As chapter 14 opens, John sees the Lamb of God standing on Mount Zion. He is surrounded by the 144,000 who have been sealed up to the Father, being men of virtue and honesty. As they stand there, they hear voices from heaven singing a new song. Among those singing are the twenty-four elders and the four beasts.
Then John begins to write about more angels, messengers from God. I count five different angels in this chapter alone, each having a particular message; each having a particular mission. John writes of the first of these angels, beginning in verse 6: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
Latter-day Saints believe that this angel has already been sent. He is a resurrected being. During his life on earth, he was a great prophet, the final prophet of a group of Israelites who had left Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian conquest. These people flourished for 1000 years in a promised land to which the Lord had led them. They had seen the resurrected Christ following his ascension into heaven. They had lived as a Zion society for over 200 hundred years. And then they rebelled against God and were ultimately destroyed as a people from off the face of the land. This prophet, whose name is Moroni, had to flee for his life, carrying with him the records of his people - records of great glory and great wickedness. He wrote the following about his experiences:
Now I, Moroni . . . make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me. For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life. (Moroni 1: 1-3)
After thirty years of wandering, Moroni hid up the records in the earth. Before doing so, he issued a clarion call to come unto Jesus Christ. He knew the tragedy that awaits individuals and civilizations that won't do so:
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen. (Moroni 10: 32-34).
On September 21, 1823, a remarkable event occurred. This Moroni, now a resurrected being, appeared to a young man in upstate New York. This is how Joseph described this experience:
I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one. While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. . . Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; . . . He said there was a abook deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. . . (Joseph Smith History 1: 29-34)
Is it any wonder that the Latter-day Saints believe this Moroni to be the angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto the ends of the earth? Each year over 30,000 young missionaries take the gospel message of Jesus Christ to countries all over the world. Last October, the missionary age was reduced from age 19 to age 18, with an influx of over 3,000 new missionary applications the first week. In addition, thousands of senior couples and senior sisters serve full time missions. The LDS Church has announced the opening of 58 new missions to accommodate the increasing numbers, from Angolo to Washington. Add to this television, radio, and the Internet, and it is a powerful delivery method for a powerful message - the greatest the world has ever known, even the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ!
Truly this message is being carried to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people!
Text copyright Gebara Education February 2013
Picture of the Angel Moroni statue from www.lds.org
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