Ether 13
13:1-12 - Moroni has bid us farewell in the last chapter, and now will “proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of whom I have been writing.” It’s really interesting because when I write, if it’s a story type thing, I don’t finish half way through with my final words and an “amen.” It makes me wonder if the Jaredite records were abridged in the order that they are presented here, meaning if Moroni was abridging and commenting at the same time or if he did one and then the other and then mixed them, if that makes sense. Ether told the people many thing, “for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands.” He taught them everything from the beginning to the future. Verse 3 is kind of confusing because it uses both past and future tense, “and that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.” So this land, the American continent, “was” the place of the New Jerusalem, but it “should” come down out of heaven. I’m trying to see if I can think this through, Moroni is paraphrasing the ideas that Ether was teaching the people, and I there are too many “what ifs” to figure it all out right now, and it’s possible that this is one of the “weaknesses” that Moroni was worried about, but either way, it’s ok. Verse 4 might give us some insight on this “Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.” The words “saw” and “spake” are both past tense as well, maybe he’s using the past tense as “this future thing was seen in the past and it will be.” That’s kind of complicated but essentially it might be looked at as something like, “And Ether saw that this land was the place of the New Jerusalem, which will come down from heaven. And Ether also saw the days of Christ and told of a New Jerusalem upon this land.” Ok yeah, that makes sense, I’ll buy that. As I’m reading Ether’s discourse on the New Jerusalem, I can’t help but wonder why this was his message to the people. There are two ideas that I came up with, the first is that Ether, like most other prophets, taught everything from beginning to end, and Moroni, assuming that we had the records of Adam, only thought to include this portion of the lesson because he didn’t want to double cover the material on the precious plates. The other reason I came up with is that because the people rejected his call to repentance, he taught them things that they didn’t understand, because really if you think about it, if there was a guy standing on the street corner saying these types of things people would automatically assume that he’s crazy. If a person sat there and absorbed the whole message and sought for truth from the Holy Ghost, then it would make sense, but like we learned yesterday in 12:35: “if the Gentiles have not charity, because of our weakness, that thou wilt prove them, and take away their talent, yea, even that which they have received, and give unto them who shall have more abundantly.” The Lord has told us many times, if we treasure the lessons that we are given, then we will receive more, and if we don’t treasure them, then what we have will be taken away from us. Similarly, if Ether teaches simple truths and the people reject them, then they will be given things that they can’t understand, possibly, as one of the reasons why Ether would teach the people about the New Jerusalem. The IM teaches, “Ether 13:1-12 describes what a great seer Ether was. Ether was shown many marvelous things by the Lord, including the establishment of a New Jerusalem prior to the Second Coming. Note what Ether said about the New Jerusalem:
1. It will be ‘the holy sanctuary of the Lord. (Ether 13:3)
2. It will be built on the American continent for the remnant of the seed of Joseph (see verses 4-6).
3. It will be a holy city like Jerusalem built unto the Lord (see verses 8-9).
4. It will stand until the earth if celestialized (see verse 8).
5. It will be a city for the pure and righteous (see verse 10).
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote the following about the New Jerusalem: ‘The prevailing notion in the world is that this (the New Jerusalem) is the city of Jerusalem, the ancient city of the Jews which in the day of regeneration will be renewed, but this is not the case. We read in the Book of Ether that the Lord revealed to him many of the same things which were seen by John. Ether, as members of the Church will know, was the last of the prophets among the Jaredites, and the Lord had revealed to him much concerning the history of the Jews and their city of Jerusalem which stood in the days of the ministry of our Savior. In his vision, in many respects similar to that given to John, Ether saw the old city of Jerusalem and also the new city which has not yet been built, and he wrote of them as follows as reported in the writings of Moroni: (Ether 13:2-11.)… In the day of regeneration, when all things are made new, there will be three great cities that will be holy. One will be the Jerusalem of old which shall be rebuilt according to the prophecy of Ezekiel. One will be the city of Zion, or of Enoch, which was taken from the earth when Enoch was translated and which will be restored; and the city Zion, or New Jerusalem, which is to be built by the seed of Joseph on this the American continent.’” I don’t really understand very much of the whole “New Jerusalem” thing, which is probably why this section is hard for me.
