Gospel Doctrine, Lesson 45: Never Has Man Believed in Me As Thou Hast, Ether 1-6

#1: Hugh Nibley: Samuel Noah Kramer is a Sumeroligist who went into the earliest Sumerian records that you can find. He said, Ah, here we have a typical epic milieu [environment]. He said this fact was primarily responsible for the more characteristic features of the Greek, Indian, and Teutonic [people]. See, you have this literature of the wandering people. You find it among the Greeks epic literature. You find it in the Vedic literature in India, and you find it in the German literature in the epics and the sagas There are lots of old Norse and Icelandic records, as you know. They all tell the same story, although theyre at different times thousands of years apart. (Lecture 109 at mi.byu.edu) #2: Elder Milton R. Hunter, of the Seventy: A few years ago an apostle said to me: It would be a discovery of great significance if one were to find an Indian book which sustained the Book of Mormon. Such a book exists...Ixtlilxochitl (Eesh-tleel-show-cheetle), an Indian prince who lived in the valley of Mexico, wrote a book containing the history of his ancestors from the time of their arrival in America until the coming of the Spaniards Ixtlilxochitl claims that the first settlers to come to America following the flood came from a very high tower or the Tower of Babel. Observe how similar the accounts are as I quote from them. Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered. (Ether 1:33) Ixtlilxochitl, the Indian writer, puts it this way: And...men, multiplying made a...very high tower, in order to shelter themselves in it when the second world should be destroyed...When things were at their best, their language was changed and, not understanding each other, they went to different parts of the world. ...and the Tultecas, who were as many as seven companions and their wives, who understood their language among themselves, came to these parts, having first crossed lands and seas, living in caves and undergoing great hardships, until they came to this land, which they found good and fertile

for their habitation.

(CR, April 1970)

#3: Hugh Nibley: As they traveled in the wilderness, they built shallow barges...There were these huge shallow seas...in 1906 Raphael Pompelli...made an exploration of those central Asiatic regions, and it was all shallow water. It was all under water. Well, they still tell you in documentaries about a wandering lake in central Asia. Because of the winds the lake actually wanders around At the time of the Jaredites, just after the flood, they seemed to be much deeper, but they built these barges of shallow draft because they had to cross a lot of water (Lecture 109 at mi.byu.edu) #4: President Thomas S. Monson: Are we today serving the God of the land, even the Lord Jesus Christ? Do our lives conform with His teachings? Are we entitled to His divine blessings?... The revered Abraham Lincoln accurately described our plight: We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. (Proclamation for a National Fast Day, March 20,
1863.)

Can we extricate ourselves from this frightful condition? Is there a way out?...We can solve this perplexing dilemma by adopting the counsel given by Jesus to the inquiring lawyerThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Matthew 22:36-39.) (Be Your Best Self, 96-7) Ether 6:12 And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them.: 1 Nephi 1:20 But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

LESSON 45 OUTLINE

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago we were discussing faith, and we quoted from Camilla Kimball? She said that she didnt just accept what people said, but that she liked to study things out for herself. When she couldnt find a satisfactory answer to a gospel question, she would place it on a shelf in her mind, waiting for greater understanding to come. Well, something that has always bothered me is Greek mythology. There are just so many similarities to stories in the bible! Then a few years ago one of my boys and I were studying the epic of Gilgamesh, and I really got bothered. That little shelf in my mind was beginning to sag a bit! ~Is anyone familiar with the story of Gilgamesh? (oldest known epic, found carved into clay tablets in Mesopotamia, written about 5,000 years ago they think.) In a very tiny nutshell, Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk. (show book) It says he was part god and part man. He had plenty of power and wealth but was not happy. In order to show how strong and powerful he was, he ordered a great wall to be built around the city: He ordered the men to leave their jobs and families to work on it. He made the women bring food. Children were kept away so no one would stop to play with them. At first, the people helped willingly: Their king must have a good reason for wanting the wall But as the wall got higher and higher, the people grew restless. How high did it have to be? It went up higher than any wall in the world, but Gilgamesh pushed on day and night. Men fainted from work and hunger. Food grew scarce. The people cried out for mercy, begging Gilgamesh to stop but he would not listen (Ludmila Zeman, Gilgamesh the King) Now, speaking of Babylon, the Bible Dictionary tell us that it had walls 85 feet wide, 335 feet high, and 56 miles long. It was a city of extreme wickedness and arrogance. (p. 618) Could the epic of Gilgamesh be describing the same city? Back to Gilgamesh. Toward the end of the epic, after seeing death take two of his close friends, Gilgamesh goes on a quest to find the secret of immortality. He has to climb mountains, fight savage beasts, overcome a terrifying abyss and so forth. It was much like the Hobbit trilogy, actually. At last he comes to the island he seeks. Notice the picture in your handout on the left. ~What does that object on the rocks look like? (a boat) In fact, its Noahs ark. Let me read some more: I must not fail now, he cried. I am too close to the end of my search. In a last desperate attempt, he took off his torn shirt and raised it to the wind

