BOOK OF MORMON STUDY GUIDES: Ether 3-5

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Ether 3-5

To view a video clip on prayer, with quotes from David A. Bednar, click here.
Day 1: Read Ether 3:1-5; Review Ether 2:19, 23
1. Review Ether 2:19, 23. What two options for lighting the barges had the Lord rejected? What physical and mental preparations had the brother of Jared completed before he came before the Lord in prayer?

2. List elements or steps in the brother of Jared’s petition before the Lord.

3. In what did the brother of Jared have faith?

Day 2: Read Ether 3:6-12; Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 1:16-17
4. How did the Lord answer the Brother of Jared’s prayer? If his prayer was answered according to his expectations, why was he “struck with fear”? See also Ezekiel 1:28 and Revelation 1:16-17.

5. Give examples of how the brother of Jared asked, sought, and knocked as he approached the Lord in prayer.

6. What characteristic of God did Jared’s brother know absolutely? How did this increase his faith?

Day 3: Read Ether 3:13-20; D&C 67:10-13; Alma 32:21, 34
7. Why was the brother of Jared allowed back into the presence of the Lord? Use D&C 67:10-13 to list specific attributes we need in order to be able to “abide in the presence of God.”

8. How did the Lord identify himself to the brother of Jared? In other words, who did he say he is?

9. Did Moroni say Jared’s brother could not be kept from seeing the Lord because of his faith or because of his knowledge? See also Alma 32:21, 34.

Day 4: Read Ether 3:21-28; Ether 4:1; 2 Nephi 27:6-11; D&C 17:1
10. Why do you think the Lord put restrictions on when and how the Jaredite record was to come forth? See also Ether 4:1; 2 Nephi 27:6-11; Mosiah 28:17-19.

11. According to D&C 17:1, what were the “two stones” given to the brother of Jared on the mount? In what ways do they also “shine” or illuminate?

12. List what the Lord caused the brother of Jared to see in vision. Have other prophets shared this vision?

Day 5: Read Ether 4:1-9; Alma 12:9-11; 3 Nephi 26:9-11
13. When was the Jaredite record made available to the descendants of Lehi? Why was Moroni commanded to hide them?

14. From Ether 4:6-7, list three specific things we need to do in order to prepare ourselves to receive the sealed portion of the plates.

15. What is the fate of those who read and reject the Book of Mormon? See also Alma 12:9-11; 3 Nephi 26:9-11.

Day 6: Read Ether 4:10-191 Nephi 14:18-28; 1 Nephi 13:37; Mosiah 2:41; D&C 6:13
16. How can we know the Book of Mormon is true?

17. Who does the Lord invite to “come unto me” in Ether 4:13-14? What is the promise if we do?

18. When will we receive the “great and marvelous things” the Lord wants us to have? What specific part(s) of the Bible will those marvelous writings help us better understand? See also 1 Nephi 14:18-28.

BONUS: Cross-reference Ether 4:19 with 1 Nephi 13:37, Mosiah 2:41 and D&C 6:13. How do we know there is a heaven?

Day 7: Read Ether 5
19. This chapter has been called a “prophetic epistle” from Moroni to Joseph Smith. What two specific instructions did Moroni give Joseph regarding the plates?

20. Why were three witnesses required?

21. How can we be received into the kingdom of God?

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HISTORICAL NOTES AND HELPS FOR 2 NEPHI

NEO-ASSYRIAN TIMELINE – year listed after each king designates beginning of his reign; dates approximate

Tiglath-pileser (Pul – Assyrian general who took power) 746
Conquered Arpad, Hamath 740
Ahaz of Judah allied with Assyria 738
Destroyed Damascus (Rezin) 732
Died 727

Shalmaneser took power 727
Invaded Syria and Samaria 3 years
Hosea allied with Egypt 725
Died 722

Sargon II seized throne 722
Wiped out Samariah 721
Conquered Carchemish 717
Died in battle 705

Sennacherib ascended to throne 705
Received tribute from Jerusalem
Babylon sacked 703
Hezekiah allied with Egypt 701
Lachish conquered
Assyria marched toward Jerusalem, destroying 46 villages in its path
185,000 Assyrians died in one night – survivors returned to Nineveh
See Isaiah 7
In conflict with Babylon opened canals and flooded outside of city
until it became a swamp, inhabitants scattered 689
Murdered by his sons 681

Esarhaddon (his name means “Ashur has given a brother to me”) succeeded his father 681
Ruled and rebuilt Babylon (including “Tower of Babel”) 681
Sacked Sidon 677
Captured Manasseh (King of Judah)
Sacked Egypt 671
Died 669

Assurbanipal (or Asnappar, Osnapper, Ezra 4:10) 669
First king of Assyria who could read and write
Established a library at Nineveh
Supported culture and art, student of mathematics
Died around 631

Ashur-etil-ilani succeeded father around 631
Reigned maybe 3-4 years
Assyria weakened by attacks from neighboring countries
Sin-shumu-lishir reigned about a year
Sinsharishkun 627-612
Ashur-uballit 612-609
Nineveh destroyed 612
Assyria ceased to exist by 609.

