Greater Things

I realized today that Mormon and Moroni had a similar experience as they wrote in the Book of Mormon and were commanded to hold back a part of it from us. Mormon was abridging the record of the Savior’s words to the Nephites when he said this: “And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.” He then explained why he was not going to include all of the words of the Savior: “And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken…. Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people” (3 Nephi 26:6-11). He suggested that the “greater things” would be withheld from us until our faith was tried. Similarly, Moroni was forbidden to give us the “greater things” that were revealed to the brother of Jared. Unlike his father, though, he did write them: “Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.” But they were sealed and so they too were kept from us: “Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof.” He explained, “They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord. And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw” (Ether 4:4-7). So again, until we exercise the kind of faith that the Lord requires, we will not have these additional “greater” words of the Lord.

            Both of these accounts suggest that one day we can have these records that are now kept from us. Mormon wrote, “And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them” (3 Nephi 26:9). It is not clear how these greater things will come to us since they weren’t written down, but presumably they would need to be revealed again to a prophet in order to come to us. The Lord similarly said through the prophet Moroni, “Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.” The greater things that the brother of Jared saw and heard will come to us when we “shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause [us] to remain in [our] awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind” (Ether 4:13-15). This record we know is still intact because it was written by Moroni on the plates that Joseph received, but they were sealed and Joseph was forbidden to translate them. For us to receive those, presumably Moroni would need to give them again to a prophet to translate. Whatever the means, both accounts suggest that it is our insufficient faith that prevent us now from having them.

            It may be that these two records which have been kept from us—the words of the Savior to the Nephites and the words of the premortal Christ to the brother of Jared—are much of the same thing. Moroni said this as he was giving his account of the brother of Jared, “And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people. And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest. And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief” (Ether 4:1-3). Mosiah hid them from the people until Christ in person commanded that they should be made manifest. The way I read that second verse is that He was there among them when these greater things from the brother of Jared were being given to the people of Nephi. Those may have then been written on the plates of Nephi that Mormon was pulling from to give us an account of the Savior’s words from His visit to them. So it may be that this makes up a large part of the things that Christ taught the people in person that Mormon was not allowed to write for us. Either way, the accounts from Mormon and Moroni highlight that there are “greater things” of knowledge awaiting those who will exercise greater faith in Him and in the words He has already given us.