HOLY WORDS

 

“When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates.

“Oliver says that when he and Joseph went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at that time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day.

“They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads, they were piled up in the corners and along the walls.

“The first time they went there, the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again, it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words:

“This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and His Christ.”

-        (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Vol 19, p 40)

The Book of Mormon covers 1,000 years of the history of ancient America and a third of it has not yet been revealed to us. The Book of Ether alone covers 1,700 years in only 15 chapters. The rest is lining the walls of that cave….and that’s just from the history of one continent of this earth.

Imagine how much more was written about the history of the world that is yet to come forth. This will blow your socks off. James Talmage points out that the prophecy of Christ being born ‘a Nazarene’ (Matthew 2:23) is not found in any of the books of the Bible.

This prophecy along with many books mentioned in the Bible that do not exist therein suggests there are lost scriptures. This also disproves people’s claim that the Bible is complete as a collection of sacred scripture and that continuous revelation is not necessary.

Some of the missing books from the Bible are in existence today and are classed with the Apocrypha but the greater number are unknown. Elder Talmage lists 16 books that are mentioned in the Bible that we do not have (“Jesus the Christ”, p 120). When you consider how many people have lived and how much has transpired from the beginning of time, I am convinced there would have to be more than what has been mentioned.

Do you wonder what’s in all those records we have no access to? Moroni knew. He said there were no greater things made manifest than those that were revealed to Brother of Jared (Ether 4:4). Why have they been hidden from us? Because judging by the small amount of scripture we have been given, we are at the beginning of our faith. We are not ready for the mysteries….

One day we will be given to know ‘greater things’ contained in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon and that will be ‘when we repent of our iniquity, and become clean before the Lord, and exercise faith in Christ…..even as the Brother of Jared’ (Ether 4:7)

This is a sobering thought that tells us we will not get to read those scriptures without any effort on our part…a serious effort, one that leads to repentance and the manifesting faith like we have never known before….. Are we up to it????

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Golden Plates by Greg Olsen)