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- [00:01]
Hank Smith
Welcome to part two with Dr. B.J. allen. The Book of Ether, chapters six through 11. Like he said, there's this pride cycle going on. Verse 23. There came prophets among the people who were sent from the Lord. It could have said, and the Lord decided, I've had it with you people, and sent fire from heaven and consumed them all. That is such an act of mercy. If he sends prophets, it's just another invitation to repent. And earlier I mentioned, as a bishop, I try to tell people to read the Book of Mormon. And sometimes the answer I would get would be, that's a prescription that doesn't fit my sickness. And yet, yes, it does. You just mentioned a couple of examples. God will speak to you in that way when you're studying the words of the prophets. He'll speak to you in a way that you need, whether it's from the Book of Mormon or, as you just mentioned, some conference talks. Yeah. I hope when people read this and they keep seeing and the Lord sent prophets, they're going, that's a merciful God who does that.
- [01:01]
John Bytheway
Yeah.
- [01:02]
B.J. Allen
John, I love what you said because we talked earlier about the importance of revelation and helping us understand the answers to our questions. The Book of Mormon is the antidote to your sickness because the Book of Mormon serves as a catalyst for revelation. Like President Oak said, the Book of Mormon is like our own personal Urim and Thummim. Yeah. If you have a question, read the Book of Mormon.
- [01:25]
Hank Smith
It connects you to God and then he can talk to you in exactly the way that you need.
- [01:30]
B.J. Allen
Those are some insights we learned from ether7 about what led to the downfall of the Jaredites. So now let's go to ether 8. We have the entering of secret combinations. If there's one thing that Mormon and Moroni hates, it's secret combinations. Both of them take time in their chapters to put an insert into this historical summary about how terrible secret combinations are. I imagine these conversations between Mormon and Moroni around the dinner table about how much they hate seeker combinations. And Moroni taking this in from his dad, because Moroni says almost the same thing as Mormon says, is that secret combinations led to the downfall of the people. And we can actually read in verse 20 and 21, Moroni's insertion says, and now I, Moroni. And I love how Moroni does this. He wants us to be clear. Hey, this is me. I'm talking here. I'm taking a little break from the story. And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations. For it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites. And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi. Both Mormon and Moroni give credit for the downfall of their civilizations to secret combinations. I think it's interesting to think about, like why? Why did they make this such an emphasis of the Book of Mormon? This is what President Ezra Taft Benson said. This most correct book on Earth states that the downfall of two great civilizations came as a result of secret conspiracies whose desire to overthrow the freedom of the people. Now, undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people. But notice how he singled out the secret combinations. Just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity and the spread of God's word, but has singled out the greatest threat, the godless conspiracy. Thinking about how terrible secret combinations are, how do we get rid of these? What's the antidote to evil in our world? What's the antidote to secret combinations? Well, if we go back in the Book of Mormon to Helaman 6:37, he tells us, and it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Nephites. What's the antidote? It's the word of God.
- [04:25]
Hank Smith
Shouldn't be a surprise. They sat them down, they plugged in a Hank Smith CD and they said, listen to this. And it solved the problem.
- [04:35]
John Bytheway
They said, we'll change, just stop the torture.
- [04:40]
Hank Smith
We have lots of families out there. As a kid, Secret combinations. I didn't know what that meant. I thought, oh, yeah. When I went to junior high and they said, there's your locker and here's your secret combination. Don't tell anybody. I wanted to make sure we talk about what is that? And you use the word conspiracy. These are agreements that people make in secret to overthrow, to do crime, to do murders. I mean, it gets really bad. They're conspiracies. Secret agreements.
- [05:10]
John Bytheway
Organized evil.
- [05:11]
Hank Smith
Yeah, organized evil. It even calls it a wickedness above the wickedness of the whole earth because it can be organized. It's like murder sometimes organized on international scale. Wow. Verse 21. He's Moroni. What? He's saying this brought down the Jaredites, it brought down the Nephites. And then verse 22. Better be careful.