13:13-31 - Whatever the exact nature of Ether’s prophesies were, the people did not receive them well “but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people.” Again, another difficult to understand past/future tense usage here, but verse 14 gives as a little bit more insight “and as he dwelt in the cavity of a rock he made the remainder of this record, viewing the destructions which came upon the people, by night.” Maybe because Ether was hidden in a rock that had a vantage point of both sides of the conflict, he could see the preparations of war both sides were making and so he could see what the people were going to do to each other before they had done it, that way making the past/future tense applicable. I’ve wondered many times if Ether had a family, a wife or children, but when he was cast out, it must have just been him because if his family had gone with him and been spared then he wouldn’t have been the last righteous person standing and the “Ether-ites” would have made a comeback on the land, but because they didn’t, I’m assuming that he lived alone, and that either he didn’t have any wife and children or they didn’t go with him for whatever reason and they were also destroyed. We are reintroduced to the political ruler of the time, king over all the land Coriantumr, and “there were many who rose up, who were mighty men, and sought to destroy Coriantumr by their secret plans of wickedness, of which hath been spoken.” There was lots of conflict, lots of attempted governmental overthrows, “and now Coriantumr, having studied, himself, in all the arts of war and all the cunning of the world, wherefore he gave battle unto them who sought to destroy them.” He’s a pretty capable military leader, just like CM was, but was he successful because he was righteous and had the backing if God? No, “be he repented not, neither his fair sons nor daughters; neither the fair sons and daughters of Cohor; neither the fair sons and daughters of Corihor; and in fine, there were none of the fair sons and daughters upon the face of the whole earth who repented of their sins.” Coriantumr was successful not because he was prospered by the Lord because of his righteousness, but he was successful because, as Korihor taught “every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore ever man prospered according to his genius and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” Such a tragic application of this philosophy here, and isn’t it so reflective of our society today? Because neither side was righteous, neither was granted the protection of the Lord, so whatever happened, whatever side won was because of their greater military strength or strategy, but what was the ultimate outcome of this? Did one side conquer and peace was restored to the land? No, not a chance, it deteriorated until no one was left. It wasn’t good vs evil, God vs. the devil, it was evil vs evil and there is no end to that, no one ever “wins” Satan is never satisfied until everyone is dead and suffering, even those who faithfully serve him. There was a volatile back and forth for control of the kingdom with much blood spilt, “and in the second year the word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and prophesy unto Coriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people- Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr.” Interesting prophesy there, two years in the cave and Ether is told to go tell the king to repent. And what happens if Coriantumr repents? He still gets to be king and he gets to win the war. I think that that’s fair, way better than living alone for an undisclosed length of time and dying with another people who have come to inherit your land because they were righteous. How was this message received? “And it came to pass that Coriantumr repented not, neither his household, neither the people; and the wars ceased not; and they sought to kill Ether, but he fled from before them and hid again in the cavity of the rock.” They did not listen, they did not repent. I wonder what they thought was going to happen? Did Coriantumr really think that he was going to keep defeating all these people who came against him until he was king of the world? It didn’t really work out at all, and there was a back and forth between Coriantumr and a man names Shared, and there were many battles and enslavement and lots of blood and honestly it was just a mess and “all the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood, and there was none to restrain them.” I do have to say this about Coriantumr though, it doesn’t seem like he was a tyrant. A tyrant would have held such an iron fist over the people that the only person who could have authorized the shedding of blood would have been him. But oh Coriantumr, what a tragic figure. The IM teaches, “Coriantumr had devoted a great deal of time to studying ‘all the arts of war and all the cunning of the world,’ yet he rejected the simple message of Ether, which would have brought him peace in a way that all his military skills could not. Note the prophet Ether’s promise to Coriantumr in Ether 13:20-21 as well as its fulfillment (see Ether 15:1-3, 26-32; Omni 1:20-22).” I love history, and the study of military tactics is really interesting to me, and of course because I’m a little bit neurotic I wonder what I would do militarily, and because I believe that my son will definitely be involved in some sort of military war fighting, as many men in most generations are, I try to prepare myself and my children, subtly so I don’t overwhelm him, with what matters most, what will be of the greatest