Sticks and Stones: Revelation Throughout the Ages

God never changes, therefore he always does things in the same way. Seems logical initially, but then you think about how humanity changes and things start to fall apart. The Bible alone shows again and again and again and again and again and again that Heavenly Father knows how to get a message across and that it's not always exactly the same. Knowing your audience was among the first things I was taught as a communications major. Surely the most powerful Being in the universe has at least a 101 level understanding of how to effectively communicate a message. Heavenly Father is willing to change his platform when delivering a message. When a prophet is on the earth the message comes from him, but when one is not on Earth, God works with what he's got.

During the restoration, unconventional methods of revelation were used including seer stones and divining rods. People say that Joseph Smith was crazy for using a rock or that Oliver Cowdery was a fraud for using sticks because these things are "too weird to come from God" or whatever. When they say this, I point them to the Christmas story. Not the seminal holiday film A Christmas Story, but the real Christmas story as told in the Bible. We often think of the Wise Men from the East and the shepherds visiting the Infant. One group saw a star and the other an angel (and there was no overlap, the Wise Men had a dream after their visit but initially it was just the star). Incidentally, those different signs from God somehow conveyed the same thing. Crazy right? Not really. Without a prophet on Earth, God had to contact the righteous in the way that most spoke to them. The same can still be said of personal revelation. It is tailored to the needs of the recipient.

The Wise Men had a particular interest in the stars. The word Magi (astrologer) is used in the original Greek and this seems to indicate a spiritual connection to the stars. These men would have believed that God manifested himself through stars. It was certainly unconventional, but it would have to do. The shepherds were likely Jews. They would have had a long tradition of God sending angels to give a message. An angelic herald would not have been unheard of. They recognized the sign that was made for them. The audience and delivery changed, but the message was consistent.

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were neither Jewish shepherds nor Eastern Wise Men. They weren't Nephites, Lamanites, Hebrews, Egyptians, and they certainly were not modern-day men with smartphones and computers. They believed in folk revelation as people from backwoods farming communities. God implemented that belief to convey his message. He knew his audience. It's such a painfully simple solution to something people deem problematic. And there is a scriptural precedent for it. If Joseph Smith was crazy for using a rock, then Moses was too for the burning bush or Elijah for hearing a voice in his head. I mean Peter saw a freakin' tablecloth full of bacon that he was commanded to eat. Or Aaron for using a rod and stones (well technically a Urim and Thummim, but revelatory rocks are revelatory rocks in my book). Oh but we don't talk about Aaron. It's inconvenient to people trying to discredit Joseph Smith that his "weird" revelatory process is rooted in Biblical tradition. Alas.

What I'm getting at is the grand revelation that people believed different things at different times and those things were largely a product of their culture (it's crazy that I even have to explain this concept, but the interactions I've had with people indicate that it is not common sense). For such a supposedly culturally sensitive era, we seemingly lack that same sensitivity for the past. Things were clearly different back then and sometimes it is a helpful exercise to put ourselves in the shoes of historical figures to try to understand their perspective.

But maybe I'm crazy and you want to tell me. Go ahead! And if you have suggestions for a topic, questions, comments, concerns, or lengthy rants (that I won't read) feel free to comment or message me. Merry Christmas!