1:43
In this chapter, we read of a few times that Jared asks his brother to pray to the Lord. We do read in verse 34 that the brother of Jared was a “large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord.” Those are good reasons to delegate praying to him.
He asks for three big things at this time:
Not let their language be confounded. Their language wasn’t confounded.
Request that He doesn’t confound their friends’ and families’ language. Their friends’ and families’ language wasn’t confounded.
Where should they go. The Lord led them.
Through these requests and receiving answers, the relationship with the Lord and the brother of Jared is growing stronger. The brother of Jared is building a growing reliance on the Lord. His faith is growing.
The result of this relationship is an amazing blessing. “And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth.” That’s a pretty amazing blessing!
Why did the Lord do this for them? He answers at the end of verse 43. “And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me.” This blessing was tied directly to the brother of Jared’s prayers to God. We will learn in the next few chapters why the brother of Jared’s prayers were so effective. His experience is a map for us to build our own ability to pray effectively.
2:9, 11
Jared has received a promise of how his people will become a mighty nation in a promised land. With that, he also receives a warning. “And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.”
We hear this phrase in other places in scripture: “ripening in iniquity.” I’ve thought about this a little because “ripe” is a strange word to use paired with iniquity. With fruit, ripe is the point that it’s the right time to eat. The flavor has reached its pinnacle.
Once a piece of fruit is ripe, it begins to degrade. From that moment on, nothing is going to stop the downfall of that fruit. There is no additive I can sprinkle that will stop the ripening process. The unavoidable outcome is a rotten piece of fruit that is worthless.
Once a nation becomes ripe in iniquity, the destiny of that nation is unavoidable. While Christ’s atonement can save all of us individually, His atonement cannot stop the digression of a wicked nation. Once a nation is fully ripe, the nation cannot be saved. In these cases, the Lord has shown that he is willing to allow that nation to be “swept off.” Look at what happened with Sodom and Gomorrah and the entire planet at the time of Noah.
The United States is in this chosen land. “For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.” If we do not continue to “serve God,” we will be swept off.
The Lord doesn’t hold his “feedback” until the time of ripening. He gives warnings. “And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.” God is doing what he can to prevent us from ripening fully in wickedness.
But, alas, we have our agency.
2:13-14
“And now I proceed with my record; for behold, it came to pass that the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth even to that great sea which divideth the lands. And as they came to the sea they pitched their tents; and they called the name of the place Moriancumer; and they dwelt in tents, and dwelt in tents upon the seashore for the space of four years. And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.” Sometimes, when life is easy, we can forget to rely on the Lord. If we aren’t in a struggle where we need help, we can simply exist in this world. If everything is looking good around us, we often don’t have much reason to look up.
It sounds like this was the case with Jared and his brethren. I think life might have been pretty simple and easy by the sea in the land of Moriancumer. They weren’t anxiously engaged in much. They weren’t building. They dwelt in tents for the entirety of four years. That’s a long time in a tent. Why didn’t they build more stable homes and buildings?
There wasn’t a struggle and therefore they weren’t being challenged. Without challenge, there wasn’t a dependence on the Lord. Without challenge, there wasn’t progression. This is the thing about struggle, if handled wisely, it always leads to progress. Let’s call this REACTIVE PROGRESSION.
The question is, is it possible to progress without struggle? I think opposition is always needed to progress. The scriptures are clear about this. We read in 2nd Nephi what Lehi teaches his son Jacob: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.” So, is the answer “yes” that it requires struggle to progress? Yes. However, with the right mindset we are ALWAYS in a struggle.
If we have an eternal perspective and are close to Jesus and have a desire to be like him, we are in a constant battle with our un-Christlike attributes. We are in a battle against the natural man. We are attempting to refine ourselves along the progression path of faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. (2 Peter 1:5-7) It is a daily struggle.
If we have this perspective, then we see our daily struggle. We don’t need to be attacked by enemies or suffering chronic illness or all of the other infinite challenges that this fallen world presents. If we are in this mindset that we are in a constant struggle to be like Christ, we find ourselves in PROACTIVE PROGRESSION. This is progression that isn’t tied to worldly afflictions.
So, it’s possible that Jared and his people weren’t in this mindset. They were in a good environment that wasn’t presenting natural struggle. As a result, they obviously didn’t “call upon the name of the Lord” as much as they should have. It was egregious enough that the Lord chastised him for three hours!
Let’s learn from the brother of Jared to not forget the Lord when our lives are humming along nicely.
