Some people reject the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because they have a prophet who continues to share with them God’s messages for them. The Book of Mormon, which they read as Holy Scripture hand-in-Hand with the Bible, foretold of this challenge:
26 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!
27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
28 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.
29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 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 away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28)
On a personal level, I’ve always found this hard to understand. I was so excited when I found out there God continued to talk with us. I had always believed He ought to be talking to us, long before I joined the church. When I attended classes on the Old Testament as a child, I would wonder why God didn’t want to talk to us anymore. If we needed Him to prepare for the first coming, shouldn’t we also need Him to prepare us for the Second Coming of the Savior?
Shouldn’t we be thrilled to learn God continues to talk to us today, that we’re not cut off from Him until our deaths? I was. If God has things He wants us to know, I want to hear them. I love God’s words, and can’t get enough of them.
What is a prophet? Prophets have been on the earth since the very beginning. Adam spoke with God and taught His children what God taught him. Throughout all the Old Testament, God spoke often with His chosen prophets, men who were called of God to hear God’s words directly from God Himself, and then to teach the people. It wasn’t enough to have only one prophet. Adam was not the only prophet. Why did God continue to send prophets after Adam? Why wasn’t one prophet enough?
Prophets were necessary throughout all the Old Testament in order to help us continue to learn God’s word. As the verse above says, God teaches us line upon line, precept on precept. He doesn’t give us the entire gospel all at once. Imagine if the Israelites had received all the law of Moses at once. Can you picture the confusion as they tried to internalize so many rules in a few moments? There were only Ten Commandments when Moses came down from the mountain. The people could learn to internalize ten rules at once. As those became a way of life, more was added.
In the same way, gospel truths were presented a few at a time. No student in school is taught all of physics the first day. The teachers present a little more each day, and classes build upon the preparatory classes taken before. This is how God works with us. He teaches us what we can handle, and adds to it gradually. He also adapts certain things to the needs of the people—building boats when boats are needed, but not commanding boats when it isn’t going to rain, for instance.
Why do we still need prophets today? Just as we don’t have to build an ark because the entire earth isn’t going to flood soon, there are needs we have today that the people of ancient times didn’t have. The world has changed dramatically, and God wants us to navigate it successfully. The wickedness of the larger part of the people brought about a loss of prophecy, but God always promised to return it to us, and now He has.
Celebrate and listen. God is talking. His current prophet is Thomas S. Monson. Learn more about him by following the link on his name.
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
