Need for a Prophet and Continuing Revelation

According to Evangelical Protestants, the day of revelations has ceased. Please study carefully “Does God Continue to Speak to Prophets?” in Continuing Revelation and Modern Scripture in volume 4, chapter 8 of Ye Shall Know of the Doctrine. There, Evangelical scholar Craig Blomberg claims that the days of the Lord’s prophets’ prophesying and writing scripture were winding down even before the beginning of the New Testament. He maintains, with the exception of the apostle John (Revelation 22:18-10), the New Testament authors wrote with the spirit of inspiration, but were not actually “prophets” who prophesied and then wrote those prophecies into scripture. It is apparent that his understanding of the concepts of revelation, prophecy, and prophets are limited to an academic definition. He seems to define a “prophet” narrowly as one who prophesies. “Revelation” is divine communication that allows the prophet to prophesy. He further implies that the Christian world is doing fine without prophets.

We LDS contend that the Lord intends to maintain a continuous channel of communication with his children in his earthly kingdom through ordained man called prophets (or apostles). While the Lord’s gospel and doctrine do not change, people and circumstances do. The prophet is indispensable in interpreting God’s word and applying it to present situations. The Lord communicates, in an ongoing way, with prophets by the process of revelation. Wouldn’t it be tragic if the Lord wished to communicate with his people but were unable due to a lack of a prophet?

Revelation is any communication from God to mankind. Through revelation to prophets, the Lord is able to provide constant instruction to those in his earthly kingdom. On occasion these revelations may be recorded and then canonized as scripture, as the Lord sees fit. Also, on occasion, these revelations may contain actual prophecies of future events. The term prophecy is richer than referring only to the foreseeing of future events. It also refers to revelatory instructions of every sort. It is apparent that the Lord intends that we have prophets upon the earth until “we all come to a unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:11-13). And that has certainly not yet occurred.

A belief in prophets and their messages lies at the heart of our doctrine. We recognize as prophets the biblical (Old and New Testament) and Book of Mormon prophets and apostles.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

Devout persons of all Christian faiths readily accepted the truth that revelation was poured out upon the faithful, from age to age, from Adam to the days of Christ’s apostles. They suppose, however, that since the apostolic era the heavens have been sealed and that revelation has ceased. In reality souls are just as precious in the sight of God today as they ever were, and revelation is still poured out in abundance so that souls may be led to salvation (Mormon Doctrine, 648).

In the Church, a “prophet” may be defined on three levels.

1. On one level, there is a single prophet who heads the Church—the president—the one who presides. The word “prophet” comes from the Greek prophetes, which means “inspired teacher.” Although the Greek term does not include the meaning of foretelling or prophesying, that function is included with the other implications of the word. In the Church the president/prophet conveys the words of the Lord to the Church. Those words may come in the form of counsel, warning, direct instruction, commandment, encouragement, or a prophetic foretelling of events. What he pronounces in the name of the Lord is counted as scripture, though at other times he may choose to comment or opine in a less formal way and setting without the implication of creating doctrine.

2. On another level, all of those ordained to be apostles in the Lord’s earthly kingdom are prophets. They also are ordained, divinely enabled, and expected to receive revelation.

3. On yet another level, a prophet is anyone who has a testimony of Jesus Christ and is moved by the Holy Ghost (Revelation 19:10; cf. TPJS, 119, 160). Moses, voicing his approval of two men who had prophesied, exclaimed, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). In modern times, speaking of Brigham Young, Elder Wilford Woodruff said, “He is a prophet, I am a prophet, you are, and anybody is a prophet who has the testimony of Jesus Christ, for that is the spirit of prophecy” (JD 13:165).

It follows that the spirit of prophecy does not operate in every utterance of its possessor. The prophet Joseph Smith explained that “a prophet [is] a prophet only when he [is] acting as such” (HC 5:265).

Joseph Smith said, “Revelations of the mind and will of God to the Church are to come through the Presidency. This is the order of heaven, and the power and privilege of this priesthood. It is also the privilege of any officer in this Church to obtain revelations, so far as relates to his particular calling and duty in the Church” (TPJS, 111).

