Ether 13

(All of my own thoughts are in blue 2020 red type 7/20 orange 8/21 brown 2022-23)

ETHER 13

Ether speaks of a New Jerusalem to be built in America by the seed of Joseph—He prophesies, is cast out, writes the Jaredite history, and foretells the destruction of the Jaredites—War rages over all the land.

  1 And now I, Moroni, proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of whom I have been writing. This record was preserved so that we may learn how NOT to be destroyed.
  2 For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; Rejecting the words of the prophet and not remembering your history leads to destruction! Was this an "Adam, Noah, bible story-telling or a brother of Jared telling? It seems to me, that rejecting the latter would bring destruction. Makes me think we will get that before the wicked are destroyed at or before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Do we get the sealed portion before the final destruction of the wicked? Is that what they reject? It didn't say he told them all things beginning to the end....just from the beginning and that after the waters had ^areceded from off the face of this ^bland it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should ^cserve him who dwell upon the face thereof; According to this, the land became choice after the flood. Perhaps it's because it was a "new" land (and still the original home of the Garden) Or it was because the lands broke apart during the flood so all the lands were in a “new” place...
  3 And that it was the place of the ^aNew Jerusalem, which should ^bcome down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord. This is defining the New Jerusalem as a place  that "comes down out of heaven" and we should shout hallelujah that it means the Lord will dwell with us! Maybe the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven already built, so it doesn't take time to build it...it just has to "come".

Moses 7

61 And the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve; it feels so much like we are veiled in darkness right now, since so many cannot easily “see” what is happening. Great tribulations are among us and increasing daily. Our goal is to be “His” people so we are the ones He preserves. We have been taught that we are His by hearing His voice and letting Him prevail in our life. 
62 And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; is this the end-time servant? the city of Enoch? Ministering angels? something else? and truth will I send forth out of the earth, the standard answer is this it he Book of Mormon...but could it be the sealed portion? to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, He prepares it an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. time-line wise: all this happens BEFORE Christ comes - righteousness and truth are sent down from heaven; it sweeps the earth as a flood (floods don’t miss any nook or cranny); the elect are gathered to Zion; and they wait there for His coming. Sounds like such an exciting time! 
63 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other;
64 And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest.

Joseph Smith: "...And now, I ask, how righteousness and truth are going to sweep the earth as with a flood? I will answer. Men and angels are to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work, and Zion is to be prepared, even a new Jerusalem, for the elect that are to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth, and to be established an holy city, for the tabernacle of the Lord shall be with them. Men and Angels!!!! working together!!!!

Now Enoch was in good company in his views upon this subject: "And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God" 21:3).

I discover by this quotation, that John upon the isle of Patmos, saw the same things concerning the last days, which Enoch saw. But before the tabernacle can be with men, the elect must be gathered from the four quarters of the earth. And to show further upon this subject of the gathering, Moses, after having pronounced the blessing and cursing upon the children of Israel, for their obedience or disobedience, says thus:

"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind, among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey His voice, according to all that I command thee, this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, where is this??? from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee (Deut. 30:1-4). . . .

And again (see Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 20:22, current edition, which says), "Behold this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob, and it shall be a New Jerusalem." Now we learn from the Book of Mormon the very identical continent and spot of land upon which the New Jerusalem is to stand, and it must be caught up according to the vision of John upon the isle of Patmos."  The NJ is going to be “caught up”? What did John see about this? 

3 Nephi 20:22 
And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you.

All of 3 Nephi 21 sounds future to me - God's bringing in the remnants, showing things to the nations...should be very soon now!

  4 Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a ^aNew Jerusalem upon this land.
  5 And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the ^aJerusalem from whence ^bLehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a ^choly city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel—
  6 And that a ^aNew Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of ^bJoseph, for which things there has been a ^ctype. Here’s the type:
  7 For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of ^aEgypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should ^bperish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish not.
  8 Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this ^aland; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy ^bcity unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall ^cno more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away. Is this "end" the end of millennium?
  9 And there shall be a ^anew heaven and a new earth; New stars in the sky?  I think the earth is moved back to it’s location in the heavens before the fall.. and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
 10 And then cometh the New Jerusalem; (after the new heaven and earth?) and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel.
 11 And then also cometh the ^aJerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the ^bnorth countries, (return of ten tribes?)and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, ^cAbraham.
 12 And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were ^afirst, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first.
 13 And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, wouldn’t this be the same thing as “taking them lightly”? Feel like there should be a footnote on this verse...and cast him out; and he ^ahid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth in vision? viewing the things which should come upon the people.
 14 And as he dwelt in the cavity of a rock he made the ^aremainder of this record, viewing the destructions which came upon the people, by night. Sounds like Moroni...
 15 And it came to pass that in that same year in which he was cast out from among the people there began to be a great war among the people, for there were many who rose up, who were mighty men, and sought to destroy Coriantumr by their secret plans of wickedness, SECRET COMBINATIONS of which hath been spoken.
 16 And now Coriantumr, having studied, himself, in all the arts of war and all the cunning of the world, wherefore he gave battle unto them who sought to destroy him.
 17 But he repented not, neither his ^afair sons nor daughters; neither the fair sons and daughters of Cohor; neither the fair sons and daughters of Corihor; and in fine, there were none of the fair sons and daughters upon the face of the whole earth who repented of their sins.
 18 Wherefore, it came to pass that in the first year that Ether dwelt in the cavity of a rock, there were many people who were slain by the sword of those ^asecret combinations, SECRET COMBINATIONS fighting against Coriantumr that they might obtain the kingdom.
 19 And it came to pass that the sons of Coriantumr fought much and bled much.
 20 And in the second year the word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and ^aprophesy unto ^bCoriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people—Even after ALL their wickedness, rebellion, and wars, the Lord's hand is stretched out still. And...only Coriantumr and his household needed to repent instead of everyone...such mercy!
 21 Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning ^aanother people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were ^bCoriantumr. And so it was! He was clearly given a clear choice.
 22 And it came to pass that Coriantumr repented not, obviously didn’t believe his prophecy...neither his household, neither the people; and the wars ceased not; and they sought to ^akill Ether, but he fled from before them and hid again in the cavity of the rock.
 23 And it came to pass that there arose up Shared, and he also gave battle unto Coriantumr; and he did beat him, insomuch that in the third year he did bring him into captivity.
 24 And the sons of Coriantumr, in the fourth year, did beat Shared, and did obtain the kingdom again unto their father.
 25 Now there began to be a war upon all the face of the land, ^aevery man with his band fighting for that which he desired.
 26 And there were robbers, and in fine, all manner of wickedness upon all the face of the land.
 27 And it came to pass that Coriantumr was exceedingly angry with Shared, and he went against him with his armies to battle; and they did meet in great anger, and they did meet in the valley of Gilgal; and the battle became exceedingly sore.
 28 And it came to pass that Shared fought against him for the space of three days. And it came to pass that Coriantumr beat him, and did pursue him until he came to the plains of Heshlon.
 29 And it came to pass that Shared gave him battle again upon the plains; and behold, he did beat Coriantumr, and drove him back again to the valley of Gilgal.
 30 And Coriantumr gave Shared battle again in the valley of Gilgal, in which he beat Shared and slew him.
 31 And Shared wounded Coriantumr in his thigh, that he did not go to battle again for the space of two years, in which time all the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood, and there was none to restrain them.