12:2-4
Faith in Christ and hope for a better world are two factors that can elevate our lives more than any other force I can think of. Ether certainly had a level of faith and hope that can’t help but affect your life. Ether “could not be restrained because of the Spirit of the Lord which was in him.” He couldn’t help but share the message of faith and repentance full time. “For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed, saying unto them that by faith all things are fulfilled”
Ether explains the importance of faith and hope. “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.” According to Ether, what does faith lead to?
Establishes an anchor for our souls. In this world filled with temptations and distractions, it’s very easy to be tossed to and fro and driven by whatever winds happen to be blowing. Without knowing the purpose of life, we can easily become flattened by all of the crap that all of us will regularly experience.
Makes us sure and steadfast. Being completely anchored in Jesus Christ allows us to be fully committed. Christ gives us something to move towards. Christ gives us an example of how to live. Becoming like Christ can be our life’s work - which makes us steadfast.
Allows us to always abound in good works. As we come to Christ, we will follow his example of how to love and serve. If we see the big picture, we see each other as fellow children of God. As we do, we will be kinder and more loving.
Leads us to glorify God. As we live with faith and hope we will reflect the light of Christ to those around us. This adds to God’s glory. As we keep the plan of salvation and the purpose of life in mind, we will look at all experiences that happen in this world - good and bad - as opportunities to be proven.
12:5
"And it came to pass that Ether did prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe, because they saw them not.” Of course those without faith do not believe things that they don’t see. Obvious.
However, there’s another way to see this verse. I have had many experiences where I am sharing spiritual principles and people without faith seem unable to grasp the principles. They can’t seem to understand. It’s as if I’m speaking in another language.
Some principles are un-understandable without the eye of faith. You can explain something forwards and backwards - without faith - these principles become permanent “mysteries of God.”
12:6
“And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” God’s pattern is to develop us at every opportunity. A big reason for the veil is so we can act in faith. Acting in faith is what develops our spiritual strength.
Consider studying to take a test with faith that your study will help you pass the test and the information will bless you in your future. Now, what if you were given the questions and answers before you even started studying. How motivated would you be to study?
This may not be the best metaphor but I hope it illustrates what I’m thinking. If we got the proof of faith before we had to exercise faith, our faith wouldn’t be exercised. As with our muscles and our brains, our faith must be exercised.
Again, God wants us to develop with the eventual result of becoming like him.
12:7, 12, 18
Moroni gives us a very thorough explanation of faith. He writes a lot. His effort should show us how essential faith is and how we must understand the concept of faith. “For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers, after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them until after they had faith in him; wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in him, for he showed himself not unto the world.” Miracles will NOT happen without our faith.
“For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.” This is saying a lot! Moroni isn’t saying that God chooses not to perform miracles if we don’t exercise faith. Instead, he says that “God CAN DO NO MIRACLE” without their faith. It is a law of the universe that even God follows. I think miracles coming after faith is a similar principle to agency itself. Agency is a “prime directive” that must exist or we cannot progress. Faith as a requirement for any miracle to be performed us another prime directive.
“And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God.”
12:8-9
“But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen. Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith.” We must believe that Christ’s atonement provided a path for us to be “partakers of the heavenly gift.” Christ won. Before him, there was no way. With him, there is a way. Faith and hope in Christ is what powers us to progress upward on the path that Christ provided.
Notice that the requirement is NOT “perfection.” It is simply faith and hope. I’m reminded of the two men who were being crucified next to Jesus. The one was full of despair. The other man clearly displayed faith that Christ was the Messiah. This man was certainly not perfect. Perhaps his main and only spiritual gift was faith. Based on the promise that Christ gave him, faith is enough.
I have no doubt that this man’s time in the spirit world will be productive as he continues to exercise his faith in Christ. That faith will lead to his spiritual progress and refining repentance.
12:13-17
Moroni illustrates the principle of faith by listing how faith preceded miracles:
“Behold, it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the prison to tumble to the earth.”
“Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.”
“Behold, it was the faith of Ammon and his brethren which wrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites.”
“And it was by faith that the three disciples obtained a promise that they should not taste of death; and they obtained not the promise until after their faith.”
12:23-24
“And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them; And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.” I love that Moroni appreciates his gifts and recognizes his weakness. He gives glory to God in his appreciation for the gift of speaking with the power of the Holy Ghost. What a gift!
He recognizes that he doesn’t have the gift of writing. It’s okay. We all have different gifts.
12:25-26
The unfortunate thing is that there are others that will poke holes in what is written. Every human will make very human mistakes. All of us can tear apart anything we create. If you write a poem, someone can tear it apart. If you create a portrait, I promise I can find ten solid flaws in your work.
