Mahonri Moriancumer, the brother of Jared
READ Ether 1:1-4
What
was the original “Book of Ether” (the complete record found by Limhi’s people,
not Moroni’s summary) to the Nephites?
It was kind of like a “Book of Mormon”
for them.
While it was not written by
prophets who had seen their day, the Lord did enable them to find the record
and it was very relevant to their situation as it is the story of a people who
fell from the light and were destroyed.
READ Ether 1:33-37
What
does it mean to “cry” unto the Lord instead of “pray” to the Lord?
Cry = to importune; to make an
earnest request; to lament; to utter a loud sound in distress; to call on or
implore (1828 Webster’s Dictionary).
Crying unto the Lord means to pray
to Him with true faith, with real intent, with a broken heart and contrite
spirit (see 2 Nephi 31:13; Moroni 10:4); or in other words, Mahonri genuinely
wants answers from God with his whole soul – receiving the Lord’s will and
blessings is the deepest desire of his heart and his prayers reflect that and
come from that place.
He is praying in mighty prayer in a
way to communicate effectively through the veil and directly to God (i.e. the
“true order of prayer”).
Why
does Jared ask Mahonri to pray for or intercede on behalf of their family
instead of doing it himself?
Jared knew that Mahonri had a
direct connection to God and knew how to pray and have his prayers answered while
the others did not; albeit they committed to be faithful unto the Lord.
Mahonri had progressed in his
relationship with the Lord to the point that he knew how to receive revelation
and had faith in receiving it.
Jared lacked the faith to receive
blessings of this magnitude and the family was in true need of direct answers
and specific, miraculous blessings.
Jared
seemed to have some responsibility for the family and the ability to ask
Mahonri to continue to pray; perhaps Jared was the eldest, which may explain
why Mahonri’s name is never mentioned (as well as the fact that the record was
written by Ether, who was a descendent of Jared); however, Mahonri becomes the
King so maybe he is oldest but it could have been that he was made a king like
Joseph Smith (not the eldest either) was, a “king and priest to the most high
God”.
READ Ether 1:38-43
What
is Jared asking Mahonri to ask the Lord for?
A land of inheritance which is
choice above all other lands.
A land where they can be free to
worship the Lord.
A covenant where if they are
faithful to the Lord, they will receive the inheritance of land.
How
would you describe the answer Mahonri gets from the Lord?
A revelation from God.
He gets specific directions.
He receives a promise he can have
faith in but must act on.
Mahonri has not yet pierced the
veil but he clearly hears the voice of the Lord and writes down the specific
message given.
While Mahonri does hear the voice
of the Lord, it is unclear and actually doesn’t matter whether Mahonri heard
the voice of God with his physical ears or in his head.
What
is Mahonri’s “appointment” with the Lord all about and why does He make Mahonri
wait to “meet him”?
Sometimes the Lord gives us a task
or two and some time to prepare us to receive further light and knowledge (the
“live and learn principle”).
Sometimes He gives us a test of our
faith.
Sometimes He must bolster our faith
by giving us the promise of a greater manifestation that we can actively hope
for and exercise faith in – in this case, Mahonri is receiving the voice of the
Lord but is promised that later, in the valley of Nimrod, He will come down and
talk to Mahonri.
What
promise did Jared’s people receive?
The “Abrahamic Covenant”.
A land, a posterity, and a
priesthood (not mentioned by name but one must hold the High Priesthood to be
able to stand in the presence of God – see D&C 84:19-22).
READ Ether 2:4-7
What
does it mean that the Lord visited Mahonri in a “cloud”?
He visited with him from within a
veil.
But the veil itself was visible,
which it usually isn’t.
How
did the Lord direct the Jaredites on their journey in the wilderness?
Directly, from within the veil.
There was no Liahona or physical
tool on this trip to guide them, but direct interaction with the Lord.
How is the
journey of the Jaredites to the Promised Land symbolic of coming unto Christ?
Having fallen and been cast out…(1:33).
They must repent that they are not confounded (1:34-35).
They receive a commandment to leave the world (1:41).
They accept an offer to communicate with the Lord that He might
lead them to a promised land to "meet the Lord" at a designated point
and time for instruction (temple altar) (1:42, 2:4).
They are commanded to go into the "Lord's Wilderness"
(2:5).
The Lord will go before them - leading them where they should go
(2:5).
They must follow Him exactly (2:6).
They must endure the trials of faith that He will put before them
(2:6).
And they will be led to a land/state of promise (2:7).
READ Ether 2:8-10
What
is the blessing and curse associated with America?
Blessing: America is a land choice
above all other lands; it is a land of promise and liberty, protected by the
Lord (see 2 Nephi 1:7).
Curse: If you live in America, you
must serve the true and living God (Jesus Christ – v 12) or be swept off the
land when you’ve reached a fullness of iniquity.
What
does it mean that the Lord made this promise “in His wrath”?
Those who possess the land do so
because they have been led there by God; this assumes that they know the
conditions that govern the land and they have covenanted to abide by them, at
some level at least (see 2 Nephi 1:5-9).
So, if someone either lies in their
heart to God to gain access or is tempted by the riches of this land once they
get here, the Lord is angry at the deception.
READ Ether 2:11-12
Why
is Moroni stopping the narrative here to address us, the Gentiles?
Moroni has seen us in great detail.
He knows that our destruction and
its cause will mirror very closely the things that he is writing about now –
with both his own people and the Jaredites being a double witness of what will
happen to us as we continue down the same path to the same end.
He feels very compelled to warn us
of our coming destruction, that perhaps a few of us might repent and be saved
from it.
READ Ether 2:13-15
Did
Mahonri neglect to pray for four years, and if so, why?
The verse says that “at the end of
four years” the “Lord came again unto the brother of Jared”; implied is that He
had not visited Mahonri for four years.
The Lord chastened Mahonri for 3
hours regarding neglecting to “call upon the name of the Lord”.