- [05:34]
John Bytheway
It could be you.
- [05:36]
Hank Smith
They'll come among you.
- [05:37]
B.J. Allen
Yeah. And it's not just that they did evil in secret. It's that the whole role of their organization was to take down what. What was good.
- [05:48]
Hank Smith
Yeah.
- [05:48]
B.J. Allen
It's to overthrow what is godly and to bring bondage.
- [05:53]
Hank Smith
In the October 1988 General Conference, President Ezra Taft Benson gave what I think might have been his last talk in conference. It was called I Testify. And I will never forget it because every paragraph began, I Testify. This is one of the last ones. I testify. That wickedness is rapidly expanding in every segment of our society. It is more highly organized, more cleverly disguised, and more powerfully promoted than ever before. Secret combinations lusting for power gain and glory are flourishing. A secret combination that seeks to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations and countries is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world.
- [06:38]
John Bytheway
No, that's intense.
- [06:39]
Hank Smith
Yeah, it is so intense.
- [06:42]
John Bytheway
Moroni then turns to the reader, breaks that fourth wall and says, oh, you reader, this could happen to you and your nation. Wake up to the sense of your situation and make sure this doesn't happen to your land. These groups want to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations and countries to destroy that which is good. You said that, Vijay. This is the same being who came after Adam and Eve from the beginning. It's interesting that you have this author turn to the reader and say, are you awake?
- [07:18]
Hank Smith
I feel sometimes the Book of Mormon is like, hi, we're the Nephites. Here's how we destroyed ourselves. Pride, wickedness and secret combinations. And now here's a second witness. Hi, we're the Jaredites. Here's how we destroyed ourselves. Pride, wickedness and secret combinations. And this is how you will destroy yourselves. Okay, thanks. Happy book.
- [07:38]
John Bytheway
A message from the Church of Jesus Christ.
- [07:42]
B.J. Allen
Yeah, that would have been a great commercial when we were growing up. Would you like to learn about a book that tells us how our civilization is going to be destroyed?
- [07:52]
John Bytheway
There you go. You can get it for free.
- [07:56]
B.J. Allen
I don't want to spend a lot of time here on secret combinations. But it is such a theme in the Book of Mormon. I think we could talk a little bit about how it started. Interestingly, it's actually a young adult who reintroduces here combinations. It's the daughter of a man named Jared. And Jared loses his kingdom, which, by the way, he had actually won by rebelling against his father. But then he loses it. So his daughter sees that he's sad and she comes to him with a Plan that we can read in ether 8 through 10. And the daughter of Jared, being exceedingly expert and seeing the sorrows of her father, thought to devise a plan whereby she could redeem the kingdom of her father. Now the daughter of Jared was exceedingly fair, and it came to pass that she did talk with her father and said unto him, whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the records which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old that by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory? It is interesting here to note that she cites a record they had brought with them. It is not maybe even her plan, it is something that she has read and they took with her. And then this is the plan she comes up with. And now therefore, let my father send for Achish the son of Kimor. And behold, I am fair, and I will dance before him, and I will please him, and he will desire me to wife. Wherefore, if he shall desire of thee that ye shall give unto him me to wife, then shall ye say, I will give her if ye will bring unto me the head of my father the king. I mean, this is a very similar thing that plays out with John the Baptist, right? This idea of I'm going to dance before him and please him.
- [09:48]
John Bytheway
This is a very dysfunctional family, by the way.
- [09:51]
Hank Smith
Yes, these are lovely people.
