The Plates of Brass will doubtless one day be as famous as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and their discovery will surely be as amazing. When they do come forth, they will likely be known--according to established convention--as the Plates of Joseph. This book is written to provide a timely introduction to these plates.
The Plates of Brass are a set of scriptures almost entirely unknown to the world today. They were kept by the Israelite tribe of Joseph and cover a period of time from the creation of the world to about 600 BC. They are similar to the Old Testament from Genesis to Jeremiah except that they are more complete and include the words of prophets unknown today.
A few years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BC, Lehi and his family--being led by the Lord--left Jerusalem and traveled to the New World. They brought with them the Plates of Brass which served as their scriptures. The loss of these records from Jerusalem coincided with the destruction of the temple and other records kept at the temple. Ezekiel, an Israelite prophet who was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, was probably very disheartened about the loss of those sacred records. He and other Jews spent many years afterward trying to reconstruct what was lost--both from memory and from whatever records remained. No doubt it was a great comfort to Ezekiel when he learned by revelation that the "stick of Joseph" (which included the Plates of Brass) and the "stick of Judah" (the Bible) would one day come back together (see Ezekiel 37:15-19).
Meanwhile, Lehi's family treasured the Plates of Brass as the Word of God and quoted from them frequently in their own writings. It is only because of their record in the Book of Mormon, that we know of the existence of the Plates of Brass at all. Fortunately, because of their love and respect for these scriptures, we are able to learn a great deal about them from the Book of Mormon. One important thing we learn is that the Plates of Brass will one day go forth to "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people" (see 1 Nephi 5:18 and Alma 37:4). I look forward to that day and hope that this book will have a place in orienting people to this precious record. Those plates promise to contain the most complete record of God's dealings with man during that early period of time.
Not everyone, of course, will accept the Plates of Brass when they do come forth--nor will they accept the things that I have written in this book; but all those who have ever wondered if God continues to speak to his children on earth--beyond what is written in the Bible--will doubtless find these things very reassuring. All others should ponder carefully these words from Nephi:
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! 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 28:29-30)
