An Angel of Light

Last night for our family scripture study we read Doctrine and Covenants 129. In it we find this rather unique passage: “When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand. If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear—Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message. If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him” (v4-8). After explaining what this meant to the best of my ability, talking about true angels and angels of the devil visiting people, I had my nine-year-old daughter in a panic as thoughts of spirits from the devil visiting her in the night. Even the idea of a true angel coming to visit her filled her with fear as she spoke of how “creepy” that would be. We tried to tell her it wasn’t very likely that she would be visited in that way by heavenly messengers, but she had a hard time coming to terms with what we had just read. The conversation made me think a little more deeply about why we have this section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is certainly unusual compared to most of the other revelations in the book.

                Perhaps one important lesson from the section is that the devil is real. There is indeed opposition in all things, and the adversary and his angels are not figurative beings only in the scriptures. What’s more, one of their major goals is to deceive us, and that’s at least one reason why Joseph gave these instructions: to combat that deception. Several other passages of scriptures highlight that indeed the adversary and his followers seek to deceive us into thinking they are good. Paul wrote this to the Corinthians: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Not only are there mortal false apostles, but the devil will himself seek to appear as an angel of light. Joseph Smith alluded to this happening in his letter to the Saints on baptisms for the dead: “The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light!” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20). I don’t believe we have any more information about the event he was referring to, but apparently Adam helped Joseph to see that the devil was seeking to deceive. Jacob in the Book of Mormon also spoke of this: “And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness” (2 Nephi 9:9). The devil can’t quite become an angel of light; but he can try and seek to deceive us. This is what happened to Korihor. He explained after he was confounded before Alma: “But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God” (Alma 30:53). Perhaps more important than understanding the key Joseph gave related to shaking hands with unknown spirits is the idea that in general the adversary (especially when unseen) will seek to deceive us and lead us away from the Savior.

                This section is also a witness to the truthfulness that God will send real angels to visit and help the children of men. For Joseph this was a way of life, for he was visited by countless messengers from the Lord—starting with the angel Moroni—throughout his life. That same Moroni recorded these words of his father for us: “For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing” (Moroni 7:22). Moroni may have had no idea when he recorded those words on the plates that he would become one of those very angelic messengers to minister unto the children of men. The words of Doctrine and Covenants 129 should remind us that God will send us help in time of need, and instead of being afraid we can rejoice in the countless testimonies in the scriptures that show that God does not forget His people in their difficulties. I love how President Holland bore witness of this truth: “My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. ‘[Nor] will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.’ On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.”