- [09:55]
B.J. Allen
The scenario plays out exactly like she planned. The same thing happens. Akish desires her to wife and Jared says, you can have her if you bring me the head of my father. Then Achish brings his friends and administers the secret oaths and combinations. Actually, it was the daughter of Jared and Jared who encouraged Achish to search up these things of old is what the scriptures say. But here's the kicker of the whole story. Achish ends up killing Jared, who's his wife's father, in order to take his throne. After Jared had took the throne from his dad. Then he becomes jealous and he puts his son in prison. But what does the daughter of Jared get for her evilness and her plans? She gets her father killed. She gets her son put in prison. We get another really good example that breaking the commandments always brings misery. Then what does Achish get for his plans? Well, he eventually gets overthrown by his sons. And the war is so bad that in Ether 9:12 it tells us that it lasted for the space of many years, yea, unto the destruction of nearly all the people of the kingdom, even all save abort 30 souls this is like a mafia movie playing out here. It's a really salient example. As the Book of Mormon tells us, that wickedness never was. Happiness is. It's not that God won't let you be happy if you break the commandments, it's that by natural consequences, if you break the commandments, it leads to misery.
- [11:36]
John Bytheway
BJ as you were talking about the destruction that ensued from this organized evil, it just annihilates everybody. Moses 7, 26, and he beheld Satan and he had a great chain in his hand and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness. And he looked up and laughed and his angels rejoiced. Yeah.
- [12:01]
Hank Smith
And then God looks down and weeps. It's poetry. How is it that the heavens weep and shed forth their tears as rain upon the mountains? There's another beautiful lesson about God in there. He is not unaffected by our problem, but Enoch saw him weep.
- [12:18]
B.J. Allen
And you get a feeling that that scenario that you just read in Moses is exactly what's playing out here. Satan's laughing and God is weeping. And why is God sad? Because he just wants our happiness. He's like, I've been trying to tell you over and over again what will make you happy. And you choose misery instead.
- [12:36]
John Bytheway
They hate their own blood.
- [12:38]
Hank Smith
It's the two great commandments. I asked them to choose me, their father, but they are without affection and they hate their own blood. That's kind of a gut punch vision that Moses 7. Look at ether 8, 26. Wherefore I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things, that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come into the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.
- [13:07]
B.J. Allen
That's a theme of the Book of Mormon, is the prophets. Tell us. Look, we don't want you to focus so much on evil, but we want you to know enough about it so you know how to avoid it and you can recognize when it's coming.
- [13:21]
Hank Smith
Well put.
- [13:22]
B.J. Allen
I don't want to spend too much time talking about the wicked now.
- [13:26]
John Bytheway
We're that super depressed now. Bj, Thanks a lot.
- [13:31]
Hank Smith
Thanks for joining us, for following him. We'll see you. We're still here. We'll see you next time.
- [13:39]
B.J. Allen
Let's bring us out of the darkness of talking about evil. Talk about, well, what about the righteous in a time of wickedness? What about the people that we read about in the Book of Ether who were Righteous at a time when people weren't and similar to our day. Have you ever asked yourself why you have to live in such a time of evil? Have you ever felt like Nephi on his tower, saying, oh, if I had lived in the days right where people did what the prophet said, would it be easier to live in another time when evil and temptation isn't so rampant? This is from Elder Anderson. He gave a BYU devotional and he said this. As evil increases in the world, there is a compensatory power, an additional spiritual endowment, a revelatory gift for the righteous. Think about what that looks like in our day. How many temples do we have? The days of Moses, they had one traveling temple. Think about the rapid growth in the temples being built. We're the only generation with the full Book of Mormon. We're the only generation with the Doctrine and Covenants. The access that we have to temple history.
- [14:52]
John Bytheway
It is all in my phone.
- [14:55]
B.J. Allen
Isn't that amazing?
- [14:56]
Hank Smith
My scriptures.
