. 3). Nearly identical imagery is used in 19:15, and so most scholars assume of the man child is none other than the Savior.
But in chapter 12, if that is the correct interpretation, there is a problem with the imagery. The woman is pregnant with, or in other words gives birth to, the man child. But if the woman is the Church and the man child the Savior, this is contrary to what we know to be true. The Church does not bring forth Christ. Just the opposite is true.
Others have suggested, since it is specified the child is male, that the baby represents the priesthood. But again we have the same problem. The Church does not give birth to the priesthood, but just the opposite.
One simple phrase added by the Prophet in this chapter brings the whole matter into perfect clearness. In fact, it becomes a key to our understanding of this whole section on the kingdoms of the world and of Christ. He changed verse 8 in the KJV to read, “And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the Church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ” (JST v. 7; emphasis added).
After Christ comes, all the peoples of the earth will be subject to him, but there will be multitudes of people on the face of the earth who will not be members of the Church; yet all will have to be obedient to the laws of the kingdom of God, for it will have dominion upon the whole face of the earth. These people will be subject to the political government, even though they are not members of the ecclesiastical kingdom which is the Church.
Now the imagery is consistent and logical. Eventually there will be a political kingdom led by Jesus Christ which will rule all nations with the word of God. That political kingdom will grow out of, and is made possible by (that is, is given birth by) the Church of Jesus Christ. And since the creation of the political kingdom of Christ signals the end to the kingdoms of the world, it is little wonder that Satan seeks to destroy the man child. During the meridian of time, the Church was not able to bring forth that political kingdom, but itself was taken into the wilderness, or went into apostasy (see JST Revelation 12:14; D&C 86:3). The man child, or the political kingdom was thus taken to heaven to await the day of Restoration.
Such a clear and reasonable explanation of this chapter is made possible only through the JST and the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
In Nephi’s grand and glorious vision, he was privileged to see from his own time down through the stream of history to the end of the world. He was allowed to write most of the things he saw, including some things fulfilled in our own generation (e.g., see 1 Nephi 14:12). But at the point where he began to see things still future to us, he was told that he could write no more of them, even though he would be allowed to see them. He was told that he could not write them because it was a stewardship that belonged to another (see 1 Nephi 14:20–21, 25). It belonged to one of the apostles of the Lamb, and, said Nephi, “I . . . heard and bear record that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John” (1 Nephi 14:27).
The fulfillment of that stewardship is found in what we call the Apocalypse, or the book of Revelation. It was written for our time and primarily about our time. It is a book of eminent importance to Latter-day Saints.
 Canon Leon Morris, The Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1969), 15.
 Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v., apo and kalypto.
 Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938), 290; hereafter cited as Teachings.
 Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith’s “New Translation” of the Bible (Indepenence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1970), 236–317.
 Robert J. Matthews, Joseph Smith’s Revision of the Bible (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1969), 10.
 Matthews, Joseph Smiths Revision, 10. For additional evidence see his whole discussion, 8–13.
 Bruce R. McConkie, “Understanding the Book of Revelation,” Ensign, September 1975, p. 87; emphasis added).
 Ibid., p. 89 (emphasis added).
 Adam Clarke, Bible Commentary (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, n.d.), 3:1001 (emphasis added).
 J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: Macmillan, 1936), 1080; emphasis added.
 Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1957), 75.
 H. M. S. Richards Jr., What Is in Your Future? (Los Angeles: Voice of Prophecy, 1972), 23.
 Ibid., pp. 23–24; emphasis added.
 Robert J Matthews, “A Plainer Translation”: Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible: A History and Commentary (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1975), 210–12.
 Smith, History of the Church, 1:253.
 Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1951), 478.
 See for example, Dummelow, Commentary, 2078; R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963), 221–22.
 Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966–73), 3:476–77; hereafter cited as DNTC.
 Smith, History of the Church, 6:196.
 Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56), 1:229.

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