The Brother of JaredEther 1-6

*The Book of Ether

Gold plates in a stone box inscribed during the reign of Darius I of Persia (515-518 bc)

• Translated and abridged by Moroni• Taken from the 24 gold plates found by the people of Limhi• Moroni excluded the record from Adam to the Tower of Babel• It is a record of the Jaredites

• They spoke the Adamic Language• The entire civilization was destroyed about the time that Lehi

arrived• The book covers a period of 1,600 years (2,200 bc to 600 bc)• They left the Old World after the Tower of Babel experience

In 1600, a native Aztec historian named Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl wrote a history of the indigenous peoples of the New World called Relación Histórica de la Nación Tulteca. He described a group of people who came from “the great tower” to Mesoamerica.

“This false temple was an attempt by an ambitious and wicked people to imitate true temple worship. Nimrod is a name is for the Jews the very symbol of rebellion against God and of usurped authority.” (Nibley, Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites, 154).

Clues about what his name could be…

Alma 8:7Now it was the custom of the people of Nephi to call their lands, and their cities, and their villages, yea, even all their small villages, after the name of him who first possessed them.

Ether 2:13And 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.

*Ether 1:33-43… The “Brother of Jared”

The “Brother of Jared”“While residing at Kirtland, Elder Reynolds

Cahoon had a son born to him. One day when President Joseph Smith was passing his door he called the Prophet in and asked him to bless and name the baby. Joseph did so and gave the boy the name of Mahonri Moriancumer. When he had finished the blessing, he laid the child on the bed, and turning to Elder Cahoon he said, the name I have given your son is the name of the Brother of Jacred; the Lord has just shown or revealed it to me. Elder William F. Cahoon, who was standing near heard the Prophet make this statement to his father; and this was the first time the name of the brother of Jared was known in the Church in this dispensation.”

"The Jaredites," The Juvenile Instructor, [1 May 1892], p. 282 n.

Reynolds Cahoon

Mahonri Moriancumer

Cahoon

*Why wasn’t his name revealed in the Book of Mormon? There must be some symbolism…

Idea: The exclusion of the name draws attention to the fact that Jared was not left alone, but had a very special brother who intervened in his and his family's behalf. All of us have such a brother in Jesus Christ, whose mission is to give us immortality and help us all gain eternal life.

What’s the worst trouble you were ever in with your parents?

What’s the longest “lecture” you ever got?

Do you think you could get in that kind of trouble with God?

Ether 2:1-2, 13-14

“It seems highly unlikely that a man of the spiritual stature of the brother of Jared, one who had received marvelous manifestations and had previously exercised great faith in the Lord - would suddenly cease praying to his Maker.”

“It may be that what this verse is saying to us is that Mahonri Moriancumer was chastened by the Lord because he had not fully followed and implemented the counsels of the Lord previously received. It may be that in the relative comfort of the seashore he had allowed his prayers to become less fervent, more casual and routine. He may have been calling upon the Lord in word, but not in faith and deed” (J. McConkie, Millet, Top).

“Even the very righteous brother of Jared, a truly remarkable man, once was chastised during a visitation from the Lord because he ‘remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord’ [Ether 2:14]. How vital prayer is, therefore, for all of us! How vital it is that even our ‘busyness’ in doing His work not crowd out our prayers to our Father” (Elder Neal A Maxwell, Even As I Am [1982], 67).

“When you pray, do you just speak, or do you also listen? Your Savior said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me,’ (Revelation 3:20)

•How do you feel about the frequency of your personal prayers?

•How do you feel about the sincerity of your personal prayers?

•If you could make one change that would improve your personal prayers, what might it be?

Elder Richard G. Scott: “Let your Father in Heaven know of your feelings, your needs, your concerns, your hopes and aspirations. Speak to Him with total confidence, knowing that He will hear and respond. Then patiently go forth in your life doing those things you know are correct, walking with confidence born of faith and righteousness, patiently waiting for the response that will come in the manner and at the time the Lord considers most appropriate” (“The Power of a Strong Testimony,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 88).

Describe the barges1. They were small

2. Light upon the water

3. They were tight

4. The ends were peaked

5. The length of a tree

6. A door that was tight-like unto a dish

*What is the symbolism?

*“they were exceedingly tight”

(Ether 2:16-17)

“All the Water in the World”All the water in the world,

However hard it tried, Could never sink the smallest ship

Unless it got inside.

And all the evil in the world, The blackest kind of sin,

Can never hurt you the least bit Unless you let it in.

“A tube is built from the bottom to the top of the barge… Now we have a funnel right through the boat. Water can come into the tube as high as the water line of the vessel.

