Lifespans in the Book of Mormon

This is a bit different from what I usually post about. It's a purely academic exercise with no deeper meaning, symbolism or spiritual lessons. But in addition to the Book of Mormon's main purpose to remind Israel of their covenants and bring us to Christ, there is a historical element that fascinates me. These were real people who were a branch of Israel living in a promised land. I am very interested in the historical elements and would love to learn more about the Nephite society and people. Mormon, who abridged their records, comes across as a historian. In addition to inviting us to Christ and conveying important spiritual lessons, he is a thorough narrator of events and places.

Still, we don't have many examples of the exact age of Book of Mormon people. A few years ago, I tried to track the timeline and deduct some reasonable lifespans for Book of Mormon prophets. I will not go into all that speculation here but list the ones that we know directly from the text:

• Alma-I: 82 years old (Mosiah 29:45)
• Mosiah-II: 63 years old (Mosiah 29:46)
• Coriantum's wife: 102 years old (Ether 9:24)
• Coriantum: 142 years old (Ether 9:24)
• 9 Nephite disciples: 72 years old (3 Nephi 28:3)

The last one is interesting. 72 years old is simply a result of the disciples' own granted wish and the Lord's decision. But their granted wish to come to Him in his kingdom after having "lived unto the age of a man" says something about what the typical "age of a man" was considered to be at the time.

As far as I know, these 5 examples are the only ones we have knowing the exact age of someone in the Book of Mormon. There are others that come close, Mormon himself was born 310 AD and the last battle at Cumorah was likely in 385 AD. He did not die in that battle but according to his son, he died shortly after. So Mormon must have been 75 years old or a bit older. For the timeline of the keepers of the Small plates of Nephi to work, some of them must have been quite old, perhaps more than 100. The record keepers after Alma-I until the coming of Christ did not seem to live that long, typically somewhere between 45-60. These are some rough calculations I have made and I will not go into all those details. But it is also important to note that two of those prophets, Alma-II and Nephi-II did not seem to die natural deaths and just left the land at a certain point without anyone knowing where they had gone. 

In the above list with specific ages, obviously, Coriantum, and partly his wife, stand out. One might even claim that 142 sounds unrealistic. Some scientist (but definitely not all) would claim that it is simply beyond the upper limit of a theoretical human life. It is also reasonable to ask how 72 years old could be considered the "age of a man" when it was possible to live twice as long. But I find it quite interesting that we get this apparent difference between Nephite and Jaredite lifespans, because it aligns very well with the Bible. We know that the ancient patriarchs lived much longer lives than this. They could become more than 900 years old. I have my own theories about how that was possible, but that requires some explanation that I will keep for myself for now. This does not appear to be merely symbolic because there are certain trends in these Old Testament lifespans, eventually stabilizing around the values we expect today. 

I have written before on the timeline of the Book of Ether. Coriantumr, who lived to 142 years old, was the seventh generation from Jared. Based on the calculations in that post, he lived around the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham was 175 years old, Sarah 127, Isaac 180, Jacob 147 and Joseph 110 at their death. At this time, the convergence into what is considered normal lifespans today had not yet been reached. But Coriantum's age fits well into this small sample. 

By the time of the first Israelite kings, this convergence had been reached. They lived up to ages between 40 (41 in the case of King Jotham) and 80 (in the case of King Solomon), quite consistent with the few Nephite lifespans we know about and the idea of 72 years as the "age of man". 

Achaz -- part 2

In my last post, I outlined the various meanings of the Hebrew root "achaz" in the Old Testament.  I've searched the Book of Mormon for passages with similar words and found the verses listed below.  Each reference is highlighted in red if has a negative connotation or green if the connotation is positive.

