The Angel with the Gospel
The group stood and sang the old
favorite hymn, “We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet,” after which Elder Hanley
asked permission to present a question. “One person told me,” he began, “that
the angel mentioned in Revelation 14:6-7 who is said would restore the Gospel,
is certainly not the one who is said to have come to Joseph Smith. He
emphasized the fact that the said text declares that the voice of the angel would
be heard by ‘every nation, kindred, tongue, and people,’ whereas, the angel who
is represented as coming to Joseph Smith was not seen or heard by any except a
few special witnesses.
“I have been in the field but a
short time and am quite concerned about this matter. Moreover, I would like to know
who the angel is that John had reference to. Should we say that Moroni fulfilled
this prophecy or was it Peter, Elijah, or some other heavenly messenger who
brought special keys to the Prophet?”
“That is a difficult question,”
the President replied when the Elder sat down. “I was asked that question once
and have since given it considerable study. I readily turned to my notes on
this subject and shall read you what is said in the Doctrine and Covenants
about this issue.
“In the first place, however, the
Bible does not say that the angel’s voice would be heard by everybody on the
earth. I shall ask Sister Halliday to repeat these verses slowly and I invite
you to pay particular attention to them.”
The talented missionary with a
college degree in English and dramatics quoted with feeling and meaning these
lines:
And I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to ever nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying
with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment
is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters.
“Notice the words,” the President
pointed out, “’having the everlasting gospel to preach,’ yet it does not say
the angel would peach it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Though
he was to speak ‘with a loud voice,’ it is not said that his voice would be
heard by everybody. Never in past ages when an angel has been sent with a
special message has his voice been heard by everybody. It is only reasonable
that he would come secretly to God’s chosen prophet, instructing him with the message
and inspire him to send representatives into every nation to take the message
the angel had delivered. As a better wording I shall quote from a modern
revelation which makes it so plain that I need say no more about it. In our
modern scripture we read:
And now, verily saith the Lord,
that these things might be known among you, O inhabitants of the earth, I have
sent forth mine angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel, who hath appeared unto some and hath committed it unto man,
who shall appear unto many that dwell on the earth.
And this gospel shall be preached
unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.
And the servants of God shall go
forth, saying with a loud voice: Fear God and give glory to him, for the house
of his judgment is come;
And worship him that made heaven,
and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. (Doc. and Cov.
133:36-39)
Who restored the Gospel?
“And now to the more difficult
problem, which angel restored the Gospel? I think it is not wrong to say that
the text under consideration has reference to two widely separated events. The
angel with the Gospel, if we may speak of him in the singular, is mentioned in
the singular because he is the fifth angel of the Apocalypse who was
responsible for the restoration of the Gospel. The voice of that same angel,
whoever he is, will be heard by ‘all people,’ but not until the message be
assisted in restoring has been preached to all nations. Concerning this we
read:
And another trump shall sound,
which is the fifth trump, which is the fifth angel who committeth the
everlasting gospel—flying through the midst of heaven, unto all nations,
kindreds, tongues, and people;
And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven
and in earth, and that are under the earth—for every ear shall hear it, and
every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the sound
of the trump saying: Fear God, and give glory to him, who sitteth upon the
throne, forever and ever; for the house of his judgment is come. (Ibid.,
88:103-4)
“This event will take place immediately
before the second coming of the Lord. Angel voices will then be heard by all
people, yet nowhere is it said that when the Gospel was restored would his
voice be heard by all people. Elsewhere we read:
An angels shall fly through the
midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying:
Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God
is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (Ibid.,
88:92)
“The voices of the angel of the
restoration and other angels will yet be heard universally, but at the time of
the restoration their voices were heard by a chosen few. I am not in a position
to say just who is the single heavenly messenger who restored the Gospel. I
like to think of the glorious restoration as being a gradual unfoldment, a gradual
development resulting from the visits of many heavenly messengers, not the
outgrowth of any one angel and not attributable to a single or isolated visit.
I like the way the Prophet Joseph Smith spoke of these important visits, no
particular one of which he singled out as most important. He wrote of these
many visits from heavenly messengers, though he did not include all of them in
this brief mention:
And again, what do we hear? Glad
tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of
the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of
Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the
book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil
when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in
the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome
county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys
of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!
And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette,
Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the
travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and
of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring
their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and
glory, and the power of the priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon
precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth
that which is to come, confirming our hope! (Ibid., 128:20-21)
“Elsewhere our modern scriptures
do not limit the restoration to one angel:
We are to understand that they are
four angels sent forth from God, to whom is given power over the four parts of
the earth, to save life and to destroy; these are they who have the everlasting
gospel to commit to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; having power to
shut up the heavens to seal up unto life, or to cast down to the regions of darkness.
(Ibid., 77:8)
“One other revelation emphasized
the fact that there were many angels who played an important part in the drama
of restoration: ‘Stand, therefore, having your loins gird about with truth,
having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit
unto you.” (Ibid., 27:16) (E. Cecil McGavin, Cumorah’s “Gold Bible” [Salt
Lake City: The Deseret News Press, 1940], 141-45)
Further Reading
Defending
the Latter-day Saint Interpretation of Revelation 14:6-7