Jacob informs his readers that Sherem’s intention was directed at Jacob’s faith in the coming atoning Messiah. Perhaps Sherem did not understand what lay behind Jacob’s faith. Jacob’s foundation was particularly strong, for he had seen angels and they had ministered to him. He had heard the voice of Jehovah speaking to him. His spiritual experiences were sufficient foundation that his faith could not be moved.
Most of Jacob’s readers do not have that quantity of quality experiences upon which to build our faith, but we typically have at least one. To have our faith shaken, that experience must also be shaken. So many are able to do so. As humans we are excellent as rationalizing, and it is possible for us, unlike Jacob, to reexamine our spiritual experience, or experiences, and find reasons why they should not be a building block of our faith.
Although we may never have the number or type of experiences that Jacob had, we do need to revisit our foundational experiences with the Spirit, to keep them alive in us. We need to be able to call upon them to remind ourselves to have patience in learning and in understanding. We may have Sherems come to us, and we may not be as unshakeable as Jacob. We can, however, withstand through our own experience—as long as we keep it alive and do not hedge it around with excuses and rationalizations.