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CHAPTER 3
The brother of Jared sees the finger of the Lord as he touches the sixteen
stones—Christ shows his spirit body to the brother of Jared—Those
who have a perfect knowledge cannot be kept from within the veil— |
Mahonri Moriancumer sees the finger of the Lord God Jehovah as he touches the sixteen stones—Jehovah shows Mahonri his spirit body and states that it is that same image and form of his physical body which he will take upon himself when he comes to earth and is known as Jesus Christ—Those who obtain a perfect knowledge of God cannot be kept from within the veil—The Jaredites are provided interpreters which will bring the Jaredite record to light. | |
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1 AND it came to pass that the brother of
Jared, (now the number of the vessels which had been prepared was eight) went
forth unto the amount, which they called the mount
bShelem, because of its exceeding height, and did
cmolten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were
white and clear, even as transparent dglass; and he did
carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried again unto the
Lord, saying:
2 O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be aangry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are bunworthy before thee; because of the cfall our dnatures have become evil continuallya; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires.
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2a we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually Now to appreciate what is being said here one must understand the state that man is in and what his composition is. This physical temporal body which houses our spirit is subject continually to the weaknesses of the flesh. It is because of this 'natural' influence of the 'natural man' of the flesh, that Mohonri states that our natures are fallen an are continually evil. He is not stating that the spirit within is evil, for that is of God. He is saying that we are housed in that which is corruptable and subject to such weaknesses which this mortal flesh places upon us, that being an ever continual pursuasion and force to yield unto the weakness thereof. And it is the weakness of the mortal flesh and its tendencies for evil, that we are in comparision to God, evil continually before him and not so worthy to stand in his presence a so constintuted in this fallen temporal and corruptible state, not that we are evil in and of ourselves that our spirits are such, but that which does encompusus us about. This is the wretchedness of the wretch man which both the Apostle Paul and Nephi does proclaim against. And which Paul sought the Lord to be removed from him, for likely he beheld the difference in the nature of himself when compared to John the Beloved who had been sanctified into a state of righteousness, being in a transatory state of immortality while he still lived with men upon this earth. |
1a
Ex. 24:13 (12-13);
Deut. 10:1; 1 Ne. 11:1 b Ether 4:1 c TG Skill d Rev. 21:21 2a Gen. 18:32 (25-32) b Moses 1:10 c TG Fall of Man d Mosiah 3:19
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3 Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and
hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the
wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been amerciful unto us.
O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people,
and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness;
but behold these bthings which I have molten out of the
rock.
4 And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all apower, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy bfinger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have clight while we shall cross the sea. 5 Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which alooks small unto the understanding of men.
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3a
Ether 1:40 (34-43) b Ether 6:2-3, 10 4a TG God, Power of b Ether 12:20 (19-21) c TG Light 5a Isa. 55:8-9
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 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 asmite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.
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6a
TG
Jesus Christ, Lord b Dan. 5:5; Abr. 3:12 (11-12) c Ether 12:19, 21 d Ezek. 1:28; Acts 9:4 (3-5) e Ex. 3:6; JS-H 1:32 8a Moses 1:11
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9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen
that I shall take upon me aflesh and blood; and never has
man come before me with bsuch 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, ashow thyself unto me.
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9a
TG
Flesh and Blood TG Jesus Christ, Condescension of b Matt. 8:10; Alma 19:10 10a Ex. 33:18 (17-18)
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11 And the Lord said unto him: aBelievest 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 acanst not liea. 13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord ashowed himself unto him, and said: bBecause thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my cpresencea; therefore I dshow myself unto you.
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12a thou art a God of truth, and canst
not lie The eternal nature and character of God is to be found in
absolute truth. He is the truth and does not lie, there is nothing false
about him.
