Ether 1–5 — “Rend That Veil of Unbelief”

Come, Follow Me — November 11–17, 2024
Official lesson: “Rend That Veil of Unbelief.” — Ether 1–5. The manual centers the week on compassionate answers to prayer, revelation that honors both divine direction and human agency, chastening that invites repentance, preparation for the “great deep,” and witnesses of the Book of Mormon.¹

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Ether 1–5 begins beside a tower and reaches its climax on a mountain. At Babel, people try to secure a name, prevent scattering, and control access to heaven by a human project. On Mount Shelem, the brother of Jared brings sixteen objects that cannot do what he needs them to do. He does not command heaven; he confesses weakness, testifies of God’s power, and asks Jesus Christ to touch his work. The tower ends in confounding. The stones become light, and the mountain becomes a place of presence.

That contrast gives the chapters their unity. Prayer keeps turning scattering into gathering, correction into renewed movement, a flawed vessel into a school of revelation, ordinary stones into light, and faith into knowledge. The brother of Jared does not begin Ether 1 with perfect knowledge. He learns through asking, acting, forgetting, repenting, building, noticing problems, returning, and asking again. The veil is not rent by one dramatic feeling detached from discipleship; the story shows a long apprenticeship in trusting God.

The most hopeful feature of the narrative may be its sequence: the man chastened in Ether 2 is the man who beholds Christ in Ether 3. His correction is not the cancellation of his prophetic life. It is part of his preparation. followHIM’s Krystal and George Pierce emphasize this line-upon-line growth, while Don’t Miss This calls attention to how inviting it is that one of scripture’s great faith experiences belongs to a person who had also stopped praying and brought only “rocks” to the Lord.²³

What to Watch for While Reading

The record’s chain of custody: Ether, twenty-four plates, Limhi’s people, Mosiah’s translation, Moroni’s abridgment, and the latter-day translator.
The backward genealogy in Ether 1:6–32. Names that seem like an opening list become the framework for the later Jaredite history.
Every form of cry, call, inquire, ask, answer, compassion, and prepare.
The widening circles of prayer: Jared and his brother, their friends and families, then an entire migrating people.
The difference between a proposed desire—“a land which is choice”—and the Lord’s confirmation and covenant.
The cloud: the Lord is genuinely present and directing them even before the brother of Jared can see Him.
The warning not to confuse a favorable stopping place with the promised destination.
Three problems in the barges: air, light, and steering—and three different kinds of divine response.
How often revelation requires the brother of Jared to do something before returning for more.
The prayer in Ether 3:2–5: humility, remembrance, repentance, work, testimony, a specific request, and trust.
The movement from seeing a finger, to seeing Christ, to seeing “all the inhabitants of the earth.”
Moroni’s interruptions in Ether 3–5. He is not merely copying a record; he explains its meaning and addresses its future translator and readers.
The conditions attached to greater revelation in Ether 4: repentance, cleanliness, faith, sanctification, a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and coming to Christ.
The distinction between the Three Witnesses and “this work” itself as a witness in Ether 5:4.

Historical and Literary Context

A record nested inside records

Moroni says he takes the Jaredite account from the twenty-four plates found by the people of Limhi (Ether 1:1–2). Earlier, Mosiah translated those plates by the interpreters, and the people learned of a civilization destroyed after receiving great blessings (Mosiah 8:9–19; 28:11–19). Moroni now gives only “a part” of that record. Ether’s own compilation or record, Mosiah’s translation, and Moroni’s abridgment all stand behind the English Book of Ether.

That layered history matters. When Moroni moves from third-person narrative to “I, Moroni,” he is making editorial decisions in real time. He omits the creation-to-Babel portion because his readers already have it in the Jewish record; he preserves the genealogy; he pauses to warn Gentile readers about the land covenant; he explains the premortal appearance of Christ; he seals part of the vision; and he directly addresses the future translator. Gospel Talktrine usefully stresses this complex record history, though some of its further reconstructions are conjectural.⁴

The BYU Studies Come, Follow Me index gathers resources on the king list, Jaredite chronology, exodus typology, Moroni’s active authorship, the promised-land covenant, and the sealed record. It is a discovery map rather than official curriculum, and its entries vary in evidentiary strength.⁵

The genealogy runs backward so the story can run forward

Ether 1:6–32 moves from Ether backward to Jared. Later chapters narrate the rulers in the opposite direction. The genealogy is therefore not merely a list of difficult names; it is a compressed table of contents for a national history. It also establishes Ether as a descendant of the founding family and connects the civilization’s last prophet to its beginning.