It seems to suggest that calling
upon the name of the Lord is related to God’s visiting mankind; or in other
words, Mahonri had been taught a way to pray that would rend the veil and
enable him to commune directly with God, if not face to face then “in a cloud”.
Engaging in this sort of prayer
(the “true order of prayer”) is what Mahonri had neglected for four years and
the Lord seemed to have wanted to interact with him directly but didn’t because
it was up to Mahonri to “open the door” on his end to allow the Lord to visit
him; in fact, after having shared how to call upon the name of the Lord to
Mahonri earlier, it was considered “evil” for him not to continue to cry unto
God this way and invite Him to commune personally with him.
It would be shocking to learn that
Mahonri had stopped praying completely for four years after all of the
experiences with God he’d already had; this sounds like a completely different
level of praying, all together, which he was neglecting.
An Interior Lighting Problem
READ Ether 2:16-18
What
were the barges like and why?
They were small (the length of a
tree).
They were very light and floated on
the top of the water.
They were “tight like a dish” so
that no water, light or air could get in.
They had no way to steer them or
propel them.
Those inside were completely
dependent on the Lord for their lives.
READ Ether 2:19-21
What
can we learn from Mahonri’s experience building the barges?
First, receive the will of the Lord
– build the ships after God’s design instructions.
Second, go off and do His will –
Mahonri follows the plan and builds the ships with help from his people.
Third, return and report – Mahonri
tells the Lord he has “performed the work” he was commanded.
Fourth, counsel with the Lord regarding
problems
What
are the three problems that Mahonri identifies with the Lord’s design?
No light.
No ability to steer or propel them.
No air.
Why
would He design the barges with legitimate flaws?
The Lord designed the barges with
flaws to engage Mahonri in problem solving or “reasoning together” with Him
(see D&C 50:10-12) so that they would have more reasons to interact –
ultimately face to face, and to test his faith.
How
is the problem of air in the barges resolved and why?
The Lord tells Mahonri what to do.
Cut two holes in the barges – top
and bottom, as the barges may flip upside down at some point – to let in air
and use stoppers to make sure the barges are still watertight.
Some things the Lord tells us how
to solve because they are beyond our experience and intellect to figure out,
but once He enlightens us, we can do them.
READ Ether 2:22-25 and Ether 6:5-10
How
is the steering and power problems resolved?
The Lord will “steer” the barges.
He will use the winds and waves to
propel and navigate them to the Promised Land.
They will literally “go where (He)
wants them to go” and only there.
Some things the Lord will just take
care of because they are His will and/or they are beyond our capability to deal
with.
Why
are the barges “tight as a dish” and what lessons can we learn from this?
So that they can function as
submarines within the sea.
The Lord has prepared the Jaredites
for the journey by giving Mahonri a design to build which will make the barges
completely airtight – able to float on the surface or be submerged in the waves
– because He knows that both will be needed as He will use the winds to propel
them across the sea.
The Lord prepares people for trials
beforehand, including terrible tests like “mountain waves” which will “dash”
upon them and submerge them in the “depths of the sea”, but they have been
prepared to survive these afflictions because the Lord has made them “tight as
a dish” or able to withstand the trauma, if they will exercise faith in the
moment – which will cause their faith to increase and them to grow in light
through obedience and submission to His will.
Could
the Lord have brought them across the sea in another way that didn’t require
air-tight submarines and if so, why didn’t He?
Yes.
He could have “blown the winds
softly” with no need for an air tight compartment.
He could have told them to build a
ship like Nephi to sail across the sea; this is an interesting one – Nephi did
not have experience building a ship but they may have had experience sailing,
as Lehi was a merchant; perhaps the daunting task of sailing was too great for
Mahonri and his people to handle, so the Lord could not give them this option
but needed a way to be able to control the boats almost completely Himself.
He could have led them up through
Russia over the land-bridge to Alaska and down, like the people who came from
Asia to the Americas.
He could have taken them in the air
or literally “magicked” them there using quantum physics.
But they needed to learn something
about being prepared for trials beforehand and exercising faith in the Lord
during a massive trial that they’d been promised by God that they’d be prepared
for – this would have been the ultimate trial for anyone claustrophobic, motion
sick, afraid of drowning, fearful of the deep sea or big storms, or without
faith in God.
How
did the Lord react to Mahonri’s plea for light?
He told him what was not possible
or what the constraints were (no windows and no fire).
He asked him “what will ye that I
should do”?
He did not say “what will you
do about it?” or “figure something out and get back to me”.
In His question is an inherent
offer of help but the idea must be Mahonri’s.
Some things the Lord requires that
we figure out for ourselves and come back to Him with a workable solution,
which must then be approved.
The Lord wants us to use our
capabilities, faith and agency to create solutions to our problems, using Him
as a key solution component and His Spirit as inspiration; but He does not want
to have to command us in all things like a puppet or slave, although if we love
Him, we will keep all the commandments He does give us or at least seek to keep
them (see D&C 58:26-29; John 15:14-17; D&C 46:9) so that we can be
filled with as might light and knowledge (ideas) as possible.
READ Ether 3:1
How
large were the stones?
Small enough that Mahonri could
carry 16 of them up to the top of an exceedingly high mountain in his hands,
perhaps all in one hand because he’d need the other to climb with.
They were not golf ball or goose
egg sized crystals, as is depicted in art.
But once activated by the Lord,
they would give ample light to a small barge.
READ Ether 3:2-5
Why
would Mahonri beg for the Lord not to be angry with him for his weakness?
The Lord had just chastened him for
three hours and likely he did not want to have a second similar event.
The Lord chastens those He loves to
help them to overcome their sins, doubts, and the various weaknesses of the
flesh (see Revelation 3:19; D&C 95:1-2); but He also succors and dries the
eyes of those same people (see Alma 7:11-12; D&C 62:1; Isaiah 25:8-9); He
knows what is needed for each of us at any given time to progress from where we
are stuck to the next step in our journey to become like He is.
