Episode 28: Ether 12 – 15
Ben and Shiloh conclude talking about the Jaredite nation, as they spend time discussing several topics concerning faith, belief, charity, and reconciliation. Moroni, who is abridging the Jaredite text, laments that he was not powerful in writing like unto the brother of Jared, and he worries that the Gentiles (i.e., us) will not receive or believe his record because of his weakness in writing. Moroni’s interpretation of the Lord’s words on charity worry him that the Gentiles will not have sufficient charity. The Lord’s response to both of Moroni’s concerns demonstrate the kindness, love, and compassion that the Lord has with all of his children. The Lord reproves Moroni in such a way that lifts not only Moroni’s burden but the burden of the modern-day Gentiles. Fools may mock, yes, until they empty and enter into the Divine existential conversation of the Beatitudes where they will be comforted and inherit the earth. We often read of and see God’s “wrath” in terms of our natural man’s perception of physical destruction, yet we see throughout the Jaredite narrative the same merciful and self-sacrificial God revealing himself as he did to the Jews and the Nephites. It is the natural man’s willful perception to see an angry, violent, and vengeful God, yet Jesus Christ continues to reveal himself as the advocate with the Father, the Healer, and Divine archetype of He who mourns with those that mourn.
