As is often the case when an audience with angels or the Lord is granted, the recipient is taken away “in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.” (1 Nephi 11: 1.) This is to permit the recipient to view the unfolding vision without the corruptions and distractions of earthly surroundings. Temples and homes can provide us a similar refuge from the world. But when a most sacred place is needed, someplace apart from the setting in which the recipient is found, getting “caught up” to an “exceedingly high mountain” is often the description used to signify removing one from the earth, temporarily, to a place where heavenly conversations can take place. Nephi gets this experience, and within that setting is freed up to receive understanding which our earth-bound capacities generally cannot take in.The content of such experiences are never fully shared with others, because they cannot be.
Although many events are future to Nephi, we are familiar with some of them from our past. He is shown Mary, Christ’s mother, and Christ’s birth. Nephi has the angelic confirmation this is “the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father.” (1 Nephi 11: 21.) Christ’s mortal ministry and death on the cross are also shown to him, which he describes in verses 24 to 33 of Chapter 11. He sees the history of the New Testament Church and its ultimate demise and apostasy. He sees the apostasy of his own descendants and their ultimate destruction. Nephi sees latter-day scriptures (Book of Mormon) coming forth from his descendants, which reconfirm the testimony of Christ’s Gospel contained in the New Testament record. (1 Nephi 13: 38-42.) He sees a latter-day struggle between those who follow Christ and comprise His true Church on the one hand, and all others who belong to “the church of the devil,” on the other hand. (Id., v. 10-17.) It is during this latterday unfolding of the struggle between the true “Church of the Lamb of God” and the followers of the devil, that a veil is drawn over Nephi’s vision. Nephi is told “the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write.” (Id., v. 25.)
The moment of the interruption in his record is the very moment in which we find ourselves now living. Therefore, if we had some way of determining what this missing account of the vision contained, we would have material directly applicable to our own time. It is important, therefore, to find a way to draw aside the veil over this information.
It is the contention of this book that Nephi uses the Isaiah texts to teach and counsel us about his vision of our times. The Isaiah chapters are important to help us in this great “war” underway in the last days. He saw our day, and, more importantly, he saw it in the context of a great war underway between the Church of the Lamb of God and the church of the devil. He uses Isaiah to tell us about what he saw but could not write.
Nephi’s description, immediately before the veil is drawn, is as follows:
And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth. And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things—And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel. (1 Nephi 14: 13-17.)
It is our time, our generation and our conflict Nephi sees. He knows what we face. We could use this material, if we could figure out how to get it. Nephi, of course, realizes it would be of great benefit to us. For this reason Nephi’s mention of “others” who have previously written about these things assumes a significance which should not be lost. Remember, Nephi wrote: “And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things, and they have written them.” (Id., v. 26.) This becomes a key comment in realizing the significance of the Isaiah passages.
Nephi reminds us again he cannot write them: “And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw and heard; wherefore the things which I have written sufficeth me; and I have written but a small part of the things which I saw.” (Id., v. 28.) While telling us he can’t write them, he also assures us there are many things which he saw. His record contains only a “small part” of the relevant materials.
Why does the Lord do this? Why would a vision be given to someone and its contents kept from public display? It is a common enough thing in scripture. The Book of Mormon frequently draws a veil over the events and calls them “unspeakable.” The Apostle Paul similarly refused to record all he knew. Joseph Smith also drew a veil over some sacred events. It is a common enough event that we ought to pause and reflect on why it occurs.
We tend to want things given to us before we are able to assimilate them. When it comes to sacred truths, we can harm ourselves if we get too far in learning about principles which we are neither living nor ready to live. Gospel principles are meant to be lived once revealed to us. Otherwise we are merely voyeurs. In Alma’s writings he explores this phenomena as follows: “he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction.” (Alma 12: 10-11.) Hardness of heart is usually accompanied by a hardness of head. That is, we tend not to be willing to live in accordance with principles, even though we want to know about them. We are often more curious than we are obedient, becoming voyeurs rather than visionaries. Oddly enough, our curiosity gets satisfied as we obey. But we are unwilling to make that exchange.
