It is the Same - D&C 1:38

"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same"

I referred recently to the lesson of Naaman, respected general of the Syrians who sought out the renowned prophet Elisha for healing when he was stricken with leprosy, and who was offended when Elisha himself didn't come to pronounce the remedy, but rather sent a servant to relay it. It's a great lesson on faith and humility--their interconnection, in fact. If God's interest is our growth in faith, then coming down personally to indelibly mark our consciousness with his blinding light and truth would produce obedience, but not choice. Just as Naaman learned about God's power better by listening to a servant, we come to rely on Him and learn of His character best line upon line, from small obedience to large obedience, from messenger to presence.

This is one of the grand keys to the question of why God chooses intermediaries at all, and especially why so many of them are our mortal peers rather than beings of obvious power and celestial provenance.

Another reason is the obverse: if Naaman hadn't hearkened to the servant, he would have remained leprous, but less culpable for his rejection of the true way to healing. If he had heard Elisha, in whom he already had trust as an oracle of God, and rejected the healing prescription because the Jordan was too simple a river, and bathing too ordinary a solution, his rejection would have come with increased condemnation. In other words, it's an act of mercy for the Supreme Justice to prevent the responsibility for rejecting higher and more obvious authorities until we've demonstrated compliance with the lesser ones and preparation for the higher knowledge and skills He promises. We are just according to the light we receive, and those who reject prophets are less responsible for the knowledge they've rejected than those who reject angelic visitations, or the sure knowledge of the Holy Ghost.

Yet even listening to fellow humans poses challenges. Hebrews who saw the 10 plagues, saw the waters part, saw the cloud by day and the fire by night, and saw the Lord provide miraculous food in the desert, still got worms when they over-picked the manna except on the Sabbath. And the most formally theologically educated group in Jesus's day took up hostile footing when the Son took flesh and began speaking of doing His Father's will. Speaking to these Pharisees, the Lord responded in John 5:23-24:

"He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life."

Later in His mortal ministry, the Redeemer trained the 70 to prepare the way for His preaching in cities that might not accept Him, he taught in Luke 10:16: 

"He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."

Our challenge is to accept truth from God, no matter what intermediary He chooses. It democratizes the ability to speak for God for Him to choose mortals like us as vehicles--a source of great hope to all who seek to know Him, since we can all accede to His spokesmanship in our own affairs and in the affairs pertaining to our callings. It encourages magnifying, and looking higher for us to see other mortals look heavenward for guidance, and trust their testimony as we seek and confirm our own. And it builds trust in the Lord to know that honoring His servants honors Him, because His servants point His way. They who need repentance call for it. They who insist on baptismal ordinances as signs of covenant-making themselves need the covenant belonging. And they testify of the Redeemer, and His father's kingdom.

Anyone who accepts Christ as Lord has to logically accept the principle of an intermediary. Anyone who accepts Christ as model must logically take Him at His word that the principle is extensible--others may represent Him just as He represents His Father.

And that nesting of intermediaries is what mercifully and didactically leads us higher.

As long as the source is true, that is.

What a bold, dangerous, and magnificent responsibility we have, then, to learn for ourselves who the servants of God are. If only there were a test...