Following his first vision in 1820 (JS-H 1:11-20) Joseph was visited by a succession of angel-prophet-messengers. These committed to him the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and the “keys” of the priesthood. These keys authorized him to preside over the Church.

Joseph Smith’s prophetic office was officially recognized when the Church was organized on April 6, 1830. A revelation to him says, “Thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church . . . being inspired of the Holy Ghost to lay the foundation thereof” (D&C 21:1-2). He subsequently, and to the time of his death, served as presiding officer, the “President of the High Priesthood.” In March 1836, under the prophetic leadership of Joseph Smith, the membership of the Church sustained the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators (HC 2:417). Their successors have been similarly sustained.

An unbroken series of prophet/presidents have led the Church since the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. Since 1847, these prophets have administered the affairs of the Church from Church headquarters in Salt Lake City. They have dedicated themselves to their appointed mission of helping the people of the world prepare for eternal life, and for the second coming of Jesus Christ. They have provided leadership for the international missionary program of the Church and for the building of temples. The living prophet continues to receive revelations, select and ordain leaders by the spirit of prophecy, and serve as the principal teacher of the Church, instructing its members in doctrine and in righteous living.

Prophets and their messages have occupied a central place in God’s dealings with his children from the beginning. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle, has written that a foreordained prophet has stood at the head of God’s church in all dispensations of the gospel from the time of Adam (see Moses 5:9-10) to the present, including, for example, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, and Joseph Smith (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, Salt Lake City, 1985, 2).

Prophets are always witnesses of Jesus Christ. The experience common to all the church’s prophets is the witness they bear of Jesus Christ, the Messiah—of his divine sonship and his earthly mission.

The Hebrew prophets spoke for God for many centuries until the post-apostolic era, from the second to the nineteenth centuries, when faith in continuing prophecy had vanished in that part of the world and when people assumed, even as did some in Jesus’s day, that the prophets were dead (John 8:53) and their offices abolished.

No true prophets, ancient or modern, have ever called themselves to their positions. Some, such as Moses, Amos, and Jeremiah, have even accepted the calling reluctantly. Some, including John the Baptist, Samuel, and Joseph Smith, were called in childhood or youth.

The calls made to individual prophets and God’s further communications with and through them have been accomplished in various ways: (1) through the ministering of angels; (2) in dreams; (3) in day or night visions; (4) by prophetic inspiration—an intense conviction verified by subsequent events; (5) by the literal voice of God; and (6) in face-to-face visitations such as those experienced by Moses (Exodus 33:11), Enoch (Moses 7:4), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), and Joseph Smith (JS-H 1:17). (7) Sometimes the call has come with blinding intensity, as in those of Paul and Alma; (8) sometimes, as with Elijah, the prophet has heard “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). God has often spoken to his prophets in answer to prayer, but true prophets have not been mystics who try to make contact with the unseen by self-induced trances or similar means.

The calling of a prophet has always been made, and his messages have been written or spoken, through the power of the Holy Ghost, sometimes called the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 2:1-4, 37-42).

#Has Revelation Ceased?

An old favorite of those who say revelation has ceased is 1 Corinthians 13:8— “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there by knowledge, it shall vanish away.”

The correct interpretation of this passage is found by a careful reading of the context. Let us look at the rest of the passage: “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).

Paul is saying that there will eventually come a day, indeed, “when that which is perfect is come,” when prophecies and tongues, and study will no longer be necessary. Even then, charity will exist and prevail. And when is this “perfect day”? This is made clear in D&C 50:24. The “perfect day” is when we have earned all the gifts, received all the light, indeed, when we have become like God.

Note that Paul was using analogies. He was saying that the mortal man is to the perfect man what a mortal child is to a mortal man. Also he was saying that revelation, as we have it today in mortality, is like “seeing through a glass darkly.” When we come to see and know all things, these partial glimpses into eternity will seem as nothing and no longer be necessary.