- [14:57]
B.J. Allen
And we could go on. The idea here is that yes, we live in a time of wickedness, but we also live in a time of abundant righteousness. And Christ has compensated us for living in a fallen and difficult world by offering so many blessings. And not only as a church, but also as individuals, we can all be blessed individually and overcome these times of wickedness. What I want to do is talk about some of those individuals and what they did to come closer to God. I actually want to go back to ether 6 and I want to introduce a man named Urihah. This is in Ether 6, verse 30. And it came to pass that Urihah did walk humbly before the Lord and did remember how great things the Lord had done for his Father and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers. There's that word humbly, which we talked about earlier and did remember how great things the Lord had done. This is a theme throughout the Book of Mormon, but especially through the Book of Ether. Three of the six chapters mention some version of he remembered what the Lord had done. It's almost as if God knows that we're mortal. We're not always going to feel faithful all the time. We change in the moment our emotions change. And he's saying, look, remember when you're going through a hard time, remember how I helped you through that other time. When you forget how you feel spiritually, remember that other spiritual time that I gave you. About this remembering, there's this quote from C.S. lewis. He says, faith is the art of holding on to things in Spite of your changing moods. Through some of my research, I've learned some of the psychological benefits of remembering. I do organizational training sometimes for companies. One of the things I'll talk about is this concept of mindset, like having a growth mindset. Having a mindset that gets you through difficult experiences and has courage to take on challenges. And one of the things I share is this insight from the Pacific Institute, which is an organizational consulting agency. They call it the flick back, flick up technique. And what it means is when you go through a difficult time, so you could be given a big presentation to your boss or a talk in church and you're really nervous, is you flick back to a past situation where you succeeded. Or in other words, you force yourself to remember. You visualize yourself doing it, and you cultivate those positive feelings. I did it before, I can do it again. And then you flick up to the present situation and you extrapolate those feelings to how you feel now. And it's a really powerful psychological mechanism to force yourself to remember, to give yourself those feelings. Now, I remember I went through something difficult. I can do that now. I used to feel faithful. I can feel faithful now. Sometimes in our difficult situations, whether that's a trial or testimony or whatever we're told to remember. Especially when it feels difficult to remember. Because the Lord wants to come into our lives and he wants us to remember the great things that he's done.
- [18:21]
John Bytheway
BJ I'm so glad that you brought this up because I have kept a little story from Sterling W. Sill in my back pocket. And I've never been able to use it. And I can use it now. This was a BYU devotional back in the 70s. John, you were probably there. This says this. The philosophy of excellence was demonstrated by the artist Whistler, capital W, not a Whistler, but Whistler, who once painted a tiny picture of a spray of roses. The artistry was magnificent. Never before, it seemed, had the art of man been able to execute quite so deftly a reproduction of the art of nature. The picture was the envy of the artists who saw it. The despair of the collectors who yearned to buy it. But the artist refused steadfastly to sell it. Why? Well, this is the artist. Whenever I feel that my hand has lost its cunning, whenever I doubt my ability, I look at that picture of those roses and say to myself, you painted that. Your hand drew it. Your imagination conceived the colors, your skill. Put the roses on the canvas. Then I know what I have done. I can do again. Hang on the walls of your Mind the memory of your successes. Take counsel of your strength, not your weaknesses. Think of the good jobs you have done. Think of the times when you rose above your average level of performance and carried out an idea or a dream or desire for which you had deeply longed. Hang these pictures on the walls of your mind and look at them as you travel the roadway of life. Isn't that great?