What
is the relationship between being holy and dwelling in the heavens?
Those who are holy live in the
heavens.
Those who are not holy do not live
in the heavens.
For those who are holy to come down
to earth, they must “condescend” to do so; they must mask their glory so that
they do not appear as they really are or it will destroy those they come in
contact with who are not holy and cannot abide the glory of the heavens, which
they (those that are holy) have within them.
For those who are not holy or
“unworthy” to ascend to the heavens, they must be declared clean by Christ and
their bodies and spirits must be “quickened” or transfigured or sanctified to
be able to abide the glory of those who dwell there; otherwise, the occasion
will be unpleasant in the extreme (see Mormon 9:3-5).
What
does it mean that “we are unworthy... because of the fall our natures have
become evil continually”?
One way of reading it is that we
cannot help doing evil because the fall “makes us do it” or the effects of the
fall are so great and overpowering that there is no way we can avoid doing evil.
If this is true, it may seem unfair
that we are punished for something that we didn’t do, but which causes us to be
evil continually (Adam and Eve causing the fall of mankind by partaking of the
fruit out of season).
And if we’re not responsible for
doing evil because it’s Adam’s fault not ours, we should not be held
responsible or be accountable for something that we cannot help and did not
cause.
Another way of understanding this
is to remember that Christ was also born with all of the effects of the Fall
through His mother and yet committed no evil, so if we succumb to sin, we are
damned because He was under the same conditions but did not give in to the
temptation or the weakness of the flesh.
At conception, every soul born to
this earth inherits the effects of the Fall of Adam (see Moses 6:55-56) or are
“evil continually” or carnal, sensual and devilish (see Moses 6:48-49), or
again, we are unworthy to stand in God’s presence and are in fact, shut out of
it.
And our natures remain evil
continually (we have no way to overcome this state) UNLESS we CHOOSE to yield
to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and put off that natural man (see Mosiah
3:19) and because of Christ’s perfect life (that’s the only other way to overcome
this state – to be “perfect” as Christ was) and through His Atonement, we have
the opportunity to “become a Saint” or become sanctified and receive a mighty
change of nature (see Mosiah 5:2; Moses 6:64-68).
How
is Mahonri suggesting we view ourselves in relation to God?
As nothing (see Moses 1:8-10) in
comparison.
As creatures who should be pitied
by God, at best.
As people who deserve to be driven
forth for years through the wilderness for our iniquity; we deserve His anger
for our faithlessness and sin.
As people to whom He extends mercy,
which is by definition undeserved, but who earn nothing but are unprofitable
servants even after that mercy is extended (see Mosiah 2:21-25).
Mahonri
has never seen Christ; how does he know that He would even have a finger to
touch a stone?
In order to exercise the faith he
is about to show forth, Mahonri has to understand the correct attributes and
characteristics of God, including the fact that we were created in His image.
What
is Mahonri asking the Lord to do?
Touch the stones and change their molecular
structures from telestial rocks to celestial stones filled with God’s glory.
To
“quicken” the stones’ frequency such that they are filled with light/truth/glory/intelligence/spirit;
to make them “come alive” (see Luke 19:40; Moses 7:48).
What
does “great power, which looks small unto the understanding of man” mean?
God’s thoughts and ways are not our
thoughts or ways but much higher (see Isaiah 55:8-9).
We don’t understand what God is
doing or how He is doing it; in fact, in many cases we don’t think He’s even
involved in day to day operations anymore but has given His power to men (see 2
Nephi 28:5); we think His power is “small” – that He is bounded or constrained
– even by the economy of heaven.
READ Ether 3:6
Mahonri
is holding the stones in his hands, how does he know that the Lord stretched
forth His hand to touch the stones one by one?
It doesn’t say that they each lit
up immediately (when touched), although that is possible.
Mahonri must have felt and seen
each stone move slightly in his hand as the Lord touched it with His finger,
which would have been invisible until Mahonri had mustered enough faith to rend
the veil and see what was really happening.
Where
is the veil placed?
On the mortal eyes and brain (which
reads the signals given it by the eyes and interprets them, many times without
a full set of “readings”).
The veil is the flesh or mortal,
telestial, physical body; including all of the preconceptions that we are
taught to believe while in this body; there is a question about when it “comes
down over our eyes” and if babies can see through it because their eyes are
registering things to their minds that their minds have not yet been told don’t
exist.
Rending the Veil and the Redemption
of a Man
READ Ether 3:7-8
Does
the Lord have a sense of humor?
Yes.
He knows exactly why Mahonri has
fallen to the earth.
Why
is Mahonri struck with fear?
He saw the finger of the Lord come
through the veil; seeing a solitary finger floating in the air in front of you
would be startling, to say the least.
From witnessing the finger, he
thinks the Lord is a man with flesh and blood and this shocks him; implied is
that the finger looks so much like a mortal’s that he thinks it is mortal or at
least flesh and blood.
He is also worried that he might be
struck down or blasted and killed or at least punished or beaten physically
(see “smite” in 1828 Webster’s Dictionary).
It is not that he is surprised that
the Lord had a body with a finger; he knew that the Lord had some kind of body
that man’s body was modeled after (with fingers…) because he had asked that the
Lord touch the stones with His finger.
READ Ether 3:9-13
What
caused Mahonri to see Christ’s finger?
Mahonri’s faith.
But remember, it took up to 15
stones being touched before Mahonri was able to muster the faith to see the
finger of the Lord moving and lighting the stones in his hands.
What
two questions does the Lord ask Mahonri before showing Himself unto him and
what are their significance?
Question one: “Sawest thou more
than this?” (Christ’s finger).
This is an invitation for Mahonri
to ask what he does ask; “please show yourself unto me”; there is an
implied…”and do you want to see more” to the “did you only see my finger?”
question; this implied invitation gives Mahonri hope to ask to see the Lord
face to face – that it’s the Lord’s will that he ask for such an encounter.
