“He Ministered Unto Him Even as He Ministered Unto the Nephites”

Brant Gardner

The appearance of the premortal Messiah to the brother of Jared is directly connected in Moroni’s mind with the resurrected Messiah’s appearance to the Nephites. This is the same person, the same Messiah. He is in a similar form, and he does similar things. Although Moroni does not tell us specifics, he tells us what he considers to be most important—what this Messiah does is the same. Moroni stresses that this Messiah is the same throughout the ages and that, when he ministers to men in these rare appearances, he does the same things. Since he is also the Messiah-yet-to-come, Moroni is telling his future readers to expect him to come in a human form and perform the same ministrations as those recorded in 3 Nephi.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 6

References