22 And
they were exceedingly industrious, and they did buy and sell and traffic one
with another, that they might get gain.
23 And
they did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron,
and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth;
wherefore, they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of
silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work.
24 And
they did have silks, and fine-twined linen; and they did work all manner of
cloth, that they might clothe themselves from their nakedness.
25 And
they did make all manner of tools to till the earth, both to plow and to sow,
to reap and to hoe, and also to thrash.
26 And
they did make all manner of tools with which they did work their beasts.
27 And
they did make all manner of weapons of war. And they did work all manner of
work of exceedingly curious workmanship.
28 And
never could be a people more blessed than were they, and more prospered by the
hand of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands, for
the Lord had spoken it. (Ether 10:22-28)
In these verses is a
catalog of the material advantages of the Jaredites at this time under the
reign of Lib. I notice that it focuses the attention on the blessings they
enjoyed in their industry—metal ore found in mining efforts, and then the
different kinds of clothing they could make to clothe themselves, and then on
all the types of tools they had. They had tools for agriculture, tools for
working their animals, weapons for defending themselves, and they must have had
tools for their mining and weaving too.
What this teaches me
is that in an industrious society, tools and mechanical ingenuity are great
blessings. If we compare our technological society to the Jaredites, we see
what additional tools we have--all manner of communication tools, transportation
methods, robotic tools, construction tools, medical tools, calculating and
problem-solving tools, tools for recreation, musical instruments, even
molecular and genetic-manipulation tools.
Improve the tools and life improves for lots of people.
I suppose if we are
spiritual, the gifts of the Spirit, revelations, and priesthood will be seen as
great blessings as well—plus scriptures, prophets, temples, ordinances,
callings, meetings, and all the helps and governments we have in the
church. The increase in blessings
is absolutely staggering.
It can truly be said today that never could be a people more
blessed than we. Of course, I suppose “never could be” is the rub. I wonder if over the last 200 years people
have thought they at the pinnacle of excellence. Yet somehow the
blessings keep coming.
For the Jaredites, of course, things didn’t last. Their
society fell apart from pride and wickedness and war and secret combinations. It’s a warning that the same thing could
happen today. The onus is always
on people (you and me and all of us) to not mess things up.
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