After the brother of Jared asked the Lord to touch the
stones, the Lord touched each stone with His finger. The veil was removed from
his eyes and he saw the finger of the Lord. The Lord would explain this
happened through his great faith. Later in the book of Ether, Moroni would
comment about those who had “exceedingly strong” faith (Ether 12:19).
“And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong,
even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly
saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and
they were glad.
“And behold, we have seen in this record that one of these
was the brother of Jared; for so great was his faith in God, that when God put
forth his finger he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared,
because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by
faith.
“And after the brother of Jared had beheld the finger of the
Lord, because of the promise which the brother of Jared had obtained by faith,
the Lord could not withhold anything from his sight; wherefore he showed him
all things, for he could no longer be kept without the veil” (Ether 12:19-21).
The veil was lifted from 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.
Seeing the finger of the Lord, he saw it was like the finger
of a man. Struck with fear, he fell before the Lord.
Paul responded the same way when he received his vision of
Christ.
“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly
there shined round about him a light from heaven:
“And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
“And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts
9:3-5).
Seeing the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth, the
Lord told him to stand up. He asked, “[W]hy hast thou fallen?” (Ether 3:7).
He told Him he saw the Lord’s finger. He feared he would be
struck by the Lord. He didn’t know the Lord was flesh and blood. Moses was also
amazed when he saw God. “But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my
natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for
I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and
I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him” (Moses 1:11).
The Lord responded no one had such a strong faith like his.
This was the only reason he saw the finger of the Lord. He then asked if he saw
more than just His finger.
He responded no. Then he asked the Lord to “show thyself
unto me” (Ether 3:10). The Lord asked him, “Believest thou the words which I
shall speak” (Ether 3:11). He responded he knew He was a God of truth and could
not lie.
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he
spoken, and shall he not make it good” (Numbers 23:19).
“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18).
“[C]ome what may, we can face life with hope and equanimity,
knowing that we will succeed in the end because we have God’s promise to us
individually, by name, and we know He cannot lie.”[1]
The Lord then appeared to Him. “And the Lord appeared again
in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the
Lord” (1 Samuel 3:12).
“For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except
quickened by the Spirit of God.
“Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God,
neither after the carnal mind” (D&C 67:11-12).
By seeing the Lord, he was redeemed from the fall. It is
only through Christ, His atonement, and our faith in Him, we are redeemed from
the fall. “For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it
behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the
resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of
the Lord” (Helaman 14:15).
Being saved from the fall, he was allowed back into the
presence of the Lord. King Benjamin explained about why the righteous are
allowed into the presence of the Lord. “Therefore if that man repenteth not,
and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do
awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause
him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with
guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth
up forever and ever” (Mosiah 2:38).
The brother of Jared became one of the few who saw the
antemortal Christ. “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (IE the face
of God): for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis
32:30).
“For as sure as thou livest, behold, I [King Lamoni] have
seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be born of a woman, and he shall
redeem all mankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words,
his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen
also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit.
(Alma 19:13).
“In the book of Ether, the God of the Old Testament appears
to the brother of Jared … The identity of Jesus Christ as the Jehovah of the
Old Testament is familiar to Latter-day Saints, but it is foreign to creedal
Christianity. [Margaret] Barker discusses the understanding of early Christians
(building on the pre-Deuteronomists) that Jehovah and Jesus Christ were one and
the same being. ‘Jesus was Yahweh’ …”[2]
[2] Antecedents of the Restoration in the Ancient Temple, Frederick M. Huchel, Maxwell Institute website.
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