13a 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 Now the faith of Mahonri Moriancumer was such that it did pierce the veil. He had seen the finger of the Lord. He had 'step' forth through the veil and thus back into the presence of the Lord. This degree of faith which pierces the veil brings forth the sure witness of the Lord by the power of the Holy Ghost that man might so endure the experience. This is the special witness of God that man after having, if they do deny God, they have comitted the unpardonable sin, having had that sure witness and undenyable witness and sure knowledge of God, that if after such they will have turn completely therefrom in their denial, lying against the truth known unto them, stating as it were that the sun does not shine though it be noon day on a cloudless day in the presence of the full glory of the sun being before them. |
11a
1 Ne. 11:4-5 12a Num. 23:19; Heb. 6:18 13a 1 Sam. 3:21; D&C 67:11-12 b Enos 1:8 (6-8) c TG God, Presence of TG God, Privilege of Seeing d TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal
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14 Behold, I am he who was aprepared from the
foundation of the world to bredeem my
peoplea. Behold, I am Jesus
Christ. I am the cFather and the
Sonb. In me shall all mankind have
dlife, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on
my name; and they shall become my esons and my daughters.
15 And never have I ashowed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man bbelieved in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own cimagea? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image. 16 Behold, this abody, which ye now bbehold, is the cbody of my dspirita; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.
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14a I am he who was prepared from the
foundation of the world to redeem my people Jesus Christ is the
same being as Jehovah, the Firstborn son of God the Father of Spirits in the
preexistance, before the foundation of the world; before this current second
temporal estate in which we of flesh and bone do live. As the Firstborn of
the Father, he was the rightful heir of the kingdom of the Father. And when
the Father set forth to effect the advancement of his spirit children through
the process of the second temporal estate, there was need for a redeeming
God of this estate to minister unto it and to be both its creator and its
redeemer, for only those who would pertain unto it could minister to it (D&C
130:5). Therefore the Father asked, 'Whom shall I send.' And Jehovah who is
the same as Jesus being the Firstborn appropriately responded, 'Here am I,
send me.' And thus the Father chose him, anointed him and gave all power unto
him to act in the Father's stead in all things whatsoever as the similitude of
the ordinance of the temple so sets forth as being the order of things
pertaining unto God (Leviticus 16:32). Thus so endowed with the power of the
Father from on high, the anointed Son Jehovah was prepare to so minister unto
this the second estate of man, to be its creator and maker of all things
temporal therein, To be its One True God pertaining unto it, To act in the
name and by the power of the Father of Spirits in all things after that order
of the Son given unto him, To so redeem all that he had created if they would
but come unto him, he being the one and only way whereby men might be saved,
and To stand as its final Judge, standing between man and the Father as the
advocate, mediator and intercessor between temporal man and celestial God,
the Father of Spirits.
14b I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. Jesus Christ is the same as Jehovah the God of the Old Testament. He is the Father in many respects. He is the Father of Creation, that the heavens and the earth and all things in them are were created by him pertaining to this temporal second estate, he being the appointed and anointed God of this second temporal estate which hath a beginning and an end. And he stands as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of it. He is the Father in respect that it was he who did make, form and created the temporal body for Adam and Eve. But he is not the same as God the Father of Spirits. He is not the Father of the spirit of Adam or of any man pertaining to this second estate, for he is one with us in it, he also being a spirit son of the Father of Spirit. In fact he was the Firstborn of the Father of Spirits, the heir to the kingdom. And he it was who was selected and ordained of the Father to minister as the God of this estate, being that only those who do so pertain unto it may minister unto it, and God the Father of Spirit was advanced beyond it, already being a Celestial being of flesh and bone. Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ is also the gospel father, in that we through him are born again by the birth of the water and spirit of baptism and of the Holy Ghost. In this he does 'Father' us back into the kingdom of God from whence we have fallen. And we become his children, the sons and daughters of Christ in the gospel. Thus it is that he is the 'Father' in many senses of the word while still not being God the Father of Spirits, who was and is both his father as to the spirit, he being the Firstborn; and also that God the Father of Spirits is also the literal father of Jesus Christ by and through the power of the Holy Ghost. And thus Jehovah who is Jesus is also the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the flesh. 