The Great Visions of the Scriptures

In the great visions of the prophets that are recorded in the scriptures, I see three themes in terms of what the Lord usually shows and reveals to them: the mortal ministry of the Savior, the inhabitants of the earth in large numbers, and the end of the world.  Nephi’s great vision in 1 Nephi 11-14, for example, contained all three of these.  He wrote, “I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world….  And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people….  And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:27-28, 33).  After seeing the Savior’s life on earth he also saw “the multitude of the earth” that “was gathered together” (1 Nephi 11:35).  He subsequently beheld in the promised land “multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea” (1 Nephi 13:1).  After beholding much of the history of the world the Lord showed him John the Beloved and Nephi was told “And he shall also write concerning the end of the world….  And behold, the things which this apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen; and behold, the remainder shalt thou see” (1 Nephi 14:22, 24).  So Nephi saw the end of the world as John saw it and recorded it in the Book of Revelation.    

                Enoch was another who had a tremendous vision from the Lord and he likewise saw these three common elements.  We read, “And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world” (Moses 7:47).  He saw “the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, after the manner of men” (Moses 7:55).  He likewise “beheld all the families of the earth” which were “from Noah”, which I take to mean that he saw all the people of the earth after Noah.  The end of the world was also part of his great vision: “And it came to pass that Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, in the last days….  And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world” (Moses 7:65, 67).  So like Nephi he saw the Savior’s earthly ministry, great numbers of the inhabitants of the world, and the end of the world. 

                The brother of Jared likewise had a marvelous vision in which he saw similar things.  While we don’t have a record of him seeing the events of the Savior’s mortal life like Enoch and Nephi, he saw the Lord who told him, “Thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood….  Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh” (Ether 3:16).  So the brother of Jared saw the Lord as He would look and be like when He came to the earth as a mortal man.  This great prophet also saw the peoples of the earth: “[The Lord] showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be” (Ether 3:25).  I don’t know how one sees every single person who ever has lived or ever would, but somehow the brother of Jared beheld that.  We also get a sense that he too saw the end of the earth, for he was shown these people “even unto the ends of the earth.”  Nephi also seems to have alluded to the brother of Jared when he wrote of “others” who saw the same things as John the Revelator and who wrote and “sealed up” their record, a likely reference to the brother of Jared (and the LDS footnotes agree) who we know sealed up his record.  Moroni summed up the brother of Jared’s revelatory experience this way: “There never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared” (Ether 4:4).  It’s probably safe to assume that he saw all that John the Revelator saw, including the end of the world. 

                There are of course many others who likewise saw these three common visionary themes.  Moses saw “the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created….  And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not” (Moses 1:7, 28).  Abraham likewise saw great numbers of people, but he saw them before the earth instead of on it: “The Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was” (Abraham 1:22).  There were apparently “many whose faith was so exceedingly  strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith” just like the brother of Jared (Ether 12:19).  In fact, if the nameless brother of Jared who showed human weakness and sometimes even forgot to pray is the great prototype for one who receives great visions from the Lord as the scriptures seem to suggest, then perhaps there is hope for the rest of us to one day see these same great things when we can “rend that veil of unbelief” that holds us back (Ether 4:15).