heavenly father reveals his gospel in every dispensation

I'm sorry if you're sick of me talking about how much God loves us by this point, but the truth is He does, and that affects our knowledge of everything else.

Because God loves us, He's given us things here on the earth to help us. Throughout the Bible we see a pattern of prophets. Prophets are men who are called by God and given the priesthood - or God's power here on the earth - to help lead and direct His children. By revelation, they learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ and teach it to us, and they testify of Christ.

The fact of the matter, however, is that you and I aren't perfect, and neither were these people in ancient times. After heeding the word of the prophet for a time, people eventually stopped listening. Perhaps they thought they knew more than the prophet, perhaps they didn't care if what the prophets were saying was true. For whatever reason, people would choose to disregard the warnings and teachings of the prophet, and with that, they distance themselves from God. Prophets are the connector to God, so to speak, and when we let go of that connection, it's a lot harder to stay close to Him, and this can lead to a state of spiritual darkness. When this happens, and there are no more people listening to the voice of the prophet, the people slip into a period called an "apostasy", or a time where God withdraws His priesthood authority from the earth.

Why would He do this? It may even sound inconsistent with the fact that God loves us. But just as a father wouldn't buy their son a car on his sixteenth birthday if He knew the son would never drive it, God isn't going to give us His power and authority on the earth if we won't use it.

In the Bible, we see this happening a lot. That pattern I talked about earlier? It's all over the pages of the Old Testament. We see it in stories such as Noah, Moses, and Abraham. As prophets, these men preach the gospel and testify of how we can gain happiness in this life, and while people may follow them for a time, we eventually see a falling away as their prophetic teachings are rejected. The beautiful, comforting part of this pattern, is that at the end of these periods of apostasy, God always reaches out in love again when the people are ready, and calls another prophet. Each of these prophets begins another period where God's priesthood authority is on the earth, or a dispensation. When a prophet begins a dispensation, God's authority is restored, and the prophet again teaches the people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Example: Moses. He leads the people out of Egypt, right? Through these miraculous experiences, God's power is manifest, and they escape from the harsh rule of Pharaoh, complete with the famous parting of the red sea. After seeing incredible blessings from the God, they make camp while Moses treks up Mt. Sinai to communicate with God and receive further instruction from Him (like a prophet does). While Moses is gaining revelation from the Lord, he receives this instruction:

"Go, get thee down; for thy people, which though broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it" (Exodus 32:7-8)

Within a short time of seeing the hand of God very clearly in their lives and receiving commandments from Him by the voice of His prophet, the people of Israel fall into a period of apostasy. This is a small type of the greater apostasies I spoke of, where God's authority is taken from the earth. Again, the beautiful part of this story is that despite the disobedience of the children of Israel that had happened and would continue to happen, God forgave them again and again and eventually, when they were worthy and ready, lead them into the promise land.

God wants us to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives - I know He does. From the beginning of time, God has communicated to us through prophets, and they have taught us about the principles and ordinances of the gospel that will make us happy and give us the direction we need while here on earth. I have a testimony of that; I know it is true. I am grateful that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and I am grateful for His prophets. I am grateful that they testified the Messiah, and that the Messiah, even Jesus Christ, did come.




Scriptures:

Prophets
God reveals truth through prophets (Amos 3:7)
Prophets testify of Christ (Acts 10:34-43)
Prophets testify of Christ (Jacob 4:4, 6)

Dispensations
What is a "dispensation"? (Bible Dictionary, "Dispensations")
God works in dispensations (D&C 136:36-38)
God teaches Adam (Moses 5:4-12, 55-59)
God ordains Noah (Moses 8:19-30)