LIfe is...a witness

The Book of Ether. There are so many great lessons. So many things I could write about. Like how the barges the people built were tight like unto a dish, the same tightness we need to have to keep out the influences of Satan, just as they kept out water. Or how when the winds blew with their fierceness, the Jaredites reached their destination, just as in our lives when the winds blow it is taking us to our destination, or clearing the way for good. Or how when the brother of Jared asked the Lord what to do about air and light during their journey, and the Lord told him what to do about the air, but asked him what he wanted him to do about the light, we can also learn that we have to bring our own options to the table when asking questions.

But what I love about the Book of Ether is why Moroni added it. Now it all reality, we can't really know why Moroni added it, because we're not inside his brain. But, we can have some pretty good ideas. The story of the Jaredites parallels that of the Nephites. A people that leave their home and travel to a different side of the world, a side they didn't even know existed. A people that go through the same righteous-wicked cycles of life. A people that completely destroy themselves. Moroni adds this book at the end of the story of the Nephites. Mormon had just completed his writings and at this time in Moroni's world, there is no one righteous left. I think Moroni relates very well to Ether. They both are wandering for the lives. They both live in a world in which good does not exist. They both have seen an entire civilization destroyed. 

Moroni has seen our day.  He knows what we are experiencing and he knows what evils we are encountering. He understands these evils because he saw them in his day as well. He also had the knowledge of the Jaredites and knew what evils destroyed them as well.  Because of these, and possibly several other reasons, Moroni added the book of Ether for us. Just as the other prophets, Moroni saw our day and wanted to warn us. Through the story of the Jaredites and the Nephites, we have two witnesses of what happens when we have a blessed land and don't keep the commandments the Lord has given us.