- [19:58]
B.J. Allen
What a fantastic example of the importance of remembering. Remember the what great things the Lord has done through you. Remember the great things you've done. We can gain confidence in ourselves and in the Lord through remembering the past. I want to talk about another reason in the Scriptures that we're told to remember, and I want to introduce this by reading a quote from Elder Bender that he gave in a recent conference address. He said, I pray the Holy Ghost will enlighten each of us as we consider a higher and holier dimension of stillness in our lives, an inner spiritual stillness of the soul that enables us to know and remember that God is our heavenly Father and we are his children and Jesus Christ is our Savior. This is the type of remembering that talked about in Psalms that says, be still and know that I am God. So often in this church we talk about doing all the things we should be doing, which is important. Maybe we talk less about just being in a state of stillness and meditation and remembering what does it say in the sacrament prayer to bless and sanctify this bread to all the souls of those who partake of it, that they may do it in remembrance? And then later we promise to always remember him. Maybe we don't talk as much as we should about remembering. I think of the primary song Search Ponder and Pray Sometimes when I'm giving counsel to people, I forget about the ponder part. I just say, pray to read your Scriptures. But maybe we need to spend a little bit more time Remembering Helam in 5 and now my sons remember. Remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, that Son of God, that you must build your foundation. And then later in Helaman we get this interesting contrast from Samuel the Lamanite ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he has blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches. It's almost as if the Scriptures are using the word remember to mean what do you focus on? What do you think about when no one's around? And here in this account in ether, we learn that remembering God is crucial to our spiritual development. Continuing on this theme of what are some of the people in the Account of Ether who are righteous. Now let's go to ether 7. We are going to talk about Shul. He is righteous, but he has a rough go. With some wars and contention, he actually loses a portion of his kingdom. He is almost put to death. It really would have been easy for him to say, God, I was righteous. And look at all these bad things that happened to me. I lost my kingdom, I am almost put to death. I have been in captivity. But instead we get this account in Ether 7:23,25. And also in the reign of Shul, there came prophets among the people who were sent from the Lord, prophesying that wickedness and idolatry of the people was bringing a curse upon the land and they should be destroyed if they did not repent. And it came to pass that the people did revile against the prophets and did mock them. And it came to pass that King Shul did execute judgment against all those who did revile against the prophets. Rather than turn away from God because of his difficulties, what does he do? He protects the prophets. Then later on we get what the reward is for that. In verses 26 and 27, we're going to read about what the reward is for protecting the prophets. The people listen and they repent. And then in verse 26, and because the people did repent of their iniquities and idolatries, the Lord did spare them and they began to prosper again in the land. And it came to pass that Shul begat sons and daughters in his old age and there was no more wars in the days of Sheul. What is his reward for protecting the prophets and being righteous? A time of peace and a time of prosperity. Again, here we learn what's the natural consequences of being righteous. Peace and happiness and times of prosperity.
- [24:43]
John Bytheway
It's almost like repentance is a great idea.
- [24:46]
B.J. Allen
Yes. To quote one of the missionaries who just gave a farewell talk, in my word, repentance is what the good people do.
- [24:54]
John Bytheway
That's true. B.J. i have a little second witness here for what you taught us with Shul. This is Elder Christofferson. He says the prophecies and philosophies of the world he talks about Nihor and Korihor seem appealing because they give us license to indulge any appetite or desire without concern for consequence. By using these teachings, we can rationalize and justify anything. When prophets come crying repentance, it throws cold water on the party. But in reality, the prophetic call should be received with joy. Without repentance, there's no Progress or improvement. Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. And this is just beautiful. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. That's exactly what you said there times six. The sunlit uplands of a better life. That's what prophets want for us.
- [25:56]
B.J. Allen
There's one more individual that I want to talk about that we can learn a little bit from in terms of being righteous in times of wicked. And that is a man named omer. This is ether 9. Omer is actually the father of Jared, who we had just talked about. So it was Jared's daughter who danced and brought secret combinations. Omer was the king before Jared had convinced Achish to kill Jared's father, which was Omer. Omer was actually warned in a dream to leave. Omer was never actually killed. And later on, he actually received his throne again. But similar to what we just discussed with Shul, he went through a really difficult time, and it would have been really easy for him to walk away or to say, no, God, I'm not leaving, even though you gave me a dream telling me that I should. But when he does obey God, he's actually miraculously given his throne again through some really strange twists and events that seem really heavenly sent. Then after Omer, we have this span of peace and joy through a good number of kings. Scholars think it's about 200 years of peace. And I want to point that out, because sometimes we're really hard on the Jaredites, but 200 years is a long time. That's like, about the time between us and the first vision. And think about how many wars have we had between the first vision and now? And the Jaredites went that long with peace. And why was it their leaders were righteous and they listened to the prophets and they did the things that God asked them to.
- [27:32]
John Bytheway
That is interesting. We generalize the Jaredites into this. Well, secret combinations, and they were destroyed. But there's some righteous people here who are bringing out lots these periods of peace. That's great.
