Verse 15, again, verily I say unto you that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man. Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. And all this, that the earth might answer the ends of its creation. Very important to note that at this age of the church, this is the Lord’s law of marriage, this is in regards to Joseph Smith Wives. Your great cross-reference here would be to take you back to Jacob chapter 2 in the Book of Mormon, where we get the Lord’s law of marriage taught to the Nephites by Jacob in chapter 2, verse 27. Wherefore, my brethren, hear me and hearken to the word of the Lord. In other words, Jacob is saying, “This isn’t just Jacob. This isn’t Brother Jacob’s doctrine. He’s speaking with divine investiture of authority. He’s speaking for the Lord. He’s saying, ‘Hearken unto me, to the word of the Lord. Hear me and hearken to the word of the Lord. Here’s the law: for there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife, and concubines he shall have none.'” This then would cause some people to say, “Well, wait a minute. Then why did Joseph Smith teach the doctrine of plural marriage?” A little bit later, look at verse 30: “For if you could circle the word ‘if’ there in verse 30, if I will, saith the Lord of hosts.” Are you noticing Jacob speaking for the Lord directly? “For if I will, saith the Lord of hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people. Otherwise, they shall hearken unto these things.” So you get the law of marriage: one man, one wife, and then this exception, an example of this exception is Joseph Smith Fanny Alger, that will come when the Lord commands it. And that’s it. It is not up to mankind to determine when those times are going to be. So that sets the stage for that doctrine being taught a little bit later.
By Dr. Tyler Griffin, Source Expert
Dr. Griffin has been an educator at BYU for well over a decade and holds a co-founder position within the BYU Virtual Scriptures Group. His undergraduate degree is in Electrical Engineering, while both his master’s and doctorate degrees revolve around Instructional Technology. Dr. Griffin stands as the sole author of “When Heaven Appears Distant,” co-author of “Come Unto Me: Illuminating the Savior’s Life, Mission, Parables, and Miracles,” and co-editor of “Millions Shall Rediscover Brother Joseph.”
Fact checked by Mr. Kevin Prince, Source Expert
Kevin Prince is a religious scholar and YouTube host of the Gospel Learning YouTube Channel. His channel currently has over 41,000 subscribers with over 4.5 million views. Mr. Prince also developed the Gospel Learning App, a trusted source where truth-seeking individuals can easily find trusted answers to religious questions from the best teachers in the world.
ABOUT JOSEPH SMITH WIVES
Our purpose at Joseph Smith Wives is to provide a factual and objective look at the history and beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. With so much sanitized history, misinformation and falsehoods being put forth, we are here to provide facts and objectivity to those who are sincerely searching for truth.