~~ "I Am
Going Like a Lamb To The Slaughter" ~~
Joseph Smith
Doctrine and Covenants 135: 4-7
4
When Joseph went to Carthage to
deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to
his assassination, he said: "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter;
but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and
towards all men. I SHALL DIE INNOCENT, AND IT SHALL YET BE SAID OF ME—HE WAS MURDERED
IN COLD BLOOD."—The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go—shall it
be said to the slaughter? yes, for so it was—he read the following paragraph, near
the close of the twelfth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf
upon it:
5 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord
that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to
pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou
hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen
thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I
have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I . . . bid farewell unto the
Gentiles; yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the
judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with
your blood. The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force.
6
Hyrum Smith was forty-four years old in
February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was thirty-eight in December, 1843; and henceforward
their names will be classed among the martyrs of religion;
and the reader in every nation will be reminded that the Book of Mormon, and this book of
Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth
century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world; and
that if the fire can scathe a green tree for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up
the dry trees to purify the vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for
glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to
posterity as gems for the sanctified.
7 They were innocent of any
crime, as they had
often been proved before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and
wicked men; and their innocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail is a broad seal affixed
to "Mormonism" that cannot be rejected by any court on earth, and their innocent
blood on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the State as
pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel that all the
world cannot impeach; and their innocent blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna
charta of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will
touch the hearts of honest men among all nations; and their innocent blood, with the
innocent blood of all the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord of
Hosts till he avenges that blood on the earth. Amen.
Church History in the Fulness of
Times
pg. 281
At the jail, the four brethren sweltered in the
sultry afternoon heat. Joseph gave Hyrum a single--shot pistol and prepared
to defend himself with the six--shooter smuggled in that morning by
Cyrus Wheelock. Gravely depressed, the brethren asked John Taylor to sing a popular song
entitled "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," about a suffering stranger who
revealed himself at last as the Savior. Joseph asked John to sing it again, which he did.
At 4:00 p.m. the guard at the jail was changed. Frank Worrell, who had threatened Joseph
Smith earlier that morning, was then in charge. A few minutes after five, a mob of about
one hundred men with blackened faces arrived in town and headed for the jail. The
prisoners heard a scuffle downstairs followed by a shout for surrender and three or four
shots. The Prophet and the others rushed to the door to fight off the
assailants who had ascended the stairs and poked their guns through the
half--closed door.
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John Taylor and Willard Richards attempted to deflect
the muskets with their canes. A bullet fired through the panel of the
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| The shots delayed the assassins only a moment. John Taylor attempted to jump out of the window,but was hit by gunfire. A shot through the window from below hit the watch in his vest pocket, stopping it at 5:16 and knocking him back into the room. |
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He fell to the floor and was shot again in his left wrist and below his left knee. Rolling to get under the bed, he was hit again from the stairway, the bullet tearing away his flesh at the left hip. His blood was splattered on the floor and on the wall. "Joseph, seeing there was no safety in the room," tried the same escape. Instantly the mob fired on him, and he fell mortally wounded through the open window exclaiming, "Oh Lord, my God!"** The mob on the stairs rushed outside to assure themselves that Joseph Smith was dead. |
Joseph Smith owned this Jupiter talisman which was among his most intimate
possessions according to Emma Smith. This talisman demonstrates Joseph’s
fascination with magic. The purpose of such a talisman was to help the owner
have influence over others, become rich and powerful, and find peace.
It also had power over others that they would offer their love to the wearer of
it.
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* See Thomas Ford, History of Illinois, p. 212. Of the three barrels discharged by Joseph, it is believed he hit three men: an Irishman named Wells or Wills (who was in the mob because of his love of a brawl) in the arm, Voorhees or Voras (an oversized youth from Bear Creek known for his lack of good sense) in the shoulder, and a man named Gallagher or Gallaher (a young Southerner from Mississippi) in the face. Two other men were said to have been shot in the jail: one a man named Townsend from Fort Madison (Iowa Territory) who died nine months later from an arm wound that wouldn’t heal, and another named Mills who was shot in the arm. It is assumed they were shot in the confusion of men and arms jammed in the hallway and on the landing.
** In other accounts of Joseph's death we are told he really exclaimed the Masonic cry for help, saying: "Oh Lord my God, Is there no help for the widows son?"
The above information can also be found in History of the Church 6:617-18 and 6:621-22
A Different Theory - The Plot to Kill Joseph Smith - The Rise of Brigham Young
Further reading can be found here
Final
Moments at Carthage Jail and the Death of Joseph Smith
I would like to comment here and tell you we already had a Lamb to the slaughter and that Lamb was Jesus Christ. He had the power to call down a legion of angels to save himself but he did nothing but humbly die for you and me.
Acts 8:32-35
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his
shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Joseph Smith also was killed and made the statement that he was going as a lamb to the slaughter, but if this is true then why did he take up a gun against his assailants? If he was going like a lamb then he would have NEVER taken up any power against those who were to kill him. Christ had the power to protect himself and save himself but did not use it. Joseph had the power and chose to use it. Which is the lamb to the slaughter and which is not?
I also have looked up the definition of a martyr
in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the definition says:
1: a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and
refusing to renounce a religion.
2:
a person who sacrifices something of great value and esp. life itself for the sake
of principle.
If Joseph Smith was a martyr then he would have died in a voluntary fashion, not using a gun to defend himself but to completely surrender and take the bullet. Did he do that? Is he truly a martyr as the Mormon Church labels him today? He was in no way, shape or form, a martyr. In my opinion, Joseph Smith made a false statement when he was going to Carthage and he said "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter", for no one can ever be a true lamb to the slaughter as Jesus Christ was.
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