The list should not be forced into a precise chronology the text itself does not provide. Its clear literary work is enough: the end of the people is linked to their beginning, and Moroni shows us the entire dynastic chain before narrating how it succeeds, fractures, repents, and finally collapses.

Babel: a false way to overcome distance

Genesis gives only a brief description of Babel: a city, a tower, a desired name, resistance to scattering, confused language, and dispersal (Genesis 11:1–9). Ether enters the story at the human cost of that collapse. Families and friends face the loss of shared speech, place, and social world.

On followHIM, archaeologists Krystal and George Pierce compare the biblical tower with Mesopotamian ziggurats—large stepped structures associated in ancient texts with divine approach. They argue that the theological problem is not architecture itself but an attempt to localize, manage, or manipulate deity: make God serve the city’s desired name and security. Their comparison is an informed interpretation; Ether does not identify an excavated structure or provide enough data to prove a specific archaeological match.³

The narrative’s answer to Babel is not a better tower. It is a different relationship with God:

Babel’s impulse	The Jaredite apprenticeship
“Let us make us a name”	Cry to the Lord for family and friends
Prevent scattering by human control	Receive gathering and direction as mercy
Secure heaven on human terms	Submit desires to divine confirmation
Build upward without repentance	Climb, confess weakness, and ask Christ to touch the work
Treat divine presence as something to capture	Receive presence as redemption from the Fall

An exodus pattern—with appropriate caution

Thomas Valletta reads the Jaredite journey alongside Noah, Israel, and Lehi: departure from a doomed society, wilderness, divine guidance, passage through water, covenant, and promised land. His typological reading helps explain why cloud, water, vessels, and land recur together. It is Latter-day Saint scholarship and devotional interpretation, not an official declaration that every object has one fixed symbolic meaning.⁶

The cloud especially recalls the Lord leading Israel (Exodus 13:21–22). In Ether 2, the cloud is both concealment and companionship. The brother of Jared does not yet see Christ, but he is not abandoned. Unseen is not the same as absent. The Lord speaks, goes before the people, and gives directions before the veil is removed.

The School of Revelation

The official manual emphasizes an easily missed reversal: we often ask God, “What should I do?” but in Ether 2:23 God asks, “What will ye that I should do?”¹ Revelation in these chapters is not one uniform experience.

Need	Human action	Divine response	Pattern
Language preserved	The brother of Jared cries to the Lord	The Lord has compassion and does not confound them	Direct petition and direct answer
Friends included	He cries again	Compassion widens to friends and families	Intercession
A destination	Jared proposes a “choice” land; his brother inquires	The Lord confirms, expands, and covenants	Desire submitted for divine counsel
Air in the barges	He identifies the lethal problem	The Lord gives exact instructions	Specific direction
Light	He asks whether they must cross in darkness	The Lord defines constraints and asks for a proposal	Agency activated
Steering	He notices the problem, but no rudder plan is given	The Lord promises to bring them up and directs wind and sea	Divine responsibility and trust
The stones	He studies, labors, climbs, testifies, and asks	Christ touches each stone	Human work made sufficient by divine power
Greater vision	He answers truthfully, then asks, “show thyself”	Christ reveals Himself and then “all things”	Faith receives and asks for more

followHIM summarizes the barge episode as three broad kinds of answer: exact instruction, activated agency, and “I will take care of it.” The speakers properly caution that real revelation does not always fit neat categories, but the framework can keep us from assuming that only detailed instructions count as an answer.³

Don’t Miss This adds another important distinction: prayer is not merely a transaction for a preferred result. It is a relationship in which a disciple can state the deepest desire and still trust God if the answer differs. The episode explicitly acknowledges both miraculous healing and prayers whose hoped-for mortal outcome did not occur.²

A practical pattern for personal revelation

Name the actual problem. “There is no light”; “we cannot breathe”; “whither shall we steer?” Vague unease becomes a truthful question.
Remember prior instructions. The barges are built “according to the instructions of the Lord.” Revelation builds on revelation.
Act on what is already clear. The brother of Jared cuts the air holes before returning about light.
Accept constraints. No windows; no fire. A faithful solution works within reality rather than denying it.
Study and create. He does not wait passively. He prepares sixteen stones.
Bring the work back to God. Agency is not independence from God; it is accountable participation with Him.
Ask specifically. “Touch these stones.”
Testify inside the prayer. “I know … thou hast all power.”
Notice answers that exceed the original question. He asks for light and receives a revelation of the Light of the World.
Treasure and obey what is received. The vision brings commands to write, seal, preserve, and wait.

