Ether the Prophet

I wish that we knew more details about the life and ministry of Ether.  He was the son of Coriantor who dwelt in captivity all his days, and Coriantor was the son of Moron who also spent many of his days in captivity.  Moron was king until he was overthrown and put into bondage, which means that Ether likewise would have been king had their family not been held captive.  But Moroni never called Ether a king nor was Ether interested in claiming his right to the throne.  The phrase that stands out as the essence of the man was this description from Moroni: “And Ether was a prophet of the Lord” (Ether 12:2). 

Much of what we know about his ministry relates specifically to his prophecies.  He predicted that the people would “be destroyed” unless they repented, and he unfortunately had to watch the fulfillment of that prophecy (Ether 12:3).  He did “prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people” but they did not believe him (Ether 12:5).  Ether also gave a specific prophecy to Coriantumr: “The word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and prophesy unto Coriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people—Otherwise they should be destroyed.”  Ether predicted that Coriantumr would live to see the entire destruction of his people and would “see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance” (Ether 13:20-21).  Moroni was very careful to include details showing how Coriantumr narrowly escaped death several times and ultimately saw the exact fulfillment of this prophecy from Ether.  This wasn’t all that Ether prophesied about, though.  He told the people “of all things, from the beginning of man….  Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land” (Ether 13:2, 4).  He spoke about the future of the House of Israel, of Jerusalem, and of the seed of Joseph’s role in the latter days in relation to the New Jerusalem.  He prophesied of the gathering in “from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries” of the House of Israel in the last days (Ether 13:11).  Ultimately I think that Ether really had to live for the future; his days were filled with sorrow as he watched his people self-destruct, but he was blessed by the Lord to see far into the future and see the great blessings that would come at a later date.  Surely Moroni must have felt a great affinity to Ether since both were the final historians during the destruction of their people.  Moroni’s and Ether’s hope was in the future, especially in the last days.  I’ve always wondered if the ideas and words of Ether 12:4 were Moroni’s or Ether’s; reading the text it appears unclear whether Moroni was paraphrasing Ether or whether Moroni was simply inserting his thoughts in the narrative.  Perhaps that’s how it should be.  Few have ever had a greater need to “hope for a better world” than Moroni and Ether did, and surely both these prophet/historians were “an anchor to the souls of men” in the midst of a sea of turmoil and death around them