Grasp/Seize

10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. 11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave. 12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 9)

19 For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish; ... 22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. 23 Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment. (2 Nephi 28)

14 And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence. (Alma 42)

Hold

24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. (1 Nephi 8)

24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. (1 Nephi 15)

18 And he said unto the servant: Behold, the branches of the wild tree have taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root thereof hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root thereof the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit. (Jacob 5)

25 But Amulek stretched forth his hand, and cried the mightier unto them, saying: O ye wicked and perverse generation, why hath Satan got such great hold upon your hearts? Why will ye yield yourselves unto him that he may have power over you, to blind your eyes, that ye will not understand the words which are spoken, according to their truth? (Alma 10)

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. (Alma 36)

29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked— 30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out. (Helaman 3)

30 And behold, it is he who is the author of all sin. And behold, he doth carry on his works of darkness and secret murder, and doth hand down their plots, and their oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness, from generation to generation according as he can get hold upon the hearts of the children of men. 31 And now behold, he had got great hold upon the hearts of the Nephites; yea, insomuch that they had become exceedingly wicked; yea, the more part of them had turned out of the way of righteousness, and did trample under their feet the commandments of God, and did turn unto their own ways, and did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver. (Helaman 6)

31 And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them. ... 35 Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land. 36 O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them. (Helaman 13)

19 And they were cast into prison by them who did not belong to the church. And the prisons could not hold them, for they were rent in twain. 20 And they were cast down into the earth; but they did smite the earth with the word of God, insomuch that by his power they were delivered out of the depths of the earth; and therefore they could not dig pits sufficient to hold them. (3 Nephi 28)

28 And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity, and because of the power of Satan who did get hold upon their hearts. (4 Nephi 1)

8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you. (Mormon 7)

19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ. 20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing? 21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing. 22 For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing. 23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come. 24 And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them. 25 Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ. (Moroni 7)

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing. (Moroni 10)

Possess

25 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things. (1 Nephi 15)


3 And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord. (1 Nephi 19)


20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another (Mosiah 2)


16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God. (Mosiah 8)


14 And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God... (Mosiah 29)


27 And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. (Alma 7)


7 And it came to pass that he [Zeezrom] began to cry unto the people, saying: Behold, I am guilty, and these men are spotless before God. And he began to plead for them from that time forth; but they reviled him, saying: Art thou also possessed with the devil? And they spit upon him, and cast him out from among them, and also all those who believed in the words which had been spoken by Alma and Amulek; and they cast them out, and sent men to cast stones at them. (Alma 14)


42 Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God. (Alma 30)


34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. 35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. (Alma 34)


8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. (Ether 2)

"Catch/Caught" in the Book of Mormon

As I was studying the double-meaning of "carried away" in the scriptures (see here, here and here), I noticed a similar term is used in the same way: "catch/caught"

The positive examples are intimately connected with the word of God and heavenly experiences:

• We find people "[catching] hold of the end of the rod of iron" in 1 Nephi 8:24, 30. 
• The three disciples who were to tarry are "caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things" which were "forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard." (3 Nephi 28:13, 26).  Compare 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.
• Nephi is "caught away in the Spirit of the Lord" as he sat pondering in faith "into an exceedingly high mountain" (see 1 Nephi 11:1). Compare Moses 1:1 where Moses is "caught up into an exceedingly high mountain" and Moses 6:64 where Adam is "caught away by the Spirit of the Lord" and was baptized.
• As Alma recounts his conversion, he explains that as he was "racked with torment," he remembered his father prophesy concerning Jesus Christ. "Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me..." This leads to a vision of "God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels..."
• Ammon "caught" King Lamoni with guile in convincing him to believe all his words. (See Alma 18:23.) Compare 2 Corinthians 12:16.
• In Alma 12:1, Alma sees that Amulek had silenced Zeezrom by "[catching] him in his lying and deceiving to destroy him." Alma sees an opportunity to teach. Seeing that Zeezrom "began to tremble under a consciousness of his guilt, he opened his mouth and began to speak unto him, and to establish the words of Amulek, and to explain things beyond..."

The negative examples connect with the concept of a trap or snare:

• The best example of this might be Alma 12:6, which is contained in the same passage as the final positive example above. "6 And behold I say unto you all that this was a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity." (See a similar usage in Luke 11:54.)
• Alma 10 offers us a detailed description of the plans of these same men. In verse 13: "...there were some among them who thought to question them, that by their cunning devices they might catch them in their words, that they might find witness against them, that they might deliver them to their judges that they might be judged according to the law, and that they might be slain or cast into prison, according to the crime which they could make appear or witness against them." From Amulek's rebuke in verse 17: "O ye wicked and perverse generation, ye lawyers and hypocrites, for ye are laying the foundations of the devil; for ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God."
• As Alma-1 refuses to be king over his people, he offers this counsel: "But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance..." (Mosiah 23:9)

We also find multiple examples in the Doctrine & Covenants:

D&C 88:

96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.

