It is amazing to consider that as we read the Book of Mormon, we are reading the words that Joseph Smith dictated while using a revelatory object known as a seer stone. From what I understand thus far, Joseph Smith translated the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon using the interpreters that were given to him by the angel Moroni, and that these interpreters, or two stones, were later called Urim and Thummim by early members of the Church. These interpreters, or two stones, which were later called Urim and Thummim were the same that were given to the brother of Jared anciently:
There is more than one Urim and Thummim, but we are informed that Joseph Smith had the one used by the brother of Jared (Ether 3:22–28; D&C 10:1; 17:1). (See Seer.)
The Prophet Joseph Smith described this miraculous instrument of revelation in his history:
Also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted “seers” in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.
The Prophet Joseph Smith also described his use of the Urim and Thummim in response to a question:
Question 4th. How, and where did you obtain the book of Mormon?
Answer. Moroni, the person who deposited the plates, from whence the book of Mormon was translated, in a hill in Manchester, Ontario County New York, being dead; and raised again therefrom, appeared unto me, and told me where they were; and gave me directions how to obtain them. I obtained them, and the Urim and Thummim with them; by the means of which, I translated the plates; and thus came the book of Mormon.
However, Joseph’s wife Emma wrote to Emma Pilgrim in 1870 that Joseph first
translated by the use of the Urim and Thummim [i.e., spectacles or interpreters], and that was the part that Martin Harris lost [the book of Lehi], after that he [Joseph Smith] used a small stone, not exactly black, but rather a dark color.
Although we don’t know everything about the translation process that produced the Book of Mormon, we know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, and that this miraculous process was facilitated at least in part by the interpreters, the two stones, later called Urim and Thummim, that Joseph Smith received from the angel Moroni. We know that the brother of Jared originally received these interpreters or two stones directly from the Lord Himself upon the top of Mount Shelem. Most importantly, we also know that the brother of Jared obtained these miraculous interpreters along with his panoramic revelatory experience because of his great faith in Jesus Christ.
When I consider the symbolic nature of the brother of Jared’s experience in Mount Shelem, I can’t help but think about how he shows us a pattern for worshiping the Lord in the Temple. In the first place, the brother of Jared went to Mount Shelem for the specific purpose of communing with the Lord in order to obtain direction and help with his progress, and the progress of his family and friends, in their journey toward the land of promise. Second, the brother of Jared exerted much effort and exercised great faith to climb to the top of the very high mountain. His commitment was not casual, and his efforts were not minimal. Third, the brother of Jared did not go to the mountain - the Temple - empty handed. He brought with him sixteen small, white, clear, transparent as glass stones that he had melted out of a rock, and he carried them in his hands upon the top of the mount. What might these sixteen small stones represent for us, and how might the brother of Jared’s example influence the way that we approach our worship of the Lord in His Holy House?
The first thing that comes immediately to my mind is the names of our ancestors. Imagine if we brought with us the names of sixteen of our ancestors - for baptisms, confirmations, initiatories, endowments, and sealings - each time we went to the Temple. (I have twenty names reserved right now)
Except for the endowment ceremony, for which the vicarious work for one ancestor is usually all that a person can do during a visit to the House of the Lord, the other ordinances can be performed on behalf of several, if not sixteen ancestors. I also thought of these names of ancestors as sixteen small stones because the prophet Malachi wrote of the latter-day Temple work that precedes the second coming in connection with jewels:
Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a abook of bremembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
And they shall be amine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my bjewels; and I will cspare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. (Malachi 3:16-17)
In other words, as beautiful and as precious as the brother of Jared’s sixteen small stones were, how much more so are the souls of Heavenly Father’s children, His most beautiful and precious jewels?
Let’s return with the brother of Jared to the top of Mount Shelem where he lays out the sixteen small stones and approaches the Lord in a humble and mighty prayer faith. The brother of Jared gives us a great example of how to pray. He approaches the Lord humbly - acknowledging his weakness, unworthiness, and fallen nature - and obediently - calling upon the Lord to receive according to his righteous desires. He acknowledges the mercy of the Lord and petitions for mercy on behalf of his people with a specific request. The brother of Jared did not approach the Lord or cry unto Him without first doing everything in his power to prepare to receive the Lord’s answer and assistance. I am reminded of the oft quoted LDS Bible Dictionary entry on prayer:
As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.
