The Book of Revelation speaks of future times, of which the words are very important to God and his people. This is where we see God using angels, in order to deliver His message to the churches and also to John. Angelic beings are not the same as humans and therefore, the different Bible translations keep this word, “angel” intact. This is done in order to not deter from what is happening. However, when you look at the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), we see the exact opposite happening. Instead of keeping the word “angel” in different verses, the word “servant” is put in its place. Why did Joseph Smith do this? He either didn’t like angels very much or he thought the Bible was wrong and God’s servants did the talking instead. One of the other thought processes may have taken place. However it went down, there is a problem we need to address. Just because a person does not agree with what the Bible says, it does not give them the right to rewrite it according to their own wishes. This is what happened in the Book of Revelation when looking at the JST. See below for a comparison of the JST and KJV, in referring to Revelation 3:14…
Revelation 3:14 (KJV)
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Revelation 3:14 (Joseph Smith Translation)
14 And unto the servant of the church of the Laodiceans write: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”
There is a stern warning from God, when it comes to changing the Book of Revelation. It declares that if anyone adds to this prophecy, God’s plagues will fall down upon them. And this warning goes even further for people who remove words from this prophecy. These are those whose names are removed from the book of life and will have no part with the holy city, New Jerusalem. But it gets worse. The blessings that are mentioned in this book are also not for these types of individuals. What does this all mean? It means that after hell comes the Great White Throne Judgment seat, where they will be found out guilty. This is because their name is not found in the Lamb’s book of life, and they are unworthy to enter the new earth and new heaven. And so fear will set in the hearts of such individuals who corrupted God’s Word and made it a lie. Shackles will be put upon their wrists and their ankles by God’s holy angels. This is when they will be dragged and then tossed into the lake of fire, which is the second death. This applies to Joseph Smith as he is currently in hell. Now, let us read about these consequences in the verses below…
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:12-15)