15a ye are created after mine own image Head, shoulders, knees and toes; eyes, ears, mouth and nose; we are created in the image of the Gods. Both the Father and the Son. Men are of the race of God, created in the image of God, both body and spirit. And thus the Biblical record is comfirmed to be literal when it speaks of man being created in the image of God. 16a this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit Jehovah, as were all the sons and daughters of God the Father of Spirits, was but a spirit until he would also come to this second estate to obtain his body of flesh and bone. Thus it is that the God of the Old Testament was a spirit. But this speaks volumes concerning the matter of a spirit. The shape and form of the spirit is that image after which the temporal body was formed which would house that spirit in the second estate. This is but a logical circumstance. Further the spirit is also of a 'material' substance which is more pure in form than the temporal body of flesh and bones. And the spirit doth posses great power, even that of creation and position over things of this temporal second estate as given by God the Father of Spirit, as was given unto the Son Jehovah by the Father. |
14a
TG
Jesus Christ, Foreordained b TG Jesus Christ, Redeemer c Mosiah 15:2 c Mosiah 16:9; D&C 88:13 (7-13) e TG Sons and Daughters of God 15a Ex. 3:6; Ex. 33:20 (11-23); John 1:18; D&C 107:54; Moses 1:2; TG God, Privilege of Seeing b TG Faith c Gen. 1:26-28; Mosiah 7:27; D&C 20:18 (17-18); TG God, Body of—Corporal Nature 16a TG God, Manifestations of b D&C 17:1 c TG Spirit Body d TG Man, Antemortal Existence of
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17 And now, as I, Moroni, said I could anot make a
full account of these things which are written therefore it sufficeth me to
say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the
manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he
bshowed himself unto the Nephites.
18 And he ministered unto him even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this, that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had showed unto him. 19 And because of the aknowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the bveil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had cfaith no longer, for he knew, nothing ddoubting.
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17a
Ether 1:5;
Ether 15:33 b 3 Ne. 11:8-16 19a TG Knowledge b TG Veil c Alma 32:34 b TG Doubt
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20 Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could
anot be kept from within the veil; therefore he
bsaw Jesus; and he did minister unto him.
21 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard to go forth unto the world, until the atime cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall btreasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and show it to no man.
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20a
Ether 12:21 (19-21) b TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 21a Ether 4:1 b Luke 2:19 (17-20)
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22 And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and
shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them
in a alanguage that they cannot be read.
23 And behold, these atwo stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write. 24 For behold, the alanguage which ye shall write I have confoundeda; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things which ye shall write.
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24a the language which ye shall write I have condounded The people of Jared were promised that thier language would not be confounded. But unto all else it did become confounded as recorded in the Biblical record. Thus the language which Mahonri Moriancumer did write, we that pure unconfounded language of Adam. Now whether this be the same as written by Ether and that of the language of the Jaredites unspoiled, we must presume. Thus the sealed record, the twenty four plates of Jared would be in that pure writen and undefiled language of Adam, the Adamic language. |
22a
Mosiah 8:11-12;
TG
Language 23a Mosiah 8:13-18; Morm. 9:34; D&C 17:1; TG Urim and Thummim 24a Ether 1:35
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25 And when the Lord had said these words, he
ashowed unto the brother of Jared ball
the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and
he cwithheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of
the earth.
26 For he had said unto him in times before, that aif he would bbelieve in him that he could show unto him call things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things.
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25a
2 Ne. 27:7;
TG
God, Omniscience of; TG Revelation b Moses 1:8 c Luke 24:16 (10-24); D&C 25:4 26a Ether 3:11-13 b TG Believe c 2 Ne. 27:7-8, 10-11; Mosiah 8:19; Ether 4:4 (1-8)
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27 And the Lord said unto him: Write these things and
aseal them up; and I will show them in mine own due time
unto the children of men.
28 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two astones which he had received, and show them not, until the Lord should show them unto the children of bmen.
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27a
2 Ne. 27:7 (6-23) 28a D&C 17:1 b 2 Ne. 3:6; 3 Ne. 21:11 (8-11); Morm. 8:16-25
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