to make a sail. Utnapishtim watched, amazed as the boat reached the 2 shore. Who are you to come heregod or man? I am Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, came the proud reply. I come to ask the secret of immortality. Do not seek what you cannot have, Utnapishtim replied. Only gods can live forever. But you were once no different than me, Gilgamesh argued. How did you become immortal?When I was king of Shuruppak, the people became evil. The gods decided to destroy the earth with a great flood. Because I was a good man, I was warned. I was told to build a great ark and to gather into it my family and each kind of animal and plant. As soon as I finished, the storm came Only my boat survived. When the rain stopped and the water subsided, it came to rest on a mountain. I fell to my knees in gratitude. I let out the animals and set out the plants to start life anew. In that moment the gods descended in a great light and bestowed immortality upon me and my wife. (Ludmila Zeman, The Last Quest of Gilgamesh) ~Why do you suppose Gilgamesh, and Greek myths, and Norse myths, and stories from all over the world have a flood story? And do you think those stories may have been embellished from time to time as they were told orally down through the years? Quotation #1 ~What kind of storm would cause such a scattering throughout the Old World? Let me read a smattering of sources on this. First Hugh Nibley: ...it is when the worlds weather gets out of hand, as it has a number of times in the course of history, that the blowing sands of Asia bring mighty empires to ruin, bury great cities almost overnight, and scatter the tribes in all directions From Eusibius, a Roman historian born in 263 A.D.: When all men were of one tongue, some of them built a high tower so as to mount to heaven, but God destroyed the tower by mighty winds. From the Book of Jubilees, which is an ancient Jewish writing from before Christ: The Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the earth The great Persian scholar of the 11th century records that the people were scattered from the tower by an awful drought accompanied by winds of such velocity as actually blew down the tower. Bar Hebraeus, a Catholic scholar from the 13th century, said that 40 years after the tower was finished God sent a wind, the tower was overturned, and Nimrod died in it. There are many such accounts! Lets go to an account that is believed to refer directly to the Jaredites. It is from an American Indian book produced during the colonial period, and quoted in General Conference by Milton R. Hunter, of the Seventy:

Quotation #2 3 ~Why does the Lord guide Jared and his people to the promised land? (because the brother of Jared asked) Ether 1:43 ~What does this teach us about how to approach Heavenly Father with the desires of our hearts? (be patient, long-suffering, humble) ~Why is the brother of Jared never named? (its a record of Jareds family, not his brothers) ~How do we know the brother of Jareds name? (Reynolds Cahoon asked Joseph Smith to bless and name his baby son. The name I have given your son is the name of the brother of Jared (The Jaredites, Juvenile Instructor, 1 May 1892) Id like to touch on their journey briefly. Lets read: Ether 2:1 Ive included an excellent handout by Monte F. Shelley in your handout. Lets look at the first map. Notice the Tower of Babel in the region of Iraq. From there they went north, down to the valley of Nimrod. Hugh Nibley tells us, Its interesting that in the north end of Mesopotamia all the places bear the name Nimrod. Theres Bir Nimrod and dozens of Nimrod up north in Mesopotamia. (Lecture 109, M.I.byu.edu) From there they had to cross a sea. Below the map it says, Only the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea remain of what was once a vast inland sea. ~How did they cross it? (built barges, see v. 6) ~So did they build more than one set of barges? (Yes!) Quotation #3 Notice when they get to the ocean they come to a place where theres an exceeding high mountain. (see Ether 3:1) Theres only one on the coast of China, called Mt. Laoshan. Ether 2:7-9 7: It seems like they were content to stay where they were, doesnt it? 8: This must have been part of the 3 hour lecture the b. of Jared received. We have here in the Book of Mormon the history of two nations. ~What happened to the Nephites? (swept off) ~What happened to the Jaredites? (swept off) ~And what will happen to our nation if it ripens in iniquity? Ether 2:10-12 Quotation #4 Now, we must touch on the barges. ~What were they like? (tight like a dish, 2;16; small, light on the water, ends peaked, length of a tree, v. 17, door) Ether 6:7

~What other famous boat were they like? (Noahs ark) 4 ~What was the big problem with these boats? (no air or light) ~The air problem the Lord answered. How did Noahs ark have light? There are lots of ancient sources on this as well, so I hope you dont mind if I read another smattering. Rabbi Levi says the tsohar or light in the ark, was a precious stone. Rabbi Phineas explained that during the whole 12 months that Noah was in the ark he did not require the light of the sun by day or the light of the moon by night, but he had a polished gem. (see The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, 5:366-7) There are Babylonian, Syrian, Sumerian, and Greek references to Noahs ark being lit by stones that glow brighter at night, dimmer during the day. And this may be why the brother of Jared thought to molten some stones, making them clear and transparent. He had done everything he could, and climbing the highest mountain, he asked the Lord to make up the difference. There is so much we have not covered in these six short but jam-packed chapters, not the least of which is Mahonris faith which enabled him to overcome the veil that separates us from the Fathers presence. But lets end with this thought: Think of it! These eight barges of people actually sealed themselves inside a box and entrusted their fate to the Lord. (see 6:4) ~Was it an easy ride? (no, there were furious winds for 344 days, and it says they were tossed, no smooth sailing here, upon the waves of the sea before the wind, that is, when they were not buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them. (6:6) ~And when this happened, what would they do? (pray. and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters, 6:7) ~And what do you DO for 344 days sealed inside of a floating box? Ether 6:9 Lets see what they learned: Ether 6:10 They couldnt learn that with the Lords help no monster could break them, and no whale could mar them unless they actually encountered monsters and whales! They learned that they could survive terrible situations because He would not forsake them. Surely our trials can teach us the same thing, if we will be grateful in all things and trust His watchful care. Lets read about their joy at the end of this trial: Ether 6:12(on handout) Way back at the beginning of the year, we read Nephis purpose in keeping a record of his amazing life and trials: 1 Nephi 1:20(on handout) One day we, too, will be able to see that it is in our trials that we come to know our merciful, loving and kind Father in Heaven.