Moroni described five conditions that would exist at the time when the Book of Mormon would come forth. They would probably be in existence at the time the Book of Mormon came forth, and get worse as time progressed. The statement of each of the conditions begins with “it shall come in a day when…” (vv. 27, 28, 29, 31, 32). The first conditions mentioned were caused by Satan through his secret combinations, and works of darkness (v. 27). The saints who were crying unto the Lord were mostly from previous generations. There were no saints at the time of the Book of Mormon coming forth, the apostasy had happened hundreds of years before. A saint is a member of the true Church (see 1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1). The crying saints had been martyred (or some would be after the book came forth). They had shed their blood in defense of the truth (see 2 Nephi 28:10), and were seeking the justice they had been promised by eternal law. The Lord had said vengeance was his and he would repay (Mormon 8:20; above); furthermore, the saints had also been promised that their future generations would have the gospel restored among them. That promise had not been fulfilled before the Book of Mormon came forth (see v. 23 above).
The second conditions described the churches of the day when the Book of Mormon came forth (v. 28). There were none who had the power of God or the authority to fulfill the covenant that had been made to the previous saints. Their leaders and teachers were filled with pride rather than the love of God. This situation justifies the answer Joseph Smith was given in the Sacred Grove regarding which Church to join: … “join none of them, for they were all wrong” (JS–History 1:19).
The third conditions were physical in nature (Mormon 8:29–30). There are two categories within them. The first category seems to come from the earth itself: fires, tempests (storms), and smoke. The causes are not given, but it may be the earth’s reaction to the wickedness upon the earth as shown to Enoch (see Moses 7:48–49). The second category comes from the people and the Lord. Wars and rumors of war are caused by “quarrelings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations which were among themselves” (Alma 50:21). The Lord may have caused the earthquakes as a warning to the people (see D&C 43:25).
The fourth conditions were an extension of the third (notice the word, yea). The causes of war were the domestic upheavals in the land. The people were not only going against the ways of the Lord, but were teaching that the Lord did not require them to live by his laws. This condition left them bitter and iniquitous (Mormon 8:31), instead of having “the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people,” which resulted in no contention in the land as described in the Zion society following Christ’s visit to America (4 Nephi 1:15).
The fifth conditions were an extension of the second one, the churches (Mormon 8:32–33). Being forgiven of sins for money, and to get gain in other ways, is against the word of God. The revelations of God, to which Moroni invites them to look, would have to refer to the Bible because that was the only source available at the time. Jesus warned that the “deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22). The Apostle Paul warned that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). The Apostle Peter told Simon that his “money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20). Damnation awaits those who set their hearts upon riches (Mormon 8:33).