I believe the Lord has provided in His inspired scriptures everything we need in order to know what is being withheld. However, He requires us to have the sensitivity to approach the matter prayerfully and obtain it for ourselves. When we finally receive the fullness of the revelations, we will realize it was all there to begin with; we were just too hard-hearted to find it out. When the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon is given to us, I believe we will discover everything which was sealed was already revealed in the record we now have. The difference will only be the plainness with which it is taught.
The Lord hides most truths in plain sight. His “mysteries” are often already before you. One illustration is in the recorded vision in the Kirtland Temple, which appears in Section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This vision has been before us for over a century and a half. Yet, we continue to ignore its carefully crafted incompleteness and the message imbedded there. Parsing it apart illustrates how scriptures conceal things, even as they reveal them. Since we are going to be doing that with Nephi’s Isaiah texts, we will use Section 110 as an exercise to prepare us. We also use it here because this has not been done before.
Section 110 is the recorded vision of the Lord’s visit and acceptance of the Kirtland Temple. It also contains an account of Joseph and Oliver receiving the final keys of the Priesthood for this Dispensation. Whenever any keys were restored in our day, there were always two witnesses. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey both received the Aaronic Priesthood (JS-H 1: 68-69), and both received the Melchizedek Priesthood (D&C 27: 12; see also v. 8). Similarly, Joseph and Oliver were together when the other keys were conferred in the Kirtland Temple. (DHC 2: 435.) These two appear to be the only ones upon whom the keys were restored through heavenly messengers. Neither of them left any fuller account of the events in the Kirtland Temple than what we find there.
This is what Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1930, Afternoon Meeting, p.91 said about the restoration of keys:
It was Oliver Cowdery who was appointed to stand with Joseph Smith to hold the keys of this dispensation.
It was Oliver Cowdery who, with Joseph Smith, received the priesthood of Aaron under the hands of John the Baptist. It was Oliver Cowdery who received the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood with Joseph Smith from Peter, James and John. It was Oliver Cowdery who knelt with the Prophet Joseph in the Kirtland temple in 1836, when Moses and Elias and Elijah came with the keys of their dispensations. I am convinced that if we had the full record, we would discover that Oliver Cowdery was associated with Joseph Smith the Prophet when the keys of all the other dispensations were revealed and restored in this dispensation. In this manner Oliver Cowdery was appointed and ordained to stand with the Prophet Joseph Smith as an associate and witness, holding all the authority and keys of this most glorious of all dispensations-the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.
Structurally, the account in Section 110 begins with a vision of Christ. He is described physically in verses 1 and 2. Then He is quoted, beginning in verse 4 and lasting through verse 10. Details of Christ’s appearance are plentiful. From His identity, to appearance, to the words He spoke, Section 110 is filled with details about Christ’s appearance. When, however, the vision of the Lord ends and another vision opens, the quality of the account markedly changes.
In the second vision, we are given an identity (“Moses,” v. 11) and are told about the keys conferred (“keys of gathering of Israel from the four corners of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north”). No physical description is given here. Nor is there any quote of what Moses said. A veil is being drawn over the account. It is losing the sharp focus with which it began.
As the vision of Moses ends, the account changes yet again. Now instead of an identity, only a title is given: “Elias” appears. But this is no name, as is explained by Elder John Widtsoe: “This understanding of the mission and spirit of Elias has led many writers, ancient and modern, to speak of any person charged with preparatory work, one who goes before, as an Elias. Thus, John the Baptist was an Elias in his work as a forerunner of the Christ. Similarly, each personage, from Moroni to those appearing in the Kirtland Temple, who introduced the present, last dispensation of the gospel, may be spoken of as an Elias. Elias, then, is often used as a title, as the titles of bishop, prophet, or president are used, betokening a special position, mission, service, power, or authority. With this in mind, many otherwise obscure scriptural passages may be understood. (D. & C. 77:9, 14; Rev. 7:2, 3; 10:1)” John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, p.244.
