Jared’s party continued traveling in the wilderness. They
built barges and used them to travel across water. All through this, they were
guided by the Lord.
“[Hugh Nibley] reminds us that there are virtually no
domestic scenes in the book of Ether. Rather, ‘as in all true epics, every
scene … takes place either on the battlefield (as in chapters 13 to 15), in the
court (as in the tales of intrigue in chapters 7 to 12), or in the wilderness,
where hunting and hiding play almost as conspicuous a part as fighting (Ether
2:6–7; 3:3; 14:4, 7; 10:21).’”[1]
The Lord did not want them to stop “beyond the sea in the
wilderness” (Ether 2:7). He desired they gravel until they reach the land of
promise, a “choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for
a righteous people” (Ether 2:7).
The Lord told the brother of Jared, those who are brought to
this promised land must serve Him. “For behold, they rejected all the words of
Ether; 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, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the
Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof” (Ether
13:2).
“In the Bible, Israel obtained a land of promise. ‘And the
Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers;
and they possessed it, and dwelt therein’ (Joshua 21:43). That land was a land
of promise because of the oath and covenant the Lord made with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob (Deuteronomy 1:8; 34:1–4; 1 Chronicles 16:5–18; Psalm 105:6–11).
Hence it has been called a ‘land of promise’ (Hebrews 11:9). Similarly, Moroni
tells us that the land of the Jaredites was a ‘land of promise’ because of what
the Lord had “sworn” unto the brother of Jared (Ether 2:8).”[2]
Those who don’t serve Him will feel the fullness of His
wrath.
“Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this
people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their
ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks;
nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept
them off from the face of the land…
“And it came to pass that the prophets of the Lord did
threaten the people of Nephi, according to the word of God, that if they did
not keep the commandments, but should fall into transgression, they should be
destroyed from off the face of the land” (Jarom 1:3, 10).
“For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that
destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the
power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people
might not be destroyed” (Alma 37:28).
“And thus the Lord did pour out his blessings upon this
land, which was choice above all other lands; and he commanded that whoso
should possess the land should possess it unto the Lord, or they should be
destroyed when they were ripened in iniquity; for upon such, saith the Lord: I
will pour out the fulness of my wrath” (Ether 9:20).
The land to where the Jaredites were being led (the
Americas) has been decreed as a land of promise. Those who possess this land
must serve God or face His wrath. “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry
with the wicked every day” (Psalms 7:11).
“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious
people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
“A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face;
that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick” (Isaiah
65:2-3).
“And I desire that ye should remember to observe the
statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of
my soul from the beginning.
“My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to
time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God
should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and
destroyed forever” (2 Nephi 1:16-17).
The only way to avoid this is to serve God and keep His
commandments.
“The Lord gives to the brother of Jared what he calls his
thoughts on this subject of the promised land, and of course the thoughts are
the same as those that you find in the Book of Mormon with Israel and with the
Nephites. We have it here in Ether, and it’s the usual thing. This is the 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” (Ether
2:9). You’ll notice it’s when the cup is full. He uses both expressions here,
fulness and ripeness. He says the same thing in verse 8, and then again in
verse 10, it ‘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.’”[3]
“In both the Book of Mormon and modern-day scripture, the
language of the scriptural promises concerning the land is open-ended. It refers
to ‘whoso should possess the land’ (Ether 2:8), ‘whatsoever nation’ (Ether 2:9,
12), ‘he that doth possess it’ (Ether 2:10), ‘all men . . . who dwell upon the
face thereof’ (Ether 13:2), ‘whosoever should believe in this gospel in this
land’ (D&C 10:50), ‘all of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or people
they may be’ (D&C 10:51). The covenant conditions under which blessings may
be inherited are explained, while the identification of who may inherit them is
left unspecified in terms of both identification and time. Whoever they are,
whenever they come, whatever their origins, the Book of Mormon makes clear that
‘this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring’ (2 Nephi 1:7).”[4]
Those who possess this land have two choices. The first is
to serve God. The second is to turn away from God and be swept off the land.
“Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught
and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth! For the
day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the
earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish” (2
Nephi 28:16).
“Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers,
did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to
diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given;
persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as
though he already was. And after this manner did they teach them.
“And it came to pass that by so doing they kept them from
being destroyed upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with
the word, continually stirring them up unto repentance” (Jarom 1:11-12).
[1] “Words
words words”: Hugh Nibley on the Book of Mormon, Marilyn Arnold, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other
Restoration Scripture 19/2 (2010): 11.
[2] Losing
the Remnant: The New Exclusivist “Movement” and the Book of Mormon, Matthew
Roper, FARMS Review 22/2 (2010): 89.
[3] Lecture
111: Ether 2-8, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, Ether 2–8, The
Boats of the Jaredites, Maxwell Institute website.
[4] Nephi's
Neighbors: Book of Mormon Peoples and Pre-Columbian Populations, Matthew
Roper, Maxwell Institute website.
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