Journey to the Valley
Jared and his brother gathered their families and their friends' families. They headed north into the valley of Nimrod—named after the mighty hunter. They brought their flocks with them: every kind of animal, male and female.
They set traps for birds. They prepared containers to carry fish. And they brought deseret—which means honey bee—carrying whole swarms of bees with them. They also brought seeds of every kind that grew in that land.
The Lord Leads Them
When they reached the valley of Nimrod, the Lord came down and spoke with the brother of Jared. He appeared in a cloud, so the brother of Jared couldn’t see him.
The Lord told them to go into the wilderness, into territory where no one had ever been. The Lord went ahead of them, speaking from a cloud and giving them directions.
They traveled through the wilderness and built barges to cross many waters. The Lord guided them every step of the way.
The Promised Land
The Lord wouldn’t let them settle in the wilderness beyond the sea. He wanted them to reach the promised land—a land better than any other, a land he had kept for righteous people. And he made this vow to the brother of Jared: whoever possesses this promised land from now on must serve him, the one true God. If they don’t, they’ll be swept away when his anger reaches its peak.
Now we can see God’s decree about this land: it’s a promised land. Whatever nation lives here must serve God, or they’ll be swept away when his anger overflows. And his anger overflows when they’re fully ripe in wickedness. This is a land better than any other. Whoever possesses it must serve God or be swept away. That’s God’s everlasting decree. But people aren’t swept off until wickedness has completely taken over.
I’m telling you this so you can understand God’s decree. Turn back from your sins now. Don’t keep going until wickedness is complete, or you’ll bring God’s full anger down on you—just like those who lived here before.
This is a special land. Whatever nation possesses it will be free from slavery, free from captivity, free from all other nations—if they’ll serve the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. We know this from what’s been written.
By the Great Sea
Now back to my story: The Lord brought Jared and his brother all the way to the great sea that divides the lands. When they reached the shore, they set up their tents and called the place Moriancumer. They camped there by the sea for four years.
After four years, the Lord came again to the brother of Jared. He stood in a cloud and spoke with him. For three hours the Lord talked with him, correcting him because he had forgotten to pray.
The brother of Jared was sorry for what he’d done wrong. He prayed for his brothers who were with him. The Lord said to him, 'I’ll forgive you and your brothers for your sins. But don’t sin anymore. Remember, my Spirit won’t keep working with people forever. If you keep sinning until you’re fully ripe in it, you’ll be cut off from me. That’s how I feel about the land I’m giving you as your inheritance. It’s a land better than any other.'
Building the Barges
The Lord said, 'Get to work and build barges like the ones you’ve built before.' So the brother of Jared and his brothers got to work. They built barges following the Lord’s instructions. The boats were small and floated lightly on the water, like birds.
They were built to be completely watertight, like a bowl. The bottom was sealed like a bowl. The sides were sealed like a bowl. The ends came to points. The top was sealed like a bowl. They were as long as a tree. And the door, when shut, was sealed like a bowl.
The brother of Jared called out to the Lord: 'Lord, I’ve done the work you commanded me. I’ve made the barges just as you directed.' 'But Lord, there’s no light in them. How will we steer? And we’ll die because we can’t breathe except for the air that’s already trapped inside. We’ll suffocate.'
The Lord said to the brother of Jared, 'Make a hole in the top and another in the bottom. When you need air, open the hole and let air in. If water comes in, plug the hole so you won’t drown in the flood.'
The brother of Jared did exactly as the Lord commanded.
The Problem of Light
Then he called out to the Lord again: 'Lord, I’ve done everything you commanded. I’ve prepared the boats for my people. But there’s no light in them. Lord, do you really want us to cross this huge ocean in darkness?'
The Lord said to the brother of Jared, 'What do you want me to do so you can have light in your boats? You can’t have windows—they’ll shatter. And you can’t take fire with you. You won’t be traveling by firelight.' 'You’ll be like a whale in the middle of the sea. Mountain-high waves will crash down on you. But I’ll bring you up from the depths of the sea. I’m the one who sends the winds and the rains and the floods.' 'I’m preparing you for these things. You can’t cross this great deep unless I prepare you to face the waves and the winds and the floods. So what do you want me to prepare for you, so you’ll have light when you’re swallowed up in the depths of the sea?'
Influences
- 2:3 — Acts 9:36 (KJV)Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
- 2:7 — Mark 11:16 (KJV)And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
- 2:7 — Hebrews 11:9 (KJV)By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
- 2:9 — Galatians 4:4 (KJV)But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
- 2:9 — 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
- 2:11 — Acts 17:7 (KJV)Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
- 2:11 — Revelation 16:1 (KJV)And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
- 2:12 — 1 Corinthians 3:11 (KJV)For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
- 2:13 — Acts 19:8 (KJV)And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
- 2:15 — Luke 1:77 (KJV)To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
- 2:25 — 1 Corinthians 15:54 (KJV)So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Notes
- 2:17
Ether 2:17 is a good example of the circular repetition that pervades the Book of Mormon.
"and they were built after a manner that they were exceeding tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.
As mentioned above, this repetitive writing style is found to be consistent across each author of the Book of Mormon.
Mormon critic M.T. Lamb made the rather axiomatic comment, "The prevailing style of the Book of Mormon is so verbose, so full of inelegant and uncalled-for repetitions, that any ordinary writer can greatly excel it-often reducing its wordy sentences to one-half, and one-third, and even one-fourth their present compass without any sacrifice of thought or force or beauty..." -M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible; or The Book of Mormon, Is It From God? (New York: Ward and Drummand, 1887), p. 27.
The verbose, lengthy, and repetitive style of the Book of Mormon casts doubt on the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. As Jerald and Sandra note, "Considering the effort needed to make the original gold plates of the Book of Mormon and then to engrave them, one would expect a scribe to be as concise as possible, not wordy. Nephi's brother, Jacob complained: 'I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates' (Jacob 4:1). However, lengthy sentences abound in the Book of Mormon." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 231.
B.H. Roberts, president of the LDS First Quorum of the Seventy and assistant church historian made these candid remarks, "... I shall hold that what is here presented [concerning various accounts of Anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon] illustrates sufficiently the matter taken in hand by referring to them, namely that they are all of one breed and brand; so nearly alike that one mind is the author of them, and that a young and undeveloped, but piously inclined mind. The evidence I sorrowfully submit, points to Joseph Smith as their creator. It is difficult to believe that they are the product of history..." -B.H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, ed. Brigham H. Madsen (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992), p. 264.
Other examples include: 2 Nephi 3:4-21, 3 Nephi 16:8-15, and Alma 5:6
- 2:23
This account is claimed to originate around the time of the Tower of Babel (approximately 2500 B.C.). However, the earliest known glass windows were not developed until the first century B.C. by the Romans. This discrepancy suggests the presence of an anachronism. As a result, it raises serious questions about whether the Book of Mormon was composed during the time period it claims to represent.