For many reasons, this chapter is one of the all-time favorites for Latter-day Saints. Almost every verse extends the desperate, if not exhausted, efforts of Moroni to draw his lifelong work and commission to a proper conclusion. After a total of 36 years of being, as far as we know, totally alone—with the exception of the personal visitations of Jesus Christ (Ether 12:39), the three Nephites (Mormon 8:11), and, most of all, the companionship of the Holy Spirit—Moroni succeeds in finally leaving the Book of Mormon where he would like us to find it.
As you read Moroni 10, you may wish to ponder personally, and share conversations with others, about any of the following details and questions. If we don’t know where we’re going, how will we know when we get there?
- Moroni 10:1. Four hundred and twenty-one years have passed since the birth of Jesus when Moroni wrote this last chapter. To put that date into perspective, in Europe, between AD 385 and 420, wars were fought between the western and eastern halves of the Roman empire, Christianity became the state religion, and invasions were mounted from the northeast into France, Germany, the Balkans and other Roman territories. Also, there have been 421 years between AD 1599 (when Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare were alive) and the present year of 2020. The year 1620 (when the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock) was also four centuries ago. That is a long time ago, in which much has happened. How does that awareness of the wide scope of history give you perspectives that help you put Moroni’s final words into a broad timeframe?
- Moroni 10:1, 24. Moroni first said that he was writing here to the Lamanites, then he turned to addressing “all the ends of the earth.” And next, in his Title Page, Moroni says that he hopes that his message will reach three groups—the Lamanites and Jews in the House of Israel, and also the Gentiles—to whom he was writing. How is Moroni’s desired purpose being fulfilled today? What is your role personally in seeing that the Book of Mormon is fulfilling its purposes to these audiences?
- Moroni 10:3. What does Moroni suggest that people ponder before they ask if the record is true? How does remembering the previous mercies of God help prepare any person to know the truth of the Book of Mormon and to receive any gifts of the Spirit from God?
- Moroni 10:4. In what way is the three-witness law evident in verse 4? Who are the three witnesses that bear testimony to us of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon? Why would Moroni have called particularly upon those three as his witnesses? What traditional functions does this fulfill in certifying the accuracy of his record?
- Moroni 10:7. We are asked here not to deny the power of God. On what principles will God apply his powers for the benefit of His children?
- Moroni 10:8. Moroni repeatedly asks us not to deny the gifts of God. Moroni then lists some of the spiritual gifts that are available. Which gifts are included in Moroni’s list, and why? For what purposes are these many gifts given? What did Amaleki say about spiritual gifts in Omni 1:25? What spiritual gifts did Alma mention in Alma 9:21–22? How do these lists, and other such lists, compare with each other and relate to their particular times and circumstances?
- Moroni 10:9–17. What does Moroni say about spiritual gifts being available in our day? What drives away the gifts of the spirit? Consider and compare the list in D&C 46:8–27. In D&C 46:8, for what important purpose did the Lord suggest we could use these gifts? How do the purposes, availability, and the list of gifts in D&C 46 line up with those in Moroni 10? Do you have any of these gifts? How do you use them? If you need a gift for a righteous purpose, when and how can you, or have you, sought for that gift?
- Moroni 10:27. Moroni declared that his words would come forth “out of the dust.” When that occurred, what ancient prophecy was being fulfilled, and in what ways was it fulfilled?
- Moroni 10:27, 34. Here again (twice now), Moroni tells us that he will meet us at the “bar,” even the “pleasing bar” of God. Why might he have called it a “pleasing bar”? What circumstances led Moroni to add this final conclusion and witness to his record when he had already done so at the end of his Jaredite record? See Ether 5:6. Who else will be there at the judgment bar of God to testify? See also 2 Nephi 33:11.
- Moroni 10:30. Isaiah gave guidance similar to this verse in Isaiah 52:11. What are “unclean things”? How are we to avoid them? Look at Genesis 39:12. When Potiphar’s wife was tempting him, it says that Joseph “fled and got him out.” How can and should we maintain purity in our lives?
- Moroni 10:31. What ancient prophet is Moroni quoting here? How well did Moroni know the scriptures from which these phrases have come and also in general?
- Moroni 10:31–33. How may we become “perfected in Christ”? What does it mean to be perfected in Christ? What does it not mean?
