Searching the prophets was a catalyst for receiving revelation and producing miracles among the faithful Nephites. After searching the prophets, even the trees, the mountains, and the waves of the sea obeyed their commands in the name of Jesus (v. 6). They discovered then what Jesus taught and exemplified hundreds of years later: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove” (Matthew 17:20). After he calmed the sea they marveled: “even the winds and the seas obey him” (Matthew 8:27), and the very trees obey him (see Mark 11:12–14). The faithful Jaredites of the Book of Mormon had the same power, “the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed” (Ether 12:30). The Book of Mormon thus gives us two witnesses of the power of the priesthood. It also gives us two witnesses of why the Lord shows us our weaknesses. We must learn that it is only through “his grace and his great condescension” that men have the power of the priesthood to do these things (Jacob 4:7). Again from the Jaredite record we get a second witness: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27).
Another lesson taught by Jacob is that we must recognize the greatness of God. In our efforts to teach that man is in the image of God, we sometimes fail to recognize that he and his attributes are beyond our comprehension. Jacob says “it is impossible that man should find out all his ways” (Jacob 4:8). Nor could we understand them if we knew all of them. Our source of knowledge is revelation from him. “Unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Nephi 28:30; cp Isaiah 28:13). Therefore, Jacob admonishes, “Despise not the revelation of God” (Jacob 4:8). God’s power comes by the power of his word (v. 9). He speaks and the earth or the elements obey. Therefore when he speaks the elements are organized as he directs. “The word create came from the [Hebrew] word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize” ( TPJS, 350). Thus, God organized and placed man on the earth “by the power of his word” as Jacob teaches. He still governs the earth by the same power. However, man has his agency and does not always obey, therefore he is less than the dust of the earth (see Helaman 12:7–19). Our challenge is to learn the Lord’s will and pleasure (Jacob 4:9) and to follow his counsel. Mankind is prone to tell God what ought to be done rather than to seek his direction of perfect wisdom, justice, and mercy (v. 10).