As Section 110 unfolds, therefore, the vision of “Elias” in verse 12 is obscuring from us the identity of the person involved. It is so obscure it could be concealing even the number of those involved. It is also vague as to what keys were being conferred by this messenger. Verse 12 refers only to the “gospel of Abraham,” which is a term otherwise not defined anywhere in scripture. We might well ask: “What exactly is happening here? Who is this ‘Elias’ that appeared? What is the ‘gospel of Abraham’ whose keys are restored?” These questions have answers that have varied depending upon who has tried to answer them. Here is only a sample of the many different answers which have been offered by Church leaders:
Elder Legrand Richards, Conference Report, April 1934, Afternoon Meeting, p.85, opined as follows: “This great revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith was given in the Kirtland Temple ninety-eight years ago last Tuesday, at which time the Prophet Elias who conferred upon him and Oliver Cowdery the keys of the Gospel of Abraham, and told them that through them and their seed all generations after them should be blessed. As I understand it, the mission of Elias, the prophet, relates to the missionary work of the Church, to cry repentance to the world, and prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.”
Elder Brigham H. Roberts, Conference Report, April 1921, Second Day—Morning Session, p.121, said the following: “Subsequently, when the fulness of times for such things had come, then Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared in the Kirtland Temple and bestowed upon these men the keys of authority and power they held while they were on the earth. Moses restored the keys for the gathering of the children of Israel; Elias, perhaps the patriarchal order, together with the keys or authority that unlocked the knowledge that was to link together the families of men in all nations, and that the Lord shall at the last combine into one family all the children of men.”
John Taylor offered the following statement in John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, p.159-160: “We read that Moses and Elias came to administer to Jesus, on the Mount, while Peter, James and John were with him. Who were this Moses and this Elias? Moses was a great Prophet, appointed by the Lord to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage, and lead them to the promised land; and he held the keys of the gathering dispensation, which keys he afterwards conferred upon Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple. Who was Elias? Elijah; which name in the old Scriptures is made synonymous with Elias; and who held, according to the testimony of Joseph Smith as elsewhere stated, the keys of the Priesthood.”
We read in Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols., 4: p.8, the following: “Therefore, we discover that in the days of the Savior, he honored the prophets who held the keys of the priesthood in ancient times and called upon them to come and bestow upon Peter, James, and John their keys, notwithstanding the fact that he held all the authority whence came the authority given to Moses and Elijah. It was also Moses and Elias (who lived in the days of Abraham) and Elijah who came to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple and again revealed their keys to be exercised in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.” He goes on in the same work at p.193 to say: “Question: ’Who is Elias referred to in Section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenants? It appears that the Elias who visited the apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration was Elijah, but both Elias and Elijah appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple.’”
A more dogmatic answer is given by Alvin R. Dyer, a Counselor in the First Presidency, in his book, Who Am I?, p. 372-373: “Because Elias, as a person, appeared in the Kirtland Temple and not simply a messenger in the spirit of Elias or as an Elias, leads to the question that is often asked: who is Elias? The answer to this has been given by revelation, wherein, we learn that Elias as a person is none other than Noah, the second great progenitor of mankind.”
Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p.103, gives us this:
There is no valid reason for confusion as to the identity and mission of Elias. There was a man named Elias who came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple to restore ’the gospel of Abraham.’ (D&C 110:12.) Whether he was Abraham himself or someone else from his dispensation, we do not know. Elias is one of the names of Gabriel who is Noah, and it was in this capacity that Gabriel visited Zacharias the father of John the Baptist. (D&C 27:6-7.) Elias is the Greek form of the Hebrew Elijah, and in this sense has reference to the prophet from Tishbe. Elias is also the title or name of a forerunner who goes before to prepare the way for someone who is greater; this is the doctrine of Elias, and in this sense John the Baptist was both Elias and an Elias. John came in the way that Gabriel (who is Elias) promised, that is, ’in the spirit and power of Elias, …to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ (Luke 1:17.) In this sense also, the Aaronic Priesthood is the Priesthood of Elias because it prepares men for the greater priesthood. We shall hereafter speak of Joseph Smith as the Elias who came to prepare the way for the Second Coming.
In another statement from John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, p. 243 we read: “From this reference to ’the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham,’ it has been concluded that Elias was a prophet who lived near the time of the patriarch, Abraham. Really, nothing more definite is known about the person Elias and his activity on earth. It is very evident that he was a personage of importance, for he held the ‘keys’ of authority in a mission of vital importance in carrying out on earth the plan of salvation.”