Certainly this passage does not indicate an end of revelation while men remain in mortality. While imperfection still abides, while men are still sojourning through this mortal trial, prophets continue to be necessary.

Yet another scripture which is misinterpreted to mean that prophecy will cease is Matthew 11:13—“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” Opponents of the Church have written and preached that this verse explains that revelation would cease after John the Baptist.

This verse actually teaches that all the prophets foretold the coming of Christ until John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, or Elias. To prophesy meant to foretell or testify of Jesus (see Revelation 19:10). Jesus taught the two men on the road to Emmaus: “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken . . . And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”

John the Revelator was no less a prophet in having the testimony of Jesus than was John the Baptist. Prophecy—foretelling—is not the only form of revelation. Even if there were no new prophecies in it, the New Testament is all revelation and was all written after John. God revealed many future events to John the Revelator which was all revelation.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 is another great favorite of the anti-revelation faction: “But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrines for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” In using this passage against revelation, the argument of these anti-revelation types runs along these lines: If Timothy had enough to make him “wise unto salvation,” why do we need more than him? Besides, verse sixteen says that “all scripture is given.” If all scripture has been given and if we have the Bible, then why expect more?

Opponents of living prophets also quote Acts 20:20, 27, and interpret them the same way: “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house . . . For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” If Paul “held back nothing” and declared “all the counsel of God” to the Ephesians, why should we think there would be any more?

The simplest and most obvious explanation is that if Timothy and the Ephesian saints had all or enough, then there are several books of the New Testament which must be rejected. At the time Paul wrote his epistle to Timothy, other New Testament books were yet to be written and must therefore be excluded from the Bible. These would include the book of Revelation, given on Patmos some years after, together with John’s gospel, and John’s epistles. The enemy of new revelation in his fanatical zeal to close up the volume of inspiration, has done away the very scriptures which he pretends so firmly to believe.

Another implication that modern false teachers see in these passages is that “enough” scripture has been given to perfect the man of God—that “enough” has been given to thoroughly furnish him unto all good works. But the word enough is not found in these passages: one reads, “All scripture is given, etc.” The righteous man has no authority from this passage to assume that he has enough, but he should continue to seek for “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little,” and if he gives heed unto “all scripture” which God may condescend to reveal, it will perfect him, and thoroughly furnish him unto all good works. These passages, therefore, leave the man of God to be perfected by “all scripture” which God has given by inspiration, in early ages, or which he may give in latter times. He is not limited to any particular number of books which uninspired man has happened to find and compile into a Bible.

#Joseph Smith Was a Prophet of God.

An investigator may well wonder why we feel that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God. After all, do not other churches claim they were founded by inspired men—prophets?

Each investigator must, of course, decide for himself whether or not Joseph is a prophet of God. Perhaps the most important activity for each investigator is to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. If the Spirit bears witness to them of the authenticity and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, then it naturally follows that Joseph is a prophet.

There are other criteria for a true prophet of God:

1. Numbers 12:6—“And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”

Joseph, obviously, had many visions. The missionary may wish to tell Joseph’s own story from JS-H 1.

2. Deuteronomy 18:22—Moses taught that we may identify a false prophet by the fact that his prophecies do not come to pass. He wrote, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

Two good examples of Joseph’s prophecies did come to pass.

The Civil War. On Christmas day 1832, Joseph was inspired to prophesy that a war between the states would occur. Of course, this war did take place and is known to us as the Civil War—between 1861 and 1865. Joseph wrote:

Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations (D&C 87:1-3).

Joseph prophesied that South Carolina would take the initiative. On April 12, 1861, the Confederate forces laid siege to Fort Sumter. This fort, garrisoned by United States troops, was located in the harbor off Charleston, South Carolina. Indeed, South Carolina did take the initiative.

