Ether Chapter 3

3:9 - "...And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger..."
Because of his great faith, the brother of Jared saw the Lord.  It requires great faith, and an understanding that the Lord speaks truth and cannot lie.  We must believe in Him, yes, but we must also believe Him.


3:13 - "...And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you..."
This is another huge blessing that comes through faith - to be redeemed from the Fall!  That can happen either in this life or after, but it will be a huge blessing that requires us to develop our faith in Him.


3:19-20 - "...and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting..."
The brother of Jared had faith no longer, but a sure knowledge.  Because of this, his testimony is sure.  He has a solid rock to base his testimony, which, consequently, we can draw off of.  I also know that Jesus is the Christ - not only because other people have seen Him, and not only because I have had a witness from the Holy Ghost that He is real, but also because I have had a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that these men of God have seen and spoken with the Lord.


3:22-24 - "...And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them in a language that they cannot be read. And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write..."
The Jaredites were still speaking and writing the language they were using from before the Tower of Babel.  King Mosiah and his people spoke a different language, so he needed the seer stones to help translate those records so the Nephites could have them, and so we could have them today.  It is a huge blessing to have prophets and the words that they deliver to us from the Lord.