Question two: “Believest thou the
words which I shall speak?”
Christ asks Mahonri if he believes
Christ or believes that He is a true messenger or that He is who He says He is
and not Satan or some other in disguise as an angel of light; unlike most
situations where the messenger doesn’t matter but the message does, in this
case the Lord has not yet delivered a message but wants to know if Mahonri
believes His words before they have been spoken; He wants to know if Mahonri
believes Christ regardless of the message He will give.
The Lord is about to reveal truth to
Mahonri by covenant, so he must attest that he will believe, and honor, the
information he is about to receive by covenant.
God cannot establish a covenant
with one who doubts, as faith and doubt cannot exist at the same time in the
same person; an actual knowledge is necessary.
What
is the difference between believing what God has told us and what He will
tell us?
Believing what He has told us is
being reconciled to God.
Disbelieving what He has told us is
either unbelief (believing in traditions or the teachings of others that are
not true), willful rebellion or careless indifference, all of which are damning
states.
Believing what He has not yet told
us requires trust and faith in God because we have no guarantee that we will
understand or like what God will tell us, or how obviously it will align with
what we already have accepted from Him; they could very easily contradict our
preconceived notions and extremely limited understanding, and put us in a very
uncomfortable situation, as a result (a “the God I worship wouldn’t ask me to
believe or do…” situation).
What
is the difference between being brought back into Christ’s presence and Christ
“showing Himself” unto you?
Being brought back into Christ’s
presence means that the veil has been parted and you are again in His bodily
presence and can see Him.
This can be a glorious or a
terrible experience (it is fear-inducing regardless), depending upon one’s
preparation; i.e. to the degree they are also filled with glory or purified and
“like Him” or not (see Moroni 7:48 or Mormon 9:3-5).
But for Christ to “show Himself”
unto you is to be ministered to by Christ, after which one knows with a surety
that He is the God of the whole Earth and was slain for the sins of the world
(see 3 Nephi 11:10-17).
He also assures you of your
standing before Him or extends to you a more sure word or promise of your
exaltation (see D&C 88:75) than you had possessed previously.
When
the Lord showed Himself to Mahonri, what did He show him?
Certain signs and tokens which
reveal a true messenger from a false one, which require a physical body to show.
His body, which at the time was a
glorified celestial body of flesh and bone but not a mortal body of blood.
Certain tokens within His body
which prove that He is the Christ (see 3 Nephi 11:10-17).
What
knowledge redeems us?
Knowledge of the reality of the
risen Lord gained by embracing and touching Him at or through the veil, after
which we are brought into His presence.
Knowledge of certain tokens or
“proofs”; specifically, those He showed to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 11:14-15 so
that they would know with a surety (see v18).
To know God is eternal life (see
John 17:3).
To know we are clean before God
through the blood of Christ is The Testimony of Jesus (i.e. Jesus’ testimony) to
us and the Father (see D&C 88:75); this is what it means to know that the
course we are pursuing is acceptable to God (see LoF 6:2); and results in God
giving us a promise or hope we can exercise faith in.
How
does coming back into the presence of God show we are redeemed from the Fall?
The Fall is spiritual death or
being separated from God.
If we have been redeemed, we will
be brought back into the presence of God; in fact, to be redeemed IS to be
brought back into Christ’s presence (see Mormon 9:13) so that we are no longer
separated from Him – we are spiritually alive again.
What
is the difference between what Mahonri was inquiring about and what the Lord
wanted to tell him?
Mahonri had an “interior lighting
problem”; this was a terrible issue from a mortal perspective – the thought of
months in a dark submarine in the midst of the ocean would have scared all but
the most brave (or crazy) individuals.
But really, while the Lord has
mercy on His people in situations like this, what He was really waiting for was
for Mahonri to truly muster the desire to “cry” unto Him with the kind of power
and faith that would rend the veil (in order to get an answer to that terrible
interior lighting problem).
Because when the veil was parted,
the Lord had much greater things to reveal to Mahonri – He wanted to give
Mahonri the Second Comforter.
READ Ether 3:14-20
How
could the premortal, “spirit” Christ touch a mortal, physical object and what
does it mean that the body of the Lord was “like unto flesh and blood”?
Christ
was the preeminent one among those “souls” who proposed to “prove” others who
were not yet “noble and great” as they were or “in the first place” had been
“left” to choose good or evil and had failed to be obedient to the same degree
as Christ and some few others had (see Abraham 3:23-25; Alma 13:3-9).
A soul
is a spirit and a body (see D&C 88:15) and they were souls in heaven
because they had already been the beneficiaries of a redemption prepared for
them in that “first place” or prior eternity outside of God’s presence to be
proven, before the foundation of this world.
But they
still condescended to come down to prove us and in Christ’s case, to redeem us;
they had to lay their glorious bodies aside and risk another mortal probation
(see 1 Corinthians 15:30).
And by
so doing, they would continue their own progression toward becoming precisely
as the Father is (see TPJS 390-393; LoF 7:9, 15-16).
So, when
Christ touched the stones in His pre-mortal state, He possessed a physical, “spiritual
body” of glory and light, or a “body of my spirit” (note it doesn’t say “a body
of spirit” or “body made of spirit” or a “spirit body”; a body “for” His spirit
is implied), but not a body made of flesh and blood like the mortal one He
would be born into; it is a body that was glorified from His past
mortality(ies) and resurrection(s) – one that is capable of touching stones in
this telestial, mortal sphere (note, His prior resurrections refer to
resurrections that He was the beneficiary of at the hands of His Father(s), not
the resurrection that He Himself attained to or accomplished on this earth –
after which is spirit and body were inseparably connected) (see D&C
93:2-17; TPJS 390-393).
