Read: Ether 1-3
Mark: Ether 3:4-5
"What ever Jesus lays his hand upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands upon the family, it lives." --President Howard W. Hunter
To ponder:
Look at the symbolism in the account of the Savior touching the stones that lit the way for the Jaredites. What does this account teach you about the Savior's hand? How have you felt the Lord's hand in your life?
So tonight I did not actually read these three chapters--they were read to me by Sarah! Sarah's ward in El Paso, Texas had a Book of Mormon read-athon, and Sarah volunteered to read near the end of the day, so that she could specifically read these chapters! She did an amazing job! (Jenny, we need to think about doing this in our ward--so amazing!)
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why Jared kept asking his brother to call upon the Lord! As it turns out (and according to "The Book of Mormon: Verse by Verse), Jared recognized his brother had the birthright, and that it was his brother's right and obligation to before the Lord on behalf of his family. The Brother of Jared was of course amazing! (Sorry that 'amazing' seems to be the word of the night for me!)
The Brother of Jared and the building of the barges is probably one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon. I did not remember that not only did the Brother of Jared see the Lord's finger, but the Lord removed the veil and the Brother of Jared was able to see the Lord because of his great faith. I had totally forgotten this! I love that the Lord and the Brother of Jared talked at length--almost back and forth, conversational style.
I love that we are taught to ask of the Lord throughout these scriptures. The Brother of Jared knew there were going to be some issues once the barges were completed: How would they steer the barges? How would they breathe? How would they have light? The Lord had instructed the Brother of Jared as to how to build the barges; the Brother of Jared did so; next, the Brother of Jared explains the three problems, and then the Lord asks: What would ye that I should do? And then the Lord steps in and helps. We can learn so much from this pattern of teaching and instruction!
Thanks for sharing the notes on why Jared always turned to Mahonri....I was confused by that. I think I'd heard an answer before but it clearly didn't stick with me. I suppose they viewed all the people that were with them as the whole church and Mahonri was the prophet and president of the church at that time. It makes sense that he would be the one to go the Lord in behalf of the people in his stewardship. I wonder what we could ask Pres Monson to go to the Lord for in our behalf??
DeleteFirst off, what's a BOM read-athon? Like, what did that entail? Sounds pretty cool! And how great that you were able to read together!!!
DeleteSecond--that's really cool that Jared recognized the birthright... I don't think I ever really put that together.
Third--Mahonri definitely isn't the weirdest name we've ever encountered in the Book of Mormon, so why is he ALWAYS referred to as the brother of Jared, especially is he is the one with the birthright? Seems a bit weird. Maybe Jared was the popular one, so Mahonri is just "Hi, Jared's brother!" much in the way that Joseph is "Jenny's husband" to my extended family and friends.
Ether 1: NOtice the brother Jared cried a long time unto the Lord - and this is the Lord saying "long"! We often consider something along time that is an instant in the Lord's reckoning - For the Lord to say a long time I imagine he means more than just the prayers sent up recently for the blessing of not losing their language. I think the brother of Jared and Jared and their family and friends probably have spent many years trying to do what is right and turning to the Lord in thanks and for guidance. I think they have a pattern of being on the Lord's side and this is why the Lord chooses to bless them.
ReplyDeleteChapter 2&3
Mahonri struggled too - he made mistakes. For four years they did not cry unto the Lord. He had to repent of this before the Lord would offer more guidance and repent he did! He turned himself around so much that his faith was perfect. This perfection in faith led to the revelation of all things. Moroni wanted to share it all, but could not - I'm sure there were many warnings and promised blessings. But we must show the same faith as Mahonri - we cannot base our faith on "if" we are shown certain things we demand. We have been given all we need and more than we deserve (and in too many cases more than we want). We must show our complete faith in all that we already have before we can expect to gain more.
Definitely good stuff to point out, Sarah! I think a lot of us, myself included, expect instantaneous results from God, but that isn't how he works, and it isn't how we learn and grow. But God will provide for us if we are faithful for a long time... You always have great insight.
DeleteI say this all the time, but I LOVE the quote for this reading!!! I think the quotes are possibly my favorite part of this whole challenge! AND the blog--getting to do this with you guys! I hope that I can be more like the brother of Jared. Isn't it amazing to have so much faith that it isn't faith anymore? It's knowledge, and then the veil isn't there! Pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteAlso--holy crap I would NOT have wanted to be in the barge with the bees. Just saying.
I hope I can have faith like the Jaredites. I can't imagine packing up into tight barges going across the water with no sails or guidance equipment. What amazing examples these people were. I feel God's hands in my life every day!