There's Nothing Like Family - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Seven (1 Nephi 7)

The theme of family permeates everything in these chapters. The whole story is centered around the ups and down of Lehi and his family. The Lord had Lehi send his sons to Jerusalem to get records so that future generations would learn inspired lessons from the past and preserve their language. And now, in this chapter, the Lord tells Lehi that his sons should go back to Jerusalem one more time in order to make sure that they could start families of their own. As we shall see, the return trip will dearly test their family's unity,

The direction from the Lord through Lehi is very specific. His sons are instructed to bring Ishmael and Ishmael's family into the wilderness. Who is Ishmael? We don't know. But there seems to be a decent chance that Ishmael, Lehi, and their families had some prior acquaintance. It only takes two verses (4-5) for Lehi's sons to arrive at Ishmael's house, "gain favor" with him, and share the Lord's words (presumably about the errand they had been sent on, and the grim future for those who don't abandon Jerusalem) in such a way that the Lord softens the hearts of Ishmael and his family, and they join Lehi's sons for the return trip. There's a joke among Latter-day Saints that--unlike the first trip to get the plates--none of the sons murmured when sent to go get wives. There are also questions left unanswered. Why two separate trips? Why the plates first and the wives second? Perhaps it had to do with not complicating the already dangerous nature of the first mission, or with the sons having to prove themselves in procuring the generational heirlooms that the records represent before being blessed with families of their own. In any event, that was what the Lord required.

Then the plot thickens. We already have a sense of the shakiness of Laman and Lemuel. After going back to Jerusalem for the second time, and now having future wives in tow, after they begin journeying in the unforgiving wilderness, I imagine (but can't be sure) that they were tempted by the idea of returning to the comforts of the city and settling down, rather than struggling for their existence in an unpredictable way. The rebellion splits the family of Ishmael, with Ishmael and his wife on the side of Nephi and some of the others who are focused on joining Lehi's camp.

Again, Nephi proves himself unusually wise for a younger brother. He is direct with Laman and Lemuel but does not respond to their confrontational approach in kind. Instead of fighting back, he reminds them of something they already know, a promise of a new, bright future that--even with their rebellion--remains open to them, but only if they have enough good judgment to leave Jerusalem behind once and for all. To us, this seems like an inspired attempt by Nephi to resolve conflict constructively. But as things play out, we see a sad pattern recurring, where even though Nephi only has his brothers' well-being at heart, they (through willfullness, cluelessness, or a little of both) insist he is being an annoying, arrogant brat who doesn't know his place and is intentionally infuriating them with his holier-than-thou lectures.

Probably the biggest lesson for us is found in verses 10-12. Nephi asks three different times how it is that his brothers have forgotten the things the Lord has already shown them. If there's danger in forgetting, it's clear Nephi is communicating to us how crucial it is to remember those things that we receive from God.

And then there's this remarkable sequence. Laman and Lemuel escalate their response to such a degree that they tie Nephi up and are willing to leave him for dead in the desert. This is not just a brotherly scuffle, there are now serious consequences on the line. But Nephi has such great faith that the Lord literally bursts his bands. After initially getting even madder at their inability to get anything over on their little brother, Laman and Lemuel are calmed down by the others in their traveling party, and then realize that they've gotten carried away. And as irrefutable proof of Nephi's selfless charity, he immediately extends his forgiveness when they ask for it. The chapter then appropriately ends with everyone reunited at Lehi's camp displaying gratitude for their blessings and deliverance--with the theme of family again at the very center of things.

You can read the chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/7?lang=eng.

Emphasizing What Is Most Precious - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Six (1 Nephi 6)

At this point in our narrative, Nephi pauses and explains something to us. Whenever our narrator (Nephi in the first part of the book, and Mormon later) does this, it's clear he wants us to focus on something specific.

In this case, Nephi is drawing a distinction between two types of records. There's the full history, where you get a lot of detail about what happened and there's plenty of space devoted to long recitations of genealogical descent (Lehi was the son of so-and-so, who was the son of...). This is necessary because it preserves a large amount of information for future generations.