He further prophesied that this war would bring death to many. As it turned out, the Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars in history. The number killed or wounded varies considerably depending upon the source you chose to believe. Most Civil War studies give casualty figures in excess of 600,000. One indication of just how high the losses were is shown by a comparison with casualties in other U.S. wars. The aggregate figure for the Civil War is usually held to be about 618,000 (360,000 North, 258,000 South). The next highest casualty figure is for World War II, during which 318,000 died. World War II is followed by World War I with 115,000. Other casualty figures include: The American Revolution—4,044; War of 1812—2,200; Mexican War— 13,270; Korean War—33,000; and Vietnam War—46,616.

The prophet Joseph foretold the nature of the antagonists in this conflict. He specifically stated that the North would fight the South, which is in fact what occurred. Joseph also prophesied that the southern states would call upon Great Britain and other nations for aid. Once war broke out, the South did send commissioners to various European nations to seek diplomatic recognition and military aid.

Critics of the prophet Joseph have maintained that this revelation was not published until after the Civil War. It is true that the revelation was not published in the Doctrine and Covenants until 1876. It was published, however, in the Pearl of Great Price in 1851. Furthermore, the leaders of the Church were fully aware of Joseph’s prophecy as early as the 1830s. Orson Pratt, for example, recalled: “When I was a boy, I traveled extensively in the United States and the Canadas, preaching this restored gospel. I had a manuscript copy of the revelation [section 87] which I carried in my pocket, and I was in the habit of reading it to the people among whom I traveled and preached” (JD, 13:135).

Critics have also maintained that Joseph is a false prophet because the Civil War was not followed immediately by the second coming of Christ. In the revelation Joseph wrote, “I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed previous to the coming of the Son of Man will be in South Carolina” (D&C 130:12, emphasis added). What the prophecy says is that these events will occur prior to the second coming—and they did. Anti-Mormons contend that Joseph meant that Christ would come immediately following the bloodshed. That is not what Joseph wrote, nor is it what he meant.

The migration of the saints to the Great Basin. In 1842, at the very height of the saints newly-found prosperity in Nauvoo Joseph predicted: “I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains” (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951], 5: 85). We know that Joseph’s prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. The saints were later driven from Nauvoo, their temple was destroyed and desecrated, and many perished during their long exodus to the Great Basin.

3. Hebrews 9:16—“For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.” The prophet Joseph sealed his testimony with his blood on June 27, 1844 at Carthage Jail.

We have been accused of worshipping Joseph Smith. Mormons worship only God. We honor and admire and respect the prophets and apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ like Noah, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul. Joseph Smith belongs in that same category, and we pay him the same homage. We revere him as a prophet called of God to lay the foundation of the Kingdom of God in the last days. While we believe that Joseph acted as an instrument in God’s hands just as Moses and Noah and Paul did in their day, we do not worship him. The “creature” should not be worshipped or served more than the Creator (see Romans 1:25). An instrument or tool is never as great as its creator.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

We do not worship the Prophet [Joseph Smith]. We worship God our Eternal Father, and the risen Lord Jesus Christ. But we acknowledge [Joseph Smith], we proclaim him, we respect him, we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truth of the divine gospel” (“Joseph the Seer,” Ensign [May 1977], 65).

#All Prophets Knew and Taught of Christ

Some critics of the Church object to our claim that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been on the earth since the time of Adam. Certainly there is no biblical evidence of Christianity or the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ before the time of Christ’s mortal sojourn.

Generally Christians take too narrow a view of the church and gospel of Jesus Christ, assigning it a too recent entry into the world. Quite generally they regard “Christianity” as originating with Jesus Christ some two thousand years ago, and they have little or no conception of “Christianity before Christ.” For them the whole of it began with the birth of the Savior; this, or at most with the birth and ministry of John the Baptist, the Messiah’s forerunner or special minister. We rejoice in the sacred truth that every prophet since Adam existed to prophesy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider first the following New Testament scriptures:

1. Jesus taught the Jews on the Sabbath at the Pool Bethesda: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

2. Following his resurrection, the Lord walked the road to Emmaus and encountered two of his disciples who did not at first recognize him. They described to

Jesus the story of his own crucifixion and resurrection, expressing surprise at the fact that he had been resurrected. Luke describes the Savior’s reaction to these two disciple’s account: “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things [in other words, should you not have been expecting the resurrection?], and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

3. The Apostle Peter knew also of this truth when he wrote: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).

4. “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).

