I love the story of the Brother of Jared from the Book of Mormon
It gives us a glimpse into the lives of people who seem very real
(they could be you and me) who lived at the time of one the most pivotal events
in the world
The Tower of Babel
Sometimes I wish I could have been a fly on the wall back
then just to be able to observe that whole scene unfold.
I have always had one
question: Did they REALLY, seriously believe
they could build a tower high enough to reach heaven? Really?
Well, I guess they did because they were doing it!
Which is where the brother of Jared comes in. Well, actually he comes in when the Lord is
confounding the languages and scattering the people. This had to be a time of great chaos and
panic.
Ether 1: 34 talks
about some of the spiritual and physical features of the Brother of Jared:
·
He was large and mighty ( I would guess mighty both physically and spiritually)
·
The Lord LOVED him
·
He had an immense faith bordering on sure knowledge of Jesus Christ from the beginning
·
He was a great spiritual leader among his family members as well
as his friends
Then it seems to me that the Brother of Jared asks the Lord
kind of the long shot question of the day by request of Jared, his brother:
1.
“Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us
that we may not understand our words”
And the Lord compassionately complied. Then Jared asks his brother to pray a little more:
2.
“Cry again unto the Lord that He will turn his
anger away from them who are our friends”
And the
Lord compassionately complied. Then Jared had one more big question for the Lord.
3.
“Cry unto the Lord whether He will drive us out
of the land, and if he does, where shall we go??”
And the Lord compassionately complied, again.
Ether 1:43 “And this I will do because this long time ye have cried unto me”)The Lord must have been just waiting for that question because HE HAD A PLAN FOR THEIR LIVES, but He was waiting for them to ask.
Then after a serious of miracles, they are driven, guided,
and led by the hand of God to the promised land. It wasn’t just a better, safer
land…it was the
promised land-their promised land.
Ether 12:43 "And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And athere shall be none bgreater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth.
And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me."
You can, of coarse, read the book of {Ether }to get that full account
___________________________________________________________
I think about this story and how the Lord so compassionately complied. How He delivered them and saved this group of people. Literally. It was a physical and a spiritual rescue, like it can be so many times with us.
There are so many times the Lord has delivered and saved me personally. It has been going on from my childhood and is still on-going. I remember a time when I was 9 and fell through an icy lake and almost drowned. Just when I thought I might not survive, I was able to pull myself out and walk home. He has saved me. And has been doing it my whole life.
His rescue is has been on-going in my marriage and family I am raising now. I have been amazed over and over again how the Lord loves us and continually guides and leads us to our kind of promised land. Blessings that are especially perfect and catered to us.
Like the Brother of Jared and his family and friends, I have seen how the Lord does His best and greatest work in impossible situations. Nothing is impossible to Him, only to us.
I have also learned that the LORD HAS A PLAN for our lives…and a
promised land for each of us. If we
trust in Him, and let Him lead us…He will write a better story for our lives
than we would ever come up with on our own.
