Thought: “I fear that many of us
rush about from day to day taking for granted the holy scripture. We
scramble to honor appointments with physicians, lawyers, and businessmen. Yet
we think nothing of postponing interviews with Deity & postponing scripture
study. Little wonder we develop anemic souls and lose our direction in
living. How much better it would be if we planned and held sacred fifteen or
twenty minutes a day for reading the scriptures. Such interviews with Deity
would help us recognize his voice and enable us to receive guidance in all our
affairs. We must look to God through the scriptures.” (Carlos E. Asay, Ensign,
November 1978, pg. 53-54)
Book of the Week: The Peacegiver- James Ferrell
Sacred Symbols, Alonzo Gaskill|
Ether 1:43
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I am impressed that the blessings
are increased because of the length of time praying.
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Ether 2:11
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In other words, "don't mess up
like my people did and like the Jaredites did."
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Ether 3:14
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Jesus is speaking to the brother of
Jared, but his message is just as important for us.
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Ether 3:25
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History of the World, parts 1-7
complete and unabridged. My first video to check out when I die.
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Ether 4:7
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Here's my promise that I will be
able to check out that video.
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Ether 5:6
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Moroni telling us that we can
believe him now if we choose, but we will believe him later.
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Ether 6:17
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The great combination of learning;
here on earth and from on high.
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Ether 7:25
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Religious freedom is an important
requirement for the gospel message to go forth.
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Ether 8:24
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Here's a warning in the form of a
commandment to us to wake up to the condition of our world.
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Ether 9:22
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A Jaredite prophet who was
privileged to see the Lord.
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Ether 10:28
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A short term, but real Zion.
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Ether 11:21
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A prophecy of the coming of the
colony of Lehi
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Ether 12:6
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Faith precedes the miracle.
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Ether 12:27
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If we are aware of our weakness, that
may be a step in the right direction.
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Ether 13:20
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An opportunity to do a world of
good, not taken.
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Ether 14:25
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Our lives prepare a way for our
everlasting happiness or destruction.
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Ether 15:19
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Hard heart and blind minds lead to
warring against that which is right.
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(The) Book of Ether (The
added in 1879) 2200-500 BC
29 generations-1/3 of book on 1st
1) Ether 13:13-14 - Ether lived in a
cave and recorded the record of his people on 24 gold plates. Ether 15:33 - He
then hid his record, where it could be found.
2) Omni 1:20-22 - Written by Amaleki -
The Mulekites (587 BC) found a man (Coriantumr of Ether 12-15) and a large
inscribed stone. Coriantumr lived with them for 9 moons. Mosiah I translated
the stone.
3)Mosiah 8 - King Mosiah II sent out a
search party looking for the people of Zeniff. (122 BC) The search party found
the descendents of Zeniff, led by a king whose name was Limhi. Limhi's people
were in bondage to the Lamanites. They had sent out a search party looking for
the land of Zarahemla, which his grandfather Zeniff had left 80 years before.
The search party thought they had found Zarahemla and that it had been
destroyed. They brought back 24 gold plates they found.
4) The Mosiah II sent search party,
led by Ammon, helped Limhi's people escape. They took the 24 plates back to
Mosiah, who translated them using the Urim and Thummim. (Mosiah 28:11) Mormon
writing in about 385 AD promised that the story would be included in his record.
(Mosiah 28:19)
5) Between 400-421 AD, Mormon's son
Moroni abridged the record of the Jaredites and put it with the plates he
buried.
6) 1829 - Joseph Smith translated the
plates given him by Moroni.
Ether 1
Vs. 1&2
- Mosiah 28:19
Vs. 3 - Old
Testament, Plates of Brass, Abraham 1:28, 31; 24 Gold Plates all have this
early history.
Vs. 6 - 29
generations, but we can't be sure because some are sons and some descendents.
Vs. 33 - Go
to Genesis 11:4 - Why did they want to make a name? Why did they want to build
a tower that would reach into heaven? Does this sound like imitation temples to
anyone else? Another Book of Mormon confirmation of a Bible story.
Vs. 33-37 -
What language did they speak that was not confounded? (See JFSmith, "The
Way to Perfection, p. 69)
Vs. 34 - The
name of the Brother of Jared was "Mahonri Moriancumer. Joseph Smith gave
that name to the son of Reynolds Cahoon. (Juvenile Instructor, 1 May 1892 p.