The second type of record is more selective, and Nephi tells us that what he is writing is more along the lines of this type of record. He is being very careful to include those things which will "persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved." Whatever from Nephi's history is most instructive in helping us recognize how the Lord operates and how this can benefit us ("things which are pleasing unto God"), Nephi plans to inscribe on his gold plates. The full history, Nephi tells us, has already apparently been recorded by his father Lehi. Lehi passed down the larger plates that he used for this full history through his descendants, and those plates (after being abridged by the prophet Mormon nearly a thousand years later) become the basis for most of the last three-fourths of the book.

There's an interesting thing that I was taught at USC 20 years ago in a college institute class I began taking before I was baptized. When the term "these plates" is used in this first part of the book (all the way to the end of the Book of Omni), that is referring to the more selective record Nephi started, also known as the "small plates." When the term "plates of Nephi" is used, that is referring to the full history Lehi started, also known as the "large plates." This is actually explained three chapters later, but now that we've gotten this out of the way, we can have a different discussion when we come to that chapter (1 Nephi 9).

Further description of the small and large plates is provided in one of the book's introductory sections, the Brief Explanation (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/explanation?lang=eng):

The Plates of Nephi, which were of two kinds: the small plates and the large plates. The former were more particularly devoted to spiritual matters and the ministry and teachings of the prophets, while the latter were occupied mostly by a secular history of the peoples concerned (1 Nephi 9:2–4). From the time of Mosiah, however, the large plates also included items of major spiritual importance.

So what we find out from Nephi's explanation is that the first part of the Book of Mormon is jampacked with stories and teachings very specially selected for us to consider for our spiritual edification. Knowing this, we can think back to the first chapters about the adventures of Lehi's family with an even greater sense of seriousness. Additionally, we are now prepared to continue the adventures in the coming chapters with a new perspective. We can constantly ask in our minds as we read, "Why did Nephi want us to read this? What is he showing us?" I believe that essentially Nephi is helping us uncover mysteries about the nature of God's plan for our salvation by involving us in the process, inviting us to think more deeply about how the Lord can intervene and provide guidance to real people living in the world, whether to Nephi and his family or to you and me, through the saving and enlightening power of Jesus Christ.

You can read the chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/6?lang=eng.

Obtaining a Land of Promise...and Family Unity - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Five (1 Nephi 5)

While Nephi and his brothers are away in Jerusalem, we learn a lot about the love and anxiety a mother feels through their mother Sariah. The scene shifts to Sariah and Lehi in the wilderness, presumably after a few weeks have passed with no word from the boys.

Now think of it from Sariah's point of view. Your husband has told you that you need to leave the only place you've known (with all your possessions and family ties and friends) immediately. You leave a comfortable house, spend two weeks wandering, and then end up camping in the desert--indefinitely. Then, your husband sends your sons back to where you came from on a dangerous mission, and your entire future depends on the success of that mission.

It seems as though Sariah has been extremely accommodating and patient throughout this entire process. But one day, it just all seems like a little too much, and she complains to Lehi about these visions of his.

Lehi's response is very interesting. He freely admits that yes, he's had all these visions, and explains in a way to his wife that seems much more tender and compassionate than defensive. What Sariah is concerned has become a burden is clearly seen by Lehi as a great blessing, because he has been powerfully convinced by what he has seen, heard and felt (what he seems to call the "goodness of the Lord") that had they not heeded the warning to leave Jerusalem they'd all be dead or soon be dead.

And what's even more astonishing is what he says in verse 5. Not only does he feel as though leaving Jerusalem was a blessing, he sees his family's current status as strangers in a strange land as something to rejoice in. He says that he has obtained a "land of promise," and insists that he knows that his boys will return. It's an amazing lesson in how everything depends on your perspective. It's instructive that Lehi does not say that he will obtain a land of promise in the future when they reach their final destination (even though that's true as well), but that he has already obtained it. For me, it's a great way to remember to appreciate whatever I have around me when I know that I am watched over by a Heavenly Father who loves me. If He truly does provide us with direction when we ask for it (and I'm convinced He does), then we too can rejoice that we have already obtained a land of promise, come what may, whether it is a real place or a state of mind about embracing what life gives us.  