And for
Mahonri to be able to abide Christ’s glory in this state, he had to be
transfigured or quickened such that Christ showed Himself to Mahonri “in the
spirit” meaning that he had to be taken through the veil to interact with
Christ in the spirit realm; note again, it doesn’t say that Mahonri saw
“Christ’s spirit” but that he (Mahonri) was “in the spirit” or that the veil
was withdrawn such that he could see into the heavens and “spirit world” or
“spiritual world” to see what was really before him (i.e. Christ).
What
does it mean that Christ showed Himself “after the manner and in the likeness
of the same body even as He showed Himself unto the Nephites”?
It
appears to imply that somehow the Lord was able to transform His physical,
spiritual body - such that He prematurely bore the wounds that His physical,
mortal body would bare as a result of the crucifixion.
This may be why Christ said “never has man come before me with such
exceeding faith” as Mahonri or that He had never shown Himself to any man
(v15)… in this way.
Christ
truly condescended to minister to Mahonri, in a way that He had never
ministered to Adam, Enoch, Noah or Melchizedek; implied in this is the
difficulty or sacrifice that a glorified being, such as Christ was before His
mortal ministry, has of taking upon Himself this physical state.
One
possible explanation as to how this happened is to consider how time works in
mortality vs. in the heavens; Christ was resurrected in time (33AD) but then
ascended back through the conduit of fire into the heavens to abide with His
Father, having won the victory over death and having attained to the
resurrection Himself; but in the heavens, time either doesn’t exist or it
doesn’t function in the linear way it does on earth, as God can see all things
– the past, present and future are all before His face; so, may it be possible
that the Lord visited Mahonri (and Jacob, Nephi’s brother, too – see 2 Nephi
2:3-4) in His resurrected body but came “back in time” to do so – think of
Christopher Nolan’s movie “Interstellar” and how the lead character goes
through the black hole where time is non-linear and is able to “visit” his
daughter in the “past”, although to her (and him at the time she was visited,
as he was with her) it was the “present”; perhaps that is how Christ appears to
have the tokens or scars of His atonement thousands (Mahonri) and hundreds
(Jacob) of years before those events “occurred” on earth in our linear time.
What
does it mean that Christ was “prepared” from the foundation of the world to
redeem His people and become the Father through the work of the Son?
It implies that prior to His
preparation, He would not have been able to successfully redeem His people (see
D&C 93:2-17; TPJS 390-393).
It means that prior to the
foundation of the world, He had or was given by the Father, “people” or a
family to redeem – a group who would take upon themselves His family name and
become His children, His joint-heirs or His Sons and Daughters – He would
become their Father, in Heaven (see John 17:6-12; 3 Nephi 19:29).
It means that through His perfect
life, atonement, and unjust death – which is the work of the Son (or the role
of the “Son” of God on a mortal earth) – He attained to the resurrection
Himself, became perfect like the Father and qualified to save all those who
would come unto Him through covenant to be their Father in Heaven or the Father
of their spiritual rebirth (see 3 Nephi 12:48; TPJS 390-393).
What
does it mean that “all mankind shall have life” but for those who believe on
His name, they shall have that life “eternally”?
Through His resurrection, He will
give ALL those who chose to come to earth life again; they will all be
resurrected through Him.
But for those who choose to believe
on His name and come unto Him and become His family, that resurrection will
lead to eternal lives; while the others will die again, perhaps many times, as
their path leads to the “deaths”; they will not become His family and He will
not become their Father; perhaps they must wait for another probationary
opportunity for another “Father” (i.e. Son of God) to come to create an earth
and offer to redeem them if they will come unto Him; the question remains: will
they ever rise up or will they continue their cycle of deaths without ever
being born of God – without ever becoming a Son or Daughter of God in the way
described above? (see D&C 132:21-25).
When
it says that the “Lord ministered” to someone, what do we now know this means?
It means He comes unto them in the
flesh (see D&C 130:3).
He appears to man to impart
knowledge of Himself and blessings of eternal life.
He shows them His many works, or in
other words, the creation and man’s fall, His ministry and atonement, His death
and resurrection, so that they know that He is who He says He is and that He
can do what He says He can do.
It means that He gives them proofs
of who He is and what He has done with a surety – they have a perfect knowledge
of God and no longer exercise faith in that aspect – although they do exercise
faith in God’s helping them to do the things He has now commanded them to do
(see 3 Nephi 11:9-17).
It means that Christ has redeemed
them and made them His Son or Daughter.
What
knowledge did Mahonri gain from this experience?
A perfect or sure knowledge of God
(see 3 Nephi 11:14-15).
Eternal life, which is to know God
(see John 17:3).
To
receive eternal life, must the Lord minister to you in the flesh or not?
Yes, you
must be ministered to in the flesh or you cannot be exalted because eternal
life is knowing (having a perfect or sure knowledge of) Christ and the Father
(see D&C 132:21-25; John 17:3; 3 Nephi 11:14-15; D&C 76:50-70 & 74)
and your standing before them (see D&C 88:75; LoF 6:2-5, 10); the only
exception to this is those who would have had this experience if they had been
allowed to live long enough but died first (see D&C 137:7-9).
The Lord
bestows upon those who love Him and purify themselves before Him “knowledge” of
Him. This knowledge is glory, it is intelligence. If it is received here it equips the
recipient to endure His presence in a world of glory. Every one of us are invited to receive it.
Every soul gains this knowledge in the same way, based on the same conditions,
it is experiential and is gained in God’s presence.
How can a religion have the power to bring one into God’s
presence after death but lack the power to do so in the flesh?
It can’t.
If it
has cleansed you of your sins enough to withstand His presence later, it has
done so enough to bear His presence now.
If you
have not obtained His presence now, it is because you are not prepared to do
so, and if you are not prepared to do so now, nothing will change once you die.
Your
religion will not bring you back into God’s presence at that day either, but
God’s plan will; however, it will not be a pleasant experience and you will
depart from Him again as quickly as you can (see Mormon 9:2-5).
