Ether 11
11:1-7 - Even though I skipped over a lot of the end of the last chapter, it was mostly a back and forth between righteous and wicked kings, wars and power struggles and captivity. We end on Com as the ruler and the people becoming wicked with "robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom. Now Com did fight against them much; nevertheless, he did not prevail against them." As the people degenerated into wickedness, the Lord sent prophets, as he always does, and "there came also in the days of Com many prophets, and prophesied of the destruction of that great people except they should repent, and turn unto the Lord, and forsake their murders and wickedness." Did the people see the error in their ways and repent? No, they did not, "the prophets were rejected by the people, and they fled unto Com for protection, for the people sought to destroy them." This was an interesting statement, I had assumed that because the people began to establish secret combinations during his reign that Com was wicked, but it seems that this wasn't the case. Why would the prophets turn to a king for safety who was wicked? I don't think they would, in fact Moroni tells us that the prophets "prophesied unto Com many things; and he was blessed in all the remained of his days." So just because the people are wicked doesn't necessarily mean that the leadership is wicked as well. The IM teaches, "As with the Nephites, the Jaredite society repeatedly moved through the cycle of prosperity, apostasy, judgment, repentance, prosperity, and so on. Eventually, as with the Nephites, the depths of apostasy and wickedness became increasingly fatal. Ether 11 recounts the final stages of the Jaredite cycle of apostasy. They rejected, mocked, and reviled the prophets. Though King Shule had passed a law protecting the prophets and punishing those who persecuted them, a later king made it a policy to execute the prophets. Finally, the wickedness because so rampant that the prophets 'mourned and withdrew from among the people.'" I remember Shule being supportive of the prophets in his day, but I hadn't realized that it was a law for their protection. This seems similar to the command made by King Mosiah to protect those who were being persecuted by unbelievers. Com might have been a righteous man, but his son, only known to us as "the brother of Shiblom" rebelled against his brought Shiblom, who Com had made reigning king, beginning "an exceedingly great war in all the land. And it came to pass that the brother of Shiblom caused that all the prophets who prophesied of the destruction of the people should be put to death." We don't even get a name for this horrific man, who's wickedness seemed to even exceed that of King Noah, and yet there are only 2 verses given to describe his infamy. We know that bloodshed through war and struggle for power is really greasing the slopes for destruction, but killing prophets, many prophets, seems to be the tipping point for God's wrath to be unleashed, and verse 6 shows us again that this is true because "there was great calamity in all the land... wherefore, there began to be wars and contentions in all the land, and also many famines and pestilences, insomuch that there was a great destruction, such as one as never had been known upon the face of the earth; and all this came to pass in the days of Shiblom." I'm not really getting a sense of the spiritual condition of Shiblom, if Com, his righteous father, appointed him to be the next king, then I would assume that he was at least pointed towards the straight and narrow. And we see that it was Shiblom's brother who murdered the prophets and caused the wars, so it's possible that Shiblom was decent as well, but I guess one decent man isn't going to save a nation. A couple of points, first is the name Shiblom. HN teaches us that the name Shiblom means "young lion." It's interesting because we have a record here with a language on it that can't be read without the power of God, but yet HN is able to see the translated name and through knowledge of current languages is able to give the meaning of a name from thousands of years ago. Kind of like Lachoneous, a greek name in ancient America, Shiblom, an Asiatic name in even more ancient America. The second point is what the IM discusses about the people's rejection of the prophets, I've found this to be completely true in my own life and would side with these teachings 100%. The IM quotes President Henry B. Eyring as teaching, "Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sense to those with strong faith. When a prophet speaks, those with little faith may thing that they hear only a wise man giving good advice. Then if his counsel seems comfortable and reasonable, squaring with what they want to do, they take it. If it does not, they consider it either faulty advice or they see their circumstances as justifying their being an exception to the counsel. Those without faith may think that they hear only men seeking to exert influence for some selfish motive... Every time in my life when I have chose to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm's way. Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer, and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety." It's really interesting because I'm currently listening to the April 2009 general conference in my car on my way to work and as I'm listening I think "yeah that's spot on advice because the last few years have shown us... oh wait, this was given 5 years ago before all this other stuff happened." Back in April 2009 I was still ballin', riding high on the economic bubble, and the prophetic warning with the 2009 conference was exactly what I needed to hear to keep myself out of trouble, but guess what? I wasn't listening, and I'm still paying the price for that. In the talk I listened to today entitled "His Servants, The Prophets," Elder F. Michael Watson quoted President Harold B. Lee as teaching, "You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views... (or) your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if (we) listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise if that... 