THE BOOK OF HOPE

Some two thousand years ago, during the bleakest period of Church history, there was on the island of Patmos an exile, a prophet and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, the last apostle alive, all others having been killed before him. And to that rocky island prison, on a particular Sunday came the glorified, exalted Christ to the apostle whom He called 'The Beloved'. "Heralded by the trumpet-blast of the godly voice and standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks symbolic of the seven branches of the church in Asia was the Saviour. Some fifty or sixty years before He had hung in agony on the cross and had been laid in the dark recesses of a borrowed tomb. Now he stood in blinding, blazing glory before John: "I am he that liveth, and was dead", he declared, "and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18)" (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 449)

So overcome was John that he fell to the earth as though dead but the Saviour touched Him and told him not to be afraid but to write down the revelation which he was about to receive for the seven branches of the Church who were facing life-threatening persecutions. "They knew the wrath of a government intent on enforcing the policy of emperor worship. They knew the clutch of fear at the approaching sound of Roman legionaires. By the time of Patmos, according to the traditions that have come down to us, Peter had been crucified, Paul beheaded, Bartholemew skinned alive, Thomas and Matthew run through with spears. John was the only surviving apostle (an apostle who would survive it all and never taste of death); all the others had died violently because of their faith. By the time of Patmos, the history of the Church included the lining of Nero's colonnade with crucified Christians and the savagery of the mobs screaming for blood in the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus." (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 449).

The revelation which John the Beloved received is known to us as The Book of Revelation. There are many scholastic views of the book which offer explanations as to its' meaning. Some argue that the book needs to be considered with a non-prophetic view, that all that is contained therein pertains to the past, meaning John's day, referring to the clash between the Church and the Roman Empire. Others however, claim that the Book needs to be considered with a solely prophetic view and that the symbols within it are to be seen as future predictions of all the great events of history. Viewed either way, people throughout Christendom have found the Book of Revelation hard to understand. Joseph Smith has said, however, that "the Book of Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written" (Teachings, p. 290). One can wonder how that can be so considering the extensive use of symbolism used by John when describing his vision. The clue to its plainness lies in the very heading of this book. Because The Book of Revelation was received by revelation, it can also be best understood through revelation. Thankfully, as Latter-day Saints, we not only have personal revelation to rely on for understanding of this book but also revelation given to latter-day prophets: "Thanks be to the interpretive material found in sections 29, 77, 88 and others of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants; plus the revisions given in the Inspired Version of the Bible; plus the sermons of the Prophet; plus some clarifying explanations in the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scripture; plus our over-all knowledge of the plan of salvation - thanks be to all of these things.....the fact is that we have a marvelously comprehensive and correct understanding of this otherwise hidden book" (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:431).

The greatest purpose and meaning of The Book of Revelation is that it is a book of hope. It's main purpose is not history but prophecy. This is evident in the fact that the Book covers the history of the earth's 6 thousand years only briefly whereas it expounds on the period of the Millenium in lengthy detail. What does this have to do with hope? The Book of Revelation gives us hope in that Millenium reign when evil, "in all of its power and wickedness, shall be put down once and for all" (The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, p. 444). This knowledge would have given great hope to the saints who were witnessing the decline of the Church and the beginning of the Great Apostasy but it is of even greater value to us because it assures us that the forces of great evil which are gaining momentum in our day will one day be destroyed and come to an end. The Book of Revelation highlights the conquest of evil and that God is still over all and will triumph in the end, which triumph will cause all His creations to worship Him with glory and praise. The Book of Revelation presents the greatest contrast between the Saviour's first coming to earth and the second. Whereas the first time he was despised and rejected of men, when all this is over and the earth is rolled together as a scroll, even the earth will sing His praise and honour His name (Rev 4:9-11, 5:14, 11:17, 16:5).

