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TODAY'S THEME
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The Brother of Jared Sees the Finger of the Lord -by Arnold Friberg |
Ether 3:6 And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear.
7 And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.
9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?
10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.
11 And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?
12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.
13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.
14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters. (emphasis added)
The Brother of Jared Sees the Finger of the Lord. Those are words of Great Doctrinal Significance! Please go back right now and read once again all nine (6 through 14) of those verses from Chapter 3 of the Book of Ether (From the Book of Mormon).
In verse fourteen (14) just above, The pre-mortal Savior, Jesus Christ sums up His great Plan of Salvation in just a few precise words. I repeat this verse so you can more carefully read and understand them:
I now invite you to read while listening to a clarifying eighteen verse section of the Book of Mormon entitled: The Words of Mormon which comes just before the Book of Mosiah.
The Words of Mormon
After you have read while listening to all that is contained in the Words of Mormon, I call your attention to several specific things that the Prophet Mormon told us in that important scripture:
knew that he was to include the writings of the early Nephite prophets which he found on those small plates. That happened in about A.D. 385 or about 351 years after our Resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ had visited the Nephite Nation, teaching and setting up his Church among them.
In our Book of Mormon we do not have the Book of Lehi. Either the Prophet Joseph Smith or one of the three main persons who wrote the words as he spoke them under the guidance of Heavenly means, tells us that is the name of the book which was translated first. We don't have that book in our present day Book of Mormon nor was it in any previous edition of the Book of Mormon.
It would have been recorded by Joseph's scribe (Martin Harris) on the 116 manuscript pages Joseph Smith dictated under inspiration from God.
As you may have learned previously from my blog posts or from your own reading, Martin Harris asked Joseph Smith for permission to take those pages (which were from the Book of Lehi) to show his wife who believed that her husband was waisting their time and money on an inconsequential matter. With that causing much tension in their marital relationship, Martin wanted to convince his wife that he was involved in a worthy effort!
Joseph inquired of the Lord three times and each of the first two times was told by the Lord that he shouldn't grant Martin Harris the request he had made. After the third request the Lord gave Joseph permission to allow Martin to take those manuscript pages back to Palmyra, New York which was about 65 miles North of Harmony, Pennsylvania where the translating had been taking place.
We can be sure that the Lord knew exactly what was going to happen, but allowed what the Prophet Joseph Smith had requested of him. One evidence of the truth of that is that which is written in verses six and seven in the Words of Mormon. I suggest that you scroll up ( like I just did without your seeing me do so) and read those two verses again and then scroll back down to this point.
From what you just read in those two verses I'm sure you can see that the Lord God knew that those records which contained such precious matters would be much needed in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
But what about the Book of Lehi which covered the same time span as did the writings contained in the Small Plates of Nephi? The fact is that many centuries before while Mormon was deliberating what to do about those Small Plates of Nephi, the Lord knew even then by His all "knowing of the future ability" that the Book of Lehi would be lost! Here is Just a small aside of mine regarding the Prophet Mormon:
To sum up: the Prophet Joseph Smith, to his great dismay and disappointment was told by Martin Harris that those 116 manuscript pages were not in their family safe where he had put them. Most likely his wife, Lucy had given them to someone.
All of this was very upsetting to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Lord chastised him for having given into Martin Harris's persuasions. Joseph did that even though the Lord had told him several times not to allow Martin to take those manuscript pages home to Palmyra. However, he did so only after the Lord finally gave him permission to do so!
Now each of us need to recall that the Lord knew there was a solution to the problem. Remember what the Prophet Mormon said in verses six and seven of the Words of Mormon!
It appears that the Prophet Joseph Smith repented of his having given in to the persuasions of Martin Harris and was allowed to continue translating under the inspiration of Heavenly Father until the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ was fully translated and subsequently published and continues to this day and way beyond to serve its very important role in the Lord's Latter-day work!
In verse fourteen (14) just above, The pre-mortal Savior, Jesus Christ sums up His great Plan of Salvation in just a few precise words. I repeat this verse so you can more carefully read and understand them:
14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.That which you have just read twice is very significant Gospel Doctrine which is clearly stated in that important passage from the Book of Ether, one of the sub-books within the Book of Mormon! In that one verse (14)The pre-mortal Jesus Christ told the Brother of Jared and each of the readers of the book (The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ) that which can give us much motivating hope in our lives, motivating us to live righteously while "believing on my (His) name".
