The Book of Ether
“And
behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great
deep
save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which
have
gone forth, and the floods which shall come…”
“And
it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no
water
that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish… therefore
when
they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord,
and
he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.”
“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.”
The sad scene at the end of the book of Ether is
of a king named Coriantumr.
He had been educated in the "arts of war
and all the cunning of the world".
He refused to repent of his worldly ways, and
so did his people. Secret combinations
were prevalent everywhere, war had been
continual, and many lives were lost.
The prophet Ether was sent to Coriantumr to
warn him that: "if he would repent, and
all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom
and spare the people—
Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household
save it were himself.
And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the
prophecies which had been
spoken concerning another people receiving the land for
their inheritance;
and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every
soul should be
destroyed save it were Coriantumr."
As recorded in Omni 1:21, Coriantumr did, in fact, live to see
another people
(the Nephites & Lamanites).
They received this Promised Land as their inheritance.
Coriantumr's pride and unrepentant attitude, along with his
desire to be a
powerful and worldly king, overshadowed his judgment to honor
the land
and the God who blessed him with it.
What lessons we learn from the book of Ether!!!
