https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-4?lang=eng
In response to the question, “How and where did you obtain the Book of Mormon?” Joseph Smith responded: “Moroni, who deposited the plates in a hill in Manchester, Ontario county, New York, being dead and raised again therefrom, appeared unto me, and told me where they were, and gave me directions how to obtain them. I obtained them, and the Urim and Thummim with them, by the means of which I translated the plates; and thus came the Book of Mormon.”3
History of the Church, 3:28; from an editorial published in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, pp. 42–43
“I was [told by Moroni] where were deposited some plates on which were engraven an abridgment of the records of the ancient Prophets that had existed on this continent. … These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold; each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving. With the records was found a curious instrument, which the ancients called ‘Urim and Thummim,’ which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breast plate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift and power of God.”
History of the Church, 4:537; punctuation modernized; paragraph divisions altered; from a letter from Joseph Smith written at the request of John Wentworth and George Barstow, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Times and Seasons, Mar. 1, 1842, p. 707.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.35,42,52?lang=eng#p35
1 Now, behold, I say unto you, that because you delivered up those writings which you had power given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.
(Doctrine and Covenants 10:1)
Source: About Central America
One thought on “Joseph Smith’s Birthday – the Urim and Thummim”
December 23rd is significant in many ways. The Prophet of the last dispensation comes to earth, and the great orator & writer Thomas Paine pens his great work ‘The Crisis’ while he is in General Washington’s camp on the cold winter of 1776. This inspired work, when read to those brave souls, sparked a resolve that touches my heart when I read those words of devotion.
It is because of the sacrifice of those Revolutionaries that the land of America was prepared to have the Liberty necessary for the fullness of the Gospel to be restored.
What a great plan that our God set up! What devotion to country those men under Washington’s charge exemplified! What a great source of revelation we have received from Joseph to have the blessings we enjoy today!
Now, as members of the tribe of Ephraim, let us do all in our sphere of responsibility to support the kingdom in these last, but trying times.
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