Moroni was concerned about the Gentiles mocking what he was writing. “Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.”
Those who mock and take advantage of the weakness of others, shall eventually mourn. “And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness.” If someone is mocking a correct principle because an imperfect human is tasked with communicating that true principle, the only one that suffers is the mocker.
Those who are meek do not jump into mockery. They offer grace to those who make mistakes. The meek give people the benefit of the doubt. Meek, humble people realize their own imperfections. They aren’t eagerly looking for the weaknesses in others.
I can’t help but think of those who have left the church and then make it their full-time work to criticize the prophets that have been called after the Restoration. For some reason, they generally don’t criticize the mistakes of the prophets of the Old Testament - even though those prophets were as flawed as any. Instead, they focus their criticism on Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and whomever the current prophets and apostles are. How hard is it to look at a human’s body of work and find mistakes or imperfections or even weaknesses. Be glad that no one is doing that to you and everything you’ve said or written. Be especially glad that no one is attempting to make you look evil 200 years from now. It would be pretty easy to do.
As we know, they are driven to mock because it’s their way of justifying their choice to leave this religion. If the religion and its leaders aren’t wrong, then their apostasy is foolish.
12:27
The Lord gives Moroni some incredible instruction. “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” When we come unto Christ, we inevitably become familiar with his character. As we do, we can’t help but compare ourselves to his perfect example. I think this is the primary way that Christ shows us our weaknesses.
If we didn’t have weaknesses, it would be hard to be humble and teachable. Being humble and teachable are requirements to our progress. If we were perfect on our own, why would we need Christ or have faith in him. We could just rely on ourselves and have faith in ourselves.
Thankfully, we each have strengths AND weaknesses. Strengths are a blessing but so are weaknesses. For example, I truly have a problem being empathetic. I struggle having Christlike charity. I struggle acting beyond doing things that center around my own self-interest. Frankly, I’m struggling in my progress from selfish to selfless. This is a weakness.
This weakness helps me understand my reliance on Christ and the gifts of the Spirit. I am not going to be able to earn the gift of Charity. It is a gift that I’ll eventually receive from God through the Spirit. My job is to prepare myself to receive that gift. It isn’t something I can just accomplish on my own. I need the Spirit. I need Christ for this gift.
Understanding that I need Christ to develop helps me understand that I need Christ to be saved. I am completely dependent on him. My weaknesses help me to deeply understand this.
Perhaps Moroni had me in mind when he wrote verse 34. “And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.” My developing charity is not optional. I cannot progress to be like our Father in Heaven without having this perfect, selfless love. Thankfully, I have faith that Christ can make me perfect in this way.
12:28, 30
“Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.” What brings us to Christ isn’t skill, intelligence, and bravery. Instead, it’s faith, hope and charity.
Faith, hope and charity are the forces that lead us to Christ. Those three qualities are what will drive us forward. These qualities are the fuel of eternal growth. It is NOT our awesomeness and achievement. The beauty is that, as we get closer to Christ, those qualities automatically rise in our character. It is natural.
“For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith.” Faith can move mountains. Certainly, faith can make me more selfless. It may be a miracle but it is possible…if I have faith.
12:32
“And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared.” Why is hope so essential?
For anyone to progress towards anything, there must be hope. Consider that I must have hope to:
Do the work of graduating from college hoping that it will help me get a better job.
Work out everyday hoping that I will be more healthy.
Get married hoping that I will have a beautiful marriage.
Work hard hoping that I will be financially successful.
Study the scriptures hoping that I will be spiritually stronger.
Prepare thoroughly hoping that our Sunday School lesson will be strengthen the youth.
Without being able to visualize what can be in the future, we will never take action in the present. Christ is describing a mansion for us. He’s describing our destination in a way that we can understand. I’m pretty sure we won’t live in a “mansion” as we understand it. But that word helps us to visualize it - which makes it easier for us to have HOPE. Again, hope is absolutely essential for us to progress - we MUST know what or where we are progressing to.
12:36
“And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity.” Grace is required to have charity. We must show grace to each other. We are imperfect beings and we’re constantly bouncing into each other. There are so many opportunities to be critical and offended. Grace is essential in extending understanding and mercy to those around us. I pray for grace.
13:25; 14:2
This verse simply reminded me of the world we are living in today. “Now there began to be a war upon all the face of the land, every man with his band fighting for that which he desired.” Many people are fighting of their band. Sometimes it’s Democrats or Republicans. Other times it’s racial. The word “identity” hasn’t ever been used so much!
