Hope For a Better World

As one book I’m listening to highlighted, The Book of Mormon begins and ends with stories about the destruction of major civilizations.  In just the fourth verse of the book, we read, “there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.”  Lehi subsequently had a vision and learned that the city “should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon” (1 Nephi 1:4, 13).  The book does not recount the details of that destruction, but later in the promised land Lehi confirmed: “For, behold, said he, I have seen a vision, in which I know that Jerusalem is destroyed; and had we remained in Jerusalem we should also have perished” (2 Nephi 1:4).  At the end of the book of course we have the “sad tale of the destruction” of the Nephites (Mormon 8:3).  Mormon recorded the details of how 230,000 Nephites were slain at Cumorah, and his soul was rent in anguish, “O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen! But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return” (Mormon 6:19-20).  In addition to this story, we also have near the end the story of the Jaredites destruction.  Moroni recorded that “there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children” (Ether 15:2).  The size of the loss is unimaginable.  The civilization was completely destroyed until only two men, Ether and Coriantumr, remained.  These stories of destruction are all depressing and knowing just that one might wonder why to read the Book of Mormon at all if everyone just dies in the end.  But the great message of the Book of Mormon is that there is hope in Christ even amidst the most serious trials that we face. 

               In these three stories of destruction we also see the great hope and trust that the prophets of those times placed in the Lord. Even amidst this destruction they showed us how to put our faith in Jesus Christ and be saved by Him notwithstanding what happens around us.  For example, Lehi declared after seeing that Jerusalem would be destroyed, “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!” Despite what he saw concerning the destruction of the wicked, “his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him” (1 Nephi 1:14-15).  Lehi found hope and joy in the Lord despite what would befall the inhabitants of the city. 

               Mormon similarly found great hope and joy in the gospel despite the complete destruction around him.  He lamented, “And wo is me because of their wickedness; for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day” (Mormon 2:19).  Notwithstanding the wickedness of the people, he found hope in the salvation of the Lord.  To his son he wrote, “Notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently… for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.”  Though he knew the people would be destroyed, he had hope still for himself and the righteous to overcome the power of the evil one.  In the same letter he said to Moroni: “My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever” (Moroni 9:6, ).  Mormon’s hope and trust was still in the power of Christ despite the great hold Satan had on the people.  After witnessing so much death and destruction he still could declare to future generations that Christ “hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end” (Mormon 7:7).  No matter what happens around us in mortality, we can be saved in the kingdom of God and enjoy a “happiness which hath no end.”

               At the end of the Jaredite story we similar words of promise and encouragement despite the immediate destruction taking place.  Moroni summarized Ether’s teachings to the people about the be destroyed this way: “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God” (Ether 12:6).  We can hope for a better world even if everyone around us is wicked.  In the middle of telling this story Moroni wrote of the hope we have in Christ, saying to the Lord, “And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope…. And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men” (Ether 12:32-33).  Moroni, who saw the destruction of his own people and abridged the record of the Jaredite destruction, still found hope in the Savior, His love, and the promises of a better world.  The Book of Mormon affirms that there is always hope in Jesus Christ, even if our whole civilization is destroyed in wickedness.  The message of the book is not one of doom and gloom but one of hope and promise in the Lord’s plan of salvation for His children.  As Mormon summarized for all of us who face difficulties as he did: “Ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise” (Moroni 7:41).