Doctrine and Covenants 77-80

<p>Angels played a key role in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This work of restoration took place during the sixth seal, through the work of these angels along with Joseph Smith and other men and women called to assist in the work. An angel holding a trumpet has become one of the most well-known symbols of the Restoration and adorns many of the Church’s temples. While the angel on our temples is affectionately referred to as Moroni, the angel itself is a symbol of all of the angels involved in the work of the Restoration. </p> <p>Moroni is identified in the Doctrine and Covenants as being given the specific commission to reveal the Book of Mormon, which contains “the fulness of my everlasting gospel” (D&C 27:5). But the visitations of Moroni were only the first of many angels who took part in the Restoration. Not all of the angels who participated in the Restoration were named, but at least the following were involved: Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Moses, Elijah, Elias, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael (see D&C 13; 110; 128:19–21).</p> <p>The four angels referred to in Doctrine and Covenants 77:8 are involved in the sealing of the servants of God. Joseph Smith taught that “four destroying angels [hold] power over the four quarters of the earth, until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads which signifies sealing the blessing upon their heads meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election sure. When a seal is put upon the father and mother it secures their posterity so that they cannot be lost but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> JS History, vol. E-1, p. 1690, JSP. </p> </div>

<p>We do not know the precise identity of the Elias mentioned in this passage. According to the scriptures, several people have been identified as Elias. The Doctrine and Covenants identifies the ancient prophet Noah as an Elias and as the person to whom the Lord has “committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things” (D&C 27:6–7; Luke 1:19). The prophet Elijah acts as an Elias preparing the way (Malachi 4:5; D&C 110:13–14). John the Baptist was identified as an Elias (see Matthew 17:10–13). John the Revelator is identified as an Elias, based on how this revelation is interpreted (see D&C 77:14).</p> <p>Given that Elias can function as a calling and a title in addition to being a personal name, it is possible that the Elias referred to in this verse is a composite figure. This Elias may represent all of the angels involved in the work of the Restoration of the latter days.<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a> In the 1835 account of the First Vision, Joseph Smith mentioned that he saw not only the Father and the Son but also “many angels in this vision.”<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a> The Elias referred to in this passage may represent the many named and unnamed angels who participated and who still assist in the work of Restoration, from the First Vision down to the present day.</p> <p>One last possibility is that this Elias is not John the Baptist, John the Revelator, or any other prophet, but Jesus Christ Himself. The Joseph Smith Translation of John 1:20–28 identifies another Elias who “was to restore all things” (Joseph Smith Translation, John 1:22). In this passage, John the Baptist identifies Christ as this Elias, saying, “He it is <em>of whom I bear record. He is that prophet, even Elias,</em> who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, <em>or whose place I am not able to fill; for he shall baptize, not only with water, but with fire, and with the Holy Ghost</em>”(Joseph Smith Translation, John 1:28). If we are speaking of the restoration of “all things” (D&C 77:9), then the person who serves as Elias in this instance is the Savior. He is the person who began the greatest of all restorations by reversing the work of death itself (1 Corinthians 15:22) and redeeming humankind. He is the one who will carry out the “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21).</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> See Joseph Fielding Smith, <em>Doctrines of Salvation, </em>1954­–1956<em>, </em>3 vols., 1:170–174.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> JS Journal, 1835–1836, p. 24, JSP. </p> </div>

<p>We do not know the precise correlation between our time and God’s time, and so it is difficult to know precisely when the sixth seal ends and the seventh seal begins. We should not assume, for instance, that the year AD 2000 corresponds with the opening of the seventh seal, and so forth. The Lord’s answer to the question in verse 10 makes it clear that the initial work of the Restoration of the gospel took place in the sixth thousand years, but we do not know precisely when those thousand years end and the seventh thousand years, which are prophesied to be the millennium of peace, begins.</p>

<p>The book of Revelation mentions that one-hundred-forty-four thousand, or twelve thousand from each of the tribes of Israel, will be sealed. The number twelve is associated symbolically with Israel. For instance, there are twelve tribes, and twelve apostles called to minister to and judge those tribes (1 Nephi 12:9). Twelve multiplied by twelve, or twelve squared, represents the idea of Israel raised to a new order of magnitude, or the millennial Israel.<a id="_ftnref1" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> These high priests will be drawn from &ldquo;every nation, kindred, tongue, and people&rdquo; (D&amp;C 77:11), demonstrating the global reach of the Church in the latter days. As the gospel rolls forth throughout the world, it is encouraging to think of the formation of this select group of high priests. According to this passage, represented among the one-hundred-forty-four thousand will be members from Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, Italy, Ghana, and every other nation.</p> <p>We should not make the assumption that the one-hundred-forty-four thousand will be the only ones who will receive blessings on that day. John also spoke of a &ldquo;great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues&rdquo; that stood before the throne of God (Revelation 7:9). The Prophet Joseph tied the identity of the one-hundred-forty-four thousand and the great multitude to those who participate in temple ordinances for the dead. He taught,</p> <blockquote> <p>It is not only necessary that you should be baptized for your dead, but you will have to go through all the ordinances for them, same as you have gone through to save yourselves; there will be 144,000 Saviors on Mount Zion, and with them an innumerable host, that no man can number. Oh! I beseech you to go forward, and make your calling and your election sure; and if any man preach any other gospel than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed, and some of you who now hear me shall see it, and know that I testify the truth concerning them.<a id="_ftnref2" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p> </blockquote> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn1" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Robinson and Garrett, 2:344.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn2" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> JS History, vol. F-1, p. 19, JSP.</p> </div>