"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me and said, pointing to the other --- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (vs. 16-17)
In this series, we've discussed 1) God's plan of happiness from the pre-mortal life down to Adam and Eve, 2) Prophets and dispensations, and 3) Some of the ancient prophecies of Christ's Second Coming. Catching up to our day and age, it would be amiss to omit the accounts that kickstarted this last dispensation, and how God again speaks to us through a living prophet. The Restoration of the gospel following an apostasy of nearly 1800 years is as great a time as there has ever been on this earth, save only for Christ's ministry and atonement. Therefore, this blog post will be quoting Joseph Smith and his experience becoming the first prophet of this last dispensation, opening the door to continuing revelation today, and the coming forth of an ancient text called the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
**NOTE: If you wish to get in contact with missionaries of the Church to learn more, you can do so at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/requests/missionary-visit
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THE FIRST VISION
In the early 1800s, there were many people turning to religion to satisfy spiritual yearnings and explain the hardships of life, including in rural New York. Yet, despite the great love which the converts to the different faiths expressed at the time of their conversion, and the great zeal manifested by respective clergy...a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued--priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever a had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest of opinions. There was in this region, Joseph Smith, a 14-year old boy whose "mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness" and desired to "be united with" one of the churches, but "so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong" (vs. 8). In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, Joseph wondered if any of them were right and how he should know it? Joseph Smith, in the spring of 1820 --- 200 years ago --- was reading in the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (James 1:5). Says he:
"Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person need wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God." (vs. 12-13)
This is when Joseph Smith went to the woods to ask of God. He had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. On this occasion, he said he saw:
"A pillar of light exactly over [his] head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended until it fell upon [him]. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above [him] in the air. One of them spake unto [him] and said, pointing to the other --- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (vs. 16-17)
Joseph Smith was answered that all of the sects were wrong and to join none of them saying, "They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness but they deny the power thereof" (JSH 1:19; Isa. 29:13; 2 Timothy 3:5)
Thereafter, there were many who not only disbelieved Joseph's encounter with Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, but there were many who persecuted him, and ultimately killed him. They "treated not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them" (vs. 21). For as young and as seemingly insignificant as he was, his testimony quickly drew the attention of many, some in a bad way.
THE ANGEL MORONI
Still, the windows of heaven were truly opened to Joseph Smith to receive further revelation and he would not deny it. He continued to receive many revelations from thereon out over the course of the years. On September 21, 1823, Joseph had retired to his bed for the night and was praying for forgiveness of his sins. While he was in the act of calling upon God, he discovered a light appearing in his room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at his bedside, standing in the air. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. When Joseph first looked upon him, he was afraid; but the fear soon left him. (vs. 29-32)
The angel called Joseph by name and said that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for Joseph to do; and that his name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that is should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprung. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. (vs. 33-34)
The angel Moroni began to quote the prophecies of the Old Testament. He quoted part of the 3rd chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the 4th or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in the Bible. Instead of quoting the 1st verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus:
"For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (vs. 37)
And again, he quoted the 5th verse thus:
"Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (vs. 38)
He also quoted the next verse differently:
"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming" (vs. 39)
In addition to these, he quoted the 11th chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He also quoted the 3rd chapter of Acts, 22nd and 23rd verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when "they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people, "but soon would come". (vs. 40)
He also quoted the 2nd chapter of Joel, from the 28th verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated that the fullness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned. (vs. 41)
THE BOOK OF MORMON OUT OF THE EARTH
While the angel Moroni was conversing with Joseph, the vision was opened to his mind that he could see the place where the plates (that would be called the Book of Mormon) were deposited. and that so clearly and distinctly that he knew the place again when he visited it. And other things did the angel say.
In Ontario County, New York, there was a hill of considerable size. On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. Heaving removed the earth, he obtained a lever and raised it up. He looked in and saw the plates but was not yet allowed to take them. (vs. 51-52)
On September 22, 1827, the time arrived for obtaining the plates (vs. 59). The wicked sought to destroy them or use them for personal gain. But despite the bitter persecution, the plates were kept safe by divine providence until they could be translated by the gift and power of God, and later "the messenger called for them" and were "delivered them up to him" on May 2, 1838. (vs. 60)
In a brief period of time, the miraculous process of translating the gold plates occurred which I will not give a full account of in this blog post but which you can read in my post titled "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ". Suffice it to say that Joseph Smith translated them by the gift and power of God and there are witnesses including his wife, Emma, and several scribes who testified of this fluid process, as challenging as it would be for a young farmhand to do in so short a time as 65 days! I invite you to read the Book of Mormon and keep in mind that it was translated in a little over 2 months. This is a feat that no author of fiction could ever accomplish, and Joseph was not an educated or skillful writer. He could not have written it and it could not be fiction. I know that it is a true ancient record, revealed to Joseph Smith by an angel of the Lord and translated by the gift and power of God.
The translation of the Book of Mormon was finished in June of 1829. After much sacrifice on the part of many faithful individuals, the funds and means were raised to publish the Book of Mormon in March of 1830. Soon after, on April 6, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized in western New York.
We live in the last dispensation, the Restoration of the fullness of times. The Book of Mormon is evidence of this. But the Book of Mormon and the visit from the angel Moroni were not the only revelations. There were many more events, revelations, and visits from other angelic messengers that occurred in the span of fewer than 20 years. These angelic events will be the topic of my next blog post.
Yorumlar