Doctrine and Covenants 10 continues the Lord’s instruction to Joseph Smith after the loss of the 116 pages, revealing both the spiritual consequences of Joseph’s earlier decision and the divine mercy that followed. Joseph is told that when he delivered the manuscript to Martin Harris against the Lord’s warning, he lost his gift to translate and that his mind became darkened. This moment marks a significant spiritual withdrawal: the Lord allows Joseph to feel the weight of acting contrary to commandment. Yet the revelation then announces that the gift is restored. The Lord invites Joseph to rise again, resume the translation, and move forward with renewed faith.
The Lord’s Command for Balance and Spiritual Discipline
The revelation instructs Joseph in a way both intimate and universal: “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength.” The message establishes a principle that effort must be aligned with capacity, and that the work of God progresses through measured diligence, not frantic exhaustion. Joseph is also commanded to pray always, for only through continual communion with God can he “conquer Satan.” Section 10 therefore links personal equilibrium, prayer, and resistance to evil as inseparable elements of prophetic labor.
A Conspiracy Against the Work and Satan’s Manipulations
The Lord reveals that wicked men had indeed stolen the manuscript with the intention of destroying Joseph Smith’s credibility and halting the Restoration. These individuals, influenced directly by Satan, had already altered the stolen pages and intended to expose supposed discrepancies if Joseph attempted to retranslate the material. Their plot depended on the assumption that Joseph could bring forth an identical text by divine power—an ironic acknowledgment of his revelatory gift. Their plan was to claim fraud, accuse Joseph publicly, and thereby stop the publication of the Book of Mormon.
Satan’s Power, His Influence, and His Reality
Section 10 provides some of the earliest doctrinal insight in the Restoration about the nature of Satan. The revelation describes the adversary as a real personal being who works actively upon the hearts of men, inspiring anger, deception, and pride. He whispers that sin carries no consequence and that opposing Joseph Smith is justified. He roams “up and down, to and fro in the earth,” seeking to destroy souls. This description establishes the Restoration’s foundational vision of evil: Satan is not symbolic; he is a malignant, deliberate intelligence who opposes God’s work.
The Lord’s Prepared Solution: The Small Plates of Nephi
To thwart the conspiracy, the Lord reveals that He had prepared a solution centuries earlier. Joseph is told not to retranslate the stolen material but to use the small plates of Nephi, a record that covers the same historical period as the lost Book of Lehi but emphasizes prophecy, doctrine, and spiritual experience. These small plates were preserved precisely for this moment. Mormon, centuries earlier, had inserted them into his record without abridgment, moved by the Spirit though he did not know why. Now the purpose becomes clear: the Lord had safeguarded His work long before the adversary acted.
The Greater Wisdom of God
The revelation announces that God’s wisdom surpasses the cunning of the devil, and what the adversary sought to destroy only served to reveal the Lord’s brilliance. The small plates contained teachings and testimonies not present in Mormon’s abridgment—elements of great spiritual depth and value for the latter days. The loss of the manuscript therefore became the means by which God introduced even richer doctrine into the Book of Mormon narrative. Nothing essential was lost; instead, something profoundly valuable was added.
The “Other Sheep” and Christ’s Ministry to Ancient America
In this section, Christ clarifies His New Testament prophecy: “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.” The Lord identifies these “other sheep” as the House of Israel dwelling in the Americas—the Nephites and Lamanites—who would receive His ministry after His resurrection. Their record, preserved in the Book of Mormon, would witness of Christ and reveal His dealings with scattered Israel. Through this text, the world would see that His covenant extended far beyond Jerusalem.
Joseph Smith’s 1830 Preface and Public Explanation
Joseph’s original 1830 preface to the Book of Mormon publicly recounts the circumstances described in Section 10. He explains that the manuscript was stolen, that he was commanded not to retranslate it, and that Satan inspired the plot to undermine the work. He describes God’s intervention through the small plates of Nephi and affirms that the plates were found in Manchester, New York. That preface stands as Joseph’s earliest published testimony of these events.
The Unresolved Fate of the 116 Pages
Various nineteenth-century rumors suggested that Lucy Harris burned the pages, but Section 10 does not support this. Instead, the revelation describes a group of men altering and preserving the text for a future attack. The pages’ exact fate remains unknown, but the revelation’s own description indicates they were not immediately destroyed. The Lord’s instruction not to retranslate the material ended the conspirators’ opportunity and rendered their efforts meaningless.
Divine Foreknowledge and the Certainty of the Restoration
Doctrine and Covenants 10 reveals a God who foresaw the actions of wicked men thousands of years in advance, prepared a prophetic countermeasure through Nephi and Mormon, and ensured that the Restoration would continue untouched. The message of this revelation is triumphantly clear: God’s purposes cannot be frustrated. Satan may rage, men may plot, manuscripts may be lost, but the Lord’s design moves forward. The Book of Mormon would come forth, and no earthly or hellish opposition could stop it.