Ether 7

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

CHAPTER 7

Orihah reigns in righteousness—Amid usurpation and strife, the rival kingdoms of Shule and Cohor are set up—Prophets condemn the wickedness and idolatry of the people, who then repent.

  1 And it came to pass that Orihah did execute judgment upon the land in righteousness all his days, whose days were exceedingly many. Remember I said in the last chapter that this was at a time when Noah lived to be 150, so I think “exceedingly many” is not an exaggeration...
  2 And he begat sons and daughters; yea, he begat thirty and one, among whom were twenty and three sons. So....did they just live a long time, or did he have lots of wives? They lived a long time...
  3 And it came to pass that he also begat ^aKib in his ^bold age. And it came to pass that Kib reigned in his stead; and Kib begat Corihor. Looks like Orihah gave up the kingship due to old age.  Or...it’s just “time” to do something different. 
  4 And when Corihor was thirty and two years old he rebelled against his father, and went over and dwelt in the land of Nehor; and he begat sons and daughters, and they became exceedingly fair; wherefore Corihor drew away many people after him. He drew people away because they were “fair”? Kind of makes me think he “drew them away” over morality/chastity issues (lusts of the flesh kind of things?)
  5 And when he had gathered together an army he came up unto the land of ^aMoron where the king dwelt, and took him captive, which ^bbrought to pass the saying of the brother of Jared that they would be brought into captivity. Sounds like when the brother of Jared said this he was prophesying and this is confirming that he was a prophet.
  6 Now the ^aland of Moron, where the king dwelt, was near the land which is called Desolation by the Nephites.
  7 And it came to pass that Kib dwelt in ^acaptivity, and his people under Corihor his son, until he became exceedingly old; nevertheless Kib begat Shule in his old age, while he was yet in captivity. Captivity must not have been "prison" like we know it. They must have just not had freedom to leave. Otherwise his wife had to be in prison with him...
  8 And it came to pass that Shule was angry with his brother; and Shule waxed strong, and became mighty as to the strength of a man; and he was also mighty in judgment.
  9 Wherefore, he came to the hill Ephraim, and he did molten out of the hill, and made swords out of ^asteel for those whom he had drawn away with him; He was in captivity but able to go to a hill and make swords... and after he had armed them with swords he returned to the city Nehor, and gave battle unto his brother Corihor, by which means he obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kib.
 10 And now because of the thing which Shule had done, his father bestowed upon him the kingdom; therefore he began to reign in the stead of his father.
 11 And it came to pass that he did execute judgment in righteousness; and he did spread his kingdom upon all the face of the land, for the people had become exceedingly numerous.
 12 And it came to pass that Shule also begat many sons and daughters.
 13 And Corihor repented of the many evils which he had done; wherefore Shule gave him power in his kingdom. How do you trust someone who did the things Corihor did? His repentance must have been long and sincere to be given power again...
 14 And it came to pass that Corihor had many sons and daughters. And among the sons of Corihor there was one whose name was Noah.
 15 And it came to pass that Noah rebelled against Shule, the king, and also his father Corihor, and drew away Cohor his brother, and also all his brethren and many of the people.
 16 And he gave battle unto Shule, the king, in which he did obtain the land of  their ^afirst inheritance; and he became a king over that part of the land.
 17 And it came to pass that he gave battle again unto Shule, the king; and he took Shule, the king, and carried him away captive into Moron.
 18 And it came to pass as he was about to put him to death, the sons of Shule crept into the house of Noah by night and slew him, and broke down the door of the prison and brought out their father, and placed him upon his throne in his own kingdom.
 19 Wherefore, the son of Noah did build up his kingdom in his stead; nevertheless they did not gain power any more over Shule the king, and the people who were under the reign of Shule the king did prosper exceedingly and wax great.
 20 And the country was ^adivided; and there were two kingdoms, the kingdom of Shule, and the kingdom of Cohor, the son of Noah.
 21 And Cohor, the son of Noah, caused that his people should give battle unto Shule, in which Shule did beat them and did slay Cohor.
 22 And now Cohor had a son who was called Nimrod; and Nimrod gave up the kingdom of Cohor unto Shule, and he did gain favor in the eyes of Shule; wherefore Shule did bestow great favors upon him, and he did do in the kingdom of Shule according to his desires.
 23 And also in the reign of Shule there came ^aprophets among the people, who were sent from the Lord, prophesying that the wickedness and ^bidolatry of the people was bringing a curse upon the land, and they should be destroyed if they did not repent.
 24 And it came to pass that the people did ^arevile against the prophets, and did mock them. And it came to pass that king Shule did execute judgment against all those who did revile against the prophets.
25 And he did execute a law throughout all the land, which gave power unto the prophets that they should go whithersoever they would; and by this cause the people were brought unto repentance. The preaching of the word had great power! We don't know what they were preaching. For sure, they were preaching against "wickedness and idolatry" but what else? Were they worshiping idols or just their "stuff" like we do? Were they preaching the gospel? Commandments? All we know of Jared and his brother is they prayed to the Lord. What was "repentance" to them? Did they know about Christ? 
 26 And because the people did repent of their iniquities and idolatries the Lord did spare them, and they began to prosper again in the land. And it came to pass that Shule ^abegat sons and daughters in his old age.
 27 And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them ^aacross the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days. This is the first mention of prophets in the record of the Jaredites. I know we only have a hundredth part of their record, and we know Adam and Noah had the gospel and the ordinances and the priesthood...did these people have a formal religion and structure? Did they have commandments and laws and ordinances too? Or was it a belief in God (they knew he had led their fathers across the ocean) and prayer only? Surely they had commandments or rules for life? I wonder why there is only mention of prophets and not baptism and churches?