97 And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—

98 They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.

See also D&C 101:31, D&C 109:75, D&C 75:102. A similar example is also found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

D&C 27:

18 ...be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also.

D&C 61:

18 And now I give unto you a commandment that what I say unto one I say unto all, that you shall forewarn your brethren concerning these waters, that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail and they are caught in snares;

19 I, the Lord, have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree.

In the New Testament:

Luke 8:

29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)

Conclusion

I don't think it is a coincidence that the two positive contexts involve hearing the word of God and having an encounter with the divine. I believe the one naturally leads to the other. These two elements bookend the way of life.

Similarly and by contrast, the negative examples connect being caught by words and being taken captive.  These two points illustrate the way of death.

Thus, just like with "carried away" there will necessarily be a "catching" for each one of us -- either we "catch" the rod of iron and allow ourselves to be led back to God's presence, or we allow ourselves to be caught by Satan's lies and end up caught in his carefully prepared snare of damnation. 

Joy

I have studied a bit about joy in the Book of Mormon. We are all familiar with the verse in 2 Nephi

men are, that they might have joy (2 Nephi 2:25)

Perhaps this statement by Lehi on the small plates, became familiar for later Book of Mormon prophets too? At least the word 'joy' appears in the Book of Mormon 121 times, more than any other book of scripture. Here are a couple of things I learned.

Fullness of joy / filled with joy

Joy is often describing a spiritual condition, something that is found in Christ and his gospel, rather than in the world. But Book of Mormon authors seem aware that there are different types of joy, but only one that "fills" you. In Helaman 5:44, we read

they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.

It is interesting to me that Mormon explains what kind of joy that filled them. The worldly joy is also used in the Book of Mormon, like the joy of the Lamanites in Alma 55:9 when they would receive more wine. But it distinguishes between that worldly joy on one hand and "that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory" on the other. Consider 3 Nephi 27:11

But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. 

The joy that comes from the works of men is temporary and nothing that "fills" them. Later in that chapter, Jesus says that

my joy is great, even unto fulness (3 Nephi 27:30)

In the next chapter, Jesus gives a promise to his disciples

And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one (3 Nephi 28:10)

Another example

But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever. (2 Nephi 9:18)

There are many other examples to support this observation: In the Book of Mormon, 'joy' can be used to describe temporal and spiritual happiness. But only the righteous are filled with joy. This filling can happen on earth and give them a taste of the lasting fullness of joy they can receive in the kingdom of God.

On that note, I will include a reminder that the Hebrew word for 'fill' can also be translated as complete, accomplish, endow, consecrate or ordain.

Joy and light/spirit

Joy is often connected with light and spirit, and a contrast to darkness and a wicked/evil spirit. Consider these examples

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! (Alma 36:20)

he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul (Alma 19:6)

And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy. (Alma 22:15)

See how the Spirit and joy are used interchangeably in Alma 19:13-14

Now, when he had said these words, his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit.

14 Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his prayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their traditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with joy

One final example from Mosiah 4:3

And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy

What the Book of Mormon teaches about the relationship between the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (and each of us), part 1

10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one; (3 Nephi 28)

This is a big topic, hard to cover in a single post. This will likely become a series of two posts. Even so, I won't be able to fully describe everything I've learned in the process  Rather, I'll plan to summarize what I consider to be the most important findings I made while studying this topic. I've included a list of passages I studied so you can see what material I am drawing on to base my conclusions.

One somewhat unexpected pattern I found while studying about the relationship between the Father and the Son was the central importance of unity. Although I set out to learn more about two perfected Beings, I also ended up learning about their desires for me (and everyone).  Here is a pattern I discovered:

1. The Father and the Son are perfectly united.
2. They desire each of us to be perfectly united with them.
3. They have established a perfect plan to produce that unity with them. This includes faith, repentance, ordinances, miracles, spiritual gifts, and the confirming/purifying influence of the Holy Ghost.
4. The only aspect of their plan that is in question is our willingness to follow it.

