“The Messenger of Salvation”: The Messenger-Message Christology of D&C 93:8 and Its Implications for Latter-day Saints

Abstract: Several of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s earliest revelations quote the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 with the Lord “suddenly com[ing] to his temple” as “messenger of the covenant.” Malachi 3:1 and its quoted iterations in the Book of Mormon and D&C not only impressed upon Joseph and early Church members the urgency of building a temple to which the Lord could come, but also presented him as the messenger of the Father’s restored covenant. The ontological kinship of God the Father with Jesus, angels , and humankind in Joseph’s early revelations lays the groundwork for the doctrine of humankind’s coeternality with God. The endowment, like the visions in which prophets were given special missionary commissions, situates us ritually in the divine council, teaches us about the great Messenger of salvation, and empowers us to participate in his great mission of saving souls.