You
ought to recognize that your lack of experiences with God is an indication that
you are doing something wrong – and it might not be traditional sins as much as
unbelief (believing things that are incorrect); if your religion does not bring
you to hear God’s voice, to experience His power, and eventually to see Him, it
is not right because it lacks the power to save you demonstrated by the fact
that it lacks the power to connect you directly with God – it is a false
religion and can be proved to be such, in that it doesn’t do what it purports
to do or worse, it tells you that you don’t need to connect with God but to
connect with men who are connected to God and everything becomes about their
pretended authority (see JSH 1:19).
Adam
received his religion directly from God and it was experiential and anecdotal;
its purpose was to bring an individual into God’s presence; those who believed
Adam’s firsthand experience and did what he taught received the same experience
(see LoF 2:54-56); that’s how you can tell if a religion is true – IF following
it connects you to God and you end up knowing Him with a surety that cannot be
denied without the direst of consequences (see 3 Nephi 11:14-15; D&C
76:31-35), you KNOW it is true.
What
are the differences between a religion that can save and one that can’t?
One
teaches a path that leads back to Christ, so that He can minister to you in the
flesh; the other does not – instead it teaches standards, performances, and
doctrine that do not lead to Christ.
One is
precisely true – it helps you “find” the “narrow” gate and navigate the
“strait” way back to His presence; the other contains at least one falsehood
masquerading as truth, which is enough to stop you from finding that narrow
gate.
One is
unchangeable or it will lose its efficacy and will demonstrably not lead you to
Christ; the other can be very changeable, because it will not lead you to
Christ anyway due to its lack of 100% fidelity to the true Way; it can change
over time to remain popular with the world and those who wish to follow it, but
it is a road to nowhere (see 1 Nephi 8:4-8).
One is
accepted because of the promise (via the testimony of others) and reality
(through one’s own experience) of bringing people into the presence of God; the
other is accepted to satisfy their pride or to justify themselves without
having to repent or to placate their guilt or to meet some other emotional or
social need.
One
relies upon a gatekeeper who is Christ Himself and has all power to save who He
will through obedience to His commandments or Way; the other relies upon the
“authority” of men and their ordinances devoid of spiritual acceptance by God.
One
demonstrably “works” (i.e. following it, you eventually find yourself in God’s
presence and receive a sure and perfect knowledge of Him in this life); the
other demonstrably doesn’t.
Was
it the knowledge or the faith that Mahonri had that could not prevent him from
parting the veil?
It was the perfect knowledge he had
of Christ’s existence, having seen His finger.
His faith enabled him to gain that
knowledge in the first place.
True religion teaches principles
upon which one can exercise faith, which if one does, they will be led back to
God’s presence and receive a perfect knowledge of Him or intelligence or glory.
Mahonri’s Sealed Vision of All
READ Ether 3:21-24 and Ether 4:1-3
Why
does the Lord command prophets to write an account of their experiences and
visions but then seal up the record so that no one can read it at the time?
If the Lord intended to show it to
others at the same time, He could give them the same vision - as He did with
Nephi who inquired about Lehi’s vision (see 1 Nephi 10:17; 1 Nephi 11:1).
Sometimes the intended secondary
audience (the prophet himself or herself is the primary audience) has not been
born yet.
Sometimes the revelation is
predicated on a level of righteousness that the people have not yet achieved
but if and when they do, the revelation will be given to them.
READ Ether 3:25-28 and Ether 4:4-5
What
vision did Mahonri receive?
The vision of the history of this
earth.
The same vision that Nephi I, Enoch,
Moses, and John the Beloved received (and probably Mormon and Moroni, too).
Why
would the Lord have promised Mahonri previously that if he believed in Him,
that He could and would show Mahonri all things?
Because He wants to show people all
things (see Ether 4:7).
He had given Mahonri a promise he
could have faith in, for the purpose of Mahonri exercising that faith. It was a “quest”, in a way.
READ Ether 4:6-7
Have
the things that Mahonri saw “gone forth” yet and what is implied?
No, they have not.
The Gentiles (LDS church) have not
repented of our iniquity and become clean before the Lord (see D&C
84:49-59).
The Gentiles have not yet exercised
faith in Christ as Mahonri did; we are not sanctified in Christ.
It is interesting that the
dependency for receiving this revelation is given to the Gentiles, who have
been prophesied by Christ to reject the Fullness of the Gospel in the last days
and have it taken from them and given to the Remnant, with the exception of
some few who will be the means with which the gospel is taken to the Remnant
(Lehites); I would have thought it would be dependent upon the Remnant and that
a “Native American” prophet would be commanded to do the translation from the
sealed portion of the plates, but perhaps not – it says He will manifest unto
them (the Gentiles or subject of the past verse) the things which the brother
of Jared saw.
What
promise is the Lord extending here to all latter-day Gentiles and what are the
terms?
He is extending the same promise or
opportunity or “quest” as He made to Mahonri.
He is promising to show us, the
Gentiles, the vision of all things that Mahonri saw.
He is promising to unfold or teach
us to understand ALL His revelations.
We must exercise faith in Him as
Mahonri did, that we become sanctified in Christ as he was – or in other words,
we must receive the Second Comforter, but this promise (that we can) is
inherent in the first one – the Lord is inviting us to exercise our faith and come
unto Christ in the flesh to receive His ministry.
READ Ether 4:8-12
Why
does Moroni give this warning of a cursing upon those who “contend” against the
“word of God” and “deny these things”, seeming to refer to the vision of
Mahonri?
Perhaps it will be translated by a
Gentile who is without credibility or ability to do such a work – another
“marvelous work and a wonder” like what Joseph Smith accomplished.
And the world in general and Church
in particular will cry “foul” – they will contend or fight against it and deny
that it is true or from God.
