On the evening of the twenty-first of September, 1823, Joseph Smith approached the Lord God again in secret prayer. This time it was in his private chamber. Fearing that he had offended God, that he had not walked so circumspectly as he should have done in the light of the revelation he had received, the youth, now in his eighteenth year, besought the Almighty for forgiveness of sin, and for a manifestation that he might know his standing before God. In his own account of what happened there, Joseph says,

"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was brighter than at noon-day, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so also were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person.

"When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni, that God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and for evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted 'Seers' in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book."[A]

[Footnote A: "History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 11, 12.]

There followed then further instructions based upon the Holy Scriptures. The angel read and explained portions of the third and fourth chapters of Malachi. The third chapter predicts the sending of a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord when He shall come suddenly to His temple. The coming will be attended with much glory; and the Lord Himself shall purify Israel, and purge it of iniquity. The time of the fulfillment of this prophecy, said the angel, was at hand.

The fourth chapter of Malachi, is particularly interesting as quoted by the angel. The first verse he rendered thus:

"For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

The fifth and sixth verses, he read thus:

"Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to the fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming."

These predictions, too, said the angel, were about to be fulfilled.