Visit this post on my site: A Voice in the Wilderness, A Voice from the Dust

Three hundred years before the death of Adam, the people of God lived in a land of righteousness, separated from those who chose to worship Mammon rather than God. Among this people a baby was born who would later cause mountains to flee and rivers to change course (Moses 6:34). This baby was to be a teacher and great prophet. He would save his people. This baby was Enoch, whose name means “teacher”; he bacame a powerful teacher. Enoch was a descendant of the righteous patriarch Seth, the son of Adam, and the great-grandfather of Noah, who was protected from the floods in his ark of covenant, in his tabernacle of wood. Noah weathered the elements within his sanctuary of faith; his great-grandfather Enoch also had great faith, commanding the elements to protect his people. As an approaching army threatened to destroy the people of God, Enoch turned in faith and humility to God, supplicating for rescue.

“And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God…; he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course…and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13).

Awed by such power, the enemies of his people fled. Enoch saved his people physically, he would save them spiritually.

The Lord, troubled by the wickedness of the people on the earth, came to Enoch, commanding him to call the people to repentance (Moses 6:26-30). Enoch, like so many who would follow, felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of his call. He felt inadequate, stating that he was “just a lad” and “slow of speech” (Moses 6:31). In reply, the Lord commanded him to be faithful, open his mouth, and be filled with the words of God (Moses 6:32). Faith overcame fear as Enoch fulfilled the commands of the Lord. He told the people that they must “choose…this day, to serve the Lord God who made [them]” (Moses 6:33).

Enoch made the choice to serve God. When callings come to us, whether they appear great or small, whether they be as relief society president, family history consultant, bishop, or nursery worker, we can follow the faithful example of Enoch and choose to serve the Lord our God. God will prepare a way for us to fulfill our callings.

At age 25 Enoch received the Priesthood from Adam (D&C 107:48). Enoch became a great prophet and seer, wandering in the wilderness, calling to the people to repent. He fearlessly taught and fearlessly prophesied.

“And it came to pass that Enoch went forth in the land, among the people, standing upon the hills and the high places, and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him. And they came forth to hear him, upon the high places, saying…we go yonder to behold the seer, for he prophesieth, and there is a strange thing in the land; a wild man hath come among us.” (Moses 6:37-38). Enoch was seen as a wild man, a voice in the wilderness who prophesied hard things unto the people. The wicked were offended and became defensive. We see this happen repeatedly in our day – some protest against what the prophets teach, finding it offensive or parochial, words for an uninformed people, a distant past. There will always be many who mock in derision from their great and spacious false temple.

In Isaiah we read of the wicked complaining against the truth. Isaiah prophesied: “this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the [Lord] to cease from before us.” (Isaiah 30:9-11)

Truly the wicked take the truth to be hard! Prophets do not always speak smooth things. Yes, the doctrine they teach can be comforting but much is sharp to the wicked or hard-hearted. Enoch taught with such great power that although the people were offended, they were enthralled by the power of his words. As Enoch spoke “the words of God, the people trembled, and could not stand in his presence” (Moses 6:47). There is great power in the word of faith.

What did Enoch teach the people? Enoch taught of the fall of Adam, death, sin, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, redemption through Christ, and resurrection. Enoch taught the words of Christ spoken to Adam on behalf of the Father: “By reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified; Therefore it is given to abide in you” (Moses 6:59-61).

We are born of water, spirit, and blood and must be obedient, repentant, and reborn through the water of baptism; we must be justified and cleansed from sin by the Holy Spirit; and we must be sanctified, becoming holy, though the atoning blood of Christ. All those symbols are part of the sacrament – bread to represent the body and burial of Christ, the Spirit to witness unto us and cleanse our sins, and the water to represent the sanctifying and covenant blood of Christ. Enoch taught the people the manner by which they could return to the presence of God.

Many people believed Enoch and repented. Because of their righteousness, the Lord blessed them with His glory. He also “blessed [their] land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish. And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” (Moses 7:17-18). That same promise and blessing is available to us as we follow the Lord. Elsewhere great wickedness and apostasy flourished. Eventually the city of Zion and its people were taken from the earth: “And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is Fled.” (Moses 7:69).

After that apostasy reigned – the missionary efforts of Noah and others having little success. The heavens wept and a flood cleansed the earth. This weeping and cleansing foreshadowed the tears and blood of the weeping Christ as He atoned for the sins and sorrows of us all. After Christ’s resurrection, the early Christian church flourished, led by the apostles. Many rejected them and their teachings, eventually killing them. After the deaths of the apostles, the priesthood keys and priesthood authority were removed from the earth. Hundreds of years passed in global apostasy. Degrees of light and truth remained but God’s authority was not on the earth. Then in 1820, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, a 14 year old boy. The Lord called Joseph as a prophet. In May 1829 John the Baptist visited Joseph Smith and bestowed upon him the Aaronic Priesthood, preparatory to him receiving the Melchizedek priesthood and eventually all priesthood keys – all authorization to perform the work of the Lord, the work of salvation, which teaches the way and opens the doors for our return home to our Father in Heaven.