Having said this – be sure that
what you’re reading as a purported “Sealed Book of Mormon” is true; it must
contain the content Moroni has laid out for us (see Ether 3:25-28 and Ether
4:4-5) otherwise it is clearly a false book written by a false prophet.
What
cursing will the Lord execute against these “contending and denying” Gentiles?
No greater things will be shown
them (see Alma 12:9-11).
The heavens will be shut against
them – no revelation (see Amos 8:11-12).
Earthquakes and natural disasters
will plague them (see D&C 112:23-26).
Ultimately, they will be destroyed
in the fire when He comes again (see D&C 2:1-3).
What
point is the Lord making when He says that those who will not believe His
words, will not believe His disciples’ words?
They will not believe that His
disciples’ words are His words – because they (His true disciples) lack
authority and credibility.
They do not believe His disciples
words because they speak His words, which they do not believe – because they
have drifted so far from the Lord’s true message that it sounds foreign to them
now.
They do not believe that He is even
speaking anymore (see 2 Nephi 28:4-6) because we have a “vast reservoir of
revelation already” and don’t need more.
What
does God promise those who believe His words?
He will visit them with the
manifestations of His Spirit.
They will know that these things
are true through the manifestation of the Spirit and because they persuade them
to do good.
But they must bear record of what
they know.
How
can we know that something comes from God?
It persuades people to do good.
It persuades people to believe in
Christ, love Him and obey His commandments.
Is
“truth” an “accurate portrayal of the facts” or what “persuades people to do
good”?
It is both (see D&C 93:24).
Seeing things as they are, were and
are to come persuades people to do “good” or to align their beliefs and
behavior with eternal law because living perfectly aligned to eternal law is
living according to the nature of happiness and gives one a fullness of joy and
glory, spirit, intelligence…truth; and is the definition of being a God (see
LoF 7:9, 15-16); if people knew the truth, their self-interest would constrain
them to live in accordance with it…if they could.
What
does it mean that Christ is “the Truth”?
Christ is perfectly or “precisely”
aligned with the truth or spirit or intelligence or glory or light of eternal
law – if He wasn’t, He couldn’t be God and couldn’t be saved; He is a perfectly
just and holy being; He is the embodiment of truth.
What
is the difference between believing Christ’s words and believing Christ?
Believing His words is to believe
what He has told us - it is to believe His doctrine, regardless of who is
teaching it.
Believing Christ is to believe that
He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do – even to the point
of saving poor, miserable you and me, which is even more amazing when you
realize that to be saved is to be precisely as Christ is and nothing else.
How
is Christ the light and life of the world?
Through His light, glory or
intelligence, Christ created and sustains all life in this universe; He is
within and through all things; He literally lights and quickens all things from
moment to moment (see D&C 88:6-13; Moses 2:1; Abraham 3:24; Mosiah 2:20-21).
Eternal Law establishes required
conduct which enables one to be filled with a fullness of light, glory and
intelligence, or in other words, to be saved as a God, but requires a
punishment to be imposed when violated (see LoF 7:9; Alma 42:22; Alma 12:9-11;
D&C 93:39; D&C 84:49-53).
We came to earth to experience a mortal
probation, seeking to gain light and knowledge through obedience to Eternal Law
but all of us sin and fail in the requirement of perfect alignment with that
Law (see D&C 130:18-21; Romans 3:10, 12, 20, 23); in addition, all of us
will die due to Adam’s Fall and none of us merit life again because those who
sin deserve death (see Moses 6:38; 2 Nephi 9:6-9; Romans 6:23).
Christ condescended to come to
earth to experience a mortal life to save us and enable us to come back to God
without the requirement of living the Eternal Law perfectly now (1 Nephi
11:16-26).
He died voluntarily, as a
sacrifice, and His death was unmerited (see 1 Peter 2:22; Alma 22:13-14); He
died because of others’ sins, not because of His own and He did so to appease
the ends of the Law and suffer the required punishment (see 1 Peter 2:21-23; 2
Nephi 2:6-7; 1 Peter 3:18).
Through Christ, the Law was made
unjust because death could make no claim upon Him but He willingly died to
suffer the punishment He did not merit; that punishment was infinite so His
sacrifice was infinite and death unfairly took from Him that which was infinite
and should have had no end (see Hebrews 4:15) but He submitted to it; this
forever satisfied death’s claim (see Mosiah 15:9) and enabled Him to redeem all
He would redeem.
It is just that mankind still dies,
but through Christ’s victory over death gives life to the world; He comes the
Father of life for all He sacrificed to save as He literally provides a body
(resurrected) to all.
Is
Christ our Father or Elder Brother?
He is the Father to those who He
redeems – He is truly the Father in Heaven to those who come unto Him and offer
their whole souls to Him; He exalts them to become like He is.
He is an “Elder Brother” to those
who do not come unto Him, although through His sacrifice, they are also
resurrected and must all bow and confess that He is the Christ and in this way
He is still their “father” as He has provided them with a resurrected body and
life.
Note: the term “elder brother” is
never used in the scriptures but is a Mormon cultural invention; the difference
between the Lord and the rest of us is so vast at this point that the term
overstates our relationship with Him so much as to be almost sacrilegious.
READ Ether 4:13-15
What
are the “greater things” that those who come to Christ will be shown?
A sure knowledge of who Christ is.
The vision of His birth, ministry,
atonement, death and resurrection.
An understanding of “how” Christ
did the “great things” He did to save us.
The vision of the history of the
earth; from creation to Millennium.
The vision of the plan of
salvation; from before the foundation of the world to the Celestial Kingdom and
degrees of glory.
The vision of God’s Heavenly Way; a
tour of the universe including where God resides and the path through the stars
to get there.
The vision of God on His throne on
the “sides of the North” in the Heavenly Temple; including the council of the
Gods and Heavenly Mother and the continuation of Godhood.
The vision of all things; including
quantum physics and the science inherent in the Eternal Laws.
And much more (see 2 Nephi 32:6;
Alma 12:9).