5. “Paul, a servant of God . . . in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began” (Titus 1:1-2).

6. “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18-20).

7. “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

We proclaim to the world that the fulness of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ has been on the earth intermittently since the time of Adam. We testify to the fact that all of the holy prophets on the earth since the world began have known of and have testified of Jesus Christ. In fact their central mission was to testify of Christ. Those who lived before his mortal advent looked forward to his birth and ministry, while those who live subsequently will testify that he did come.

The reason why so little is known concerning the gospel in the ancient world, from the days of Adam, through the patriarchal period of Enoch to Noah, and then through Shem to Abraham, Moses, and the prophets of Israel, is because of the fragmentary character of some parts of the Old Testament and the New Testament. In some cases whole books are missing. In the Bible, however, there is much incidental mention of and allusion to the gospel previous to the coming of the Christ. This leads one to believe that the world must have had some knowledge of that coming and of the gospel, before the earthly advent of the Savior.

For example in the very earliest scripture, in the conversation of the Lord God with the serpent and the woman Eve, it is written: “I will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and the woman; and between thy seed and her seed; it [the woman’s seed— Christ] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The woman’s “seed” is given in the singular, “It shall bruise thy head,” that is the Christ shall bruise the serpent’s head—shall wound him in a vital part. The serpent shall have power only to wound the woman’s “seed” in the heel, a non-vital part. The victory shall be given to the seed of the woman. The Christ will overcome Lucifer. A prophecy of the future world-battle of good and evil forces—between the Christ and Lucifer, with assurance from God of victory with the Christ.

There is also the strange fact in Genesis of the offerings of Cain and Abel— sacrifices. One an offering of the fruit of the earth, the other the offering of the firstling of his flock, and of the fat thereof—the first and choicest. “And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” And why? Why “offering” at all? Where did the idea of sacrifice come from? Then why “fruit of the earth” in the one case, and “a Lamb without blemish” in the other? Did the father, Adam, teach these sons the offering of sacrifice? Did Adam offer sacrifice? Why was the fruit offering of Cain rejected and the necessary blood-offering of Abel approved and accepted? Why did it not meet with divine approval? None of these questions find authoritative answers from the scriptures. Not only was Cain’s offering rejected, according to Genesis, but Cain was severely reproved for his anger, at his offering’s being rejected. But he is told that if he doeth well, he shall be accepted. “And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and to thee shall be his [Satan’s or sin’s] desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Genesis 4:1-7). God took cognizance, then, of this matter of “sacrifices” by these brothers; but gives no explanation of the matter. What an interesting mystery. This difference of sacrifices and what grew out of it resulted in the crime of fratricide by Cain. He became his brother’s murderer.

In this dispensation, God has revealed some of the writings of Moses which the world has lost. In these writings it is made known that sacrifices began with Adam because God commanded him to offer sacrifices. Adam was commanded that he should worship the Lord God, by offering the firstlings of his flocks, for an offering to the Lord. And “Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.” Then the following: “And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. And then the angel spake saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore. And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will. . . . And thus the gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost. And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance, and the gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof” (Moses 5:6-9; 58, 59).

Now we know the “why” of sacrifice. We know why Cain’s offering of fruit was not acceptable. God had commanded what kind of sacrifice must be offered. Cain’s sacrifice of the fruit of the earth contained no element of a symbol of the “atonement” which the Son of God was to make for the redemption of man. No wonder God rejected it. In every way it was an insult to him. It was an impudent rejection of what he had commanded, and it substituted something else for the thing God had desired foreshadowed; it was a mockery of the means designed of God for the symbol of the redemption of the race and the salvation of man. It could well have been designed by Lucifer who rebelled in heaven, and renewed his warfare upon the things of God among men on earth.