- [27:45]
Hank Smith
Omer has a son named Emer, and it tells us that Emer saw the son of righteousness. So it sounds like he had an appearance.
- [27:55]
B.J. Allen
Yeah, isn't that cool? And all we get is that little line that he saw the son of righteousness. It's almost as if Moroni's. Wait a second. I got to mention this. This is really cool.
- [28:05]
Hank Smith
I got to tell you this part. Yeah.
- [28:08]
B.J. Allen
Now let's go into ether 10. What we are going to do in ether 10 is talk about how civilizations are blessed when they do the things that God wants them to.
- [28:17]
Hank Smith
Here's the italics of chapter 10. One king succeeds another. Some of the kings are righteous, others are wicked. When righteousness prevails, the people are blessed and prospered by the Lord. It sounds like this is what we have been reading the whole time in the book of Peter of Ether.
- [28:34]
B.J. Allen
Yes. Well, that's actually all I wanted to talk about.
- [28:37]
Hank Smith
Yeah, that was the John Covenant right there.
- [28:39]
John Bytheway
Oh my goodness.
- [28:40]
Hank Smith
He's saying, write out what you have been saying. When the kings are righteous, righteousness prevails and the people are blessed. When they're not. They aren't. Next chapter.
- [28:47]
John Bytheway
Right, moving on.
- [28:49]
B.J. Allen
Yes. Have I told the story before?
- [28:53]
John Bytheway
I feel like I've read this chapter.
- [28:54]
Hank Smith
Like deja vu all over again.
- [28:56]
John Bytheway
Yeah, the pride cycle.
- [28:58]
B.J. Allen
What I think is special about ether 10 is we get an amazing insight into how great civilization can be when we're righteous together. Not just spiritual blessings, but economic blessings. Again, natural consequences of doing what God wants. Verse 22. And they were exceedingly industrious and they did buy and sell and traffic one with another that they might get gain. Again. It's important to understand in context what we're reading about right now is one of those times of peace and righteousness. And when we have that, not only are individuals blessed by God, but also economies are blessed financially. You have a time of peace, you have free trade. Us business professors, we love scriptures like this. It shows us that when you're righteous, the Lord blesses not only individuals, but also countries and economies as a whole.
- [29:53]
John Bytheway
They're living the Jaredite dream. This is. Every family can get their own barge.
- [30:00]
B.J. Allen
No. Yeah, you're right. This continues on in verse 23. And they did work all manner of ore, and they did make gold and silver and iron and brass and all manner of metals. And they did dig it out of the earth. Wherefore they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore of gold and of silver and iron and copper. And they did work all manner of fine work. So they were blessed. They were blessed not just mentally and spiritually, but physically. The Lord fine tuned their skills to help them do the things that they wanted to do. Then we get this really cool insight into verse 25. They did make all manner of tools to till the earth, both to plow and to sow, to reap and to hoe, and also to thrash. As a business professor, I'm going to Say that they were blessed with insight into technological advancements that made their work easier and more efficient. One of my main areas of research is a new product development and innovation. When you study innovation over the history of mankind, there has been more innovation in the last 200 years, from 1800 to now, compared to the beginning of mankind up until that point. That's called the age of innovation. Around 1800 you have the industrial age. And then from that, innovation just exploded. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I can see a correlation between early 1800s and the rapid source of innovation. The spirit of the Lord has been unleashed. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost and we have the light of Christ. And when that comes into civilizations, innovation happens. The Lord opens up our minds and we're able to do things that we weren't able to do before.
- [31:51]
John Bytheway
Never could a people be more blessed than they were prospered by the hand of the Lord in this choice land.
- [32:00]
Hank Smith
Do you know what this reminded me of? When you use that word industrious? In verse 22, I remembered that 2 Nephi 4 Lehi dies Nephi gives his Psalm. And in second Nephi 5 he says to his people, we gotta go. They go. And in second Nephi 5:17 it says, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious and to labor with their hands. And I think of the alternative, I caused my people to relax for a while. Man, this has been rough. But instead this is important to be industrious and to labor with their hands. And oh, that verse 25, I love that because it's actually a sequence. You plow first, then you sow, then you reap. I love that agriculture tech there in verse 25. Plow, sow, reap, hoe. And I was hoping there would be something that would rhyme again, thrash and go.