282. Also Old Institute Student Manual o, 478)
Vs. 34 - A
major theme of the Book of Ether is prayer, but the word prayer is only used
once. (12:36) Notice the synonyms, "cried, inquired, called upon, but
never "prayed".
Vs. 38 The
Lord leads people to covenant lands so they can make covenants; 1. Jaredites,
2. Abraham. 3. Lehites/Mulekites. 4. Moses. 5. LDS
Vs. 42 - Scriptures
talking about America is a choice land; Ether 1:38, 42, 43; 2:9-12; 9:20; 13:2;
1 Nephi 2:20; 10:13; 17:38; 2 Nephi 1:5-6; 10:19. (Others?)This is a major them
of the Book of Ether
"I will
go before thee" - See D&C 84:88- a promise given to all missionaries
and all of us as we go forth in God's service.
Vs. 43 - The
Lord answers prayers because of continued faith and obedience. Supplication of
the Lord is much more than mere asking. It requires faith, pondering, and a
life of righteousness, as exemplified here by the brother of Jared and seen
elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, such as in the case of Enos. President Spencer
W. Kimball eloquently spoke of the effort, both spiritual and mental, that is
required to receive answers to our prayers: "The Lord does answer our
prayers, but sometimes we are not responsive enough to know when and how they
are answered. We want the ‘writing on the wall’ or an angel to speak or a
heavenly voice...There must be works with faith. How futile it would be to ask
the Lord to give us knowledge, but the Lord will help us to acquire knowledge,
to study constructively, to think clearly, and to retain things we have
learned...Do you get answers to your prayers? If not, perhaps you did not pay
the price. Do you offer a few trite words and worn-out phrases, or do you talk
intimately to the Lord? Do you pray occasionally when you should be praying
regularly, often, constantly? Do you offer pennies to pay heavy debts when you
should give dollars to erase that obligation? When you pray, do you just speak,
or do you also listen? Your Savior said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and
knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him., and he with me.’ ... the Lord stands knocking. He never
retreats. But he will never force himself upon us. If we ever move apart, it is
we who move and not the Lord. And should we ever fail to get an answer to our
prayers, we must look into our lives for a reason.” (“Prayer,” New Era, March,
1978, pp. 16-17.) (Quoted in DCBM 4:264-65)
Ether 2
Vs. 3 - dsrt - The name of the red crown which was a substitute for the
bee in Egypt. (Nibley, "Lehi in the Desert & the World of the
Jaredites, p. 184-189)
Vs. 6 - The practice barges. I wonder
if this shorter trip made the Jaredites more aware of the inconvenience they
would face on a much long journey in the same kind of vessels.
Vs. 8-12 - Moroni explains the rules
to live in America to us and warns us. He has seen Jaredites, Mulekites,
Nephites and US. (Mormon 8:34-35)
Vs. 14 - "We have paused upon
some plateaus long enough. Let us resume our journeys forward. (SWKimball, Ensign, May, 1979)- (Year 2000 for glp.)
Vs. 19 - The barges have 3 problems;
light, steering and air. These problems are comparable to all of our problems
and petitions to the Lord.
Ether 3
Vs 4 - When
the Lord touches our best efforts, there is light.
Vs. 9 - Where
did this faith come from? At least in part as he labored to solve his own
problems.
Vs. 15 - “The potential for confusion here comes with the realization
that many (and perhaps all) of the major prophets living prior to the brother
of Jared had seen God. …“This issue has been much discussed by Latter-day Saint
writers, and there are several possible explanations, any one—or all—of which
may cast light upon the larger truth of this passage. Nevertheless, without
additional revelation or commentary on the matter, any conjecture is only that
and as such is inadequate and incomplete.“One possibility is that this is
simply a comment made in the context of one dispensation and as such applies
only to the people of Jared and Jaredite prophets—that Jehovah had never before
revealed himself to one of their seers and revelators. Obviously this theory
has severe limitations. …“Another suggestion is that the reference to ‘man’ is
the key to this passage, suggesting that the Lord had never revealed himself to
the unsanctified, to the nonbeliever, to temporal, earthy, natural man. …“Some
believe that the Lord meant he had never before revealed himself to man in that
degree or to that extent. …“A further possibility is that this is the first
time Jehovah had appeared and identified himself as Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, with the interpretation of the passage being ‘never have I showed myself
[as Jesus Christ] unto man whom I have created.’ That possibility is reinforced
by one way of reading Moroni’s later editorial comment: ‘Having this perfect
knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus’ [Ether
3:15, 20]. “Yet another interpretation of this
passage is that the faith of the brother of Jared was so great he saw not only
the spirit finger and body of the premortal Jesus
(which presumably many other prophets had also seen) but also some distinctly
more revealing aspect of Christ’s body of flesh, blood, and bone. … A stronger
position would suggest it was only the spiritual likeness of that future body.
