Angels in The Book of Mormon

Yesterday in Church I heard a quote from Elder Holland (which I don’t have) in which he suggested that one of the messages of the Book of Mormon that we should talk about more is the reality of angels and their ministering to us.  As I’ve thought about it, I believe this is indeed one of the themes of the Book of Mormon, that the Lord does send ministering angels on the earth to help accomplish his purposes.  This is perhaps seen most dramatically in the fact that the book itself was given by an angel—the only book that I know of which has ever been purported to have been given to man directly by an angel.  Joseph first learned of the Book of Mormon from angel Moroni and then it was only under Moroni’s tutelage that he was able to obtain the record and translate it into English.  In order to accept the Book of Mormon as truth one has to accept the reality of angels, for that is how it claims to have come to us: “An angel from on high The long, long silence broke; Descending from the sky, These gracious words he spoke: Lo! in Cumorah's lonely hill A sacred record lies concealed” (An Angel from on High, hymn 13). 

               The teachings and stories in the Book of Mormon themselves also stand as a witness of the reality of angels.  We see this from the very beginning of the book.  It’s on the eighth verse of the first chapter when Lehi had a vision seeing “numberless concourses of angels” surrounding God’s throne.  Then two chapters later Nephi and his brothers were visited by an angel as they sought to get the plates: “It came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?” (1 Nephi 3:29).  Nephi likely would have died right there without the intervention of an angel.  Later Nephi had a grand vision like his father, and in it he saw “the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before [him],” and this angel guided him through the incredible scenes he was able to see (1 Nephi 11:14).  Nephi would later testify, “My voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me” (2 Nephi 4:24).  His brother Jacob also had the visit of angels.  In one of his teachings to the people he mentioned that what he knew about the Messiah was “according to the words of the angel who spake it unto [him]” (2 Nephi 6:9).  Later he taught the people that the name of the Messiah would be Christ, “for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name” (2 Nephi 10:3).  King Benjamin also learned what he knew about Christ from an angel: “And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God” he told the people before his powerful discourse on the Savior’s atonement (Mosiah 3:2).  Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah were called to repentance by an angel after the earnest prayers of his father: “As they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder” (Mosiah 27:11).  Later the same angel came to Alma after he had repented and was preaching the word to the people: “It came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying: Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice” (Alma 8:15).  Alma was told by the angel to go back to Ammonihah, and when he did he found Amulek who told him, “I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive” (Alma 8:20).  Alma and Amulek were brought together by an angel and became a powerful missionary companionship.  In their teaching to the people Alma testified, “Angels are declaring [the word] unto many at this time in our land,” suggesting that his own visit by angels was no anomaly (Alma 13:24).

               Others in the Book of Mormon similarly testified of both the ministry of angels and their own visits by angels.  Helaman told his sons, “He hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance” (Helaman 5:11).  Those two sons, Nephi and Lehi, later had a marvelous experience among the Lamanites when they did “converse with the angels of God” and the people “saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them” (Helaman 5:39, 48).  Samuel the Lamanite testified that his knowledge of the Savior from an angel: “Behold, an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring glad tidings to my soul” (Helaman 13:7).  Around this time Mormon wrote that “angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy” (Helaman 16:14).  Nephi, the son of Nephi, was one of those who had the visit of angels: “So great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto him daily” (3 Nephi 7:18).  Much of the Savior’s visit to the Nephites was accompanied by angels: the people “saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire” the first day, and the next day “angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them” the next day (3 Nephi 17:24, 19:14).  Mormon included in his words to the people of his day this testimony about angels: “Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ….  Have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men” (Moroni 7:25, 29).  Again and again throughout the Book of Mormon angels are seen performing the work of the Lord in bringing the message of salvation to the people.  One simply cannot accept the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon without also believing that angels do in reality minister unto men.