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Continue ShoppingWhy the Plan of Salvation is the PERFECT Plan for All God's Children
Critics of the Book of Mormon have noted the story of the brother of Jared as evidence that the Book of Mormon is not true. Specifically, they have claimed that God would certainly know how to build barges and would not design plans that did not account for light and air. However, we know the Lord wasn’t building barges; the Lord was building faith.
The Lord’s work is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).
If this is the Lord’s work, then it is likely His plan as well. If we consider the story of the brother of Jared from the Lord’s perspective, His plan included having the brother of Jared develop his faith by building barges that were useless to the understanding of man.
Each of the three flaws were in place for a reason to help him increase his faith and bring him closer to the Savior. We can see that the Lord’s plan to bring to pass the salvation of the brother of Jared was indeed intricate and successful:
And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth, and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord and I feared…
And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith, thou has seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?
And he answered: Nay Lord show thyself unto me.
And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence. (Ether 3:7–13)
Thus we see that the Lord’s plan successfully redeemed the brother of Jared and brought him into His presence. If the Lord’s specific plan for the brother of Jared was successful, one may ask, when did the Lord formulate this plan? Was it when the brother of Jared made the stones, built the barges, or left Babel?
Our all-knowing and all-loving Father in Heaven formulated the plan of salvation before the foundation of this world. In that plan, we would leave our premortal state, come to earth to receive a body, and learn to exercise faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the central figure in this plan, would take upon Him our sins so that we could repent and return to our Father’s presence. We often portray the plan of salvation as a simplified diagram as shown:
The knowledge we have gained of the great plan of salvation through the revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith have greatly increased our knowledge of the purpose of life and our eternal destiny. Yet, it would seem that the Lord’s plan to bring the brother of Jared back into His presence was much more intricate and detailed. If the Lord has such an intricate plan for each one of us, then the diagram we use to represent the plan of salvation is merely the banner that hangs over the doorway to an immense library containing countless volumes of plans for the salvation of each of our souls.
Our all-knowing Father in Heaven knew the mind and heart of the brother of Jared to the extent that the Lord was able to develop a perfect plan for his individual salvation. The Lord knew and planned that the act of constructing the barges would add to his faith in a manner that would prepare him to stand in His presence. Each of the flaws in the design were specifically intended to increase his understanding and trust in the Lord.
When the Lord requested that the brother of Jared come up with his own solution to provide light within the barges, the Lord already knew the outcome. The departure from Babel, the travel in the wilderness, the time on the seashore, the barges, and the stones were all part of the Lord’s perfect plan to use imperfect barges to redeem an imperfect man. If the purpose of life was to be a test to determine the eternal destination of the earth’s occupants, the brother of Jared would likely have failed while he sojourned on the seashore.
But the Lord had a greater vision for the potential of the brother of Jared.
Where we envision a test, the Lord envisions a classroom. The Lord designed the specific obstacles and trials the brother of Jared needed to progress from his inactive and dormant state to becoming worthy to enter into the presence of the Lord. When the Jaredites started building the first barge, they surely noticed the flaws in the design.
It is likely the brother of Jared fasted, prayed, and pleaded with the Lord for the answers he thought were necessary to finish the assigned task. Yet, if the Lord had given the answers at the beginning, it would have removed the necessary lessons, hampered the progress of the people, and kept the brother of Jared from obtaining the faith he needed to enter the presence of God. As such not answering the prayer of the brother of Jared in the way he desired was an essential part of the Lord’s plan and an essential part of the brother of Jared’s salvation.
If the Lord had such an intricate and personal plan to provide for the salvation of one man, then it stands to reason that He has an intricate personal plan for the salvation of each of us. Likewise, when we plead for answers but feel that heaven is closed, it is not because the Lord does not have the answers we seek, but instead, the Lord has the perfect plan to bring about the salvation of our souls. If the Lord were to answer all of our prayers and remove all of our obstacles, it would negate His perfect eternal plan to bring each of us back into His presence.
The following was taken from the book Building Faith Like the Brother of Jared, currently available at cedarfort.com.
