Lo primero que me impresiona de esta lectura es que Shez salió de la casa de su descendiente Het. No fue un hijo de Het, sino un nieto, or tal vez, un biz nieto. Y dice el registro que todos lo demás de su familia o de su casa se habían perecido por motivo del hambre. Hay algo personal en el liderazgo de Shez que tomo sobre sí.
El versículo 2 es una reconocimiento de la importancia de la historia familiar. Shez entendió y reconoció la destrucción de su propia familia, los cuales ya eran la historia. También entendió y recordó la historia más lejano para atrás de Jared y su hermano, y como el Señor los entregó a esta tierra de promisión. Este poder para recordar es significante en su capacidad de avanzar.
En seguida, Shez tiene un hijo llamado Riplákish quien le sigue como rey. Las palabras que describa la relación con su padre (Shez) me hace crear que Shez murió cuando Riplákish era muy joven. Sin saber la razón por lo cual Riplákish salió como lo hizo, escogió no andar en la justia como su padre. Tenía el poder de ser rey, sin el deseo de hacer lo que era bueno. Violó los dos poderes que a Dios le gusta guardar para sí, los poderes para crear y quitar vida. Los tomó erróneamente como derecho propio al ser el rey de la tierra.
La vida de Riplákish es un ejemplo de la falta de autodominio. Se nota al principio y final de estos versículos que trata de su vida, de que la cosa más errante de su comportamiento fue que tuvo muchas esposas y concubinas. Esto es el resultado de un hombre que no pudo controlarse. Todos los esfuerzos y todos los recursos del reino estaban dirigido al orgullo de un solo hombre: el rey. El pueblo suportó durante cuarenta y dos años debajo su subyugación antes que ellos rebelaron contra a Riplákish — un hombre que nunca aprendió autodominio.
En seguida, leemos de un hombe, un descendiente de Riplákish, quien se llamaba Moriantón. Y las escrituras concerniente a Moriantón nos ilustra un punto muy importante: uno puede obrar rectamente con los demás, y todavía andar mal en sus asuntos personales, y así estar separado de la presencia del Señor. (véase vs. 11)
Later in the chapter (changing to English), we read about a period of prosperity in the land that was governed by a series of four successive righteous kings: Levi, Corom, Kish, and Lib. I would have thought little about this except that first, the author goes out of his way to mention what seems to be a random event that was accomplished in the days of Lib: the poisonous serpents were destroyed. Really? They managed to vanquish an entire breed of snake?
(This is a new day of study, but I am still in the same topic.) I am sitting with abundance and the reality of my situation, which words seem very inadequate to express. I’ve gotten lost down a footnote on old age, and found it rather humorous that there was a topical guide entry on the subject: TG – Old Age, but one verse (Psalms 92:14) stood out to me as important. As I am contemplating the prosperity of this world, and the abundance that is possessed herein, I am tempted to lament that I have let so much time pass in prideful vanity. And yet here I am with tools of repentance in one hand, and promises of fruits in old age in the other hand.
Where is the Christ in these verses? I read about kings doing “that which was right [or that which was good] in the sight of the Lord.” Their kingdoms were blessed in temporal abundance. And the kings were blessed with many children. The kingdoms were conferred (by tradition, it seems) to a younger son (not the oldest child like is customary in European royalty). This had the effect of creating longer periods of stability when governed by righteous kings.
But then we have this account of what their prosperity looked like with operations of mining, textiles, agriculture, and trade. The author takes pains to illustrate these different operations and then concludes that:
And never could be a people more blessed than were they, and more prospered by the hand of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands, for the Lord had spoken it.
Verse 28
I need to move on after today, but these verses have caused me to consider the abundance of the earth, our connection to it, how willing the Lord is to extend to us his blessings of material goods, and how it is that we are to learn from these matters. So often we read in the scriptures of wicked because of the focus on material goods, and their desires for the things of this world. None of it comes with us in the end of life. But are we not to use these things, and to employ them to our benefit and blessing?
The end of this chapter features a genealogy of men in captivity. Five generations pass: Hearthom, Heth, Aaron, Amnigaddah, and Coriantum. Coriantum has a son named Com who fights to regain kingship over the kingdom, and after many years at war, he eventually regains full dominion over the land.
This is a scenario that has been repeated now multiple times over the hundreds of years of Jaredite civilization. War is required for a king to retain control over the kingdom when wickedness prevails. But what the Brother of Jared lamented about having a king was that it lead to periods of captivity. Verse 31 confirms that very point. And why would this be grievous to a prophet of God? Why would this be contrary to the will of God?
Perhaps it is because it prevents the plan of God from being fully executed. In captivity men are not agents unto themselves. Curious it is that only a righteous king maintains freedom.