Ether 4–5

“Unfolding unto Them All of My Revelations”

the gold plates

Do you feel ready to learn more from the Lord? If not, what can you do? The Lord commanded Moroni to seal up the recorded vision of the brother of Jared and explained that these writings will be revealed when people have faith as the brother of Jared did. This lesson is intended to help you understand what you can do to gain further revelation.

Help students find personal meaning in the scriptures. Encourage students to use various study skills to enhance their understanding of the scriptures. Students can look for details in the storyline, make comparisons and connections between the accounts and their own lives, and determine how they will apply what they have learned.

Student preparation: Invite students to read Ether 4 as part of their daily scripture study, looking for truths that can help them receive additional revelation from the Lord.

Possible Learning Activities

When we are ready

Think of an object that is especially valuable to you or your family.

As an example, you may want to display or describe something valuable to you.

• Though you may love to share this object with others, why might you be very careful about allowing a small child to handle it?

• What would a child need to learn or do before you would trust him or her with the object?

Similarly, the Lord loves to reveal truths to us, but He waits until we are ready to receive them (see Alma 12:9–11).

The sealed portion of the Book of Mormon

An example of the Lord waiting to reveal truth until we are ready is the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith was commanded not to open or translate that portion (see Ether 5:1). It contains a record of the vision given to the brother of Jared.

To help you learn about the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, use the scriptures listed in parentheses to answer the following true or false questions.

Consider inviting students to find the answers to these true or false questions in small groups. Alternatively, you could invite students to read the statements and guess the answers, then read the verses to see if they were right.

The first three answers are true, while the last two are false.

1. The Savior showed Himself to the brother of Jared and ministered to him (Ether 3:20).

2. The Lord showed the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth, past and future, not withholding anything from him (Ether 3:25; 4:4).

3. The Lord commanded the brother of Jared to record what he learned and to seal up the record. It was in a language the Lord had confounded and could not be read without divine interpreters (Ether 3:21–22, 24, 27; 4:1).

4. The Lord gave the brother of Jared three stones that could be used to translate the record (Ether 3:23–24, 28).

5. No one has read the brother of Jared’s record (Ether 4:2–5).

Gaining further revelation

Through Moroni, the Lord revealed what we must do to come unto Him, receive revelation, and prepare ourselves to receive the further revelation contained in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon.

Write the incomplete principle listed below on the board.

Carefully read Ether 4:5–15, looking for ways to complete the following truth. The phrase “these things” in verses 8 and 11 refers to the Book of Mormon. A veil, as in the example given in verse 15, is a curtain or piece of cloth that is used to cover or hide something.

• The Lord will bless us with further revelation as we …

Invite students to write on the board phrases from the scriptures that could accurately complete this principle. They might also include the verses where they found those phrases. The following are some examples:

• “repent … and become clean before the Lord” (Ether 4:6)

• “exercise faith” (Ether 4:7)

• “[believe] these things” (referring to what the Lord has already revealed, especially the Book of Mormon) (Ether 4:8, 11)

• “come unto [the Savior]” (Ether 4:13–15)

• pray “with a broken heart and contrite spirit” (Ether 4:15)

Consider asking if students have any questions about these phrases. If so, do the following activity:

If it would help you to better understand any of these phrases, look up key words in the Guide to the Scriptures, the Topical Guide, or the Gospel Library App. For example, it may be helpful to look up “broken heart” in the Guide to the Scriptures.

To help students understand and feel the importance of these actions, invite them to do at least one of the following:

1. Think of a scriptural or modern-day example of someone doing one or more of these actions. Write how these actions led to help and revelation from the Lord.

2. Think of a time when doing one or more of these actions led to an answer or guidance from the Lord in your life. (One example could be pondering what you have learned from and believe through your study so far in the Book of Mormon and how it has led to revelation in your life.)

Invite students to share their examples and experiences.

• Why do you think the Lord would bless us with more revelation as we live the way He described in verses 5–15?

• Why might failing to become the kind of people described by the Lord make us unprepared for further revelation?

• What does this teach you about the Lord and the kind of people He wants us to become?

The Lord will reveal the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon in His “own due time” (2 Nephi 27:21) when we exercise the same faith as the brother of Jared (see Ether 4:7). Similarly, there may be further revelation the Lord is waiting to give you. To conclude this lesson, do the following:

• Review the description in these verses of those who exercise faith and are sanctified, ponder in what ways you are like them and in what ways you may need to improve.

• Ponder and pray to know what the Lord would have you do to receive further revelation from Him. Write in your study journal your thoughts and feelings.

Invite several students to share their thoughts and feelings about what they learned today, if they are not too personal. Share your own thoughts and testimony as well.

Commentary and Background Information

Ether 3:23–24. What were the two stones mentioned?

The two stones that the Lord gave to the brother of Jared were part of what is called a Urim and Thummim. “Joseph Smith used it in translating the Book of Mormon and in obtaining other revelations” (“Urim and Thummim,” Bible Dictionary).

What else can I do to receive further revelation from the Lord?

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

President Russell M. Nelson

Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work. …

… I promise that as you continue to be obedient, expressing gratitude for every blessing the Lord gives you, and as you patiently honor the Lord’s timetable, you will be given the knowledge and understanding you seek. (Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 95–96)

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Elder David A. Bednar

The spirit of revelation is available to every person who receives by proper priesthood authority the saving ordinances of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost—and who is acting in faith to fulfill the priesthood injunction to “receive the Holy Ghost.” … Sincere desire and worthiness invite the spirit of revelation into our lives. (David A. Bednar, “The Spirit of Revelation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 87)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Ether 4:10–11. Believing the words of the Lord

If it would be useful to discuss in more depth believing what the Lord has already revealed, including the Book of Mormon, invite students to read or review Ether 4:10–11, looking for what will happen if we choose to believe the words that the Lord has already given us (see also Moroni 10:3–6). Students may identify a principle such as if we believe the words of the Lord, then He will confirm their truth to us through the Holy Ghost. Consider asking questions such as the following:

Why do you think we need to first believe the Lord’s words before we can know of their truth?

What are some ways in which we can show the Lord that we believe His words?

How has demonstrating belief in the words of the Lord in one of these ways led you to receive a confirmation of their truthfulness through the Holy Ghost?

Ether 5:1–4. The Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

To help emphasize the importance of believing in the Book of Mormon, consider studying about the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Invite students to read Ether 5:2–4, looking for what Moroni directed Joseph Smith to do. (It may be helpful to realize that Moroni was writing directly to Joseph Smith over 1,400 years before he would read it.)

Students could read the testimony of David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris in “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” at the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Invite students to share how the testimony of the Three Witnesses helps them believe in the Book of Mormon. Students could also write down their own witness of the Book or Mormon or how they feel they can increase their knowledge and testimony of it. If students want more information on the Three Witnesses, they can read appendix C in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Book of Mormon 2020.