“The model of the barge we have built has a stop hole both in the front and in the back of the tube… These stop holes can easily be opened or closed as needed…

“The purpose of the bottom hole is a least two-fold: First, it acted as a stabilizer to keep the barge at an even keel; second, it could be used to get rid of refuse” (A. L. Zobell, Improvement Era, April 1941, 211, 252, cited in Daniel H. Ludlow Companion, 315).

Ether 2

Problems and Solutions

Ether 2:18–19 Identify three problems he encountered and presented to the Lord

1. No light2. No

steering3. No air

Ether 2

Problems and Solutions

Read Ether 2:20–25 looking for the Lord’s solutions to the Brother of Jared’s problems.

1. No air

2. No steering

3. No light

Problem Solution

The Lord asks the brother of Jared what he would like Him to do (see v. 25)

The Lord says He will guide the barges (see v. 24).

The Lord instructs him to make holes with removable plugs in the top and bottom of the barges (see v. 20).

Problems and Solutions

1. Why do you think the Lord revealed solutions for two of the problems but left it to the brother of Jared to solve the problem of not having light?

2. What are some other scriptural examples where the Lord required an individual’s own effort in solving a problem?

3. How can it help us when the Lord requires us to find solutions to our own problems with His guidance?Read Ether 3:1,4–6 and answer the following:4. How did the brother of Jared decide to solve the

problem of not having light?5. What impresses you most about the Lord’s

response?

Ether 2

Problems and Solutions

“Clearly the brother of Jared was being tested. God had done his part. Unique, resolutely seaworthy ships for crossing the ocean had been provided. The brilliant engineering had been done. The hard part of the construction project was over. Now the Lord wanted to know what the brother of Jared would do about incidentals” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 16)

“This is the principle in action. If you want the blessing, don’t just kneel down and pray about it. Prepare yourselves in every conceivable way you can in order to make yourselves worthy to receive the blessing you seek” (“How to receive a Blessings from God,” Harold B. Lee, Improvement Era, Oct. 1966, 862-63, 896).

“It is contrary to the law of God for the heavens to be opened and messengers to come to do anything for man that man can do for himself” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:196).

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said that he has often heard President Gordon B. Hinckley say, “I don’t know how to get anything done except getting on my knees and pleading for help and then getting on my feet and going to work” (C.R., Oct. 1997, 18).

Ether 3:4/Genesis 6:16: "A window shalt thou make to the ark, and a cubit shalt thou finish it above. "

LDS footnote, 16a: "HEB tsohar; some rabbis believed it was a precious stone that shone in the ark. "

*Genesis 6:16

Ether 2

Problems and Solutions

“Surely God, as well as the reader, feels something very striking in the childlike innocence and fervor of this man’s faith. ‘Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this’ [Ether 3:5]. Perhaps there is no more powerful, single line of faith spoken by man in scripture. … However uncertain the prophet is about his own ability, he has no uncertainty about God’s power” (“Rending the Veil of Unbelief,” in Nurturing Faith through the Book of Mormon: The 24th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium[1995], 12).

Ether 3:7-21

“Never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created.”

D&C 107:54 (Adam), Moses 7:2-4, 28-29 (Enoch)

“The Savior appeared to prophets before the flood, but did not reveal himself in fullness as he did to the Brother of Jared. We may truly believe that very few of the ancient prophets at any time actually beheld the full person of the Lord” (Joseph Fielding Smith, A.T.G.Q. 2:124-25).

“This verse refers to the fact that the Lord had never yet revealed himself to man in such a total and complete manner.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrines of Salvation 1:37).

Find Something Epic to Share

Ether 6:4-12The Epic Journey

Ether 5:1-4Three Epic Witnesses

Ether 4:1-2, 16-18The Epic Instructions

Ether 3:22-24, 28The Epic Instruments

*Epic Journey…

Ether 6:4-12

The Jaredites: A Type of the Plan (Ether 6:4-12)

Exodus of the Jaredites Plan of Redemption

The Tower of Babel

Jared (to go down)

The Brother of Jared

Seeking and receiving

Directed by God Brother of Jared Chastened Building the Barges Questions of Air and Light The shining Stones Experience on Mt. Shelem The Crossing (Ether 6:4-10) The Promised Land

The Jaredites: A Type of the Plan (Ether 6:4-12)

Exodus of the Jaredites Plan of Redemption

The Tower of Babel A fallen world, and a scattering

Jared (to go down) To go down into the world

The Brother of Jared A deliverer is prepared

Seeking and receiving A New and Everlasting Covenant

Directed by God Gift of the Holy GhostBrother of Jared Chastened The Lord chastens those

He loves Building the Barges Building a House of God Questions of Air and Light Revelation, Agency, and ActionThe shining Stones The Word and the Light of ChristExperience on Mt. Shelem Experience in the TempleThe Crossing (Ether 6:4-10) Trails of LifeThe Promised Land Eternal Promised Land

The Brother of JaredEther 1-6