Jesus Christ Hath Shown You unto Me
Book of Mormon Notes - Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Mormon 8, part 2
Moroni warns his latter-day audience about the manner in which we receive and treat the Book of Mormon. He warns against condemning the book, trying to obtain the book forcibly from Joseph Smith, judging rashly, smiting, and opposing the work of the Lord in wrath and strife. Moroni testifies that the eternal apurposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled. There is no stopping the work of the Lord. As the Prophet Joseph Smith put it:
The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
Moroni exhorts his latter-day audience to search the prophecies of aIsaiah. Why does Moroni insert this exhortation in the middle of his teachings about Joseph Smith, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the opposition to the work of the Lord in the last days? Remember that Moroni just finished telling us that if it were possible he would make all things known unto us. (Mormon 8:12) Instead of making all things known unto us, he shows us where to look:
Search the prophecies of aIsaiah. Behold, I cannot write them. Yea, behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall bcry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them. (Mormon 8:23)
In these exhortations, Moroni takes a page right out of Isaiah 29. Furthermore, when Moroni wrote that if it were possible he would make all things known unto us, he was referring, at least in part, to the greater things that the Lord wants to make known unto us when we are ready. Moroni shows us where to begin, just as the Lord had done for the Nephites in Bountiful:
Ye remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled—behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them— (3 Nephi 20:11)
And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.
And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake. (3 Nephi 23:1-3)
Moroni and the Lord Himself both desire to give us more. They both point to the words and the prophecies of Isaiah as a starting point for our preparation to receive more. It seems to me that until and unless we make a concerted effort to study the words and search the prophesies of Isaiah, we will not be ready to receive the greater things that the Lord has in store for us. But if we search the prophesies of Isaiah, as Moroni exhorted us to do, and if we search these things diligently, as the Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to do, then we will be prepared for the greater things.
Moroni acknowledges and reiterates the prayers and the faith of all the preceding Book of Mormon prophets on behalf of the Lamanites, particularly the latter-day Lamanites, and their prayers on behalf of Joseph Smith:
And he knoweth their aprayers, that they were in behalf of their brethren. And he knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove bmountains; and in his name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause cprisons to tumble to the earth; yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word.
And behold, their aprayers were also in behalf of him that the Lord should suffer to bring these things forth. (Mormon 8:24-25)
Moroni prophesies that the Book of Mormon shall surely come forth, and he prophesies of the time and the conditions of the society in which the Book of Mormon shall come forth:
And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for aout of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that bmiracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak cfrom the dead.
And it shall come in a day when the ablood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret bcombinations and the works of darkness.
Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be adenied, and bchurches become defiled and be clifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.
Yea, it shall come in a day when athere shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and bvapors of smoke in foreign lands;
And there shall also be heard of awars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.
Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great apollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be bmurders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it cmattereth not, for the Lord will duphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the egall of bitterness and in the fbonds of iniquity.
Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be achurches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins. (Mormon 8:26-32)
Because we have the Book of Mormon, we know that Moroni wrote of the conditions of the society in which we know live. Let’s take a closer look at these conditions:
people claim that miracles are done away
the blood of saints cry unto the Lord because of secret combinations and the works of darkness
people deny the power of God
churches become defiled and lifted up in the pride of their hearts
leaders of churches (perhaps including organizations, businesses, schools, etc.) rise in the pride of their hearts and envy those who belong to their churches
there are fires, tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands
there are wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places
there are great pollutions upon the face of the earth
there are murders, robbing, lying, deceiving, whoredoms, and all manner of abominations
many will say that we can do whatever we want, and it doesn’t matter
churches (organizations) will claim to forgive sins in exchange for money
Yikes. Many of these conditions - great pollutions, fires, tempests, vapors of smoke, people denying God and miracles, corrupt churches or organizations, corrupt leaders, and so forth - are quite obvious and visible in our world today. Other conditions - the blood of saints crying unto the Lord, secret combinations, the works of darkness, deception, and so forth - are often more subtle and hidden from our view. These things may be hidden to us, at least temporarily, but Moroni saw them. He saw it all, and therefore he has a message for his future audience, namely us:
O ye wicked and perverse and astiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get bgain? Why have ye ctransfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring ddamnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the erevelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled. (Mormon 8:33)
Then Moroni tells us more specifically how he knows these things and where he received the authority to write such things:
Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.
Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. (Mormon 8:34-35)
Even though many things are currently hidden to our view, I am inspired by, take comfort in, and learn much from what Moroni saw. I believe him. Moroni, who saw more than we can see, and who wrote less than he knew, speaks directly to us as if we were present, and his message was not a flattering one:
And I know that ye do awalk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not blift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of cvery fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
For behold, ye do love amoney, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye aashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that bmisery which never dies—because of the cpraise of the world?
Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
Yea, why do ye build up your asecret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the ablood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer. (Mormon 8:36-41)