benefit when that time comes. Like most boys, he thinks that war history is cool to learn about, and so we’ve looked at some books and stuff like that, and I thought about getting him a book about different military strategies, but then I heard an article, and of course I can’t find it now that said that military strategy isn’t as important as being righteous to the outcome of an armed conflict. The author referenced Alma 31in which the Nephites had just dealt with the aftermath of Korihor, and the Zoramites “were perverting the ways of the Lord” and had situated themselves between the Lamanites and the people of Ammon in the land of Jershon, who were also hated because of their conversion to the Lord. So there was threats of war and death and bloodshed on all sides, and the author asked, “what did Alma do, knowing that the Lamanites were preparing for was and that there were many Nephites getting ready to dissent?” Did Alma build forts? No. Did Alma forge weapons? No. Did Alma conscript the army? No. In the face of imminent warfare, Alma spent his time doing that which was most beneficial, that which could sway the outcome of a war most assuredly, Alma spent his time preaching because “as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just- yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them- therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” He knew that he had a limited amount of time before war started and I think that it’s very telling what he spent his time doing in order to protect and ready his people. When I heard that article, I thought the military strategy might be interesting, but if he’s to make a difference when his time for war comes, he must be righteous and encourage his brothers in arms to be righteous as well, because like Coriantumr is going to show us, there is nothing else that will bring him home.
1. It will be ‘the holy sanctuary of the Lord. (Ether 13:3)
2. It will be built on the American continent for the remnant of the seed of Joseph (see verses 4-6).
3. It will be a holy city like Jerusalem built unto the Lord (see verses 8-9).
4. It will stand until the earth if celestialized (see verse 8).
5. It will be a city for the pure and righteous (see verse 10).
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote the following about the New Jerusalem: ‘The prevailing notion in the world is that this (the New Jerusalem) is the city of Jerusalem, the ancient city of the Jews which in the day of regeneration will be renewed, but this is not the case. We read in the Book of Ether that the Lord revealed to him many of the same things which were seen by John. Ether, as members of the Church will know, was the last of the prophets among the Jaredites, and the Lord had revealed to him much concerning the history of the Jews and their city of Jerusalem which stood in the days of the ministry of our Savior. In his vision, in many respects similar to that given to John, Ether saw the old city of Jerusalem and also the new city which has not yet been built, and he wrote of them as follows as reported in the writings of Moroni: (Ether 13:2-11.)… In the day of regeneration, when all things are made new, there will be three great cities that will be holy. One will be the Jerusalem of old which shall be rebuilt according to the prophecy of Ezekiel. One will be the city of Zion, or of Enoch, which was taken from the earth when Enoch was translated and which will be restored; and the city Zion, or New Jerusalem, which is to be built by the seed of Joseph on this the American continent.’” I don’t really understand very much of the whole “New Jerusalem” thing, which is probably why this section is hard for me.
13:13-31 - Whatever the exact nature of Ether’s prophesies were, the people did not receive them well “but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people.” Again, another difficult to understand past/future tense usage here, but verse 14 gives as a little bit more insight “and as he dwelt in the cavity of a rock he made the remainder of this record, viewing the destructions which came upon the people, by night.” Maybe because Ether was hidden in a rock that had a vantage point of both sides of the conflict, he could see the preparations of war both sides were making and so he could see what the people were going to do to each other before they had done it, that way making the past/future tense applicable. I’ve wondered many times if Ether had a family, a wife or children, but when he was cast out, it must have just been him because if his family had gone with him and been spared then he wouldn’t have been the last righteous person standing and the “Ether-ites” would have made a comeback on the land, but because they didn’t, I’m assuming that he lived alone, and that either he didn’t have any wife and children or they didn’t go with him for whatever reason and they were also destroyed. We are reintroduced to the political ruler of the time, king over all the land Coriantumr, and “there were many who rose up, who were mighty men, and sought to destroy Coriantumr by their secret plans of wickedness, of which hath been spoken.” There was lots of conflict, lots of attempted governmental overthrows, “and now Coriantumr, having studied, himself, in all the arts of war and all the cunning of the world, wherefore he gave battle unto them who sought to destroy them.” He’s a pretty capable military leader, just like CM was, but was he successful because he was righteous and had the backing if God? No, “be he repented not, neither his fair sons nor daughters; neither the fair sons and daughters