Moroni chastises
those who will pervert the Lord’s gospel, calling them a stiffnecked people. “Oh,
this unbelieving and stiffnecked generation—mine anger is kindled against them”
(D&C 5:8). They have built churches for the purpose of gaining wealth. “The
heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the
prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say,
Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us” (Micah 3:11).
“Feed the flock of
God which is among you, taking the oversight [GR overseeing, guarding, watching]
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready
mind” (1 Peter 5:2).
“For the time
speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all
those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up
to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the
flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in
fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear,
and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust;
they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the
words of the prophet” (1 Nephi 22:23).
They have changed
the words of God. “And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles
of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that
great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches;
for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which
are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they
taken away” (1 Nephi 13:26).
“For I know this,
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock” (Acts 20:29).
“The Book of Mormon gives two reasons that help account for
the corruption of the Bible. One is that plain and precious things will be lost
from the gospel before the Bible ‘goeth forth unto all the nations of the
Gentiles’(1 Nephi 13:29). Another reason, a more interesting one for our
purposes, is that after the Bible has gone forth, the ‘holy word of God’ will
be ‘transfigured’ by the interpretation of men (Mormon 8:33). This
transfiguration of the Bible will take place during the time the Book of Mormon
goes forth to Jews and Gentiles (see Mormon 8:23–34).”[1]
We are admonished
to look to God’s revelations that will be available when these things are
fulfilled. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils” (1 Timothy 4:1).
“Who concerning the truth have erred, saying
that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (2
Timothy 2:16-17).
By doing this, they
will bring damnation to their souls.
“Hold fast the form
[GR sketch, model, example] of sound [GR uncorrupted] words, which thou hast
heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
“That good thing
which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
“This thou knowest,
that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus
and Hermogenes” (2 Timothy 1:13-15).
The day will come
when God’s revelations will be fulfilled. “Wherefore, the things which he shall
write are just and true; and behold they are written in the book which thou
beheld proceeding out of the mouth of the Jew; and at the time they proceeded
out of the mouth of the Jew, or, at the time the book proceeded out of the
mouth of the Jew, the things which were written were plain and pure, and most
precious and easy to the understanding of all men” (1 Nephi 14:23).
“And then shall my
revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in
the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know
that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed” (Ether
4:16).
34 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.
Moroni has seen “great
and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come” (Mormon 8:34).
“Moroni
draws out the pure meaning of certain biblical revelations, which refer to the
coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and then reaffirms them prophetically,
saying ‘the Lord hath shown unto me [these same] great and marvelous things’
(Mormon 8:34). In this way, through the prophet Moroni, the Book of Mormon
fulfills its purpose as a second witness to the Bible and in particular to what
the Bible says about the Book of Mormon.”[2]
[1] The
Problem of the Sermon on the Mount and 3 Nephi, A. Don Sorensen, FARMS Review 16/2 (2004): 138.
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