- [33:00]
John Bytheway
Have you heard this quote from President Monson? It is wonderful. It's one of my favorites. I think he was taking another quote and kind of adapting it. He said God left the world unfinished for man for us to work our skill on. He left electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth, the rivers unbridged, the forests unfilled, cities unbuilt. God gives to us the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of finished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted, the music unsung, the problems unsolved, that we might know the joy and glory of creation. That fits with ether 10, doesn't it?
- [33:38]
Hank Smith
That's awesome.
- [33:39]
B.J. Allen
Yeah, that is really cool. The Lord blesses us with not just increasing our capacity spiritually, but also mentally and physically. He makes us better in all ways.
- [33:50]
John Bytheway
I have a feeling BJ this isn't going to last.
- [33:54]
B.J. Allen
Hank, you're a prophet.
- [33:55]
Hank Smith
Some kings are righteous, others are wicked.
- [33:58]
B.J. Allen
Yes. As we wrap up ether 11, we're going to learn about the prophecy of their downfall. I want to contrast that to the story we learn here at the end of a man named Kalm. This is in ether 11 1, 3. And there came also in the days of calm, many prophets and prophesied of destruction of that great people, except they should repent and turn unto the Lord and forsake their murders and wickedness. And it came to pass that the prophets were rejected by the people and they fled to calm for protection, for the people sought to destroy them. And they prophesied unto calm many things, and he was blessed in all the remainder of his days. I just love this idea of being a protector of the prophets. Even if you are like Kalm and you are the last person on earth who is going to believe them, you can protect them. And independent of anyone else, you can know that the prophets are sent from God. And what do the prophets do? They ministered unto calm, they prophesied things. Even though it was just him, the prophets still gave the message.
- [35:11]
John Bytheway
We can do that today. What a great application. We can protect the prophets in our own way.
- [35:18]
B.J. Allen
Then we get the contrast of the rest of the people rejecting the prophets, which eventually led to the end of their civilization. Ether 1120, 22. And in the days of coriander, there came many prophets and prophesied of great and marvelous things, and cried repentance unto the people. And except they should repent, the Lord God would execute judgment against them to their utter destruction. If they had obeyed the prophets, how different would the story have turned out? Then we get the rest of the story in verse 21. And the Lord God would send or bring forth another people to possess the land by his power, after the manner by which he brought their fathers. And they did reject all the words of the prophets because of their secret society and wicked abominations. What happens to the Jaredites? Their whole civilization gets destroyed. Then in just a little bit, we're going to have the Nephites come to the land of promise and take over. Because the Jaredites rejected the prophets and didn't do what God asked him to do.
- [36:30]
John Bytheway
Wonderful. What is it Elder Holland said? All God has to work with is imperfect people.
- [36:36]
B.J. Allen
Yes, it must be terribly frustrating for him.
- [36:40]
John Bytheway
Just Reading about it is frustrating.
- [36:43]
Hank Smith
Then we get verse 23 and it came to pass. Coriantor begat Ether. So here comes the man for whom this book is named. We went so rapidly, didn't we, through all those generations. And now the rest of the book of Ether is Ether, talking about what he sees and observes. It's fun to see what did he just abridge? And now what is he going to say about what he just abridged? And that's a lot of ether. 12.
- [37:12]
John Bytheway
What lessons? Did he see that? Yeah, I have my boys, I have four teenage boys and I have them memorize ether 11, 14, the last few words. And moron did that which was wicked before the Lord, just in case.
- [37:33]
Hank Smith
And now we know the etymology of.
- [37:36]
John Bytheway
Should I do something wicked? Remember the verse you memorized?