This pattern belongs beside Prayer and the Restoration instruction to “study it out” before seeking confirmation (Doctrine and Covenants 9:7–9).

Four Years on the Beach

Ether 2:7 says the Lord “would not suffer that they should stop” before reaching the land of promise. Ether 2:13 then says they remain at the seashore for four years. The place may have been a necessary staging ground; it becomes spiritually dangerous when a stopover is mistaken for the destination.

The text says the brother of Jared “remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.” It does not tell us whether every form of prayer ceased or whether covenant-seeking communion became neglected. We should not add details the record withholds. The narrative does make the consequence plain: movement stalls, the Lord initiates a long conversation, the prophet repents, and the relationship resumes.

followHIM calls chastening evidence that God still cares enough to pursue and bring His child home. Gospel Talktrine contrasts crying to the Lord with trying to live without or ignore Him. Both are devotional readings, but they fit the textual sequence: correction is followed immediately by repentance, forgiveness, warning, instruction, and work.³⁴

A useful examination is not merely, “Do I say prayers?” but:

Have I stopped asking where the Lord is leading?
Has a comfortable intermediate success become my final horizon?
Do I seek God only in crisis and disappear from the relationship during ordinary life?
When corrected, do I defend the campsite or resume the journey?

The Great Deep: Prepared, Not Spared

The Lord does not promise a voyage without “mountain waves.” He says, “I prepare you against these things” and “I will bring you up again out of the depths” (Ether 2:24–25). Preparation is not proof that no storm will come. The watertight vessel, air system, light, provisions, and divine direction exist because the deep will be real.

This corrects two opposite errors:

Presumption: “If God called me, the crossing should be easy.”
Despair: “If the crossing is hard, God must not have called or prepared me.”

The barges are not comfortable cruise ships. They are survival vessels designed for a covenant crossing. The Jaredite boat image becomes spiritually useful when it preserves both truths: the waves are dangerous, and Christ’s preparation is more durable than the waves.

The three unanswered-looking problems

The steering question appears to receive no mechanical solution. That silence is itself instructive. Not every responsibility belongs to the same person. The Jaredites must build, seal, provision, ventilate, and carry light. The Lord governs winds and destination. Mature trust asks both, “What is mine to do?” and “What must I stop trying to control?”

Sixteen Stones: Bring What Cannot Yet Shine

The brother of Jared does not ask the Lord to invent a solution while he remains at the shore. He climbs “an exceeding high” mountain carrying sixteen stones that he has molten until they are “white and clear, even as transparent glass” (Ether 3:1). His work is real and still insufficient. The stones have the right form but not the power to illuminate.

That is why Ben’s existing illustration is memorable: “He worked really hard but all he came up with was rocks.” God does not mock the rocks. Christ touches them and makes them enough. The faithful offering is neither self-sufficiency nor passivity: “Here is what I could make. Please supply what I cannot.” See Brother of Jared Rocks.

Don’t Miss This notices that Christ touches the stones “one by one,” a devotional image of individual care and line-upon-line work. Unshaken emphasizes that the brother of Jared has made the stones as suitable as he can before asking for divine light. Neither reading should be pressed into a technical claim about how the miracle occurred; both illuminate the partnership visible in the text.⁷²

followHIM notes a Jewish interpretive tradition around the unusual Hebrew word tsohar in Genesis 6:16, rendered “window” in the King James Version; some later interpreters associated it with a luminous stone in Noah’s ark. This may help explain why a reader could connect Noah, vessels, and shining stones, but it is a later tradition—not proof of the historical source of the brother of Jared’s idea.³

Mount Shelem: From Faith to Presence

The brother of Jared’s prayer in Ether 3:2–5 is worth reading slowly. It contains no claim that human work deserves a miracle.

“We know that thou art holy … and that we are unworthy before thee … nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee.”

