Episode 26: Ether 1-5

Ben and Shiloh start discussing the fascinating story of the Jaredite nation. With so many things going on, this episode is longer than most of the others. The beginning of Ether reads like many historical accounts of ancient nations, as the creation of the earth is mentioned, a need for a formal and unified language is identified, and the divine promise of a land of inheritance are all specifically invoked to justify the creation of the Jaredite nations. Allegorically, there is so much to unpack from these stories, not the least of which is how God manifests himself as a cloud before them in their journey's into a place where no man has ever gone. Initially, our coming unto God is not to see God as he really is, but that the formlessness and shapelessness of God as a cloud represents how we are drawn to and set out by faith to follow a God that we don't fully understand yet. However, as the brother of Jared continues in his journey in understanding the true nature of God through trial and error, the shapelessness of God in a cloud is refined into seeing and experiencing the embodiment of God. In seeing God's finger and the conversation that ensues, we see the Book of Mormon offering, once again, a type of anti-Cain Narrative, as the brother of Jared exemplifies the Beatitude life and unwittingly parts the veil of unbelief. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland wrote, "The brother of Jared seems to have thrust himself through the veil, not as an unwelcome guest but perhaps technically as an uninvited one."