When Moroni counsels the latter-day Gentiles to “doubt not, but be believing” (Mormon 9:27), he encapsulates what he himself is, a firm believer in Jesus Christ and an advocate without equal of faith in God. Both his personal life and his teachings reflect an ardent disposition to believe in the revelations of God given through his holy prophets, especially the Book of Mormon. Moroni adds, “And begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him” (ibid.). In effect, if your faith is weak, start from scratch and take baby steps until your faith becomes strong.
Looking back at his life, we see that Moroni’s own faith was tested far beyond most of humanity’s. He served a mission among Nephites (Moroni 8:2), survived the great battle at Cumorah (Mormon 6:11), and received the responsibility for the Book of Mormon and other sacred records (Mormon 6:6; 8:4; Moroni 9:24). That he outlived his entire nation must have meant to him that God had a purpose for him other than pure survival.
Because of this divine design, an essential part of which was his father’s prayer “that he will spare thy life” (Moroni 9:22), it appears that Moroni falls in the category of Nephites, who, like Ammon, “could not be slain” (cf. Alma 8:31; 17:36; 18:3; 19:23; Helaman 5:26). Moroni himself, however, had no prior knowledge that he would not be killed, nor could he presume he would stay alive even if he took the utmost precautions.
One can only imagine the emptiness and utter abandonment Moroni must have felt when he was left “alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people” (Mormon 8:3). Unsure whether he would be the next to perish, he writes, “My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not” (Mormon 8:5).
Compounded with his loss is the fact that now “there are none save it be the Lamanites and robbers that do exist upon the face of the land,” and “there are none that do know the true God save it be the disciples of Jesus, who did tarry in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great that the Lord would not suffer them to remain with the people” (Mormon 8:9–10).
Under these extreme conditions, Moroni had to exercise great faith just to survive. Additionally, he had to believe he could fulfill his father’s desire to complete the Book of Mormon and also, if possible, fulfill his own mission upon the earth. Like Melchizedek, Moroni didn’t simply decide one day to exercise “mighty faith” (cf. Alma 13:18) but was constrained, through force of circumstance, to believe the Lord would look out for him if he did his will. If not, he would surely perish.
Consequently, we observe that Moroni, after passing the trial of his faith, received the Second Comforter: “I have seen Jesus, and… he hath talked with me face to face” (Ether 12:39). He says, “Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you. Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Mormon 8:34–35).
What characterizes Moroni’s writing from that point on in his life are warnings to his Gentile readers, testifying of the consequences of their pride and abominations (cf. Mormon 8:27–41). To provide an antidote for these defects, he launches into some of the most powerful scriptural exhortations on the topic of faith (Moroni 7:25–44; Ether 12:6–22). With the implication that he regards the latter-day Gentiles weak in their faith, he adjures them to believe in Jesus Christ, as his father Mormon had exhorted them (Mormon 7:5, 9–10; 9:21, 23, 25; Ether 4:12, 18; Moroni 7:16). He even addresses nonbelievers and confronts them with the effects of their unbelief (Mormon 9:1–6).
Most striking in Moroni’s writings is his appeal to those who exercise only convenient faith, in other words to the prideful and hypocrites among believers who, in the end, will oppose further divine revelation. Though we sense that Moroni is under constraint not to divulge all he has seen of our day and how events will turn out, he nevertheless leaves us with the distinct impression that things will not go smoothly even for churchgoers and believers. He speaks of those who will “condemn” his record (Mormon 8:17), who will threaten to “smite” those involved in its coming forth (Mormon 8:18), who will “judge rashly” or misjudge what the Lord does and “breathe out wrath and strifes against the work of the Lord” (Mormon 8:19–21).
From Moroni’s point of view, however, he appears not only concerned about this opposition occurring at the initial coming forth of the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith (Mormon 8:16), but also later, when its sealed portion and other writings come to light (cf. Mormon 8:26). These records are to come “from the dust” and “out of the earth” (cf. Mormon 8:23): “No one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.
“And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness. Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches. Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands; And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.
“Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity” (Mormon 8:26–31).
Considering Moroni’s strong words against those who will repudiate God’s miracles when these ancient records come forth, we can assume that people then living will deny the miraculous nature of the events surrounding them (cf. Mormon 9:10–11, 15–20; Moroni 7:27, 29, 35–37). Moroni infers that these things will occur in a day when “the sword of justice hangeth over you” (Mormon 8:41), when almost all Gentiles “walk in the pride of your hearts” (Mormon 8:36), and when “ye have polluted the holy church of God” (Mormon 8:38).
Under those conditions, those who believe will finds these words of Christ comforting: “Whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words” (Mormon 9:25).