Ether Chapter 6

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Summary:   The Jaredites set sail to the promised land in their large barges. The Lord give them great winds that blow them towards the land. Many days pass and soon they make it to the new land. The people praise the Lord for their safe passage. After several years, the people desire a king, and while Jared and the brother of Jared dislike the idea, eventually a king is chosen - Orihah. The people prosper in the land. Soon Jared and the brother of Jared pass away.

Lessons Taught/To be Learned:

An important lesson to learn here is the brother of Jared and Jared himself, did not want the people to have a king because historically placing all the power into one man's hands is too tempting for them to turn to unrighteousness and turn to pride and wickedness and hold the people in captivity (make the people beholden to them), which is against all the teachings of God.

Essentially, the brother of Jared knew that: a)Humans are fallible; b)Power magnifies human weakness; c)therefore, giving one man total power is spiritually reckless; d) and it inevitably leads to the people becoming beholden to him; e)which violates God’s pattern of freedom, agency, and accountability. Kings begin to see themselves as the source of the law rather than God and begin begin to treat the King as a God instead of God himself.

Key Scriptures (italicized and in quotes): (no specific scriptures for this chapter)