HISTORICAL NOTES ON 2 NEPHI 17
The Syro-Ephraimite War of 734 B.C. was one of the great crises in Isaiah’s early ministry. (For historical background, see 2 Kings 16:1-20.) It appears that Pekah, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and Rezin of Damascus, king of Aram (Syria), desired Ahaz, king of Judah, to ally himself with them in order to resist the encroachments of Assyria. The story of what happened is told in 2 Nephi 17:1-9. Ahaz saw only the politics of the situation and preferred to maintain the friendship of Assyria rather than to enter into an alliance with Rezin and Pekah. The text of Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the dismay caused in Jerusalem by the attempt to force Ahaz into the defensive alliance. He determined to resist, and the two confederates planned to overthrow him and to place a certain Syrian, the son of Tabeal, on his throne (17:6). Apparently Jerusalem was to be invaded, and the water supply of the city seems to have caused Ahaz some concern. When the attack threatened, Ahaz determined to ask the help of Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7). At this juncture the Lord bade Isaiah to take his son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the conduit of the upper pool, where Ahaz seems to have been inspecting his water supply (17:3). There the prophet apparently counseled Ahaz against calling in Assyria’s help and assured him that the two insignificant kingdoms of Syria and Israel would shortly be overthrown. The great prophet urged him to have faith in God’s word or he would not succeed (17:9).
It appears Isaiah found Ahaz had little faith in God’s power to save. So the prophet, at the Lord’s behest, offered Ahaz a sign calculated to build up his faith. He could ask for a sign from the depths of Sheol (the realm of departed spirits) or from the heights above, and the Lord would give it to him. The miracle would establish the divine authority of Isaiah, whether he spoke as directed by God or spoke his own thoughts. But Ahaz rejected Isaiah’s offer, doubtless because he did not want to be bound in his actions and because he dreaded the truth (17:10-12). Isaiah, now out of patience with Ahaz, decided to leave him to his fate. So the prophet addressed Ahaz as the representative of the whole royal court. He asked whether it was too little for them to weary or exhaust men’s patience – must they also try the patience of God? (17:13)
Isaiah then told Ahaz the Lord would give him a sign, a sign to be given in spite of his obduracy. The sign is mentioned in 2 Nephi 17:14, with further comment in verses 15 and 16. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has suggested there are plural or parallel elements to this prophecy, as with so much of Isaiah’s writing. He writes, “The most immediate meaning was probably focused on Isaiah’s wife (the “prophetess” in 18:3), a pure and good woman who brought forth a son about this time, the child becoming a type and shadow of the greater, later fulfillment of the prophecy that would be realized in the birth of Jesus Christ” (Christ and the New Covenant, p.79). In 2 Nephi 18 we read that Isaiah’s wife had a baby and the Lord said to name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means “To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey,” or in other words, destruction is about to occur. Ahaz rejected Isaiah’s counsel and instead of God being with them, they experienced destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. Although Jerusalem was spared the fate of Israel, 120,000 men were killed in a day and 200,000 taken captive (see 2 Chronicles 28:6-15). The city of Jerusalem was preserved another 100 years, providing a way for the Jews to return to Jerusalem eventually (a remnant will return) and for Jesus to be born of the Jews in the land prophesied in scripture, thus giving greater fulfillment to the prophecy given to Ahaz by Isaiah.
Isaiah proceeds to make clear that the Lord, the great judge, will bring down his judgments upon the dynasty of David and upon his recreant people. In verses 17 and 19, the prophet describes the disaster that Ahaz brings about as comparable only to that brought about in Jeroboam’s day when the Ten Tribes revolted from the united kingdom (1 Kings 12). The king of Assyria will come (17:17). Indeed, the present text (17:18) in metaphors involving the fly and the bee, indicates that both Egypt and Assyria will be involved in Judah’s difficulties. Like flies and bees the Assyrians and Egyptians will settle down wherever the unfortunate people try to escape from invaders.
Changing his metaphor, Isaiah then compares Assyria to a hired razor (see 2 Kings 16:7-9) by which the land is shaved bare, pillaged, decimated and degraded. Cutting of the beard would be a sign of degradation to the Hebrews (2 Samuel 10:4-5). Also, slaves were shaved for humiliation, sanitation and identification. With the land heavily depopulated, Isaiah sees primitive conditions return; agriculture practically ceases, and the few people who are left eke out a precarious existence with a few animals and the wild honey they manage to find (17:21). The prophet now describes the desolate state of the land itself. Neglected vineyards and untilled land turning to wilderness; where there used to be a large vineyard containing a thousand valuable vines, there will emerge a brier and thorn patch infested with wild beasts. Once-rich hills will only be fit for the pasturage of goats and sheep. These signs also have multiple fulfillments physical and spiritual - whenever the people reject their God.
-Material taken from Book of Mormon Compendium by Sidney B. Sperry and from the Seminary Student Study Guide.

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Ether 3-5

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HISTORICAL NOTES AND HELPS FOR 2 NEPHI

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