Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 14:4, 9

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 14:4, 9

"Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel."

The footnote makes an import addition.

JST Ezek: 14:9 ...I the Lord have not deceived

Considering that the Joseph Smith translations says the Lord did not deceive the prophet, yet in verse 4 it does say He will answer them, I pondered on when is the Lord speaking to the prophet or not? As I pondered on this further I realized I needed to understand what type of prophet an idol worshipper would even be going to?

First, the Lord spoke to Ezekiel, a prophet, telling him what to say to the idol worshipper. If they go to a prophet, the Lord will only answer according to his idols. So the answer isn't coming from the Lord, its coming from their idols. Ezekiel wasn't say if you come to me, a prophet, because that was not what they were doing. Instead he was saying if you go to "your" prophet you get the answers from them. Not only that but if a prophet deceives you then they will be destroyed.

I am reminded of President Woodruff's remarks in Official Declaration 1 about if a prophet could lead you astray.

"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. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty”

(Official Declaration 1, “Excerpts from Three Addresses by President Wilford Woodruff Regarding the Manifesto”)

There are two more witnesses to a prophet's inability to lead you astray.

President Harold B. Lee: “You keep your eye upon him whom the Lord called, and I say to you now, knowing that I stand in this position, you don’t need to worry about the President of the Church ever leading people astray, because the Lord would remove him out of his place before He would ever allow that to happen”

(The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1996], 533)

(Teachings of the Living Prophets Student Manual, Chapter 2: The Living Prophet: the President of the Church)

President Gordon B. Hinckley: “The Church is true. Those who lead it have only one desire, and that is to do the will of the Lord. They seek his direction in all things. There is not a decision of significance affecting the Church and its people that is made without prayerful consideration, going to the fount of all wisdom for direction. Follow the leadership of the Church. God will not let his work be led astray” (Gordan B. Hinckley “Be Not Deceived,” Oct 1983 General Conference).

Day 2975