The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye
hear in all things, whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall
come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be
destroyed from among the people."[B]
[Footnote B: Acts 3:22, 23.]
This prophecy, also, was about to have a complete fulfillment.
Finally, among many other scriptures, the angel quoted from the great
prophecy of Joel. Before the great and terrible day of the Lord,
according to this wonderful prediction, the old men shall dream dreams,
and the young men shall see visions, and wonders shall appear in the
heaven and the earth. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood; but whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be delivered.[C] This same prophecy was referred to by Peter on
the day of Pentecost, and was possibly in part accomplished then. But
the prediction refers unmistakably to the last days--before the great
and terrible day of the Lord. Now is the day of Joel's great prophecy,
and now, said the angel Moroni, it is about to be fulfilled.
[Footnote C: Joel 2:28-32.]
Thereupon, the vision was closed. Gradually the light assembled from
the room about the person of the angel. Then he disappeared into
heaven, leaving the room in total darkness. The youth to whom had been
given this marvelous manifestation lay wide awake on his bed. Sleep was
driven from his eyes. He was filled with amazement at the singularity
of the vision, and at the doctrines that had been explained to him.
Then suddenly, in the midst of his wonder and meditation, the heavenly
messenger appeared again. He stood again in the air by the bedside, and
repeated minutely all the instructions he had given before. He added
predictions concerning the great judgments that should come to the
earth, with desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence--and all these
things should come during the present generation.
Again the vision closed. Again the light centered in the angel as
he disappeared and left the room in darkness. The youth lay again
wondering at the marvelous vision, when, to his astonishment, the same
divine messenger appeared the third time, and repeated all that he had
said before. "After this third visit," writes the Prophet, "he again
ascended in heaven as before, and I was again left to ponder on the
strangeness of what I had just experienced; when almost immediately
after the heavenly messenger had ascended from me the third time, the
cock crowed, and I found that day was approaching."[D] Thus ended the
second act in the great drama of the Restoration.
[Footnote D: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 14.]
Now, what is the significance of this second vision--or of this series
of visions? Of what importance is it in the story of man's relationship
to God? What bearing has it on the story of the Restoration?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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