'the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory." Elder Watson continues, "Prior to his passing in December 1973, President Lee, speaking to an assembled group of Church employees and their families, posed the question after giving a history of the Church's welfare program: 'Do you believe these prophets knew what they were talking about?' Later in the same address, concerning the Brethren's counsel to guard against the permissiveness invading the home through inappropriate literature and television, he asked, 'Are you too close to the Brethren (so that you) think of them not as prophets but as men just guessing (such counsel) might be a good thing?'" I have to add my testimony to that of President Eyring's concerning the need to follow prophetic counsel. I've lived my life doing whatever I wanted, what the prophet's had to say was not even on my radar. I'm STILL paying the debt incurred when I didn't follow the prophet's counsel to stay out of debt, I've suffered immensely because of my choices to not even consider what Church leadership had to say. I've learned the hard way to follow the prophets, I think I'm doing a decent job of it, I'm trying to get better, but it's a process. I used to think that I was special, and because I was special, I was the exception to the rule and didn't have to keep the commandments. Now I know that it's because I'm so special that I DO have to keep the commandments. I had a conversation with someone recently and we were debating lifestyle choices, and this person told me that she didn't feel like the answer to her prayers were contrary to the teaching of the prophets. I told her, "I can't imagine that any personal revelation will go against the counsel of the prophets, except for Nephi, and we're not there yet."
11:8 - With the destruction and famine and natural disasters "the people began to repent of their iniquity; and inasmuch as they did the Lord did have mercy on them." I loved this and thought that it was quite profound. Think about what these people were guilty of, collectively, murder, immorality, killing the prophets, and yet the Lord STILL forgave them when they sought repentance. This is a great example to us that no one is so far gone that the Lord doesn't want them to repent and return to him. The Gadianton Robbers were converted by the Lamanites after they were captured, and they were also guilty of atrocities, but Jesus still longed for them to return, and when they did, he facilitated their repentance and healing. There is nothing that any of us have done that make us beyond his reach, he has atoned for all the sins for all the world, if it's been done, he's made amends for it, and he has given us promise in 2 Nephi 26:24-25 that he never has nor ever will command us to leave him, it's always us that runs away. Nephi teaches, "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; be he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price." Continuing in his address concerning the prophets, Elder Watson says, "It was President Spencer W. Kimball who in his writings provided us the comforting words that there is a miracle of forgiveness and God will forgive." We have all been guilty of trespass, all of us, except for Jesus we all need forgiveness and there's nothing that any of us have done or can do that cannot be rectified through the atonement. Usually when a people is brought to repentance, we think of war and physical bloodshed, but the IM teaches that "Natural disasters can lead to repentance. We read that as a result of the wards, famines, pestilences, and destructions, the people began to repent of their iniquity. President Joseph F. Smith helped us understand that sometimes the Lord uses natural disasters to bring about repentance in the lives of His children: 'The Latter-day Saints, though they themselves tremble because of their own wickedness and sins, believe that great judgments are coming upon the world because of iniquity; they firmly believe in the statements of the Holy Scriptures, that calamities will befall the nations as signs of the coming of Christ to judgment. They believe that God rules in the fire, the earthquake, the tidal wave, the volcanic eruption, and the storm. Him they recognize as the Master and Ruler of nature and her laws, and freely acknowledge his hand in all things. We believe that his judgments are poured out to bring mankind to a sense of his power and his purposes, that they may repent of their sins and prepare themselves for the second coming of Christ to reign in righteousness upon the earth... We believe that these severe, natural calamities are visited upon men by the Lord for the good of his children, to quicken their devotion to others, and to bring out their better natures, that they may love and serve him.'" That's an interesting statement, that natural disasters occur to bring out our better natures and to "quicken their devotion to others." I think about what happens during a natural disaster, well mostly after, there are people donating time, money, goods, supplies to others, it brings us to our most basic level of humanity. And I guess there is the argument "well did people really have to die for us to become decent human beings to each other?" I think that we can answer that with "well if we were decent human beings to each other, maybe the casualties would be less." I also think that it's important to note that the tragedy of death is looked at by us from this side of the veil, I firmly believe that most, if not all, people who die think of it as a step forward, but I'd be interested to see the statistics on that when I get to the other side.