of Cohor; neither the fair sons and daughters of Corihor; and in fine, there were none of the fair sons and daughters upon the face of the whole earth who repented of their sins.” Coriantumr was successful not because he was prospered by the Lord because of his righteousness, but he was successful because, as Korihor taught “every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore ever man prospered according to his genius and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” Such a tragic application of this philosophy here, and isn’t it so reflective of our society today? Because neither side was righteous, neither was granted the protection of the Lord, so whatever happened, whatever side won was because of their greater military strength or strategy, but what was the ultimate outcome of this? Did one side conquer and peace was restored to the land? No, not a chance, it deteriorated until no one was left. It wasn’t good vs evil, God vs. the devil, it was evil vs evil and there is no end to that, no one ever “wins” Satan is never satisfied until everyone is dead and suffering, even those who faithfully serve him. There was a volatile back and forth for control of the kingdom with much blood spilt, “and in the second year the word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and prophesy unto Coriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people- Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr.” Interesting prophesy there, two years in the cave and Ether is told to go tell the king to repent. And what happens if Coriantumr repents? He still gets to be king and he gets to win the war. I think that that’s fair, way better than living alone for an undisclosed length of time and dying with another people who have come to inherit your land because they were righteous. How was this message received? “And it came to pass that Coriantumr repented not, neither his household, neither the people; and the wars ceased not; and they sought to kill Ether, but he fled from before them and hid again in the cavity of the rock.” They did not listen, they did not repent. I wonder what they thought was going to happen? Did Coriantumr really think that he was going to keep defeating all these people who came against him until he was king of the world? It didn’t really work out at all, and there was a back and forth between Coriantumr and a man names Shared, and there were many battles and enslavement and lots of blood and honestly it was just a mess and “all the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood, and there was none to restrain them.” I do have to say this about Coriantumr though, it doesn’t seem like he was a tyrant. A tyrant would have held such an iron fist over the people that the only person who could have authorized the shedding of blood would have been him. But oh Coriantumr, what a tragic figure. The IM teaches, “Coriantumr had devoted a great deal of time to studying ‘all the arts of war and all the cunning of the world,’ yet he rejected the simple message of Ether, which would have brought him peace in a way that all his military skills could not. Note the prophet Ether’s promise to Coriantumr in Ether 13:20-21 as well as its fulfillment (see Ether 15:1-3, 26-32; Omni 1:20-22).” I love history, and the study of military tactics is really interesting to me, and of course because I’m a little bit neurotic I wonder what I would do militarily, and because I believe that my son will definitely be involved in some sort of military war fighting, as many men in most generations are, I try to prepare myself and my children, subtly so I don’t overwhelm him, with what matters most, what will be of the greatest benefit when that time comes. Like most boys, he thinks that war history is cool to learn about, and so we’ve looked at some books and stuff like that, and I thought about getting him a book about different military strategies, but then I heard an article, and of course I can’t find it now that said that military strategy isn’t as important as being righteous to the outcome of an armed conflict. The author referenced Alma 31in which the Nephites had just dealt with the aftermath of Korihor, and the Zoramites “were perverting the ways of the Lord” and had situated themselves between the Lamanites and the people of Ammon in the land of Jershon, who were also hated because of their conversion to the Lord. So there was threats of war and death and bloodshed on all sides, and the author asked, “what did Alma do, knowing that the Lamanites were preparing for was and that there were many Nephites getting ready to dissent?” Did Alma build forts? No. Did Alma forge weapons? No. Did Alma conscript the army? No. In the face of imminent warfare, Alma spent his time doing that which was most beneficial, that which could sway the outcome of a war most assuredly, Alma spent his time preaching because “as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just- yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them- therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” He knew that he had a limited amount of time before war started and I think that it’s very telling what he spent his time doing in order to protect and ready his people. When I heard that article, I thought the military strategy might be interesting, but if he’s to make a difference when his time for war comes, he must be righteous and encourage his brothers in arms to be righteous as well, because like Coriantumr is going to show us, there is nothing else that will bring him home.
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