Why
do we not receive these “greater things”?
Because of unbelief.
We believe things that are wrong
and this curtails our faith and makes us resistant to the truth when we
actually hear it; especially if its taught to us by someone without credibility.
We are not open to the greater
things and do not seek for them; we care about outward ordinances and standards
that we can judge each other against not inward, spiritual realities or gifts;
we think we have the fullness of the gospel already so anything additional is
unnecessary – in fact, anything else is wrong and evil because we have
everything we need. God is bound by what
we inquire about and ask for, so if we think we have all we need and don’t
inquire for more, He won’t violate our agency by forcing the truth on us.
What
is unbelief (believing things that are false) caused by?
A distrust of God.
We have set up stakes regarding
what we are willing to believe.
We idolize those who teach the
traditions we accept; we defer to their authority or scholarship and they
become our “benefactors” as they stand and/or we place them between us and God
(see Luke 22:25-27).
We don’t care enough about the
truth (because we like what we are already hearing) to go to God for
confirmation of what others are teaching (see Helaman 12:6-7) or for more truth
directly from Him.
How
do you repent of unbelief, so that you can receive the “greater things”?
Learn of Him through your own
experience (reflect on His hand in your life) or the experiences of others,
including the scriptures, so that you gain a firsthand knowledge of His
motivations, character and attributes (love, goodness, mercy, wisdom, your
immortality and eternal life); experience with God is the cure for distrust in
God.
Recognize your own nothingness,
ignorance, insufficiency and need for a savior.
Come to the point where you are
resolute in clinging to your understanding of what is right in the face of sin
– a tenacity in keeping God’s commandments – while easily letting go of your
deepest convictions when God presents you with something better.
Cry unto Him for support (see Mark
9:24).
What
is the purpose of the veil and what are the implications regarding how Moroni
is telling us it is removed?
The veil enables us to fully
exercise our agency because we think we are alone and truly separated from God
so we can act in accordance with our own wills and desires (we are separated
from His presence but His light or Spirit is all around and within us and
sustains us from moment to moment and the elements of our body and the whole
physical world are His direct creations and belong to Him, so we’re not nearly
as separated from God as we think we are).
It enables the test or probation of
mortality but when our faith in Christ has progressed into a perfect knowledge
through obedience to His words and commandments, and sanctification of our
souls through the offering of a broken heart and contrite spirit, there is no
need for the veil and we are permitted to see things as they truly are.
The veil is unbelief or believing
things that are not true; we see and so believe basic “foundational facts”
about this earth and about ourselves and why we are here and God’s nature or
existence, and they are all wrong to one degree or another; we see what we
believe to be true and cannot see the truth because we don’t believe it.
We remove the veil as we cast off
unbelief and embrace the truth; this requires a humble openness to the fact
that most of what we believe is wrong, and an insatiable, childlike curiosity
to receive and understand the truth. We
must be humble seekers.
Seeing the truth or rending the
veil enables us to leave our awful state of wickedness, hardness of heart and
blindness of mind.
The good news about this is that it
is actually all in our control; we are “self-elect” or we are “self-damning” as
the Law of Restoration makes clear; not that we can save ourselves but that we
can elect to be saved.
READ Ether 4:16-17
When
will the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, which is Moroni’s summarization
of Mahonri’s vision of the history of the world, be given to us and what the
relationship between it and the Book of Revelation?
Before the Millennium (in
opposition to what some gospel scholars have suggested).
Immediately before the time the
apocalyptic “winding up scene” described in the Book of Revelation will
actually take place.
After the beginning of the “work of
the Father”; it will already be in progress.
The Book of Mahonri will be a
second witness to the Book of Revelation.
What
is the “sign” of the translation of the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon –
i.e. the Book of Mahonri?
The work of the Father has started
upon all the face of the land (see 1 Nephi 14:17).
The work of the Father is the
fulfilling of the covenant that He made with the House of Israel (see 3 Nephi
21:7-9, 26), which includes the destruction of the Gentile Church (see D&C
112:23-26) and nations (see 3 Nephi 20:16-19).
READ Ether 4:18-19
Who
is speaking here?
Christ is speaking; Moroni is
quoting Him directly.
How
can we remain faithful to the Lord’s name?
First, we must take it upon
ourselves, through faith, repentance, baptism, and coming unto Christ (see
Mosiah 2-5).
If we do this, He will baptize us
with fire and the Holy Ghost, and as we remain faithful, He will adopt us as
His children and He will become our Father in Heaven; He will give us His name
or “put His name upon us” through covenant and with His own voice or
“testimony”.
We must then be valiant in that
testimony to the last day – The Testimony of Jesus to us and before the Father
that we are His sons and daughters and are clean (see D&C 88:75); we must
remain faithful to the Lord’s name or the family or House of God that we have
now been adopted into, acting as He would have us act – as He would act Himself.
READ Ether 5:1-4
There
have been several sets of “three witnesses” in or around the Book of Mormon;
who are they?
At the beginning: Nephi, Jacob,
Isaiah.
In the middle: Christ, the Father,
Malachi.
At the end: Mormon, Moroni, Mahonri.
In the latter days: Cowdery,
Whitmer, Harris.
READ Ether 6:12, 16-17
Who
was taught from on high and why did this happen?
“They” were; all of them – all who
had been taught to walk humbly before the Lord.
Mahonri & Jared taught their
people that every one of them could have the same relationship with God that
Mahonri had obtained; there was no strongman in their society.
READ Ether 6:22-27
Why
was the prospect of becoming the king so repugnant to all but one of Mahonri or
Jared’s sons?
They felt that all were and should
remain equal before God; implied is that they all knew God personally and knew
there was no need for a leader but Christ.
They felt that anointing a king
would lead to inequality and eventually to captivity – the strongman must stay
in power through centralized decision making, taxation, servitude, military
might, deception, favoritism, flattery, cult of personality, etc.