“Nevertheless” is the hinge. Awareness of the Fall and weakness does not drive him away from God; God’s command to call brings him near. Humility is not the belief that prayer is forbidden to imperfect people. It is the truthful confidence that imperfect people approach because God invited them.

His next statements hold divine power and divine goodness together:

“Thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man.”

A powerful God without goodness would be terrifying. A benevolent God without power could only sympathize. The brother of Jared trusts both: Christ can act, and His action seeks human good.

“Sawest thou more than this?”

After the finger appears, Christ asks questions whose answers He already knows: Why have you fallen? Did you see more? Will you believe the words I shall speak? Do you see that humanity is created in my image? followHIM interprets these as teaching questions that help the disciple recognize what he knows and choose to receive more. Unshaken similarly hears “Sawest thou more?” as invitation rather than mere information gathering.⁷³

The brother of Jared’s reply is bold and simple: “Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.” He does not pretend he saw more than he did, and he does not treat what he saw as the limit of what Christ can reveal. Honest reporting and holy desire belong together.

What Christ reveals about Himself

Ether 3:13–16 is one of the Book of Mormon’s clearest premortal Christ passages:

He was “prepared from the foundation of the world” to redeem His people.
He identifies Himself as Jesus Christ.
In Him believers receive eternal life and become His sons and daughters.
Humanity was created after His image.
The form seen is “the body of my spirit.”
He will later appear in flesh in the same embodied likeness.

When Christ says, “I am the Father and the Son,” the Book of Mormon elsewhere uses similar language for His roles: He is the Son in His mortal and divine sonship, and “Father” in creation, covenant rebirth, and divine investiture (see Mosiah 15:1–5). The verse should not be flattened into the claim that the Father and the Son are the same person; the Book of Mormon also repeatedly distinguishes Them.

Moroni’s comment in verses 17–20 safeguards the scene: this is Jesus appearing in the spirit before His mortal birth, in the same likeness in which He later appears resurrected to the Nephites. The veil language marks a transition from faith to knowledge: “he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.” This does not demean faith. It describes faith accomplishing its revelatory purpose concerning the truth now seen.

“Never have I showed myself”

Scripture records divine manifestations before the era assigned to the Jaredites, so Ether 3:15 should not be isolated into a contradiction. Moroni immediately emphasizes the manner and completeness of this manifestation: the brother of Jared could not be kept from Christ’s presence because of his knowledge. Latter-day Saint interpreters commonly read the statement as “never in this manner” or never through such faith on the beholder’s initiative. That remains interpretation; the safest conclusion is the text’s own: this manifestation was exceptional in faith, scope, and unveiled knowledge.³

The Sealed Vision and the Veil of Unbelief

The brother of Jared sees the inhabitants of the earth from beginning to end, writes the vision, seals it with interpreters, and waits on God’s timing. Ether 4 then distinguishes several stages:

The vision is withheld until Christ’s mortal manifestation.
It is made known to Christ’s covenant people after His ministry among them.
It is hidden again when that people dwindles in unbelief.
Moroni records and seals it for a future day.
Greater manifestation is promised when Gentile readers repent, become clean, exercise faith, and are sanctified in Christ.

The seal is therefore not divine teasing. It is stewardship. Revelation carries moral weight, and more information does not automatically create more conversion. Ether 4 connects reception to what readers do with the light already given.

The lesson title comes from Ether 4:15:

“When ye shall rend that veil of unbelief … when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant.”

The veil here is not mere lack of data. Moroni names wickedness, hardness of heart, blindness of mind, and failure to call upon God. Its opposite is not intellectual bravado but repentance, a broken heart, a contrite spirit, covenant remembrance, and Christ-centered prayer.

Ether 4:11–12 also supplies a test of spiritual influence: Christ’s Spirit persuades people to do good, and “whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me.” This does not mean every pleasant impulse is revelation; it gives a moral orientation for discernment. See Ether 4:11 — the Spirit persuades to do good.

Ether 5: Witnesses, Work, and Word

Ether 5 abruptly addresses the latter-day translator: do not translate the sealed material yet; witnesses will be permitted to see the plates. Moroni’s words reach across centuries into the translation room.

The chapter does not say only that three people will testify. It names a layered witness:

three witnesses see by the power of God;
their testimony establishes the matter;
“this work” shows forth God’s power and word;
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost bear record;
repentance and coming to the Father remain the desired response.

Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris became the Three Witnesses named in the Book of Mormon’s introductory pages and Doctrine and Covenants 17. Their later conflicts with Joseph Smith did not lead them to retract their published testimony. followHIM treats that persistence as historically significant while wisely returning attention from the artifact alone to the converting power of the book’s words.³

A courtroom needs witnesses, but a disciple must still hear the testimony. Ether 5 does not invite us merely to admire nineteenth-century evidence. It asks whether the work itself has shown us “the power of God and also his word.” This connects back to the Book of Mormon’s introductory pages.

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

Ether 1:1–5 — Moroni Gives a Part of the Account

“I give not the full account, but a part of the account I give.”

Moroni identifies both source and limits. He is not claiming to reproduce all twenty-four plates. He omits the creation-to-Babel material because readers have it among the Jews, then begins where the Jaredite line diverges. This is editorial stewardship, not carelessness.

Restoration parallel: The Book of Mormon repeatedly announces abridgment, selection, and sealed material. Inspired scripture can be true without being exhaustive.

Come, Follow Me connection: Ask what the editor wants this “part” to teach. Moroni selects a cautionary national history and a towering revelation of Christ for latter-day readers.

Ether 1:6–32 — Ether’s Genealogy

“He that wrote this record was Ether, and he was a descendant of Coriantor.”

The list runs from the last prophet backward to Jared. Later history runs forward through many of the same names. The genealogy links witness, dynasty, and destruction and establishes Ether’s place within the people whose end he records.⁵

Come, Follow Me connection: When a scripture list feels inert, look for its structural job before skipping it. Here the list is the spine of the history to come.

Ether 1:33–37 — Compassion Preserves Relationship

“The Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also.”

The first petition protects communication between brothers; the second widens to friends and families. Compassion does not isolate a favored prophet. It preserves a community that can journey together.

Come, Follow Me connection: Intercessory prayer asks not only, “Keep me from confusion,” but “Remember the people whose lives are bound to mine.”

Ether 1:38–43 — A Desire Becomes a Calling

“Who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth?”

Jared voices a desire rather than quoting a prior revelation. His brother takes it to the Lord. God confirms the destination, enlarges the group, gives gathering instructions, promises His presence, and attaches covenant responsibility. The manual uses this scene to show that God invites thought and initiative rather than requiring blank passivity.¹

Come, Follow Me connection: Bring righteous desires to God as proposals, not demands. Confirmation may preserve the desire while changing its scale, timing, and obligations.

Ether 2:1–6 — Gather, Carry, Follow

“The Lord did go before them … and gave directions whither they should travel.”

The people gather families, flocks, birds, fish, bees, and seeds. Revelation does not replace logistics. Divine direction and careful provisioning operate together. The cloud recalls exodus guidance; crossing “many waters” previews the greater sea ahead.⁶

Come, Follow Me connection: Spiritual preparation often looks like ordinary inventory, packing, building, and following the next direction.

Ether 2:7–12 — The Land Covenant Names Christ

“Serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.”

Moroni interrupts the travel narrative to address Gentile readers. The promise is moral and Christ-centered, not an unconditional guarantee of national superiority. “Swept off” comes at a fulness of iniquity, and the warning is given so readers may repent before that point.

Come, Follow Me connection: Covenant privilege increases accountability. The faithful response is repentance and service to Christ, not triumphalism about geography.

Ether 2:13–15 — Stopped, Chastened, Forgiven

“The brother of Jared repented … And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee.”

Four years of stopping are followed by three hours of divine correction. The text moves rapidly from rebuke to repentance and forgiveness. The Lord warns that His Spirit will not always strive with persistent ripeness in sin, then resumes preparation for inheritance.

Come, Follow Me connection: Correction can be evidence that the journey is not over. Repentance means resuming covenant relationship and action, not remaining fascinated with the failure.

Ether 2:16–18 — Obedience Reveals New Questions

“I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me.”

The barges are built according to instruction—and that obedience exposes serious design questions. Doing what God said does not mean the disciple now understands every consequence or possesses every later answer.

Come, Follow Me connection: “I obeyed, and now I see a problem” can be the beginning of the next revelation rather than proof that the first was false.

Ether 2:19–21 — Air: Exact Instruction

“When thou shalt suffer for air, thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air.”