In emphasizing that this was a spiritual body being revealed and not some
special precursor simulating flesh and bone, Jehovah said, ‘This body, which ye
now behold, is the body of my spirit … and even as I appear unto thee to be in
the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh’ [Ether
3:16]. …“A final explanation—and in terms of
the brother of Jared’s faith the most persuasive one—is that Christ was saying
to the brother of Jared, ‘Never have I showed myself unto man in this manner, without my volition, driven solely by the faith
of the beholder.’ As a rule, prophets are invited
into the presence of the Lord, are bidden to enter his presence by him and only
with his sanction. The brother of Jared, on the other hand, seems to have
thrust himself through the veil, not as an unwelcome guest but perhaps
technically as an uninvited one. Said Jehovah, ‘Never has man come before me
with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have
seen my finger. … Never has man believed in me as thou hast.’ Obviously the
Lord himself was linking unprecedented faith with this unprecedented vision. If
the vision itself was not unique, then it had to be the faith and how the
vision was obtained that was so unparalleled. The only way that faith could be
so remarkable was its ability to take the prophet, uninvited, where others had
been able to go only with God’s bidding. “That appears to be Moroni’s
understanding of the circumstance when he later wrote, ‘Because of the
knowledge [which came as a result of faith] of this man he
could not be kept from beholding within the veil. … Wherefore, having
this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from
within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus’ [Ether
3:19–20]” (Holland, Christ
and the New Covenant, 20–23).
He appeared
for the 1st time as Jesus, the son. (Jackson p. 254)
Vs. 16 - See
D&C 77:2- Our spirits look like our physical bodies.
Vs. 23 -
Urim and Thummim = Light and Perfections in Hebrew. D&C 17:1 - The same used
by Joseph S.
Vs. 25-
History of the World parts 1-7- Who else has seen this vision? Adam (D&C
107:56), Enoch (Moses 6:36, 7:21), Abraham (Abraham 3:22), Moses (Moses 1:8,
27-28), Nephi (1 Nephi 14), John (1 Nephi 14:18-30), Isaiah, Daniel, Joseph
Smith. 125,000,000,000 in history of earth 1- second each=3963 years.
Ether 4
Vs. 4, 7 -
When we get to see the things that the Brother of Jared saw.
Vs. 12 -
We'll talk about this when we get to Moroni 7.
Vs. 17 -
Another verse telling us that the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign
of the times. See 3 Nephi 21, 29
Ether 5 - A message from Moroni to Joseph Smith.
Vs. 1 -
Don't translate the sealed portion. Note also 2 Nephi 27:8-11
Vs. 4 - See
2 Nephi 25:18, 22; 2 Nephi 29:11; D&C 27:5; D&C 17:1; 2 Cor. 13:1; Num.
35:30; Dt. 17:6; Dt. 19:15; Matt. 18:15-16; John 8:21-29
Vs. 6 - See
2 Nephi 33:11-15; Moroni 10:27
Ether 6
Vs. 4 - When
it was time to sleep did someone turn off the rocks?
Vs. 17 - The
great combination for learning, taught from the earth and from on high.
Vs. 23 -
Kings = Captivity - Examples? (Mosiah 23:7-12; 29:16-24; 1 Samuel 8:6-22...)
Ether 7
30 Generations of Jaredites
1) Jared - Ether 1-6
2) Orihah - Ether 6:14-7:3 - 23 Sons and
8 daughters
3) Kib -
7:3-10 - Overthrown by son Corihor, dwelt in captivity, Restored to Kingdom by
son Shule
4) Corihor -
7:3-14 - Rebelled vs. Father- moved then returned & took kingdom. Brother
Shule took it back.
4) Shule - 7:7 -8:1 - Born in captivity.
