Read: Ether 14-Moroni 4
Mark: Ether 15:19
"All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not. The devil has no power over us only as we permit him. The moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power." --Joseph Smith
To ponder:
What things help you most to prevent Satan from having any power over you?
You are Invited!!!
Please join us at my home Sunday, August 17, at 7:00 p.m. so that we may finish this challenge together! Bring your scriptures and we will read Moroni 10 together! If you like, bring a light snack to share. Please feel free to share this invitation with others who you know are reading with us!
Chapter 14: Wickedness results in destruction. That destruction reaches out and causes chaos to all those in contact with the one who pursues that wickedness. Promised destruction is not always immediate, but sometimes mercilessly dragged on. Coriantumr would live past all others, but this wasn't a promise of safety. He would suffer over and over again.
ReplyDeleteWe must know this is a historical event. We must follow the commands of God and follow the persuasions of his servants. Do not fall into the same traps as those in our history!
Chapter 15: Anger, vengeance etc are shackles. Sometimes we feel justified in taking revenge or letting anger ride. The world has made rationalizing these emotions very easy and very convincing. But when we allow those feelings to drive us we are bound by them and blinded to reason.
Seeing a daugter, a son and wife set up for battles after MILLIONS of TRAINED MEN are dead - being the one of the last 100 people and battling day after day??? How could they not take pause and choose another path? They no longer were masters of themselves. Anger & wanting justice are normal feelings. There is nothing wrong if you feel them, but if you let them grow in you and drive your actions you will lose yourself.
Moroni 1: Moroni had every reason to end his own life or wonder idly but chooses instead to spend his time trying to persuade people he only knew through visions to believe in Christ and choose a better path than his own people did. He saw how his own life would end in reading Ether's own account and yet shows the best example of enduring to the end.
Moroni 2-5 (I did 5 too since it is a partner to 4). Moroni records the words of the Savior that he shared with the disciples. Specifically the words required for ordinances necessary for eternal life. No room for confusion - these the words - perfect and complete.
Sarah, thank you for these words. You have expressed so much of what I was thinking as I read tonight.
DeleteI can't even imagine all of the dead bodies which were everywhere--over 2 million! What were these people thinking?! Obviously they were not...and we again are given an example of the consequences of not following the Lord's commandments. What was wrong with Coriantumr and Shiz? Really!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm so excited to be in Moroni! Can you believe it? We did it!!! Looking forward to Sunday evening!
The end of Ether is just sad. When I read Ether 14: 2, I just couldn't really imagine how horrible it would be to live that way. Yikes. Around verse 18 I wrote "Shiz happens". And in verses 21-23 I imagined how horrible it must have been to be a part of all that bloodshed and carnage. By Ether 15 we see how Coriantumr handled it all. Nearly 2 million of his people were slaughtered "and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted." (Ether 15: 2-3) The people were so far gone, as we see in verse 19. Satan had control. That's the thing about Satan--he doesn't give you agency.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't dawn on me until just now, as I wrote that. Ether 15:19 is a really good example of why we must choose to follow God. Because if we don't follow God, Satan doesn't GIVE us a choice. That was his plan, after all, and he's determined to follow through with it to take away our agency. In what ways does Satan take away our agency? In what ways does God give it back to us? Interesting to think about.
the last two verses of Ether are pretty cool. I wonder what happened to him? Was he translated? I imagine he must have been, or made like the 3 Nephites to tarry. Can you imagine being him? The last of his people? Oh man... I can't imagine the carnage and sadness of it all. And to think, we only have PART of that record. Moroni makes it seem like what we do have is only a small part of everything Ether wrote out. I'd like to know more of what Ether wrote, because he has some really poignant things within this translated portion of the record.
As we enter Moroni, it's depressing to read chapter 1. I, like Sarah, also read through chapter 5. I think it's interesting that he wrote out the sacrament prayers and about some of the ordinances/organizations of the church. He must have thought they would be handy in the reorganization of the church after the apostasy. I just think it's really cool that he thought of that and made the time to write them down for us so that we could partake in those ordinances.