My recent investigations into the history of Moroni's identity led me to consider the possibility that not only was the angel who originally visited Joseph Smith likely Gabriel but also that, in Joseph Smith's view, Gabriel had in appearing to him assumed numerous identities including Noah, Elias, John the Baptist, and Moroni. Exactly what he thought was behind the multiple identities is uncertain, but a couple of possibilities present themselves. First, that Gabriel simply assumed the appearance of other figures for some reason--ancient apocryphal Christian texts feature a Jesus who assumes the forms of other people and even animals, so why not Joseph Smith's Gabriel? Another possibility is that already before 1830 Joseph Smith believed that certain people in history had experienced more than one life, or, in other words, they had gone through a kind of reincarnation.
I am not aware that Joseph Smith knew of the metamorphoses of Jesus in ancient Christian texts of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, there are a number of reasons to doubt that Joseph Smith believed in or taught a transmigration of souls. For example, the Book of Mormon's doctrine of the resurrection would seem to disallow the possibility. Hebrews 9:27 states that "it is appointed unto men once to die." That does not leave a lot of room for reincarnation. Also telling is Smith's rejection of the shady figure Matthias. Matthias, under the assumed identity of one Joshua, told Joseph Smith, "he possessed the spirit of his fathers, that he was a literal descendant of Matthias, the Apostle, who was chosen in the place of Judas that fell; that his spirit was resurrected in him; and that this was the scheme of eternal life--this transmigration of soul or spirit from father to son."*
Joseph responded to Matthias' message by telling him that this doctrine was "of the devil," and that "he was in reality in possession of a wicked and depraved spirit." That would seem to close the book on an early Mormon doctrine of transmigration of souls, but caution is advised. Not to be too jaunty about it, but the devil here is in the details. First, Joseph already had reason to believe that he was dealing with an impostor who stood accused of heinous crimes. Finding any way to get rid of this character, even by exaggerating his response to doctrinal diversity, was probably wise. Second, let's give credit for Joseph's sophistication and care. Matthias called this a doctrine of resurrection, a term Joseph had used quite differently. It may not be that he was opposed altogether to multiple lives; he was opposed to calling this the resurrection.
Evidence from the Nauvoo era suggests that Joseph Smith believed that a person who received exaltation might experience other mortal probations. According to this model, an exalted being does not die in the conventional sense so much as choose to give up embodied life in order to bring about some greater purpose. The clearest example is Jesus, who was exalted before he was born, but who came to earth to lay down his life voluntarily to redeem all humankind. From the Gospels it is clear that Jesus could not be taken by Roman authorities until he submitted to dying. I am not claiming this is a historical truth; it is, however, a strong implication of various scenes in the Gospels.
According to LDS temple theology, another example is Michael/Adam. Adam was Michael, and as Michael he assisted in the creation of the earth and came down to earth to provide bodies for all the spirits who had elected to be born on this earth. Later Brigham Young would interpret this as Adam being "our Father and our God," and "the Only God with whom we have to do." But Brigham likely either got the teaching garbled or he decided to change it according to his own sense of prophetic inspiration. It is more likely the case that Joseph Smith taught that Adam was an exalted being who agreed to become mortal in order to initiate the human race on this planet.
If Joseph Smith believed that Michael was an exalted being--a god--who voluntarily became the mortal Adam in order to initiate the human family on earth, then why not also Gabriel? Joseph Smith loved patterns. He believed that there was a divine order of things and that events followed certain patterns. What God had approved in the past, he would surely do again, especially in the last days. Part of this eternal order of things may have been the introduction of key exalted figures, such as Michael/Adam, Jehovah/Jesus, and Gabriel/Noah, in order to undertake special missions that would bring about the salvation and exaltation of the human family. It is possible that these exalted beings who laid down their lives voluntarily were thought to be the same as the heads of dispensations, including Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Joseph Smith himself.
Who would Joseph Smith be in this schema? Perhaps the angel at the center of the Holiness to the Lord parchment: Raphael.
This idea of exalted dispensation heads who voluntarily surrender their immortal bodies to assume mortal bodies and take on special missions would reconcile Smith's teachings on the resurrection and his apparent rejection of Matthias' transmigration of souls with what we see in the many lives assigned to Gabriel in Joseph Smith's revelations. According to this view it would be accurate to say that normal humans experiencing their first mortal probation would not have more than one bite at the apple here on earth, but this would not cover those exalted beings who left their exalted sphere to come to earth and assume mortality again for a special mission. Exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom apparently comes with greater freedom and flexibility that resurrection to the lower kingdoms.
Two years after the assassination of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young ordained Heber C. Kimball that he would become a savior of worlds. Heber C. Kimball ordained Brigham Young to the same. Other leaders were ordained to be parts of future Trinities. This is documented in the January 1846 Nauvoo Temple Record. In order to fulfill these callings, if my inference is correct, then those who were ordained to be saviors would have to be born as such on another world to undertake a new mortal probation as a formerly exalted being. The advancement from one stage of progression to others would then seem to necessarily involve assignments that require giving up one immortal, exalted body to take on a mortal body in the future. Presumably very few mortals on this earth will have been exalted before, but some, including dispensation heads, probably did, according to this teaching.
Perhaps this is why no man knew Joseph Smith's history.
*Thanks to "Shulem" on DiscussMormonism.com for these references.