I now invite you to read while listening to a clarifying eighteen verse section of the Book of Mormon entitled: The Words of Mormon which comes just before the Book of Mosiah.
The Words of Mormon
After you have read while listening to all that is contained in the Words of Mormon, I call your attention to several specific things that the Prophet Mormon told us in that important scripture:
Words of Mormon: 4 And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—
5 Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.
6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.
7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.
8 And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people.
9 And now I, Mormon, proceed to finish out my record, which I take from the plates of Nephi; and I make it according to the knowledge and the understanding which God has given me.Dear Blog Readers, I have highlighted two verses above in order to call your attention to how the Prophet Mormon, by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation
knew that he was to include the writings of the early Nephite prophets which he found on those small plates. That happened in about A.D. 385 or about 351 years after our Resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ had visited the Nephite Nation, teaching and setting up his Church among them.
In our Book of Mormon we do not have the Book of Lehi. Either the Prophet Joseph Smith or one of the three main persons who wrote the words as he spoke them under the guidance of Heavenly means, tells us that is the name of the book which was translated first. We don't have that book in our present day Book of Mormon nor was it in any previous edition of the Book of Mormon.
It would have been recorded by Joseph's scribe (Martin Harris) on the 116 manuscript pages Joseph Smith dictated under inspiration from God.
As you may have learned previously from my blog posts or from your own reading, Martin Harris asked Joseph Smith for permission to take those pages (which were from the Book of Lehi) to show his wife who believed that her husband was waisting their time and money on an inconsequential matter. With that causing much tension in their marital relationship, Martin wanted to convince his wife that he was involved in a worthy effort!
Joseph inquired of the Lord three times and each of the first two times was told by the Lord that he shouldn't grant Martin Harris the request he had made. After the third request the Lord gave Joseph permission to allow Martin to take those manuscript pages back to Palmyra, New York which was about 65 miles North of Harmony, Pennsylvania where the translating had been taking place.
We can be sure that the Lord knew exactly what was going to happen, but allowed what the Prophet Joseph Smith had requested of him. One evidence of the truth of that is that which is written in verses six and seven in the Words of Mormon. I suggest that you scroll up ( like I just did without your seeing me do so) and read those two verses again and then scroll back down to this point.
From what you just read in those two verses I'm sure you can see that the Lord God knew that those records which contained such precious matters would be much needed in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
But what about the Book of Lehi which covered the same time span as did the writings contained in the Small Plates of Nephi? The fact is that many centuries before while Mormon was deliberating what to do about those Small Plates of Nephi, the Lord knew even then by His all "knowing of the future ability" that the Book of Lehi would be lost! Here is Just a small aside of mine regarding the Prophet Mormon:
Such great dedication the Prophet Mormon showed in his assignment given him by the Lord! And again, he possessed and used the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation which is something that every worthy member of the Lord's Church anciently and today was (and now is) entitled to access!I Continue relating to you that which occurred regarding the 116 manuscript pages that Martin Harris had written as the Prophet Joseph Smith dictated each of those words under the inspiration of Our God.
To sum up: the Prophet Joseph Smith, to his great dismay and disappointment was told by Martin Harris that those 116 manuscript pages were not in their family safe where he had put them. Most likely his wife, Lucy had given them to someone.
All of this was very upsetting to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Lord chastised him for having given into Martin Harris's persuasions. Joseph did that even though the Lord had told him several times not to allow Martin to take those manuscript pages home to Palmyra. However, he did so only after the Lord finally gave him permission to do so!
Now each of us need to recall that the Lord knew there was a solution to the problem. Remember what the Prophet Mormon said in verses six and seven of the Words of Mormon!
It appears that the Prophet Joseph Smith repented of his having given in to the persuasions of Martin Harris and was allowed to continue translating under the inspiration of Heavenly Father until the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ was fully translated and subsequently published and continues to this day and way beyond to serve its very important role in the Lord's Latter-day work!
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Mormon Message: Continue in Patience, Narrated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
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Neil Birch