The LDS Bible Dictionary entry on prayer also reminds me of one of St. Thomas Aquinas’ reflections on prayer:
In order to throw light on this question we must consider that Divine providence disposes not only what effects shall take place, but also from what causes and in what order these effects shall proceed. Now among other causes human acts are the causes of certain effects. Wherefore it must be that men do certain actions not that thereby they may change the Divine disposition, but that by those actions they may achieve certain effects according to the order of the Divine disposition: and the same is to be said of natural causes. And so is it with regard to prayer. For we pray not that we may change the Divine disposition, but that we may impetrate that which God has disposed to be fulfilled by our prayers in other words "that by asking, men may deserve to receive what Almighty God from eternity has disposed to give," as Gregory says (Dial. i, 8)
The brother of Jared’s will was brought into correspondence and aligned with Heavenly Father’s will. He impetrated that which Heavenly Father had already disposed to be fulfilled by his prayer. President Russell M. Nelson recently emphasized this merciful aspect of the Lord’s giving disposition:
One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.
The brother of Jared’s earnest preparation met the Lord’s merciful giving disposition in a marvelous way. The brother of Jared presented his sixteen small stones, those bthings which he had molten out of the rock, and with complete confidence in the Lord’s apower to do whatsoever He wills for the benefit of man, the brother of Jared made his request:
Therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy bfinger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have clight while we shall cross the sea.
Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which alooks small unto the understanding of men. (Ether 3:4-5)
The brother of Jared stretched like the woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. His faith was like that of the woman with the issue of blood of whom President Nelson also recently taught:
Do you remember the biblical story of the woman who suffered for 12 years with a debilitating problem?19 She exercised great faith in the Savior, exclaiming, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”20
This faithful, focused woman needed to stretch as far as she could to access His power. Her physical stretching was symbolic of her spiritual stretching.
Many of us have cried out from the depths of our hearts a variation of this woman’s words: “If I could spiritually stretch enough to draw the Savior’s power into my life, I would know how to handle my heart-wrenching situation. I would know what to do. And I would have the power to do it.”
When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.21
When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done before, then His power will flow into you.
The brother of Jared spiritually stretched beyond even his previous stretching, and Moroni recorded the result:
And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the aLord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his bfinger. And the cveil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared dfell down before the Lord, for he was struck with efear. (Ether 3:6)
What do you notice about the Lord’s response to the brother of Jared’s earnest and faithful request? One thing that stands out to me immediately is that the Lord stretched for His hand and touched the stones one by one with His finger. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Light flowed from Him, through His outstretched hand and finger, and one by one into the stones. Just as healing power flowed from the virtue of Jesus Christ into the faithful woman with the issue of blood, luminous power flowed from the virtue of Jesus Christ into the stones. In both instances, the conduit to healing and lighting was opened up through faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that the Lord is eager for each one of us to open and strengthen this conduit to His healing and luminous power. If the Lord was willing to heal through the outstretched hand of one of His faithful daughters, and to illuminate stones one by one through His own outstretched hand, how much more so will He be willing to heal and illuminate each one of us, one by one, as we stretch toward Him and He stretches forth His hand to touch us with His Almighty finger:
aDraw bnear unto me and I will draw near unto you; cseek me diligently and ye shall dfind me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (D&C 88:63)
Like the brother of Jared, we may be surprised by the Lord’s response.
As light flowed from the pre-mortal Jehovah’s finger, illuminating each of the sixteen small, white, clear, transparent as glass stones, one by one, and as the veil was simultaneously lifted from the brother of Jared’s eyes, the brother of Jared was so astonished when he saw that the finger of the Lord was the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood, that he fell down before the Lord, struck with fear.
The brother of Jared received this response from the Lord because his faith in Christ was so exceedingly strong. It strikes me that the Light that illuminated each one of the sixteen small stones is the same Light that lifted the veil and illuminated the spiritual eyes of the brother of Jared, enabling him to see the finger of the Lord. Just as the Lord is able to touch clear stones and cause them to shine, He is able to enlighten our minds and illuminate our eyes to help us to better see things as they really are. This is the light of Christ that illuminates all things:
Which glory is that of the church of the aFirstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—
He that aascended up on high, as also he bdescended below all things, in that he ccomprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the dlight of truth;
Which truth shineth. This is the alight of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was bmade.
As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;
And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you astand.
And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your aunderstandings;
Which alight proceedeth forth from the presence of God to bfill the immensity of space—
The alight which is in all things, which giveth blife to all things, which is the claw by which all things are governed, even the dpower of God who esitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things. (D&C 88:5-13)
This is the Light of which Alma spoke and in which he rejoiced:
O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is alight; and whatsoever is light, is bgood, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? (Alma 32:35)
This is the Light that was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith:
The aglory of God is bintelligence, or, in other words, clight and truth. (D&C 93:36)
This Light comes from the Father of Lights. (see James 1:17)