Now, as we come into Chapter 2, we find the Lord speaking to Lehi in a dream. First, he provides words of comfort and reassurance that Lehi has been doing exactly as he should, even though he’s not getting a lot of love and smiles from the people of the city. In fact, in this dream, the Lord commands Lehi to take his family and leave Jerusalem.
Very matter of factly, the narrative tells us that Lehi did as he was told, and the story moves on to tell us about Lehi abandoning his home and possessions. He and his family depart with necessary supplies and provisions, and the story follows them into the wilderness and a completely new life.
Before we follow the narrative any further, though, it’s important to recognize the significance of what just took place. This faith of this man must have been enormous for him to simply pick up and leave. It appears he had accumulated some wealth, and he is willing to leave that behind without hesitation. Not only that, but all the comforts of the identity and status he and his family had spent their lives cultivating.
What’s even more astounding about Lehi’s faith is that after what appears to be a fairly arduous trek in one of the hotter areas on earth (probably about two weeks – scholars tell us about 12 days to get to the Red Sea from Jerusalem, and then verse 6 tells us 3 more days after that), the first thing Lehi does after arriving at their temporary home in a river valley is to build an altar to offer sacrifices in gratitude to the Lord.
(See the possible route Lehi and his family took here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32506/32506_000_057_04-possibleroute.pdf)
So he’s not only obeying. He’s joyfully and thankfully obeying despite great personal sacrifice. Of course, because of Lehi’s faith, he has a good reason to be thankful. What his sons Laman (lay-man) and Lemuel (lem-yoo-uhl) think is a terrible burden of leaving all that they had, Lehi knows is actually a huge blessing of being able to escape an impending catastrophe.
Which leads us to the very important distinction that we are introduced to in this chapter. Between those who “murmur” (Laman and Lemuel, in this case), and those who give Lehi the benefit of the doubt and decide to go directly to the Lord to find out for themselves. This is where Nephi (our narrator), is introduced as a character in the story. He is the youngest of four sons, but because of his desires to know more of God, we see that he is being prepared to become the family leader. This echoes some of the Old Testament accounts we have of younger brothers like Jacob and Joseph who were given greater responsibilities than their older brothers.
In fact, the tension between those who seek to keep the Lord’s commandments (Nephi and his brother Sam) and those who murmur (Laman and Lemuel) is one of the key threads that winds throughout the Book of Mormon and the account of the civilizations that will spring from this one family. The Lord is very clear up front that those who keep the commandments will prosper, and those who don’t won’t. “Prosperity” here is more about ultimate happiness through personal contentment and family togetherness than it is about material wealth.
Here's the link to the chapter: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/2?lang=eng
Also see this video clip (starting from 7:28):
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