Nephi and Moroni

As Nephi finished his record, he spoke of his own weakness in writing. He wrote, “And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking…. And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them…. Ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness” (2 Nephi 33:1, 4, 11). Given the power of his words for myself—and the enormous impact for good they have had to so many in our day—I certainly wouldn’t consider him weak in writing, but it is interesting that both he and Moroni felt this way. At the opposite end of the book Moroni wrote, “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him” (Moroni 9:31). Later in the Jaredite account he lamented again his weakness in writing: “And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing…. when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words” (Ether 12:23, 25). Both Nephi and Moroni felt inadequate to some extent and worried about their weakness in writing, an indication of the incredible humility before the Lord both of these mighty prophets had.

                As I thought about this, I realized that there are other interesting similarities between Nephi and Moroni, the bookends of the Book of Mormon. They both were sons of prominent prophets, Lehi and Mormon, who also kept important records. Nephi and Moroni were both forced to leave their homes and wander in the wilderness: Nephi in his youth when they left Jerusalem and Moroni at the end of his life when he wandered alone for decades. Nephi and Moroni both had visions of our day and saw us. Moroni declared directly, “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Mormon 8:35). Nephi gave a detailed account of his vision of the last days, including the founding of America and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. He wrote of the Saints he saw—presumably the faithful in our day—who had the power of God with them: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14). We can be confident in the relevance of the words of both Moroni and Nephi because they saw us in our day and wrote for us.       

Both Nephi and Moroni promised us that we would see them personally at the judgment day. Nephi wrote at the very end of his account, “Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar” (2 Nephi 33:11). Similarly, in his final words Moroni said, “For the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God…. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead” (Moroni 10:27, 34). We will meet both Moroni and Nephi in some way in our day of judgment. Most importantly, both of these prophets saw the Savior and bore powerful witness of Him. Nephi declared, “[Isaiah] verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him. And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him” (2 Nephi 11:2-2). Moroni told us that he too had seen the Lord: “And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face” (Ether 12:39). Nephi invited us to come unto Him in these words: “And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29). Moroni left us a similar invitation to come to the Savior: “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever” (Ether 12:41). Both of these mighty prophets bore a powerful but humble witness of the Savior, and we are blessed to have their words and testimony to guide us today.