Ether 2

(June 19, 2014)
With all the times that I have read this scripture, I discovered something new today (by looking at the situation backwards).  In the past, I have always focused on the Brother of Jared, and his actions towards the Lord.  But this time, I found myself focused on the Lord’s actions towards the Brother of Jared.  Not the standard ones I had thought of in the past (letting the Brother of Jared figure out a solution to his own problem), but actually a step back from that.  The Lord had the power to solve the problem completely.  He had the power to make the oceans dry up, and yet He did not.  He could have given them a window that would never break.  But He didn’t do that either.  Not only did He allow the Brother of Jared to solve his own problem, but He did so in a manner that allowed for the most natural solution to his problem possible.

The Brother of Jared heated the stones, and presumably they glowed with the heat.  The Lord touched the stones, and they remained glowing (presumably without the heat).  But throughout the Lord allowed natural effects to have their way to the greatest extent possible.  There seems to be a recurring truth to that – the Lord rarely deviates from natural cause and effect, even though He can.  Whether this is because of complexity and unintended consequences of deviation or whether it is because we are to work through our mortal challenges, it is something to think about.