We are safe when we heed the precept we learned in primary: follow the prophet. Where the prophet goes we must follow. When we do so, we are blessed, we avoid needless peril, and we remain spiritually alive. In similar fashion, we would do well to remember not to run ahead of the prophet. Let us examine some examples to illustrate this point.
The first example is from the ancient Israelites leaving Egypt for the future land of Israel. The prophet Moses led them from Egypt. Those who chose to remain behind and not follow the prophet errored in their judgment and failed to realize all the blessings the Lord had in store for them. As the Israelites marched toward their Promised Land, they encountered problems. Some wanted to return to Egypt, not following the prophet. In this they erred and sinned.
When the Lord commanded the Israelites to fight the inhabitants of the land He gave them, the Israeliets feared to fight and cowered. Because of this, the Lord would not allow them to enter their land at this time. However, some Isarelites decided on their own to press ahead and try to conquer their eventual land. They decided to run ahead of the prophet. Their attack failed, many died.
Even though they knew that their people would and should eventually possess the land, as directed by God, by going before the Lord directed His people, they erred in equal gravity as those who elected to never leave Egypt.
The second example is the modern Saints moving from Nauvoo to the Rocky Mountains. In 1842, in the face of persecution and danger to himself and the Saints, Joseph Smith prophesied that the Saints would move to the Rocky Mountains from Nauvoo. However, the Saints would not leave Nauvoo until 1846 and did not settle in that region until 1847. In between their exodus of Nauvoo and their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, they resided at Winter Quarters in Nebraska.
Some Saints chose not to follow the prophet (excluding those directed to stay behind or who received permission from the church leaders). In doing so they forfeited blessings. What should we think of the Saint that charged ahead to try and reach the Rockies before the Lord’s anointed led them there? If a Saint left Nauvoo in 1842, immediately after Joseph’s prophecy, would he be obeying the prophet? What about a Saint who left Winter Quarters in 1846 before Brigham Young directed him to do so? This saint would be in error and running ahead of the prophet. It does not matter that eventually all the Saints would arrive in Salt Lake; choosing to run ahead of the prophet is setting aside the timeline and directives of the Lord.
While these two examples deal with geographically following the prophet and not physically moving ahead of the prophet, this principle surely applies to spiritual matters. The following is an example of not spiritually going ahead of the prophet.
In 3 Nephi 1, the sign of the Savior’s birth is given. Because of this there was much wonder and excitement in the land. Some began to preach that the Law of Moses no longer needed to be
followed. Nephi explains that these people were in error and did not know the scriptures.
3 Nephi 1:24 “And there were no contentions, save it were a few that began to preach, endeavoring to prove by the scriptures that it was no more expedient to observe the law of Moses. Now in this thing they did err, having not understood the scriptures.”
They certainly read the scriptures and to some extent knew that Christ would make the Law of Moses obsolete. But they mistakenly believed that the birth of Christ was the fulfillment of the Law and not the Savior’s ministry and sacrifice. They were over three decades early and ahead of any prophet. It is true that eventually the Law would be superseded by the Gospel, but it was not their action to take. It does not matter that they read the scriptures and understood that the Law does not save man, and that Christ is the true Savior and meaning of the Law. It does not matter that eventually part of their preaching would become universal and the only accepted view as it pertains to the Law; they were ahead of the prophet. Thus they were in error.
An additional example of the gospel and the gentiles is useful. Jesus commanded His disciples to preach to the house of Israel and explicitly told them not to preach to the gentiles (Mat 10:5). Eventually, Christ would command His disciples to preach to the gentiles, through a revelation to Peter (Acts 10). Now it does not appear that any of the disciples knew that this would happen, nor does it appear that they had any desire to do so. But if they had, they would have been in error, they would have been ahead of Christ, even though they themselves would eventually be the ones taking the gospel to the gentiles years later.
The Lord will lead His people through His prophet to keep his followers in the right spot at the right time, both physically and spiritually. By following the prophet, and not running ahead of him, we keep the spirit of the scriptures which teach us to not do more or less, to not turn to the left or right, and to neither add to nor take from the commands of the Lord (Prov 4:27; Deut 4:2-3, 5:32, 17:20, 28:14; D&C 124:120; Rev 22:18-19; 3Ne 11:39-40). Be where the Lord asks us to be, not further ahead, not lagging behind, not veering left or right, not omitting some of His commands for our own convenience, and not adding requirements that He has not directed.
The Lord will get His people where they need to be when they need to be there, both physically and spiritually. Stay with the prophet and know that you are on sure ground, do not run ahead, do not error.
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