Chapter 4
Moroni is commanded to
seal up the writings of the brother of Jared—They will not be revealed until
men have faith even as the brother of Jared—Christ commands men to believe His
words and those of His disciples—Men are commanded to repent, believe the
gospel, and be saved.
The brother of Jared had been commanded to seal his record
and that it would not be available to us until after Christ’s ministry had
ended. King Mosiah, after translating the Jaredite record, also sealed it up
and commanded it not be used until after Christ’s ministry.
Now, Moroni reminds us, only the Lamanites were alive.
“And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous
battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country
southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed.
“And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain
alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they
are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay
me, I know not” (Mormon 8:2-3).
They rejected Christ’s gospel and were a wicked people. The
record would not be made available to them. Instead, he was commanded to once
again hide and bury the record. “And I am the same who hideth up this record
unto the Lord; the plates thereof are of no worth, because of the commandment
of the Lord. For he truly saith that no one shall have them to get gain; but
the record thereof is of great worth; and whoso shall bring it to light, him
will the Lord bless” (Mormon 8:14).
Moroni tells us he was commanded to write these words. “And
now I, Moroni, have written the words which were commanded me, according to my
memory; and I have told you the things which I have sealed up; therefore touch
them not in order that ye may translate; for that thing is forbidden you,
except by and by it shall be wisdom in God” (Ether 5:1).
Nephi1 had prophesied about the sealed portion of
the plates.
“And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall
be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending
thereof.
“Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the
things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and
abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them…
“But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver,
neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of
God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the
own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all
things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.
“And the day cometh that the words of the book which were
sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power
of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever
have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end
of the earth” (2 Nephi 27:7-8, 10-11).
“Moroni possessed both records and added a third copy by
writing or copying the words of the vision upon ‘these plates’ (Ether 4:4),
that is, the gold plates. He most likely used Nephi’s translation as his master
copy because he was familiar with that language and not with the language of
the brother of Jared. For the same reason, Moroni probably also turned to
Mosiah’s translation of the book of Ether to make his abridgment.”[1]
“Moroni described the sealed portion more specifically,
saying it contained the vision shown unto the brother of Jared of ‘all the
inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be … unto the
ends of the earth.’ The Lord commanded the brother of Jared to write the things
he had seen and to seal them up until the Lord’s own time, ‘until after that he
should be lifted up upon the cross . . . that they should not come unto the
world until after Christ should show himself unto his people’ (Ether 3:25–27;
4:1). After the Lord’s people had all dwindled in unbelief and there were none
left but Lamanites who had rejected the gospel, Moroni was to seal up the
plates again (see Ether 4:3–5).”[2]
Moroni’s records, he was told by the Lord, will not go to
the Gentiles until they repent and become clean before the Lord.
[1] A
Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates, Valentin Arts,
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies
11/1 (2002): 53.
[2] Other
Ancient American Records Yet to Come Forth, Monte S. Nyman, Maxwell
Institute website.
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