All the Inhabitants of the Earth

When the brother of Jared saw the Lord on the mount Shelem, Jesus “showed unto [him] 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” (Ether 3:25). I do not understand how he could have beheld the billions and billions of people who have ever or would ever live on the earth, but somehow He did. This is similar to what later happened to Moses when he had a great vision of the Lord: “And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.” After encountering Satan, he again had a great vision: “Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore. And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof” (Moses 1:8, 27-29). That is a lot of people! Nephi as well seems to have had a similar vision, for he beheld “the multitudes were gathered together to hear [Jesus]” and “the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb…. And the multitude of the earth were gathered together” (1 Nephi 11:28, 34-35). He also saw the “multitudes upon the face of the land” among his people and wrote, “And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars and rumors of wars among them; and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away” (1 Nephi 12:20-21). After that he also saw “many nations and kingdoms” and beheld much of what would transpire in the last days, including “the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 13:1, 14:13). So while it doesn’t say that he saw every person who would ever be on the earth like the brother of Jared, he clearly beheld countless individuals across thousands of years as the Lord showed him the inhabitants of the earth. All three of these prophets beheld more of God’s children than we can possibly imagine.

               As I thought about these experiences of these prophets, I realized that it is a powerful witness of the universal salvation that the Savior offers to mankind. If He could show “all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be” to the brother of Jared, then that is a testimony that He knows them all. When my younger kids take a stuffed animal to school for “show and tell,” it is because they are deeply attached to it and are proud to show it to their friends. This was a great “show and tell” to these prophets where the Lord displayed what matters most to Him: all the children of our Father in Heaven. Somehow in His infinite capacity to love and to understand, He personally knows all men, women, and children who have or every will come to the earth. The fact that He has shown them all to multiple prophets is a testimony that He suffered for each in His great atoning sacrifice. Jacob taught the Nephites this incredible truth: “And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam” (2 Nephi 9:21). That “whole human family of Adam”—as Mormon would call them—including billions upon billions of people, is exactly the group that the Lord showed to the brother of Jared (Mormon 3:20). And so these visions that the Lord gave His prophets are not only a testimony of His love for the brother of Jared and Moses and Nephi, but they are a reminder that He truly does know all of the children of men who ever have or ever will come upon the earth. When He said in our dispensation, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent,” He was referring to this same group that He showed Moses, “even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16). And so we can be assured that He also knows each of us individually, and His sacrifice was for us personally so that we too may not suffer if we will repent.