Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 11 minutes ago
Why did Joseph Smith receive the gold plates on September 22, 1827?
Historian Don Bradley began asking that question while reconstructing the timeline surrounding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. What he found was a striking sequence connecting the events that followed to the Jewish fall festival season.
The first aligned with the Feast of Trumpets. The next with the Day of Atonement. Then came the Feast of Tabernacles.
Three festivals. Three events. Three for three.
As far as Bradley could determine, the pattern had been sitting unnoticed for nearly 200 years.
But then the festivals ran out.
Bradley kept counting.
In this episode of Let’s Get Real, Don Bradley walks Stephen Jones through the historical sources, ancient Israelite traditions, and chronology that led him to one more unexpected connection hiding in the timeline.
Why did Joseph Smith receive the gold plates on September 22, 1827?
Historian Don Bradley began asking that question while reconstructing the timeline surrounding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. What he found was a striking sequence connecting the events that followed to the Jewish fall festival season.
The first aligned with the Feast of Trumpets. The next with the Day of Atonement. Then came the Feast of Tabernacles.
Three festivals. Three events. Three for three.
As far as Bradley could determine, the pattern had been sitting unnoticed for nearly 200 years.
But then the festivals ran out.
Bradley kept counting.
In this episode of Let’s Get Real, Don Bradley walks Stephen Jones through the historical sources, ancient Israelite traditions, and chronology that led him to one more unexpected connection hiding in the timeline.