Here is a list of passages I studied:

• 1 Nephi 1
• Mosiah 15:1-9
• 3 Nephi 9:14-17
• 3 Nephi 11:11-41
• 3 Nephi 12:17-20, 48
• 3 Nephi 15:1
• 3 Nephi 16 
• 3 Nephi 17:14-25
• 3 Nephi 18:1-11
• 3 Nephi 19 (esp. v. 23)
• 3 Nephi 20 (esp. vv. 19-25)
• 3 Nephi 21 (esp. v. 27)
• 3 Nephi 27:13-30
• 3 Nephi 28:10-11
• Moroni 7:2-3, 48

Unity

As you read through these passages, notice how often it is mentioned that the Father and the Son are "one."  Often, this unity is also extended to righteous disciples, or at least an invitation is given to us to become one with them. Here are a few examples:

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.
15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. (3 Nephi 9)

27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. ...36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one. 37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. (3 Nephi 11)

23 And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one. (3 Nephi 19)

10 ...and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one; (3 Nephi 28)

Another common statement is that the will of Christ was united, or "swallowed up," with the will of the Father.

7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father. (Mosiah 15)

11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. (3 Nephi 11)

We'll end this part on that note. It is abundantly clear to me that mortality is all about surrendering our own will to that of God's will.  When we are baptized, we lay down the old creature, and arise anew as a spiritual being, willing to follow Christ in all things.  When we partake of the sacrament, we promise to always remember Him.

In the next post in this series, we'll look in more detail at what it means to be united, and how covenants fit into this picture.

Forbidden to write -- Part 2

In part 1, we started looking at examples in the Book of Mormon where the author is forbidden to write certain things. We saw two examples from Nephi and one from Mormon. In this part we will look at one more example from Mormon and two from Moroni. That gives two examples each for the three main Book of Mormon authors.

3 Nephi 28:13-14, 25

13 And behold, the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.

14 And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard...

25 Behold, I was about to write the names of those who were never to taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for they are hid from the world.

I can understand the one in verse 14. We are not going to get a full description of what they saw in heaven. It wasn't possible for them to express in words anyway. But it makes me think. How many times do we speculate about the afterlife, try to describe or imagine conditions there, the nature of the Godhead, etc. When we learn that power from God is required to enable us to utter those things, we should be humble and realize that a detailed knowledge of the heavens is beyond our comprehension at the moment.

Regarding verse 25, Mormon was forbidden to write the names of the "3 Nephites". They were to be "hid from the world". I don't know why knowing their names would make much of a difference. We already know the names of the 12 disciples from 3 Nephi 19:4, so it would have to be 3 of them I would suppose? But the Lord forbade it for a reason. Perhaps it is just to avoid needless speculations like this? I really don't know.

Ether 4:4-7

4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

The brother of Jared is one of a few people in the scriptures that are described as seeing everything. In the case of the brother of Jared

25 And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth.

26 For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things. (Ether 3)

The brother of Jared was commanded to write it down and Moroni was commanded to seal the translation of it. We learn that we will not get it until we repent and show the same kind of faith that the brother of Jared had. My guess is that we will have to wait for the millennium. We learn from Ether 4:2 that the people had access to it after Christ had visited them and they lived in a righteous Zion-like society for many years. When wickedness started prevailing again, we read

yea, there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. (4 Nephi 1:27)

I wonder if at least part of "that which was sacred" could be the record of Jared's brother?

Ether 13:13

And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether

Another case of Moroni being forbidden to write while abridging the Book of Ether. Right before Moroni gets this message, he writes about Ether's prophecies concerning the gathering of Israel, the New Jerusalem and related end-time events. Why is he not allowed to write more? Here is my theory: Remember the first example in part 1, where Nephi is not allowed to continue because that is John the revelator's domain? The last thing Nephi wrote before that was the wrath of God poured out upon the "mother of harlots" (1 Nephi 14:17). This is something we read about in Revelation 17-18 too. In the remaining chapters of Revelation, we read about the gathering of the Lord's elect, his second coming, the millenium and the New Jerusalem, just what Ether was talking about. But because that is John's territory, Moroni gets the same commandment as Nephi to not write it down.