The brother of Jared names three needs; the Lord gives a concrete answer to the life-critical air problem, and the people implement it. The sequence is simple: identify, ask, receive, act.

Come, Follow Me connection: When direction is clear, continuing to ask instead of acting can become avoidance. Cut the hole.

Ether 2:22–25 — Light and Steering: Agency and Trust

“What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?”

The Lord removes unsafe options—windows and fire—then returns the light problem. Steering is met not with a rudder plan but a promise: “I will bring you up again.” The disciple must create within divine constraints and trust beyond personal control.

Come, Follow Me connection: Sort the problem into what God has told you, what He asks you to propose, and what He asks you to entrust to Him.

Ether 3:1–5 — The Prayer over the Stones

“Behold these things which I have molten out of the rock.”

The brother of Jared brings prepared material, confesses weakness, remembers mercy, states a precise need, and bears testimony of divine power. “Thou canst do this” is not a pep talk for God; it is the disciple declaring what he has come to know.⁷

Come, Follow Me connection: Bring your rocks. Do not confuse an unfinished offering with a worthless one, and do not confuse sincere effort with power only Christ can give.

Ether 3:6–9 — The Finger and the Fear

“The veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared.”

Christ touches the stones one by one. The brother of Jared sees a finger “like unto flesh and blood” and falls because he did not know the Lord’s form. Christ’s first response is a question that invites him to name his fear and revise his understanding.

Come, Follow Me connection: Revelation can answer the request and unsettle the assumptions beneath it. Awe is not failure; it can become the doorway to clearer knowledge.

Ether 3:10–13 — “Show Thyself unto Me”

“Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.”

The brother of Jared reports that he saw no more, then asks for more. Christ asks whether he will believe words not yet spoken. Trust in God’s character becomes readiness for greater revelation.

“Redeemed from the fall” and “brought back into my presence” interpret the vision as more than spectacle. Presence is redemptive and relational.

Come, Follow Me connection: After receiving an answer, ask reverently whether there is more—and be prepared for the new truth to require a new life.

Ether 3:14–16 — The Premortal Redeemer

“Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people.”

Jesus identifies His premortal mission, embodied spirit form, future incarnation, and power to create covenant sons and daughters. His appearance teaches both Christology and anthropology: human embodiment reflects divine design and belongs within the plan of redemption.

Restoration parallel: John 1:12 speaks of power to become children of God; Mosiah 5:7 describes covenant rebirth as becoming the children of Christ.

Come, Follow Me connection: The One who lights the stones is not an anonymous force. He is the premortal Jesus Christ who prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem.

Ether 3:17–20 — Moroni Clarifies the Veil

“He had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.”

Moroni pauses to identify the person seen as Jesus and to compare His premortal form with His later resurrected appearance to the Nephites. Faith reaches a specific perfect knowledge through encounter. This does not mean the brother of Jared now knows everything or no longer needs discipleship.

Come, Follow Me connection: Seek faith that is willing to become knowledge where God reveals—and humility that remains teachable afterward.

Ether 3:21–28 — Write, Seal, and Preserve

“Thou shalt treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard.”

Revelation creates stewardship. The brother of Jared must write in a confounded language, seal the record, preserve interpreters, and wait for divine timing. He is shown all inhabitants of the earth, but he is not authorized to distribute everything immediately.

Come, Follow Me connection: A sacred experience may require recording and obedience before sharing. “Treasure” is not the same as broadcast.

Ether 4:1–5 — The Record Is Manifested and Hidden Again

“There never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.”

The vision is withheld until Christ’s mortal ministry, manifested after His appearance to the Nephites, then hidden again after unbelief. Moroni writes and seals both record and interpreters.

Restoration parallel: Isaiah 29 and 2 Nephi 27 use sealed-book imagery in connection with the latter-day record.

Come, Follow Me connection: Availability of revelation and readiness to receive it are not identical. God preserves light across periods of rejection.

Ether 4:6–10 — Greater Things and Moral Readiness

“In that day that they shall exercise faith in me … then will I manifest unto them.”

Repentance, cleanliness, faith like the brother of Jared’s, and sanctification precede the promise of greater manifestation. Contention against God’s word closes rather than opens the channel.

Come, Follow Me connection: Before asking why more has not been revealed, ask what the existing revelation calls you to repent of, believe, and become.