Also, in 14:2, we read another verse that I can easily see happening here. “Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was his own, with his hands, and would not borrow neither would he lend; and every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the defence of his property and his own life and of his wives and children.” It won’t take much for everyone to simply look out for his own family. Those who have prepared will not want to share with those who haven’t.
If there is a sudden breakdown in our basic supply chains and food and fuel and water are hard to find, we’ll be surprised at how quickly this society devolves into something terrible. Desperate, starving people will do anything to survive. They will steal and even kill to be able to eat. Parents will do whatever is necessary to feed their children. It will be truly desperate times.
When our physical needs aren’t being met, it is very hard to concentrate on our spiritual needs. The worldly and temporal suddenly take priority. This isn’t good when we are striving to become selfless and faithful. I think it’s going to be hard for folks to progress spiritually during this time.
For those who are spiritually prepared, this may be a time of further refinement and reliance on the Lord. I think it makes sense to decide NOW how we are going to handle that type of crisis. If we wait until we are in the crisis to decide how we’ll act, it’s probably too late.
14:18
“And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land—Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him!” Shiz sounds like a powerful man. Everyone appears afraid of hiss power. It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t fear the Lord instead. Who is Shiz compared to God? No worldly power compares in any way to the power that God has.
So, we can have faith and be of good cheer in the face of an overwhelming, yet measly, worldly threat.
15:1-7
As with Alma the Younger, when a person is facing destruction, his mind will find some message to provide hope. Alma thought of what his father had said about Jesus and salvation. Coriantumr remembered the words of Ether about repentance. “And it came to pass when Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.”
He realized that the prophecies of Ether were happening. “He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly two millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children.” This feeling of sorrow and regret is healthy. It is our natural conscience connected with the Light of Christ that all men and women have. This feeling of guilt can turn someone who is sinning in another direction.
“He began to repent of the evil which he had done; he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted.” He was beginning to repent but, often, the consequences of our bad decisions can not be reversed in this world. Of course, Christ has ensured that all things will be made right. But, while the world still stands, there will be permanent harm inflicted that cannot be wiped away. Millions of people had died and nothing Coriantumr would do could bring them back. No wonder he could find no comfort.
We don’t read anything about him turning to Christ and relying on him. He simply wanted to reverse course. So, he wrote a letter. “And it came to pass that he wrote an epistle unto Shiz, desiring him that he would spare the people, and he would give up the kingdom for the sake of the lives of the people.” This sounds good right? His intentions were good that he wanted to save the remaining people by giving up the kingdom. He wanted their lives spared.
But, how much did he truly want his people’s lives spared? We find out in the next few verses. “And it came to pass that when Shiz had received his epistle he wrote an epistle unto Coriantumr, that if he would give himself up, that he might slay him with his own sword, that he would spare the lives of the people.” It looks like that was a price to high for Coriantumr. He was willing to give up his kingdom but wasn’t willing to give up his life. His earlier offer may have sounded like selflessness. Instead, I think it was full of self interest.
Consequences of bad decisions can be spiritual or temporal. The millions dead were the temporal consequences of Coriantumr's and his people’s sinful choices. They were physically dead. There were also spiritual consequences. Those left alive were now spiritually dead. Even in the face of destruction that was prophesied by a prophet they rejected, they were unwilling to repent. “And it came to pass that the people repented not of their iniquity; and the people of Coriantumr were stirred up to anger against the people of Shiz; and the people of Shiz were stirred up to anger against the people of Coriantumr; wherefore, the people of Shiz did give battle unto the people of Coriantumr. And when Coriantumr saw that he was about to fall he fled again before the people of Shiz.”
This ever-escalating hatred for each other is inevitable in a people who don’t know Christ and are unwilling to be meek. Instead of following Christ’s teachings about turning the other cheek or going a second mile or giving a coat - people will try to establish a sense of fairness and attempt to match the violence done to them. This is a feedback loop of anger and it ends how it ended.
Verse 19 shows where this cycle of anger leads. “But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle.” When we’re angry, it is very hard to feel the Spirit. Consider when you’ve been angry with your spouse or children, how well are you feeling the Spirit in that moment? Not at all perhaps?
15:34
I am always interested in the final message of a prophet. What did Ether write before he hid the plates? “Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen.” What a humble, submissive attitude this is! He has completely submitted to the will of the Lord. I’m sure he had a preference to be translated but it didn’t matter. It reminds me of what Job said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
This life is important but is such a small event in the timeline of eternity. What happens to us is important for our development but, if we could truly see this life in context, we would be happy to endure all that happens in mortality as a step in being “saved in the kingdom of God.”
YM/YW LESSON:
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