“Four Angels Sent Forth from God”
Doctrine and Covenants 77:8
8 Q. What are we to understand by the four angels, spoken of in the 7th chapter and 1st verse of Revelation?
A. We are to understand that they are four angels sent forth from God, to whom is given power over the four parts of the earth, to save life and to destroy; these are they who have the everlasting gospel to commit to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; having power to shut up the heavens, to seal up unto life, or to cast down to the regions of darkness.
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“These angels fit the description of the angels spoken of in the parable of the wheat and the tares [see Matt. 13:24–43 and D&C 86:1–7], who plead with the Lord that they might go forth to reap down the field. They were told to let the wheat and the tares grow together to the time of the end of the harvest, which is the end of the world [see Matt. 13:38–39]. . . .
“These angels have been given power over the four parts of the earth and they have the power of committing the everlasting gospel to the peoples of the earth. The fulness of the gospel was not restored by any one messenger sent from the presence of the Lord. All the ancient prophets who held keys and came and restored them, had a hand in this great work of restoration. There are, we learn from this revelation, four angels unto whom the power has been given, to shut up the heavens, to open them and with power unto life and also unto death and destruction. These are now at work in the earth on their sacred mission.”
(Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:300–1.)
