The Sealed Book from the Mormon Plates

WORDS OF MORONI

31-45

 

31 And it came to pass, therefore, that this record of Moses was again sealed by Shaphan, the father of Lehi, after the order of Josiah, the king of Judah, for the posterity of Israel, and his seed, as set forth in the record of Lehi, for insomuch that his writings were hidden by him and his brethren, in a cave that lay between the mountainous plain of Meara, east of Sidon, and which was later required of Lehi to bring with him to this land of promise.

 

32 And it came to pass, when Lehi was commissioned, that when he was overpowered by the spirit of the Lord, he was shown the sealed book of Moses, which he would have to protect, and that he was required to read his pages, thus coming to understand that which his father Shaphan had read years before to King Josiah concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, when he rent his garments before the prophecies described by the great Moses, which were to occur in all ages until the coming of the Messiah, and after him , to the consummation of the fullness of time. Thus, with the other records on the brass plates from the beginning to Jeremiah, they were required by the Lord that Lehi should bring them from Jerusalem to this land of promise1.

(1) RLDS 1Nephi 5:262-264; 1Nephi 1:9-12 / LDS 1Nephi 19:21-23; 1Nephi 1:11-13

 

33 Nevertheless, over time, the very book of the law, except for the sealed book of Moses' prophecies, had been transcribed in many brass books with a wise purpose of the Lord for the days of King Benjamin, which were distributed among the priests of the people of the Nephite nation, that they might remember the law of the Lord, and might teach the people to keep themselves holy before the heavens.

 

34 For this reason, it was that my father, Mormon, summed up among the two books of Moses, only the one that had been sealed and which had never been revealed to the children of the covenant because of their iniquities1. In turn, only those who truly believed and sought to know the mysteries of God, and received Him, received this knowledge, however, it was forbidden to divulge them2.

(1) RLDS D&C 22:16 / LDS Moses 1:23 | (2) RLDS Alma 9: 15-21 / LDS Alma 12:9-11

 

35 And now, that record which in ancient times had been sealed by the great prophet Moses, is summed up in these sealed plates of Mormon, to be revealed only at the appointed time of the Lord.

 

36 In addition to the Sealed Book of Moses1, there is the record of the Acts of the Three Nephites2, written by Jonah, one of the sons of Nephi, who had been chosen by Jesus to be the chief disciple of the twelve whom he called3; also, there is a summary of the Prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite, which were fulfilled among my people, written by Nephi, at the command of Jesus4 for the purpose of reminding the people of the covenant in the last days, before the coming of the Lord into his temple5.

(1) RLDS D&C 22:24ª-25 / LDS Moses 1:40-42; 2 Kings 22:8-20 | (2) RLDS 3Nephi 13:29-30 / LDS 3Nephi 28:18 | (3) RLDS 3Nephi 9:4-5 / LDS 3Nephi 19:4 | (4) RLDS 3Nephi 10:34-41 / LDS 3Nephi 23:7-13 | (5) RLDS D&C 38:5b; D&C 42:10c; D&C 65: 1d / LDS D&C 38:22; D&C 42:35-36; D&C 65:5

 

37 Lastly, one-third of the record of the Revelations of John1, written by the three Nephites, for insomuch that they saw these things revealed by an apostle of the Lord, whose name was John, when they were caught up and transfigured before the throne of God were shown unto them all things unspeakable from the mysteries of Heaven2; but because of the commandment which they received in heaven, to keep this knowledge sealed, they did not report it because they ministered among all the inhabited earth, but recorded the things which they saw and heard to be revealed, when at last these things start to occur again between the sons of men, when finally, these things begin to occur again among the sons of men3.

(1) RLDS Ether 1:113-114; 1Nephi 3:238 - 251 / LDS Ether 4:16-17; 1Nephi 14:18-27 | (2) RLDS 3Nephi 13:24-27 / LDS 3Nephi 28:12-15 | (3) RLDS 3Nephi 13:28 / LDS 3Nephi 28:16

 

38 Lastly it was left for me, Moroni, to make a record of the ancient inhabitants who here on this earth came before us and who were dispersed in the course of the fall of that great tower, at the time when the Lord confounded the language of the people in the days of Nimrod, which are recorded in the record of the twenty-four plates found by the people of Limhi, among which, I gathered a part with the plates that were selected by my father, in relation to the record of this people which I called the people of Jared, for how much I briefly summarized his history as the book of Ether, who had been the last Jaredite prophet who existed on the face of the earth.

 

39 The other part, which regards the writings of the brother of Jared, which also appear in these twenty-four plaques selected by my father Mormon, had originally been made similarly to Nephite writing, in which one can read more than one word per character, which allows to occupy the full space of the plates, however, made according to the Jaredite writing. It was then that I, Moroni, compiled the remainder of these plates in Nephite writing, using them to transcribe the rest of the report in the same pattern, to which, the Lord commanded it to be clustered to the sealed records of my Father. However, I did it with a mixture of letters, both Nephite and Jaredite.

 

40 So I did according to what the Lord showed me, to remain some symbologies of his holy and sacred order among all the writing of this book, that in later days of times, will serve as signs to understand the power of that faith that I, Moroni, would like to show the world1, but which will only be possible according to the decrees of the heavens, to be revealed only after the coming of Christ in his temple2, when finally, men exercise their faith equal to that of the brother of Jared.

(1) RLDS Ether 5:6-7 / LDS Ether 12:6} | (2) RLDS D&C 38:5b; D&C 42:10c; D&C 65: 1d / LDS D&C 38:22; D&C 42:35-36; D&C 65:5

 

41 Notwithstanding, although the writing of this record, which bears the name of the brother of Jared, being the book of Morian-Cumer, should remain sealed, together with the rest of the Revelations of John in the sight of the seer when these things begin to occur, after the first seals are opened.

 

42 Being that among these few things that will be drawn from the first sealed set, before being every book put together in a later period of time, will be sufficient to awaken the faith in the followers of Christ who will proceed from this great and marvelous work that will take place when these things begin to take place among the covenant people in the fullness of times, that the Lord may stretch forth his hand for the last time, that he may redeem his people that are of the house of Israel.

 

43 Will happen then, that the Book of Mormon will be, as prophesied by the prophets, opened in three periods of time, to begin with the arrival of the time of the end, when then, the prince of darkness was ruling the earth in those days, but will have no power
over this land of promise, so that there will be on this earth the opening of the first determined time and a light shine in the darkness forever upon the sons of men and from there on, many will seek true knowledge.

 

44 And having passed a thousand two hundred and ninety days since the continual sacrifice was removed before the altar, then, as regards the remnant of darkness, a light from distant lands will shine from afar on the holy people of God with the opening of the first seal, and a period of appointed times will begin, when many will be cleansed and whitened and approved, but the wicked will certainly continue to act wickedly, and none of them will understand, but the insightful will understand.

 

45 Blessed are those who will remain faithful until the arrival of the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days when the third and last book is opened by our Lord and our advocate together the Father, yea, Jesus Christ1 - Amen! 

(1) RLDS D&C 38:5b; D&C 42:10c; D&C 65: 1d / LDS D&C 38:22; D&C 42:35-36; D&C 65:5