Prophets
When God created the earth, He knew He would need a way to stay in touch with His children. He wanted them to learn the gospel and know what is true. He wanted them to have books of scripture to read so they could learn the gospel on their own. And so, God created prophets. A prophet is given the responsibility to speak for God and the entire Church, teaching people of God’s will and testifying that God and the Savior are real.
The first prophet was Adam. He learned the gospel and then taught it to his family. Throughout the Bible, we read of many different prophets chosen by God to convey God’s word to the world. Moses, Abraham, Noah, and others learned the truth, built their own testimonies, and then shared the gospel with others, even when the world didn’t want to listen.
From time to time, God withdrew his prophets. Many times in the history of the earth, God’s children were unwilling to listen to the prophets, or even unwilling to have the prophets lived. At those times, prophets were withdrawn and the people were left to figure out truth as best they could. Eventually, however, God always brought prophets back on to the earth to help a new generation of people learn what is true.
God didn’t simply give Adam all of the gospel and then withdraw from us, leaving us to flounder. He knew the earth would change over time. New challenges would arise. New choices would be invented that had never even been imagined in Adam’s time. There were many things that happened in the course of earth’s history that were not included in the instructions given to the prophets of old because those things had not yet come to be. Each prophet taught what his people needed to know, and sometimes also what future generations needed to know, but always in the context of their own time.
After Jesus was crucified, the young church struggled. The apostles died or were killed over time and soon no one was left to lead the church. At this time, God withdrew prophecy from the earth, launching what is today known as the Great Apostasy. During this time, the small Christian branch worked to survive on their own, but divisions soon arose. People disagreed on many basic doctrines. They weren’t always sure what specific scriptures meant and there wasn’t a prophet to ask. As a result, they often broke off into new groups, forming new churches that fit their personal interpretations of scriptures or their desires for how religion ought to be. In very little time, the world was filled with churches, all claiming to have the truth, but all disagreeing with each other on critical teachings.
We can see the results of these divisions as we look around the world today. Drive through any town and you’ll find many, many churches, filled with good people working hard for God, and yet each church has differing doctrine. Sometimes these doctrine are significant to our eternal salvation.
These are the last days, the preparatory time for the return of Jesus Christ. The world simply must have direct guidance from God during this time. In order to be ready for the Second Coming of the Savior, the world has to find out what is true and how to live to be in accordance with God’s laws. And so, God sent a new prophet, to re-establish the Church based on true principles, and not the hopes and arguments of men. Joseph Smith was that first prophet of modern times. He participated in restoring the full truth to the earth, so all who lived could find it and begin to adequately prepare for the Savior’s return. After he was murdered, as were so many of the early prophets, God established another prophet. We’ve been promised God will never again leave us without a prophet to guide us safely through the last days. He set up an orderly procedure so there would never be wrangling, voting, or doubt over who God has chosen. These modern day prophets fill the same role as the early prophets, who were given to us because God loves us. They teach us what is true and testify of the divinity of the Savior and the reality of God. They guide us through the very complicated world in which we find ourselves. Today’s prophet is Thomas S. Monson
Satan is also in His final days of power. He is working especially hard right now to win his battle against God. When we follow the current, living prophet, we can keep ourselves safe from Satan’s power and help to thwart his battle.
