A Marvelous Work is About to Come Forth

These are words that every missionary knows by heart. They are the opening words of D&C sections 4, 6, 11, 12, and 14. The rest of the revelations are quite similar. I remember memorizing D&C 4 in Italian when I was in the missionary training center. It is a great missionary scripture, and there are so many applications. The great and marvelous work is obviously the restored gospel. The invitation to work is to missionaries. Right?

An interesting way to read the D&C is to try to read it from the perspective of Joseph Smith. According to what we learned in class, the marvelous work was the Book of Mormon. At the time, the Book of Mormon hadn’t been translated or published. That was the work Joseph had to do. Later on, he came to understand more about the mission of the church, and I’m sure D&C 4 gained more significance, but at the time, it was the Book of Mormon.

I think that is one of the defining qualities of scripture. It means different things to different people, and it never loses it’s applicability. The same revelations that were given to Joseph Smith about the Book of Mormon can apply to us, nearly 200 years later.