2:15
“And the brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.” What does this mean exactly that the Spirit won’t always strive with man.
The Lord is emphasizing the idea that the influence of the Spirit is conditional upon our choices and receptiveness. God’s Spirit strives, or works, with people to encourage them to come unto Christ, to repent, and to follow God’s commandments. However, if we persist in rejecting this influence and choose to ignore divine guidance, the Spirit will eventually withdraw, allowing us to fully exercise our agency.
When we’re asked to receive the Holy Ghost when we are confirmed members of the church, we are promised that the Holy Ghost will be a constant companion. This companionship still depends on worthiness and willingness to follow the Spirit’s promptings. If we rebel and disregard promptings, the Spirit doesn’t remain with us. The scriptures say that the “Spirit withdraws.” Obviously, we wouldn’t benefit from that companionship anyway because we’re not being receptive. How helpful is a coach that I don’t listen to?
God is always willing to bless us with the Spirit, but we must prepare a place in our hearts and lives for Him to abide. As the ordinance says, we are meant to “receive the Holy Ghost.”
2:23, 25
God wants us to progress. That’s the purpose of the entire plan of salvation. So, God won’t do anything that we can do for ourselves. He wants us to work for our salvation as much as possible. If he did the work for us, we would miss out on that progression.
This is on display in how the Lord helps the brother of Jared build and light the boats that would carry them across the ocean. In these verses, the Lord is asking Jared what he wants the Lord to do. Of course, the Lord knows the optimal answer to the questions he’s asking. The Lord asking questions of him gives the brother of Jared the opportunity to develop.
“And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire…And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?”
This is a great example of what the Lord is willing to do when helping us. He gives some instruction around his question by explaining that windows aren’t the solution and fire isn’t a good idea. It’s possible that the brother of Jared wouldn’t have anticipated this - so the Lord fills in that gap of knowledge. But, it is definitely possible for the brother of Jared to come up with a plausible way for the Lord to help them in this situation where they can’t help themselves.
This is why God wants us to “study it out in our mind” first before asking for direction in prayer. He wants us to do the work first and make a decision and, only then, ask for a confirmation if our thinking is correct. This allows the most progression to occur in ourselves. God usually does the minimum required to allow our growth to be maximized.
3:2
How important is humility? Being humble is the fertile ground of our character required to progress. If we think we’re awesome, why would we need to improve. The brother of Jared was humble. “O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires.” If we are fully aware of our dependence on God, we are better tools in his hand. The brother of Jared will definitely not need to be chastised again about not turning to God
3:5
The brother of Jared had immense faith. “Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men.” The brother of Jared knew, without a doubt, that the Lord could perform any miracle.
I think the last part of this verse is interesting. He is talking about the Lord’s great power being perceived as small by the understanding of men. I think we see the Lord’s hand at work in our lives in many ways. If we could truly see spiritually, we would see his effect every day. The world considers these little miracles as mere coincidence. The world tells us that we are naive if we recognize miracles. They believe that is an effect of a “frenzied mind.”
Marci and I don’t believe in consequences. If we are at a sporting event, the strangers sitting next to us were meant to be there. We feel a responsibility to strengthen and, perhaps, proselyte.
3:19-20
“And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting. Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him.” If our faith becomes knowledge, we cannot be kept from within the veil.
What happened to the brother of Jared could happen to any of us. If our faith leads to events that transform our faith to knowledge, we will be able to see through the veil. We all must eventually progress to this level. I am not certain but it makes sense that the “veil being lifted” on all humanity will not be a singular event performed by Jesus Christ. It’s not like a big reveal where Jesus pulls back a sheet. It will likely happen the same way that it happened for the brother of Jared - ensuring that we are ready for that event when it happens.
Of course, the veil is somewhat lifted when we enter the spirit world. However, I believe that the veil of eternity will only be lifted when we are resurrected and stand before God to be judged. If anyone has more information about this, please let me know. :)
4:11-12
“But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good. And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.”
We often are curious and even concerned about how to know if the promptings we are getting are from the Spirit or ourselves. One way to know that something comes from the Spirit is if it persuades us to do good. The next question is, what if it’s our own thoughts that are persuading me to do good. The answer is IT DOESN’T MATTER THEN DOES IT! If we are being persuaded to do good, it doesn’t matter if the source of that is us or the Spirit. In fact, it’s a good sign if we are aligned with the Spirit. We should be progressing to the point that our wills and thoughts are aligned with what promptings we would receive from the Spirit.
留言