Moroni 10:31-34 (Moroni 10:31-34)
Here I am at the end of the record, and also at the end of a 16 year journey for me. I had not seen the significance of the parallels in my life with this study until just now. I have slowed down in the approach to my studies as I have understood how carefully selected every word is in these records.
There are three themes in these final verses:
- The gathering of Israel
- The invitation to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
- A farewell until the final judgment.
Al estudiar en español estos versículos, me impresiona que Moroni no tuvo texto ni ningún otro libro para guiarse en sus pensamientos, lo que dice aquí al final es palabra propia. No está inventando, sino está testificando.
This morning (with fresh eyes), these three themes are not disconnected, but are deeply enveloped in one another. The covenent that the Father made with the house of Israel (the same covenant that was made with Adam and Eve at the fall) was that we might come unto Christ and be perfected in him, receive a remission of our sins and be made holy so that we can come back into His presence.
The irony of it all is that there is literally nothing this side of heaven or earth that keeps us from receiving all the blessings of God except the condition of our own hearts. Moroni’s cries to Jerusalem and the daughter of Zion are wake up calls to them who already knew, who at once had knowledge and forgot it. The blessings are not passed on to another. It is Zion who must put on her beautiful garments. It is Jerusalem that must stand up erect and shake off her dust.
There are references to other passages of scripture that talk about Zion and Jerusalem awaking and putting on their beautiful garments. Two similar passages are found in Isaiah 52:1-2 and in 3 Nephi 20:36-38. In both of these passages there is a statement about the daughter of Zion removing a band from around their necks. This statement is explained in Doctrine and Covenants 113:10 as being a curse administered from God in their scattered position upon the Gentiles. That God would be the one telling them to remove the band he himself put there (probably for their protection) is a profound thought.
“Jerusalem” and “daughter of Zion” have reference to the same thing. I hadn’t seen that in my reading of verse 31 until this morning. At the end of the verse, Moroni, is then speaking to the House of Israel, which he seems to also be using interchangeably.
This morning, after having sat with this entry now for several weeks, I’m decided to conclude this study. On this final morning, I’m sitting with the reality that all is centered in Jesus Christ. Moroni points to Christ as the fulfillment of the covenants made with the House of Israel, and the means by which that they would realize the blessings of this covenant. He also looks to Christ as the great Jehovah, the eternal judge of the quick and the dead.
The symbolic imagery of the angel Moroni is invoked in this final verse, as Moroni contemplates his resurrected state flying through the air towards that great reunion and time of judgment.
This is the whole purpose of this book, to persuade men to believe in Jesus Christ, come unto Him, and prepare ourselves to pass that exam of the final judgment. That is the great purpose of mortality, this period of probation is to prepare for the final exam, which will be hardly no examination like as man’s dreams could fathom. Rather this is exiting step and what leads to life eternal. What appears to be the end is in truth the end of the beginning.
(The spirit of the Lord is strong with me this morning. I’ve read the chapter again in Spanish from top to bottom.) This book is given to make us holy. It is a preparation to return to the presence of God, who is as He desires us to become. This is the text that has been prepared to assist us in our return. There is no other book that does this thing, to this degree. No other book will draw us closer to Christ than the book of Mormon.
Now, I must go pray.