Ether 4:11–12 — The Spirit Persuades to Good

“Whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me.”

Christ offers a Spirit-given knowledge of truth and a moral test: His influence leads toward good because He is “the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.” The test invites patient discernment of direction, fruit, and fidelity to Christ—not impulsive labeling of every preference.

Come, Follow Me connection: Inventory influential voices. Which make honesty, charity, repentance, covenant keeping, and Christlike action more likely?

Ether 4:13–16 — Rend the Veil

“Come unto me … and I will show unto you the greater things.”

The invitation is addressed both to Gentiles and to the house of Israel. The veil is associated with unbelief, hardness, blindness, and unrepented sin; it is rent through coming to Christ, calling on the Father in Christ’s name, and offering a broken heart and contrite spirit.

Come, Follow Me connection: Choose one concrete act that makes the heart softer and the mind more willing to receive correction.

Ether 4:17–19 — Receive, Repent, Believe, Be Baptized

“Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel.”

Moroni does not let fascination with the sealed vision eclipse the revealed gospel. The proper response to the record is repentance, coming to Christ, belief, baptism, faithful endurance, and salvation.

Come, Follow Me connection: Greater mysteries never replace the first principles and ordinances of the gospel; they deepen commitment to them.

Ether 5:1–2 — Moroni Speaks to the Translator

“Touch them not in order that ye may translate.”

The text’s future audience suddenly becomes singular and immediate. The translator receives a boundary concerning the sealed material and a promise that others may assist in bringing forth the work.

Come, Follow Me connection: Divine authorization includes limits. Faithful translation means honoring what is not yet authorized as well as completing what is.

Ether 5:3–4 — Three Witnesses and the Work

“In the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established.”

The Three Witnesses know by divine manifestation, but Moroni also names “this work” and the Godhead’s record. The witnesses do not replace personal spiritual engagement with the Book of Mormon; they establish a public testimony alongside it.

Restoration parallel: Doctrine and Covenants 17:1–6 identifies the promised witnesses and their responsibility.

Come, Follow Me connection: Ask not only whether others saw the plates but what power and word you encounter in the record.

Ether 5:5–6 — Witness Aims at Repentance and Judgment

“If it so be that they repent and come unto the Father in the name of Jesus, they shall be received.”

Moroni’s purpose is pastoral and eschatological. Evidence is not the endpoint. He wants witnesses and readers to repent, come to the Father through Christ, and be prepared to meet Moroni before God at the last day.

Come, Follow Me connection: A testimony becomes saving as it turns the witness toward Christ and covenant faithfulness.

Teaching Illustrations

1. The tower and the mountain

Draw a tower on one side and Mount Shelem on the other.

At the tower: “make us a name,” avoid scattering, secure heaven by control.
On the mountain: confess weakness, carry prepared stones, ask Christ to touch them, receive a new understanding of His name and nature.

Ask: What is the difference between trying to make God fit my project and bringing my project to God for light?

2. Air, light, and steering

Give learners three cards: Air, Light, Steering. Have them identify the Lord’s response to each:

exact instruction;
invitation to propose and act;
promise that God will carry what humans cannot steer.

Then let each person privately sort one present concern: What instruction is already clear? Where should I create and seek confirmation? What outcome must I entrust to God?

3. The rocks that cannot shine

Place ordinary stones on a table. The point is not that effort magically earns miracles. It is that discipleship brings honest work to Christ without pretending the work is sufficient by itself.

Prompt: What have I prepared that still needs the Lord’s touch—an apology, lesson, relationship, decision, habit, act of service, or attempt to repent?

4. A stopover is not the destination

Imagine receiving directions to a distant home, then settling permanently at a comfortable rest area because it has food, shelter, and a good view. The stop is not evil; forgetting the destination is the problem.

Ask: Where has comfort muted the question, “Lord, where would Thou have me go next?”

5. Witnesses in a courtroom

Assign four witness stations: the Three Witnesses, the physical plates, the words/work of the book, and the Holy Ghost. Discuss what each can and cannot establish. A physical artifact can answer one kind of question; conversion to Christ requires hearing and living the word.