Jude also tells us something of Enoch, “the seventh from Adam,” how he prophesied of certain evil characters of the last days, saying: “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly that are among them” (Jude 1:14-15). Thus Enoch’s knowledge of the things of God and his vision of the movements of our Lord was projected forward even to the glorious coming of the Son of God in the end of the world! Enoch knew of the Savior and of his second coming!

And what of the prophet Noah? Did he know of Christ and his gospel? Peter says: “The Christ . . . being put to death in the flesh was quickened by the spirit by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing” (I Peter 3:18-20). He [the Christ] . . . “preached to the spirits in prison;” and what did he preach? Undoubtedly what he had been preaching to those on earth—the gospel of Jesus Christ. And “also” he went and preached it to the “spirits in prison” who had lived in the days of Noah, and had rejected the same message—the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Again, Peter: “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to man in the flesh [i.e. as men in the flesh are judged]; but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:5-6). The “Gospel was preached to them that are dead”! This could refer to no other “preaching” than that of the Christ just above mentioned, and to those who had once rejected that gospel in the days of the righteous Noah who had preached it unto them in vain. But now it was preached to them in the spirit world by the Christ. We cannot suppose that the Christ preached to them a gospel that was of no avail to them—that would not result in their redemption. It would be out of character for the Christ to preach the gospel that could only be a taunt, a mockery, to those who heard it. He would only preach to them the saving gospel. Then we have Paul’s startling inquiry: “What shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:29)? How these fragments of revealed truth piece together! Noah who was a preacher of righteousness preached the gospel, but the people of his day rejected it. And they were destroyed from life by the Flood, and their spirits gathered to the spirit prison where they are held under limitations imposed by their disobedience. Then after three thousand years they are visited by the Son of God in the spirit, who again preached to them the gospel; and for this cause; that they might be judged as men are in the flesh to whom the gospel is preached; but live according to God in the spirit, that is in loving obedience to it, if they will! And if they will, provision is made for them to receive that gospel by the sign of its acceptance through baptism— “baptism for the dead”!

And what of Abraham? Paul wrote: “And the scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel to Abraham; saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Galatians 3:8). What gospel? Fortunately in this same epistle Paul lays it down most emphatically that there is but one gospel: “Some would trouble you,” he says, to these same Galatians: “But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” There is but one gospel then; and when this same apostle, in this same book, says the “gospel was preached unto Abraham,” he could mean no other than that same gospel which he had preached unto the Galatians. And it had previously had been preached unto Abraham, as it had been to Adam, Enoch and Noah, they having looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, and to the atonement.

Paul, in Galatians, further emphasizes his doctrine of the gospel’s having been preached unto Abraham, by the following inquiry: “Wherefore then serveth the law?” Having in mind the law of Moses, under which Israel had lived from his advent into Canaan, at least, unto the coming of the Christ. That is to say, if the gospel had been preached to Abraham, “Wherefore then serveth the law?” Paul answered his own question: “It was added because of transgression until the seed [i.e. the Christ] should come to whom the promise was made.” “It [the law of Moses] was added because of transgression.” Added to what? Added to the gospel, of course, which before had been preached unto Abraham, and as we shall see, to Israel also. The whole of Paul’s reasoning as follows. The gospel had been preached to Abraham, as to the more ancient patriarchs, perhaps in the case of Abraham, by Melchizedek—that great “priest of the most high God” who brought forth unto Abraham “bread and wine,” beyond question a sacramental ceremony of tremendous significance.

And what about Moses? Again, from Paul: “But with whom was he [God] grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them; but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 3:17-19; 4:1-2).

And again Paul: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat: And did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-5). Now we are prepared to better understand Paul’s—“the gospel preached to Abraham,” and also “the gospel preached to Ancient Israel under Moses,” but the word preached profited them nothing, “not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” and hence the law of Moses— confessedly a lesser law than the gospel—a law of “carnal commandments”—a law of “types and symbols of things and not the very things themselves”—continued in Israel. “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did” (Hebrews 7:19). “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices . . . make the comers thereunto perfect” (Hebrews 10:1).