11:9-23 - During these disasters "Shiblom was slain, and Seth was brought into captivity." I'm not sure who Seth is, maybe I missed it, but he was in captivity for the rest of his life. There were a succession of kings, most of whom were exceedingly wicked, rejecting the prophets, and we are introduced to Ether, the son of Coriantor. Interestingly, Coriantor "dwelt in captivity all his days," which means that Ether was one of these children begat to their fathers while they were in some sort of bondage.
11:8 - With the destruction and famine and natural disasters "the people began to repent of their iniquity; and inasmuch as they did the Lord did have mercy on them." I loved this and thought that it was quite profound. Think about what these people were guilty of, collectively, murder, immorality, killing the prophets, and yet the Lord STILL forgave them when they sought repentance. This is a great example to us that no one is so far gone that the Lord doesn't want them to repent and return to him. The Gadianton Robbers were converted by the Lamanites after they were captured, and they were also guilty of atrocities, but Jesus still longed for them to return, and when they did, he facilitated their repentance and healing. There is nothing that any of us have done that make us beyond his reach, he has atoned for all the sins for all the world, if it's been done, he's made amends for it, and he has given us promise in 2 Nephi 26:24-25 that he never has nor ever will command us to leave him, it's always us that runs away. Nephi teaches, "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; be he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price." Continuing in his address concerning the prophets, Elder Watson says, "It was President Spencer W. Kimball who in his writings provided us the comforting words that there is a miracle of forgiveness and God will forgive." We have all been guilty of trespass, all of us, except for Jesus we all need forgiveness and there's nothing that any of us have done or can do that cannot be rectified through the atonement. Usually when a people is brought to repentance, we think of war and physical bloodshed, but the IM teaches that "Natural disasters can lead to repentance. We read that as a result of the wards, famines, pestilences, and destructions, the people began to repent of their iniquity. President Joseph F. Smith helped us understand that sometimes the Lord uses natural disasters to bring about repentance in the lives of His children: 'The Latter-day Saints, though they themselves tremble because of their own wickedness and sins, believe that great judgments are coming upon the world because of iniquity; they firmly believe in the statements of the Holy Scriptures, that calamities will befall the nations as signs of the coming of Christ to judgment. They believe that God rules in the fire, the earthquake, the tidal wave, the volcanic eruption, and the storm. Him they recognize as the Master and Ruler of nature and her laws, and freely acknowledge his hand in all things. We believe that his judgments are poured out to bring mankind to a sense of his power and his purposes, that they may repent of their sins and prepare themselves for the second coming of Christ to reign in righteousness upon the earth... We believe that these severe, natural calamities are visited upon men by the Lord for the good of his children, to quicken their devotion to others, and to bring out their better natures, that they may love and serve him.'" That's an interesting statement, that natural disasters occur to bring out our better natures and to "quicken their devotion to others." I think about what happens during a natural disaster, well mostly after, there are people donating time, money, goods, supplies to others, it brings us to our most basic level of humanity. And I guess there is the argument "well did people really have to die for us to become decent human beings to each other?" I think that we can answer that with "well if we were decent human beings to each other, maybe the casualties would be less." I also think that it's important to note that the tragedy of death is looked at by us from this side of the veil, I firmly believe that most, if not all, people who die think of it as a step forward, but I'd be interested to see the statistics on that when I get to the other side.
11:9-23 - During these disasters "Shiblom was slain, and Seth was brought into captivity." I'm not sure who Seth is, maybe I missed it, but he was in captivity for the rest of his life. There were a succession of kings, most of whom were exceedingly wicked, rejecting the prophets, and we are introduced to Ether, the son of Coriantor. Interestingly, Coriantor "dwelt in captivity all his days," which means that Ether was one of these children begat to their fathers while they were in some sort of bondage.
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