Throughout the ages and in our day, all prophets have testified of Christ and taught His doctrine. The prophets call as voices of clarity amid the wilderness of sin. They call unto us with the “voice of [Him] who dwells on high, whose eyes are upon all men [and women]” (D&C 1:1). The voice of the Lord is unto all; it is a voice of warning unto all men and women. This voice comes through the prophets, who are “given [power] to seal both on earth and in heaven” (D&C 1:8).

All are invited to hear the word of the Lord through His spokesmen, the prophets. Do we heed the call? Do we invite our friends and neighbors to hear the word? There is nothing more important in life than hearing and heeding the voice of the Lord and hearing and heeding the voice of His servants, the prophets. At times the prophets share the Lord’s voice of warning – warning against wickedness and warning against calamities to come.

“The anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth. And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people; For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant; They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.” (D&C 1:13-16).

We live in a time when people stray from the ordinances of the Lord, when they break the everlasting covenant. There are many who create their own gods and then seek to follow them. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated in this past April General Conference:

“Sadly enough…it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds. Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes—and this seems the greatest irony of all—these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of ‘comfortable’ God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like ‘comfortable’ doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in?” (Holland, April 2014 General Conference).

Prophets serve as a voice of warning. They do so in order to protect us. God gives us prophets so that we might be prepared and might know the path that returns home, in which home we might have a fulness of joy and a fullness of love.

Jesus said: “I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments; And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all [the words of the prophets] might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets…that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world; That faith also might increase in the earth; That mine everlasting covenant might be established; That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world.” (D&C 1:17-23)

Joseph Smith was prepared and called by God so that faith might increase, that the everlasting covenant – that which binds families together and to God eternally – might be restored, and that the fulness of the gospel might reach the ends of the earth. One of the most important things Joseph accomplished was in bringing forth the Book of Mormon, a voice from the dust whispering words from voices in wildernesses that call unto all to repent and return to God.

The prophet Moroni pleaded with those who would read the Book of Mormon: “And I exhort you to remember these things; for…the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man [Moroni], like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust? I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation to generation. And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.” (Moroni 10:27-29)

It is true, brothers and sisters. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It has changed my life, it has changed many of yours and will continue to change all our lives as we accept it. It was written for us so that we might come to know Christ, the Holy Messiah. The Book of Mormon is one of the greatest gifts given to us. Do we reject it, ignore it, or embrace it? Do we hide it under a bushel or do we proclaim its truth from the housetops? The Book of Mormon contains the words of those who spoke in the wilderness as voices of warning. It is imperative that we know and believe the truths contained within.

While much of what the Lord proclaims is a voice of warning, not always the “smooth things” people want to hear, there is also great comfort in the doctrines of Christ. Isaiah prophesied of the Atonement of Christ, of the comfort and pardoning it would bring: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her…that her iniquity is pardoned” (Isaiah 40:1-2). The prophets in our day also teach of this comfort.

Elder Holland taught: “It is crucial to remember that we are living—and chose to live—in a fallen world where for divine purposes our pursuit of godliness will be tested and tried again and again. Of greatest assurance in God’s plan is that a Savior was promised, a Redeemer, who through our faith in Him would lift us triumphantly over those tests and trials, even though the cost to do so would be unfathomable for both the Father who sent Him and the Son who came. It is only an appreciation of this divine love that will make our own lesser suffering first bearable, then understandable, and finally redemptive.” (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng)

One of the messages of the restored gospel is that of hope. We can have hope through the calamities foretold; we can have hope through our suffering. Christ showed us how to bear suffering – with poise amid provocation, with fearlessness and faith, with gratitude and grace. We will not be free from suffering – the blameless Christ suffered more than all – but we can have strength through our trials. There are many here who have suffered and do suffer greatly. There are some who feel the encroaching darkness of despair. There are some who suffer because of sin, illness, or heartache. Hold on! Strive on! Trust in God and be believing. At times all feel lost, alone, and afraid. We might feel like we are left in darkness – wandering in a wilderness – but if we stop to look up, we will see the majesty and mercies of the Lord as the stars in the sky. In our darkest moments the light of Christ will appear brightest. God is near if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. Christ suffered for our sins, He suffered for our infirmities; He suffered for our sorrows, our sickness, and our shortcomings. We are enabled and exalted in Him.

Though we walk through the valley of deepest darkness, though we traverse along a crooked trail of tears, though we stumble and fear like Peter a sinking, Jesus Christ takes our hands, lifts us up, dries our tears, and lights our way. He is our song in the night, our pillar of fire, and our shadow by day. He binds our wounds and repairs the breeches in our hearts.

What the Lord told the prophet Joseph, applies to us: “All [our trials] shall give [us] experience, and shall be for [our] good.” (D&C 122:7). Hope on! Trust on!

Thomas S. Monson is the Lord’s prophet for us, just like Enoch was for his people. The words of the prophets – words of warning and consolation – are unto all as voices from the wilderness. One such voice pleaded: “Awake, and arise from the dust…and put on thy beautiful garments, O [sons and daughters] of Zion;…strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.” (Moroni 10:31). May we so heed the words of the prophets and strengthen the stakes of Zion. May we remember the covenants of God and be true to them.

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