Moroni Finalizes the Book of Mormon

Moroni’s Vision of the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon

Mormon 8:23–25

Search Isaiah’s prophesies—the words from the past will resurface, making known the works of God.

Search the prophecies of Isaiah. Behold, I cannot write them. Yea, behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them.

And he knoweth their prayers, that they were in behalf of their brethren. And he knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove mountains; and in his name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause prisons to tumble to the earth; yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word. And behold, their prayers were also in behalf of him that the Lord should suffer to bring these things forth.

Mormon 8:26

Faith ensures the occurrence of miracles.

And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.

Mormon 8:27

The Book of Mormon will come forth in the day that the blood of the saints will cry to the Lord.

And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.

Mormon 8:28

It will come when the power of God is denied, in a time of religious corruption.

Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.

Mormon 8:29–30

It will come in a time of war and calamity.

Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands; and there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.

Mormon 8:31

It will come in a time of pollution and corruption, when morals and values have been lost.

Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say:

“Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not,
for the Lord will uphold such at the last day.”

But wo unto such for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.

Mormon 8:32–33

It will come in a time that churches offer forgiveness in exchange for money.

Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say:

“Come unto me, and for your money
you shall be forgiven of your sins.”

O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people,
why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain?

Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God,
that ye might bring damnation upon your souls?

Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God;
for behold, the time cometh at that day
when all these things must be fulfilled.

Mormon 8:34–35

Moroni sees the time and the people among whom the Book of Mormon will come forth—he speaks to them as if he were present.

Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.

Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

Mormon 8:36–37

Moroni sees the pride and corruption of those among whom the Book of Mormon will come forth.

And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

Mormon 8:38–40

Moroni condemns the hypocrisy and corruption of the wicked, particularly those who have polluted the church of God.

O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers,
who sell yourselves for that which will canker,
why have ye polluted the holy church of God?

Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ?

Why do ye not think that greater is the value
of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies
because of the praise of the world?

Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life,
and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked,
and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you,
and notice them not?

Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain,
and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord,
and also orphans to mourn before the Lord,
and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands
to cry unto the Lord from the ground,
for vengeance upon your heads?

Mormon 8:41

Moroni gives a clear warning that wickedness will be avenged.

Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.