The hope of true followers of Jesus Christ, and the hope referred to in John's revelation should be to gain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God. Moroni tells us that if we have no hope we must be in despair (Moroni 10:22). An absence of hope for something better than this telestial life would surely suppress any incentive to repent, deplete the power of endurance, entice fear and diminish belief needed to overcome the natural man. The Book of Revelation gives us hope that all these things are possible. In it John sees Satan as a red dragon driving a woman with a child (The Church) into wilderness (apostasy) (Rev 12). As the woman rises again out of the wilderness John records 'the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus' (Rev 12:17). This is a frightful depiction of our day which would leave us, the members of the Church, to the buffetings of Satan if we had no hope that we can fight the fierceness of the battle that we are engaged in: "Yet, of all people, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. For while we know that 'peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion', we are also assured that 'the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst' (D&C 1:35-36) (Ezra Taft Benson in CR, Oct. 1974, p. 90).

No one can read the concluding chapters of Revelation without feeling the hope that John felt as he looked forward to our day. It is somewhat appropriate that the Saviour would give him this glorious vision considering he was to live to witness incredible calamities, wars, pestilence, wickedness and the Great Apostasy. It might also be appropriate for us to assume that this vision was given to the beloved apostle, who would never taste of death, out of love so that the hope of the triumphant ending would enable John to endure everything preceding the Millenium when 'the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan' will be bound for a thousand years enabling a period of peace for those who will dwell with Christ in paradisiacal glory' (Rev 20:2). One would have to wonder what kind of chain it would have to be to bind the Prince of Darkness and what kind of bottomless pit could contain him? To believe that such a thing could ever happen means for us to believe that we are more powerful than him because we have kept our first estate. Because Satan is a spirit only, all his power is derived through spiritual means from those who live on this earth clothed in earthly tabernacles, meaning us. His power is added upon from spiritual energy that we create. We make him powerful by creating spiritual energy of darkness through sin or powerless by creating spiritual light through righteousness. Since the Saviour is the Light of the World, Satan is the opposite, the Prince of Darkness. The chain he will be bound with and the bottomless pit he will be cast into as referred to in the Book of Revelation are terms symbolic of righteous living of those who will qualify to live during the Millenium (see Eldred G. Smith in CR, Apr. 1970, p 142 and 1 Nephi  22:26). In other words, because of people's righteousness, there will be no spiritual darkness and therefore Satan's power will dissipate.

Righteous living proceeds from a committed heart of true followers of Jesus Christ. It does not come from complacency that some of us in the Church are familiar with: "The abundant life is a spiritual life. Too many sit at the banquet table of the gospel of Jesus Christ and merely nibble at the feast placed before them. They go through the motions - attending their meetings, perhaps glancing at the scriptures, repeating familiar prayers - but their hearts are far away. If they are honest, they would admit to being more interested in the latest neighborhood rumors, stock market trends, and their favourite TV show than they are in the supernal wonders and sweet ministerings of the Holy Spirit. Do you wish to partake of this living water and experience that divine well springing up within you to everlasting life? Then be not afraid. Believe with all  your hearts. Develop an unshakable faith in the Son of God. Let your hearts reach out in earnest prayer. Fill your minds with knowledge of Him. Forsake your weaknesses. Walk in holiness and harmony with the commandments. Drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ" ( Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Abundant Life, Ensign, May 2006).

Being merely Church members is not enough, we must build the spiritual core within us which will enable us to stand when the mighty winds of apostasy descend upon us. Then no imperfect leadership in the Church can offend us, no transpired event in Church history will sway us, no Church teaching we do not understand will cause us to give up. If we are built on the spirit of prophecy and an unshakable testimony of  Christ, we will withstand any pressure to cave and any temptation to sin and seek justification for same through some imperfection that we insist we have found in the Church for such imperfections only serve as great stumbling blocks that obscure our vision from perfectly seeing the Saviour of all mankind. With an absence of fear, being filled with hope and armed with righteousness and faith we can defeat and bind the enemy who seeks our destruction and pave the way for Him who will 'wipe away all tears from [our] eyes' (Rev 21:4) and with whom we can live during the Millenial reign of peace and happiness. It is therefore, our duty here and now to 'drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ' that we might have reason to hope for a better world, a world where 'there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away' (Rev 21:4).

".....for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay,

that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness....."

(Moroni 9:6)