“I Know of a Surety That the Lord Hath Commanded My Husband”

Brant Gardner

The return of her sons unharmed allows Sariah to resume her belief in her husband’s prophetic calling. In addition to now “knowing” that the Lord had protected her sons and delivered them from Laban, she also now knows “of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness.” Nothing in the return of her sons provides any proof that the family’s flight into the wilderness was inspired, yet she believes.

This experience apparently cements Sariah’s faith in the family mission. She may have entertained doubts when she feared that she would never again see her sons; but with their safe arrival, she praises Yahweh and affirms her belief in her husband’s call. This experience is what Camille Fronk, professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, terms Sariah’s “epiphany in the desert.” It is the experience that provided a “needed matriarch, weathered by her own trials of faith and armed with her own unwavering witness, to stand steadfast with her prophet-husband.”

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1

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