We read in Sidney B. Sperry, Book of Mormon Compendium, p.60 the following: “Elder Cowdery took a prominent part in the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in March 1836. It will also be remembered that in that temple on April 3, 1836, he and Joseph Smith beheld in vision the Savior, Moses, Elias (Noah), and Elijah. They also received, on that occasion, the keys of the gathering of Israel, the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and the keys of the sealing powers of the Priesthood under which the hearts of the fathers are turned to the children, and the children to the fathers.”
In Hyrum L. Andrus, Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price, p.367-368, we find: “The designation of Noah as ‘Elias’ may give a clue to the meaning of this name. In the sense in which it is used in the above revelation, it apparently applies to Noah as a presiding figure within the divine patriarchal order of this earth. Noah, as Elias, in modern times restored the keys of the divine patriarchal order that were given earlier to Abraham, with all the related rights and promises that pertain to that system. This occurred in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836. Joseph Smith’s Inspired Revision of John 1:28 also designates Christ as Elias, not as a forerunner, but as the central presiding figure within the Gospel program of this earth. As the Father of all who are born into the kingdom of God, Christ is the great Elias over all the righteous of every age. Here again Elias seems to be a name-title given to one who presides over the divine patriarchal order.”
From the above, it is clear that the text of verse 12 of Section 110 is obscure. The veil drawn here is in stark contrast with what immediately follows. Beginning at verse 13 and going through verse 16 we return to brilliant clarity again. We read in the final vision about a specific person (Elijah; v. 13) and we read a quote again: “Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said: …” We know who, and we know exactly what he said, for this is followed immediately with verses which quote him. The clarity with which the revelation began returns again. As it began with Christ, it ends with Elijah; for the veil is removed again. It began clear, it progressed into obscurity as a veil is drawn, and ends with the veil parted again and the original clarity restored.
This was wittingly doNephi It is an example of how prophets write revelations which reveal and conceal at the same moment. This is how the Lord permits things to be disclosed, and it is for a reason. He taught in parables, after all, and told His disciples why He did so. As you realize this, you should also realize there is an obligation imposed upon you to seek answers. I’ve addressed this obligation to inquire, and how we seal the heavens against our minds when we do not inquire, more extensively in an earlier book, The Second Comforter.
As it turns out, Joseph did not leave us in confusion about the matter. He leaves a record of the keys returned to him and Oliver. In a letter Joseph composed in 1842, D&C 128, he rejoices as he considers what has been returned to the earth. He writes about the returned keys as follows: “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 their 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!” (Id., v. 20-21, emphasis added.) It would appear from this statement that “Elias” was not a single person, but many. And the veil being drawn was wittingly done to allow us to focus upon what was essential, and leave the rest for later contemplation and discovery.
If we believe and accept the account of the vision in Section 110 as written, then we know what is essential. Adding what Joseph will later retell in Section 128 does not change the essential message of Section 110. It does give us reassurance ALL the keys have been returned. We need not look for others to come. They are here. But Section 110 already assures us this is the case in the closing words spoken by Elijah in his quoted statement: “Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands.” (v. 16.) No other keys were returned after Kirtland, according to Elijah’s statement. And so they had to have been given by then (and most certainly right then).
People have claimed “Elias” was Noah, or someone living when Abraham was alive, or Abraham himself, or Joseph sold into Egypt, or various others. I have heard people testify they knew by the confirmation of the Spirit each of these various personalities was “Elias” in Section 110. They are all correct, for “Elias” was a title, not a name, and it applied to all of those whose keys were returned in this Dispensation. Those included, as Joseph wrote, “divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time,” or anyone holding any key from any dispensation from the past.
This detour into Section 110 illustrates how prophets draw a veil in one place, and then give clues in another. Joseph did this. Nephi did as well.
The subject that Nephi has been told to draw a veil was treated by “others” who wrote about it elsewhere. One was Isaiah. And so Nephi will turn to Isaiah to help him uncover the content of the concealed material. Accordingly, as we read the Isaiah texts we need to remember what is being concealed. It is the vision of our day. It is the war underway in our day between the “church of the devil” and the “Church of the Lamb of God.” And as we read the materials, we need to “liken” them unto this war in which we are presently engaged.