Protection & Deliverance

Evil Spirit Rebuked

Published August 17, 2026 at 5:15 PM

1830s

Joseph Smith

Contributed by

Todd Morgan

Beaumont, CA, 92223

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When Lyman Wight was ordained a high priest, Joseph told him he should see the heavens opened, and after he was ordained he stood on his feet and testified that he could see the heavens open and could see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Harvey Whitlock was ordained next with the same promise, but afterwards he seemed paralyzed. His mouth was in the shape of an italic "O" and his arm was stretched as if nailed to a cross. Joseph rebuked the power that had seized him, and it left him, and he testified, as Lyman had done, that he saw the heavens open, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father. This was the beginning in our day of ordinations to the office of high priest.12

In Their Own Words

“When Lyman Wight was ordained a High Priest, Joseph told him he should see the heavens opened, and after he was ordained he stood on his feet and testified that he could see the heavens open and could see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Harvey Whitlock was ordained next with the same promise, but afterwards he seemed paralyzed. His mouth was in the shape of an italic "O" and his arm was stretched as if nailed to a cross. Joseph rebuked the power that had seized him, and it left him, and he testified, as Lyman had done, that he saw the heavens open, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father. This was the beginning in our day of ordinations to the office of high priest.”

— Zebedee Coltrin, Address of Zebedee Coltrin at a meeting of high priests, Spanish Fork, Utah, February 5, 1878

Sources & References

1. Zebedee Coltrin, Address of Zebedee Coltrin at a meeting of high priests, Spanish Fork, Utah, February 5, 1878, High Priests' record of Spanish Fork Branch, from April 29, 1866 to December 1, 1898, Church Historian's Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; Minutes of the Salt Lake City School of the Prophets, October 10-11, 1883, Church Historian's Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 26. ↩︎ Source: https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-miracles/ Full first-person account: Zebedee Coltrin, Address of Zebedee Coltrin at a meeting of high priests, Spanish Fork, Utah, February 5, 1878, High Priests' record of Spanish Fork Branch, from April 29, 1866 to December 1, 1898, Church Historian's Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; as cited in Joseph Smith Foundation, "Joseph Smith - Visions" https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-visions

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