Covenant Applications

Pray beyond crisis. Let ordinary days include real inquiry, gratitude, repentance, and listening.
Intercede in widening circles. Pray for family, friends, and the communities whose confusion affects them.
Submit desires without erasing them. Tell God what you hope for, then listen for confirmation, redirection, timing, and obligation.
Resume after correction. The brother of Jared’s story refuses the idea that a serious lapse makes future revelation impossible.
Build what has been commanded. Do not demand light for a barge you refuse to build.
Bring a proposal. Agency can be one form of reverence for the capacities God has given.
Accept constraints. Some faithful options are still unsafe; revelation may begin with “not windows, not fire.”
Trust divine steering. Work fully in your stewardship without pretending every wind and outcome belongs to you.
Ask Christ to touch the offering. Grace does not despise effort; it transforms what effort cannot complete.
Treat revelation as stewardship. Record, treasure, obey, and share within wise and authorized bounds.
Receive the revealed gospel. Do not let fascination with sealed mysteries distract from repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring faithfulness.

Questions for Personal Study or Discussion

Why does Moroni begin the Jaredite narrative with its destruction and genealogy?
What do the three prayers in Ether 1:34–43 teach about compassion and intercession?
How does Jared’s proposed “choice land” complicate the idea that revelation always begins as an unsolicited command?
What is the difference between bringing God a desire and trying to control God?
Why might the cloud be an important stage before the unveiled vision?
What “beach” or temporary success could tempt a disciple to stop seeking direction?
How does repentance in Ether 2:15 prepare for the work and revelation that follow?
Which current challenge most resembles the air, light, or steering problem?
What has the Lord already instructed you to do that now requires action rather than another request?
What are your “sixteen stones”—work you can honestly bring but cannot make shine alone?
What does the brother of Jared’s prayer teach about the difference between humility and hopelessness?
Why does Christ ask questions when He knows the answers?
What does Ether 3 reveal about the premortal Jesus Christ and the purpose of human embodiment?
In what sense does faith become knowledge in Ether 3:19 without ending the need for continued discipleship?
What responsibilities accompany receiving revelation?
How do Ether 4:6–15 and the official manual define the “spiritual work” of rending unbelief?
How can Ether 4:11–12 guide discernment without turning every agreeable impulse into revelation?
Why might God use both limited mortal witnesses and the internal spiritual power of the record?
What is one concrete action this week that would soften the heart, clarify the mind, or reopen prayer?
How do these chapters turn a story about boats and stones into a witness of Jesus Christ?

Gospel Library Scripture Links

Assigned reading

Key passages in the unit

Key parallels

Annotated Source Guide

Official Come, Follow Me manual: Establishes the exact title and authorized emphases: compassionate prayer, personal revelation, chastening and repentance, preparation for the great deep, moral discernment, embodiment in God’s image, and witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Official Church curriculum.¹
BYU Studies Come, Follow Me index: Supplies the lesson-specific research map: Jaredite kings, exodus pattern, Moroni’s editorial role, promised-land covenant, visions, sealed record, and witnesses. Curated scholarly index, not official curriculum.⁵
Thomas R. Valletta, “Jared and His Brother”: Develops the Noah–Israel–Lehi–Jaredite exodus comparison, cloud and water motifs, agency in the light problem, Mount Shelem as sacred-space typology, and return to divine presence. Latter-day Saint scholarship and devotional interpretation.⁶
Unshaken with Jared Halverson: Contributes the contrast between Mormon’s and Moroni’s audiences, sustained attention to prayer, the air/light/steering framework, the effort embodied in preparing the stones, and “Sawest thou more?” as invitation. Devotional interpretation.⁷
Don’t Miss This with Emily Belle Freeman and David Butler: Contributes prayer as relationship rather than guaranteed result, the danger of comfort at the beach, revelation requiring response, Christ touching stones one by one, and the hopeful accessibility of the brother of Jared’s growth. Devotional teaching commentary.²
followHIM with Krystal V. L. Pierce and George A. Pierce: Contributes archaeology-informed ziggurat context, the contrast between manipulating God and trusting His nature, chastening as continued care, problem-solving as spiritual growth, the tsohar tradition labeled as tradition, progression into Christ’s presence, and the witness discussion. Retained 2024 PDF and local searchable extraction.³
Gospel Talktrine with Mark Holt: Contributes the complex record-history overview and the literary contrast between crying to the Lord and attempting to ignore Him. Its reconstructions about ancient institutions and some record details are more speculative, so this guide uses only observations anchored in the text. Devotional interpretation.⁴