Of all the vices that entangle a man, perhaps none is as unholy as jealousy. Jealousy, the "green-eyed monster", dwells in the deeper regions of sin because the source of its existence is unbridled covetousness growing out of pride and insecurity. However, in the case of jealousy, what is a vice in human nature is a virtue in the divine nature of God. Though among men jealousy is a ravaging and soul-destroying cancer, in God it is a righteous zeal, based upon His covenant love for His own people, which seeks to protect a love- relationship and avenge it when broken. The godly zeal which the Lord has for those whom He has chosen is an attribute worthy of all praise and adoration.
The fact that He is a jealous God was one of the first characteristics that the Lord made known to Israel after He had redeemed her out of the slave market of Egypt. She became His love and possession, and He demanded from her a love and devotion that would extend to no other (1).
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of Bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me...for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God (Ex. 20:1,3,5).
Thou shalt worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (Ex. 34:14).
Throughout Old Testament history the Lord taught Israel that He was the only God with whom they had to do. For her to worship and serve another would be sheer adultery and whoredom:
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them (Judges 2:17).
In the New Testament we find the same teaching. The New Testament writers shared the Lord's jealousy over His covenant people:
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (II Cor. 11:2).
While throughout the flow of Bible history we see God proclaiming that He alone is to be worshiped, at the same time we find prophets who were not of God taught the contrary. True prophets would never be found teaching the people to worship another god - whether is was a stone idol, and imaginary god dwelling in heaven, or a deified man. They knew that it was Jehovah who had redeemed Israel out of Egypt and that He alone is God. Inspired by God's Spirit, they knew the mind of the Lord: that He would give His glory to no other. Therefore, when these living oracles of God spoke as prophets, they were moved to proclaim, "Thou shalt worship the LORD thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
In light of this insistence upon the exclusiveness of the true God, we can understand the test of a prophet that Moses taught the children of Israel. By applying this timeless test, people throughout all ages may detect the false ones:
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all you soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn you away form the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee (Deut. 13:1-5)
These words tell us that though a man might exercise miraculous powers, he could not be a prophet of the Lord if he sought to lead the people away to a strange god. Any prophet who advocates the service and worship of another god is not a mouthpiece of the Lord, is false, and, under the theocratic nation of Israel, was to be slain.
Holding fast to these truths let us now turn to Brigham Young, a man who claimed for himself the station and office of prophet of God. Recent history records the lives of few men who have possessed the leadership qualities that Young exhibited. For thirty years he presided as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator over the Mormon Church, a people claiming to be led by prophets of God as in the days of ancient Israel. On the basis of this claim the Mormons have always regarded themselves as the only true Church on earth today (2). Their priesthood claims sole possession of the authority or power needed to act on behalf of God (3), and they consider all other "Christian churches" to be in a state of apostasy, who at best teach a partial truth about the gospel of Christ(4). Now if Brigham Young, Mormon prophet from 1847 to 1877, were a false prophet all along, then the claims of those who have sought to derive their priesthood authority through him are empty and void (5). If Brigham taught false doctrine, that cuts the ground from under Mormonism's claim of latter-day prophetic revelation and the Mormon Church is not divinely led. Acknowledging this to be true, LDS Apostle Orson Hyde stated:
To acknowledge that this is the Kingdom of God, and that there is a presiding power, and to admit that he [Brigham Young] can advance incorrect doctrine is to lay the axe at the root of the tree. Will he suffer his mouthpiece to go into error? No. (6)
Any boast of prophetic guidance would be worthless if that guidance were false. John Taylor, Mormon Apostle and later President, admitted also this to be the case: "If that mouthpiece [Brigham Young] has not the power to dictate I would throw all Mormonism away." (7)
The Mormon Church must base the truth of her claims on the authenticity of Brigham's calling. Yet, we shall see that Brigham Young, who presided over the Mormon Church longer than any other man, did indeed advance false doctrine that focused worship on a god other than the Lord God of Israel.
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