Mosiah 8:13

I’m going to divert from 1 Nephi 1 for today’s post simply so I don’t forget something I read yesterday during my personal scripture study that I thought was quite profound. I’m going to write instead about Mosiah 8:13.

I have to admit that I am sometimes a bit dense when it comes to understanding certain gospel topics. I often have to read the same thing over and over again before I begin to comprehend what it is saying. This verse led me on a journey yesterday that was unexpected yet wonderful.

In the Book of Mormon we have record of at least two, and likely three records of the Jaredites that were found by the Nephites. The first one we read about is found in Omni 1:20 where we read about a large stone that had engravings on it. It is here we learn of Coriantumr living with them for “nine moons.” Several centuries later 24 gold plates were found by the people of Limhi (Mosiah 8:9). These are referred to as plates of ore in Mosiah 21:27.

I have never really paid attention to the fact that there were these two different records found and I never really paid attention to how significant they are in the Book of Ether. Yesterday I simply did a Google search on these two records and stumbled across one of the most interesting papers I have read in recent times. The article is titled “A Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates.” The entire article can be found at: http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=11&num=1&id=281

I highly recommend reading the article in its entirety but the author argues a very compelling argument that the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon was written in full by the brother of Jared prior to his death and remained sealed up until at least the time of Nephi (AD 35) and then was inserted, still sealed, in the Book of Mormon by Moroni.

Below is a small portion of the article:

From the time of Nephi (ca. AD 35), there were two copies of the record of the great vision of the brother of Jared: the original, "in a language that . . . cannot be read" (Ether 3:22), and "the interpretation thereof" by Nephi in the Nephite language (Ether 4:5; see vv. 1–2). Moroni possessed both records and added a third copy by writing or copying the words of the vision upon "these plates" (Ether 4:4), that is, the gold plates. He most likely used Nephi's translation as his master copy because he was familiar with that language and not with the language of the brother of Jared. For the same reason, Moroni probably also turned to Mosiah's translation of the book of Ether to make his abridgment.
Moroni does remark on the wondrous power of the sealed account from the brother of Jared and, in comparison, on his own modest ability. Moroni's words offer a sense of the extraordinary character of the sealed record:

Thou [the Lord] hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them. Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words. (Ether 12:24–25)

 The sealed portion of the Book of Mormon contains the entire history of the earth from the beginning to the end. In Moroni’s words it contains:

25 And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth. 26 For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things. Ether 3:25-26

When the world is ready to receive “all things”, the Lord will give us the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. This includes but is not limited to members of the church. As a people, we have much repenting to do.