- [37:40]
Hank Smith
Paint that one on your wall, put.
- [37:42]
John Bytheway
It in vinyl, someone put it on a T shirt and send it to us.
- [37:44]
Hank Smith
That'd be funny.
- [37:46]
John Bytheway
Bj, how do we want to wrap this up?
- [37:49]
B.J. Allen
I want to end with where we started, talking about the major lessons we learned from the Jaredites. What are we supposed to pull from these stories of roughly 2,3000 years? Number one, obey the prophets and keep the commandments and be intentional on how we follow the prophet. President Eyring said this. Every time in my life, when I have chosen to delay, following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm's way. Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer, and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety. But one of the things we learned from the Jaredites is we are not exceptions to the things the prophets ask us to do. When we listen to the prophets in general conference, rather than thinking to ourselves, oh, I wonder if he's talking to me, or maybe I'm an exception to this council. We should be very intentional on how we follow the prophet and rather ask ourselves, how can I apply this? Along with that, we learn from the Jaredites that God doesn't arbitrarily make up rules and commandments. He wants us to be happy. And if we keep the commandments, it leads to greater spiritual happiness, but also temporal happiness. Reminding the reader of the lens by which we talked about. We would read through these chapters, the lens of what does Moroni want us to get out of these stories? And how does this typify Christ? We learned at the beginning that Christ can compensate us in many ways, even through difficult and wicked times, if we have faith and hope he can bless us with spiritual capacities. He can help us beyond our own. And no matter where you feel you are in your life in regards to faith or obedience or anything you want to do better, Christ's grace is sufficient for you. You are enough, because Christ is enough.
- [39:54]
John Bytheway
We've come full circle. Bj, thank you for walking us through these chapters. It says way back when we started, the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness to give light. You can see that throughout these chapters there's so many dark things happening. But occasionally you have someone who chooses to be a light to light up this dark society. We, of course, want to be that way in our own world. We want to be lights that shine in darkness, the ones that the Lord has touched and said, light up. John, what a great day.
- [40:28]
Hank Smith
Yeah, I love the journey getting there, everything we've learned once we got there, I love this idea. No monster of the sea can break you. You'll come out on top again because you have the light continually. It's beautiful stuff in here.
- [40:44]
John Bytheway
It really is. When we're consuming media that says, well, if the prophet's wrong, here's what you do. If you don't agree with the prophet, here's what you can do. Be careful around that kind of thing. As the Book of Ether shows us, if you lay aside the prophets, they did reject all the words of the prophets, things don't go well. Bj, thanks for your time.
- [41:10]
B.J. Allen
Thank you so much for having me. It was so fun to be with you guys.
- [41:14]
John Bytheway
Chris Allen, if you're still out there listening, you've done really well. We do not doubt his mother knew it.
- [41:21]
B.J. Allen
I love you, Mom.
- [41:22]
John Bytheway
That's beautiful. That'll be a great final note. With that, we want to thank Dr. BJ Allen for joining us on Follow him today. We want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen, our sponsors David and Verla Sorensen, and every episode we remember our founder, Steve Sorensen. We hope you'll join us next week. We've got another lesson in the Book of Ether on Follow Him. Before you skip to the next episode, I have some important information. This episode's transcript and show notes are available on our website, followhim. Co. That's followhim. Co. On our website, you'll also find our two free books, Finding Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and Finding Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Both books are full of short and powerful quotes and insights from all our episodes from the Old and New Testaments. The digital copies of these books are absolutely free. You can watch the podcast on YouTube also, our Facebook and Instagram accounts have videos and extras you won't find anywhere else. If you'd like to know how you can help us, if you could subscribe to rate, review and comment on the podcast, that will make us easier to find. Of course, none of this could happen without our incredible production crew, David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Nilsen, Will Stoughton, Crystal Roberts, Arielle Kuwadra, and Annabelle Sorenson. Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life.
- [42:49]
Hank Smith
And teachings of Jesus Christ.
- [42:52]
John Bytheway
Turn to him, follow him.