Ether 12

I think I understand Faith a little more than I did prior. I recalled that Ether 12 was very similar in structure and topic as Hebrews 11. I remember Hebrews to be a required reading for Faith Experience #1 in Personal Progress. I also remembered not really understanding it as a child.

I understood that "faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; . . . for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (6). I understood that to mean that you have faith when you have a sure belief in something real, but you can't experience it with the 5 senses of taste, touch, sight, sound, smell. I understood that as a young 12-year-old, but I didn't understand the summary of the ancient prophets in relation to faith. Yes, ok. They had to have faith in order to work miracles. That's all I really understood.


Today it really clicked. Verse 30 reads:

"For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith."

How did the brother of Jared exercise faith? Because that's what the summary of all the ancient prophets were trying to show: how they exercised their faith before the miracle occurred. The brother of Jared was standing before this mountain Zerin (I imagine) and said, "Remove." Most people who do such a thing are crazy, or we look at them as such, unless it is a little child, then we find it cute. But honestly, we don't expect mountains to just remove themselves upon command. We just expect them to stay there unless there is a workings within the earth itself that caused it to move because of released energy or something. And while that may have been the process, the brother of Jared still at stood before the mountain and said, "Remove." Then the mountain was removed. The brother of Jared didn't just have faith, he exercised that faith in God, knowing that God could remove the mountain however he wanted to. The brother of Jared exercised that faith in God, and the mountain was removed.

That's why there is a summary of all the ancient prophets. It's trying to show unto us that faith needs to be exercised in God, have a chance of failing but staying strong in faith, before any miracles occur.