Difference between revisions of "Brother of Jared"

Latest revision as of 19:10, 8 August 2024

The Brother of Jared Sees the Finger of the Lord (Brother of Jared Seeing the Finger of the Lord) by Arnold Friberg

The brother of Jared is one of the key figures in the Book of Mormon, particularly in the book of Ether, which contains the Jaredites' history, which was found on the twenty-four plates that were found by the people of Limhi and were later brought to King Mosiah and translated.

The brother of Jared's story begins in the ancient city of Babylon at the time when wicked people sought to reach God by erecting a tall tower instead of reaching Him through obedience and righteous living. The Lord scattered the people and changed (disordered or "confounded") their language so that the people could not communicate with each other.

Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, . . . And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words.

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded.

Then Jared said unto his brother: Cry again unto the Lord, and it may be that he will turn away his anger from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language.

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded.[1]

The next question Jared had for God pertained to the scattering of the people he saw occurring around him. He wondered if it was God's will that their group also leave the land. He asked the brother of Jared to "cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance."[2]

The group is directed by the Lord to a new land, which required them to build barges and "cross many waters."[3] After four years of living in tents near the seashore, and after a lengthy chastisement from the Lord for not praying regularly, the brother of Jared received divine instructions on how to construct the barges. The brother of Jared, considering how watertight ("tight like unto a dish") the eight barges were, noticed that no light or air would penetrate the vessels while they traveled. So he took the matter to the Lord:

O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me.

And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.

And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood.

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according as the Lord had commanded.

And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea.[4]

What occurs next is a remarkable experience that is instructive to all who read and ponder its significance. The brother of Jared creates 16 transparent small stones and brings them before the Lord. He asks the Lord to touch the stones with His finger to make the stones "shine forth in darkness" to give them light in the barges while they cross the sea. Because of the great faith of the brother of Jared,

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.

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?

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.

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?

And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.

And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?

And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.

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.

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.

And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.

Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; 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.[5]

The key reason this experience of the brother of Jared is significant is because of what it reveals about his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "The principal and commanding figure in the Book of Mormon, from first chapter to last, is the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the book is truly 'another testament.'" Of the brother of Jared's experience, Elder Holland said:

A final—and in terms of the faith of the brother of Jared (which is the issue at hand) surely the most persuasive—explanation for me is that Christ is saying to the brother of Jared, “Never have I showed myself unto man in this manner, without my volition, driven solely by the faith of the beholder.” As a rule, prophets are invited into the presence of the Lord, are bidden to enter His presence by Him and only with His sanction. The brother of Jared, on the other hand, stands alone then (and we assume now) in having thrust himself through the veil, not as an unwelcome guest but perhaps technically an uninvited one. Says Jehovah, “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. . . . Never has man believed in me as thou hast” (Ether 3:9, 15; emphasis added). Obviously the Lord Himself is linking unprecedented faith with this unprecedented vision. If the vision is not unique, then it has to be the faith— and how the vision is obtained—that is so remarkable. The only way this faith could be so remarkable would be in its ability to take this prophet, uninvited, where others had only been able to go by invitation.

Indeed it would appear that this is Moroni’s own understanding of the circumstance, for he later writes, “Because of the knowledge [which has come as a result of faith] of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil. . . .

“Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus” (Ether 3:19–20; emphasis added).[6]

Elder Holland adds, "After the prophet stepped through the veil to behold the Savior of the world, he was not limited in seeing the rest of what the eternal world revealed. Indeed, the Lord showed him 'all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth' (Ether 3:25). The staying power for such an experience was once again the faith of the brother of Jared, for 'the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things' (Ether 3:26)."[7]

Moroni wrote about this remarkable faith of the brother of Jared:

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.

And it is by faith that my fathers have obtained the promise that these things should come unto their brethren through the Gentiles; therefore the Lord hath commanded me, yea, even Jesus Christ.

And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;

And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them" (Ether 12:19–24).

The brother of Jared wrote what he had seen and two passages of scripture attest to the expansive nature of what he saw:

And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth.[8]

Although the brother of Jared was commanded to write what he was shown, Moroni was commanded to seal them up.

And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people. . . .

Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.

For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord. (Ether 4:1, 4–6)

The writings are part of the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith was commanded not to translate them. According to Joseph Smith’s associates who saw the golden plates, anywhere from half to two-thirds of all the plates were in the sealed portion. It will be translated and made available to us when "we become clean before the Lord" (Ether 4:6) and in God's "own due time" (Ether 3:27).

Historian Don Bradley notes that the brother of Jared was in a temple setting conversing with the Lord and "the Lord puts His hand through the veil to touch the stones and the brother of Jared sees the Lord's hand and the Lord asks him a series of questions to test his faith and knowledge, beginning with a question about his hand. Once the brother of Jared has passed the test, the Lord admits him into His presence and tells him 'You've been redeemed from the Fall', which evokes the whole back story of the Creation and Adam and Eve." Bradley says "the structure of the endowment is in the book of Ether." (Interview on "Let's Get Real with Stephen Jones.")

An interesting connection to Noah's ark, is found in Genesis 6:16:

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

The footnote to the word "window" states: "HEB tsohar; some rabbis believed it was a precious stone that shone in the ark Ether 2:23 (23–24)."

In other words, the word "window" is mistranslated. The Hebrew word for window is halon, but the Hebrew word here is zohar. Here's the definition for zohar:

Zohar (Hebrew: זהר or זוהר) is a Hebrew name meaning "splendor", "glow" or "radiance".

Jewish tradition says Noah had glowing stones in the ark to give light, so the brother of Jared was probably following that when he moltened white stones for the Lord to touch.[9]

• Book of Mormon online: Jared's Brother