Blogger of Jared

On this blog we often reiterate the “All things typify Christ” principle. In an effort to keep some continuity, I want to address why I think that the Brother of Jared’s story in the Book of Ether is another in a long string of prophets who dramatically typified the mission of the yet unborn Christ.

There’s three facets of the story that I want to cover:

1. The Brother of Jared offered an intercessory prayer on behalf of his people that they might be unified
2. The Brother of Jared went up to a mountain for one of his primary moments of instruction
3. The Brother of Jared brought light unto his people

Okay everybody, hang on to your hats, I’m going to try and make this interesting:

1. “Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages”

Language is a funny thing isn’t it.. it was designed to help us understand each other and yet, somehow, I think we misunderstand each other just as much as we would if we were still only communicating in primal grunts and gestures. There are so many examples of how our fumbling languages tend to awkwardly bumble beautiful concepts. Yet for all its inherent weakness, language has the capacity to bind us together as a people so as to create inside us a sense of warmth and safety (consider the often instantaneous bond between two tourists in a foreign land) . Is it then any wonder that the Brother of Jared so desperately sought the pardon of the Lord on behalf of his family and friends during the “Tower of Babble” fiasco? A prayer for lingual unity. An intercessory prayer, if you will.

The Savior similarly prayed for his apostles to be one despite the many divisions that were soon to plague the early church. This effectively quintupled the size of the trinity. The apostles were immediately fused into God and now they are One – oh wait.. that’s not right. The trinity is a false doctrine. I almost forgot.
The early symbolism of the Brother of Jared demonstrates the exceeding ludicrous-y of the Trinity doctrine by showing how the people of Jared could be one in language, in doctrine, in principle, in purpose etc… without actually morphing into the blasphemous “One” persona.

2. “Society speaks and all men listen, mountains speak and wise men listen”

I once heard of a fireside given by a friend of a friend wherein she discussed that art historians, by studying the paintings of the masters, can gain deep insights into the personality of the artist. She went on then to describe how the earth is the canvas of the Master. By studying his creations, we can gain a deeply personal understanding of what He thinks is beautiful, what He wants us to learn and, most importantly, how much He cares for all of us.

The mountain, I believe, is one of the Lord’s most beautiful creations. It is repeatedly referred to in the scriptures under the most holy of contexts. It is where Moses, the brother of Jared and ultimately the Savior experienced the zenith (pun intended) of their mortal instruction. The Brother of Jared, in going up to the Mountain of the Lord, rending the veil, and dwelling in a cloud almost precisely mimicked the example the Savior would set during His ministry.

3. “Beyond a doubt truth bears the same relation to falsehood as light to darkness.”

This third part that I wanted to discuss does not need much… discussion. The brother of Jared knew that he must bring light unto his people for there are few things more daunting than traveling to an unknown land in darkness. (For a good object lesson in this, try walking across the cultural hall with all the lights out.) Likewise, the Savior brought us truth, or light for our journey through and to an unknown land.

There are lots of other symbols of course. I had no particular reason for choosing the three symbols I covered here. What I can say is that I am sure thankful for the example of the Brother of Jared and his faithfulness. His willingness to live his life in such a way that subsequent generations like ours could use his experiences as a springboard to a better understanding of Christ is inspiring. I guess his unselfish actions are just one more typification. This guy never quits with the symbolism.