He Shall Bring it to Light

I believe that Moroni came to understand during his many years as keeper of the plates, alone after the destruction of his people, about how Joseph Smith would one day translate that record and bring it forth. In Moroni’s writing he referred to Joseph this way: “Whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord bless. For none can have power to bring it to light save it be given him of God; for God wills that it shall be done with an eye single to his glory, or the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord. And blessed be he that shall bring this thing to light; for it shall be brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God; yea, it shall be brought out of the earth, and it shall shine forth out of darkness, and come unto the knowledge of the people; and it shall be done by the power of God” (Mormon 8:14-16). Clearly he understood that someone would one day take the record he was writing and bring it forth to the people. That he knew there was one specific person prepared for that task was clear from this comment about the prayers of all of the Nephite prophets: “And behold, their prayers were also in behalf of him that the Lord should suffer to bring these things forth. And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it” (Mormon 8:25-26). Moroni, and apparently many of the other prophets, knew of the person who would be sent to bring forth the record and they even prayed for him. The Savior referenced those prayers from ancient Nephite prophets in our dispensation when He said this: “And, behold, all the remainder of this work does contain all those parts of my gospel which my holy prophets, yea, and also my disciples, desired in their prayers should come forth unto this people. And I said unto them, that it should be granted unto them according to their faith in their prayers…. And now, behold, according to their faith in their prayers will I bring this part of my gospel to the knowledge of my people” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:46-47, 52). And so, the Nephite prophets prayed specifically for Joseph Smith who would bring forth the record and more generally for the work of the Lord in the last days that the gospel would come to the knowledge of the people in this land. That took indeed a lot of faith to pray for future events millennia away.   

              A couple other passages from Moroni highlight how he was aware of how Joseph Smith would bring forth the record. After describing the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon that he obtained from the record of the brother of Jared, Moroni in an unusual passage addressed Joseph Smith directly for several verses. He wrote, “And now I, Moroni, have written the words which were commanded me, according to my memory; and I have told you the things which I have sealed up; therefore touch them not in order that ye may translate; for that thing is forbidden you, except by and by it shall be wisdom in God. And behold, ye may be privileged that ye may show the plates unto those who shall assist to bring forth this work; And unto three shall they be shown by the power of God; wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are true” (Ether 5:1-3). Those verses don’t really make sense addressed to all of us in general; rather, they seem to be instructions specifically for Joseph Smith about how he should carry on the work of translation and how he would show the plates to three witnesses. In the introduction to the book, also written by Moroni as he sealed it up, he said this about the translation to come: “Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—The interpretation thereof by the gift of God.” Joseph Smith was indeed “the Gentile” to bring forth the record. Given Moroni’s knowledge and concern for the record’s destiny, it is fitting that he was the one the Lord chose to visit Joseph directly and tutor him in his role. Joseph recorded the first appearance of Moroni to him saying, “He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do” (JSH 1:33). Moroni had known about that work Joseph would do for over 1400 years, and surely he was thrilled to finally see the prophetic words of his people come forth through this young boy the Lord had chosen.