The Lord's Voice

3 Nephi 9 & 10

This is the climax of the Book of Mormon – the Savior speaks through the darkness.  He proclaims his divinity, announces the fulfillment of the law of Moses and invites men to come unto him and be saved.  The people shift their focus from their loss to awe.

I love this part of the Book of Mormon and can only imagine what it must have been like to be a witness to this great event.  Three days in darkness!  That would give a person a lot of think time.  What kind of thoughts would I be thinking?  I would hope I would have believed enough that I knew all was going to be well – eventually. 

As Christ is describing the extent of the destruction to those who heard him, he also tells them how many times he tried to gather them as a mother hen gathers her chickens “. . .and ye would not.”  Are the inhabitants of the earth today as hard of hearing?  Are we getting the messages we are being given?  How exactly does the Lord get our attention?  The answer seems pretty clear in D&C 43:24-25 where this same verbiage is repeated somewhat: 

He speaks through 

• The mouth of his servants (this would be the prophet and apostles)
• Ministering of angels
• His own voice, i.e.
• Thunderings
• Lightnings
• Tempests,
• Earthquakes,
• Hailstorms
• Famines
• Pestilences of every kind 

I’m afraid I don’t understand the “great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life. . .”  or do I?

Is it the missionaries and servants of the Lord who are sounding the trump and crying repentance and gathering the Lord’s people into the fold?  What about the voice of judgment?  Would that be the guilt we feel when we become aware (or already know) we are doing things contrary to the will of God.  I do know what the voice of mercy all the day long is.  I feel the Lord’s love and mercy as I feel drawn into the fold.  There were so many reasons why it could have been otherwise.  I have been blessed beyond my imaginations with the riches of eternal life.  I feel the Lord’s hand in my life and see it in the lives of those I love.  When we keep the commandments, we can see the blessings.

How would I have felt to be among those who were spared death at this pinnacle in the history of mankind?  I think I would feel much the same as I feel at my own rescue - spared and loved with a great expectation from my Heavenly Father to move forward in righteousness and help build his kingdom. 

This seems a little trite, but my marching orders for this day are to keep on moving forward.  Be the trump to others.  Do my part in helping to gather in my father’s children.  Continue praying for those who have let go of the iron rod and are wandering in the mist of darkness.  And searching.  Awe, that word search.  It also implies (in my mind) I need to search for my kindred dead.  That one keeps gnawing at me.  I’ve been challenged by our stake president to do the work from searching to endowment for one relative this year.  Yes, there is plenty that needs to be done.