The Lord showed unto Moroni, as He had shown others of His servants, a panoramic picture of His children down to the Last Days. Great and marvelous were the things Moroni saw. All of which, Moroni indirectly intimated, "shall come forth among you" before that great and last day. Although many generations separate our times, he noted, "I," nevertheless, "speak unto you as if ye were present," for I know your faults, and your failings, and your subversions. That in His mercy, the Lord, he said, for a wise purpose, has shown you unto me that I may warn you of these things which are to come, and that seeing the errors of your ways, you may repent before it is everlastingly too late. We conceive these and other thoughts crowded each other through his mind as Moroni contemplated the scenes of his vision that passed before his astonished eyes.
May we here add what we consider the best comment on the next few verses. It is part of what Nephi, the son of Lehi who was the learned ancestor of the Nephites and the Lamanites, predicted would come to pass in the latter days:
"And now, behold, my brethren, I have spoken unto you, according as the Spirit hath constrained me; wherefore, I know that they must surely come to pass.
"The things which shall be written out of the book shall be of great worth unto the children of men, especially unto our seed, which is a remnant of the house of Israel.
"For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord's; and the other shall say: I, I am the Lord's; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord-
"And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.
"And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;
"Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.
"Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.
"And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God-he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
"Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark. "And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them. "Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.
"Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.
"They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.
"They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.
"O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrine, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!
"Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that is of no worth! For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish.
"But behold, if the inhabitants of the earth shall repent of their wickedness and abominations they shall not be destroyed, saith the Lord of Hosts.
"But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth, and great must be the fall thereof.
"For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish;
"For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is flood.
"And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion: yea, Zion prospereth, all is well-and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
"And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell: and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none-and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
"Yea they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go unto the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment. "Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! "Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!
"Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!
"Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more! "And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
"Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need mo more of the word of God, for we have enough!
"For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken even that which they have.
"Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.
"Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall length out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless,
I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts." (II Nephi, Chapter 28)