Overthrew brother Corihor & restored kingdom to father (Kib) Ruled in
righteousness, imprisoned by son of Corihor, saved by his sons, restored to
kingdom, protected prophets
5)Omer - 8:1-9:15 - Succeeded father,
Shule. Overthrown by son, Jared. Restored to throne by sons, Esrom and
Coriantumr. Plotted against by Grand-daughter and son, Jared and Akish. Lost
kingdom, but escaped with life. Restored again to throne. Died in peace.
6)Emer - 9:15-22 - Son of Omer, reigned
for 62 years. Saw Savior.
7)Coriantum - Lived 142 years. First wife
died when he was 102. Fathered children in old age.
8)Com-
9:25-27 - Reigned 49 years. Overthrown and killed by son, Heth who succeeded
him.
9)Heth -
9:26-10:1 - Killed father, Com. Embraced Secret Combinations, tried to kill
prophets, died in famine, with all of family except Shez. Famine caused by his sins.
10)Shez - 10:1-4 - Built up kingdom. Son
Shez II rebelled against him. Shez II died because of richness.
11)Riplakish
- 10:4-9 - Like Noah-taxed, immoral, killed by people.
12)Morianton
- 10:9 -13 - Descendent of Riplakish, regained throne, good to people, bad to
self-wicked.
13)Kim -
10:13-14 - Son of Morianton, wicked, put in captivity by brother. Died in
Captivity.
14)Levi - 10:14-17 - Born in captivity.
After 42 years overthrew uncle.
15)Corom - 10:16-17- Good, many children.
16)Kish -
10:17-18 - Son of Corom, King
17)Lib - 10:18-29 - Good king, great
hunter, destroyed serpents, lived long life.
18) Hearthom
- Replaced father. 24 years of peace then into captivity.
19) Heth -
10:31 - Lived all of life in captivity.
20)Aaron -
10:31 - Lived all of life in captivity
21))Amnigaddah
10:31 - Lived all of life in captivity.
22)Coriantum
- 10:31 - Lived all of life in captivity.
23)Com - 10:31-11:4 - Drew away 1/2 of
kingdom, fought vs. King Amgid and won after many years. Fought vs. Secret
Combinations, but didn't prevail. Prophets came to him for protection.
24)Shiblom -
11:4-9 - Son of Com. His brother rebelled vs. him. Great wickedness and wars, a
curse came upon land and people began to repent. Slain
25) Seth -
11:9 - In captivity all his days.
26) Ahah -
11:10-11- Son of Seth, wicked
27)Ethem -
11:11-14 - prophets came and warned people. Ethem was wicked.
28)Moron -
11:14-18 - Son of Ethem, wicked, but overthrew secret combinations, lost
kingdom & lived in captivity the rest of his days.
29)Coriantor
- 11:18-23 - Captivity all of his days. Many prophets predicting destruction.
30)Ether-
11:23-15:34 -
Vs. 25 -
This is what we should pray for; freedom for prophets and missionaries to
proclaim the gospel everywhere.
Ether 8
Vs. 20 - In
case we wonder if there are secret combinations today.
Vs. 22 - the
consequences of upholding secret combinations
Vs. 24 -
Some words of admonition to us from Moroni.
Vs. 26 -
Some encouraging words.
Ether 9
Vs. 22 -
Emer sees the Savior
Ether 10
Vs. 28 - A
happy green verses, in the midst of a bunch of wickedness.
Vs. 33 -
"When the adversary wants to harvest people, in words found in Ether, he
simply decides to 'adopt the old plans' which have served him so well for so
long. (NAMaxwell, Salt Lake Institute Jan. 5, 1983 p. 2)
Ether 11
Vs. 21 -
Prophecy of another people
"Moroni
compressed several hundred years in chapters 9-11 of Ether. We read 9:15-25
carefully because it describes an atypical period of over 225 years of peace,
perhaps somewhat similar to that in 4 Nephi. Moroni supplied little description
of these years except that the people enjoyed harmony and plenty, with even an
appearance of the Son of Righteousness to Emer....It is sobering how readily
people trade inner peace for something less. These gospel societies would never
cease if it were not that people begin to choose something other than peace.
Akish, for example, chose power (9:11). Riplakish chose wives, concubines and
gold (10:5-8); Shiblom chose secret combinations (11:7). Before obvious signs
of deterioration appear, people begin to think in terms, not of unity and
mutual support, but of separateness." Separation begins in such subtle
ways; picking at this, complaining, taking offense, retaliating, (Catherine Thomas, Studies in Scripture,
8:272)
Next week Ether 12-Moroni 10 -
