The First Vision has such significance to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that one author has given his opinion that “[i]ts importance is second only to belief in the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth.”1 There are many who have spoken or written about the impact of the First Vision,2 but I would like to write about the impact it has had on me, and what I have learned as I have studied and pondered the First Vision.
God listens to and answers the prayers of even the weak and simple.
In terms of the world and the society in New York in 1820, Joseph Smith Jr. was insignificant. He lived in a small community comprised primarily of farmers, who had to rely on hard manual labor for his and his family’s survival. But even as a 14-year-old boy, God heard his prayer, and answered him.
In my opinion, later revelations show Joseph’s gratitude to God for answering the prayers of such a young boy: “Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments; And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets—The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones.”3 The weak things of the world. Whenever I hear that, I think of Joseph’s upbringing, and can’t help but think that he recognized his lowly state at the time of the vision.
If God will answer the prayer of a back-country 14-year-old boy, he will answer all of us. In those times when I wonder if he hears me, when I worry whether I am worthy to talk to him, when I wonder whether I am good enough for him to respond, I think of Joseph’s experience and it fills me with hope.
Revelation takes work and time.
Joseph started wondering about the state of his soul when he was 12. For two years he worried, studied, pondered, attended religious meetings, and made significant effort to try and find an answer. This was not just a whim, it was a significant, consistent struggle.
In a later revelation given for the benefit of Oliver Cowdery, the Lord said through Joseph: “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.”4
As I read that, I think of Joseph’s experience with the First Vision and his significant struggle to get his answer. Joseph knew what it meant to study it out. The First Vision is an example of how much work it can take to get answers. When I am searching for answers, I am often impatient. But when I think of the First Vision, and that as a 12-year-old boy Joseph continued his effort until he obtained an answer, it gives me the patience to keep going. It gives me a greater trust in God to believe that an answer will come in his time and in his way.
There is always opposition.
Just moments before the greatest experience any of us could hope for, Joseph experienced such significant opposition that he “was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction.”5 We all face opposition. It is the nature of life that “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things..”6 When we face trials, sorrow, frustration, and all other types of opposition, it can be a struggle to understand why God would let us experience that. The First Vision gives us an example that God will allow the opposition, but he will be there to save us, in his time and in his way.
In one of my all-time favorite talks, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught, “There is a lesson in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision that virtually everyone in this audience has had occasion to experience, or one day soon will. It is the plain and very sobering truth that before great moments, certainly before great spiritual moments, there can come adversity, opposition, and darkness. Life has some of those moments for us, and occasionally they come just as we are approaching an important decision or a significant step in our life. . . . Fighting through darkness and despair and pleading for the light is what opened this dispensation. It is what keeps it going, and it is what will keep you going. With Paul, I say to all of you: Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. [Hebrews 10:35–36].”7
The scriptures give counsel that works.
Joseph said that it was after reading James 1:5 that he determined to pray. The scriptures teach true principles and give us counsel regarding how to follow the Savior. The scriptures are true. If we do what they teach, we will come unto Christ.
James 1:5-6 states, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”8 God gives liberally. He does not criticize us for our sincere questions. This relates to God calling the weak things of the world. He knows we have questions. He knows we have concerns. He knows we have weaknesses. He wants to teach us.
In a later revelation directed to Oliver Cowdery, the Lord said, “I give unto you a commandment, that you rely upon the things which are written.”9 God wants us to study the scriptures. They have been given to us at great cost and sacrifice by the Lord’s prophets, and he wants us to search them.
If we want to come unto Christ, we should start by searching the scriptures. And searching doesn’t just mean reading, or even studying; searching is shown by Joseph’s example prior to the First Vision: trying to learn what God wants us to do. By reading the scriptures, Joseph learned to pray. If we will search the scriptures looking for answers, God will give us impressions of what he wants us to do.
God is real.
Joseph Smith saw God. He learned that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate personages, and that we are in fact created in God’s image. Throughout his ministry, Joseph continued to teach about the nature of God. In a later revelation, the Lord explained, “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.”10 Knowing who we worship begins with the First Vision.
God exists. I find it incredibly comforting to listen to Joseph’s testimony. I believe Joseph was called of God to be a witness of Jesus Christ and teach us what we need to do to come unto Christ.
In one of my favorite quotes by Joseph, he focused on what he believed was most important: “The fundamental principles of our religion is the testimony of the apostles and prophets concerning Jesus Christ, ‘that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended up into heaven;’ and all other things are only appendages to these, which pertain to our religion.”11
Joseph Smith was the prophet chosen by God to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus Christ is the focus of our religion. He is our savior and redeemer. He is central to our doctrine and faith.
As I have pondered the First Vision, I have come to better understand that for me, the primary significance is the testimony that Jesus Christ lives, that he is the son of God the Father, and that he deeply cares about all of God’s children.
The First Vision is a significant event. It can be discussed in the context of doctrine, but it can also be personal and teach us how to obtain answers to our prayers. If we can learn from the First Vision to follow Joseph’s example in searching, we can receive answers to prayer just as he did.
References
- James B. Allen, “The Significance of Joseph Smith’s ‘First Vision’ in Mormon Thought,” in Exploring the First Vision, ed. Samuel Alonzo Dodge and Steven C. Harper (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 2012), 283–306, https://rsc.byu.edu/exploring-first-vision/significance-joseph-smiths-first-vision-mormon-thought.
- For a few examples of articles that discuss the significance of the First Vision, see the following: (a) Robert L. Millet, “Doctrinal Insights from Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” in Religious Educator Vol. 22 No. 2, ed. Scott C. Esplin (2021), 10-31, https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-22-no-2-2021/doctrinal-insights-joseph-smiths-first-vision; (b) a website created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated to the impact of the First Vision, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/restoration/first-vision?lang=eng; (c) Richard J. Maynes, “The First Vision: Key to Truth,” Ensign, June 2017, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/06/the-first-vision-key-to-truth?lang=eng; (d) The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-restoration-of-the-fulness-of-the-gospel-of-jesus-christ/a-bicentennial-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng; (e)
- Doctrine and Covenants 1:17-19.
- Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-9.
- Joseph Smith-History 1:16.
- 2 Nephi 2:11.
- Jeffrey R. Holland, “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” BYU Speeches, March 2, 1999, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland/cast-not-away-therefore-your-confidence/#.
- James 1:5-6.
- Doctrine and Covenants 18:3.
- Doctrine and Covenants 93:19.
- Elders’ Journal, July 1838, p. 44, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 21, 2023, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/elders-journal-july-1838/12.