To Sariah's credit, she hasn't had the direct benefit of these experiences, and so she's doing her best to rely on Lehi's word. It seems as though the great confidence he shows helps comfort her so she is able to endure the wait a little longer until her sons find their way home. Then, as Nephi records their joyful reunion, he also writes that Sariah has gained a certain knowledge that the Lord has warned and protected them. It's a touching way to show how two people who love each other find a way to work things out and grow closer through both adversity and joy. Their closeness as husband and wife will be critical as they face more challenges ahead.

The end of the chapter contains a nice segment where Lehi reads the record that his sons have brought from Jerusalem, traces the heritage of their family from Joseph in Egypt to the present, and prophesies about the important role the record will play in blessing future generations of their family. It shows how valuable it is to document special family experiences.

You can read the chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/5?lang=eng

The Lord's Way - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Four (1 Nephi 4)

In the two Star Trek movies The Wrath of Khan (1982) and The Search for Spock (1984), the main characters end up pursuing objectives in the different films that seem to be in complete opposition to one another. In the first movie, Mr. Spock sacrifices his life for the rest of his crew after saying, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. It's logical." In the second, Captain Kirk says, "The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many," to explain to his crew why they are risking their lives to rescue a reborn Spock.

These moments are reflections of events found in the Bible. With regard to sacrificing one person for the greater good, God the Father sacrificed His own Son (Jesus) for all of humanity, and we see other examples of this, most notably with Abraham when he was willing to sacrifice the very son (Isaac) who had come miraculously in his wife Sarah's old age. (In Isaac's case, the Lord intervened by providing a ram to sacrifice so that his life was ultimately spared). With regard to the need sometimes to turn from a larger group to help save an individual soul, Jesus taught of the shepherd leaving his other 99 sheep in search for the one who was lost.

The lesson from these examples is that the Lord's plan for how we are to act can be different depending on the specific circumstances we face. It can deeply test our faith, because in certain situations, we may learn and feel very clearly what we are supposed to do, while knowing that following that course of action will be very hard to explain to those around us, in particular those we know and love.

This is Nephi's dilemma in a nutshell. When we left him and his brothers, the angel of the Lord had just promised them that the Lord would deliver Laban into their hands. Not knowing what exactly that meant, Nephi nevertheless relies on his faith in God. He scales the city wall and starts walking, claiming to be guided by the Holy Spirit. He is walking in the general direction of Laban's house when he comes upon Laban lying on the street in drunkenness. 

The Spirit then tells Nephi to kill Laban. At first, we recoil along with Nephi at this idea. The Spirit has to speak to Nephi twice more before he is willing to consider shedding Laban's blood. Essentially, the Spirit teaches Nephi's that this is the way for his family to have the records they need to establish their new civilization. To be honest, I'm still not sure I understand why this needed to happen the way it did, other than it teaches us the principle that faith and obedience are difficult in practice because they require us to act in reliance on something beyond our own preconceived notions of what makes sense.

   

It is important to note that our Church's leaders have been very clear that in our day, the Lord will not have us do something--like with Nephi--contrary to what He has already commanded. A previous Church president, Harold B. Lee, said, "When there is to be anything different from that which the Lord has told us already, He will reveal it to His prophet [the president of the Church] and no one else."

But in this very exceptional case, Nephi proves his faith by killing Laban and pretending to be him (using his voice, clothing, and armor) to get the brass plates (the all-important record) from Laban's treasury with the help of one of Laban's servants, who is named Zoram.

Presumably because Nephi realized that he couldn't leave Zoram behind as a witness to put the people of Jerusalem on his family's trail (after the inevitable discovery of Laban's body), Nephi has Zoram follow him out of the city to his brothers. When Zoram hears Nephi call to Laman, Lemuel and Sam in his own voice, he realizes that Nephi is not Laban, and thinks to run back to Jerusalem. 

Nephi is a very strong man, so he restrains Zoram from fleeing and calms him by promising that he and his brothers will not harm Zoram if Zoram is willing to come with them and join their family in the wilderness. I guess we might wonder at what Zoram might be leaving behind, but all we know is that Zoram quickly agreed to Nephi's terms, so it is likely that Zoram did not have much of possessions or prospects to motivate him to stay in Jerusalem, especially after realizing he had unknowingly helped his former master's killer and would probably have to answer for it if he stayed. Many of us in our day, who are used to deception and double crosses, may think it's extremely naive and unrealistic for Nephi and Zoram to trust each other in this situation. However, the long-held traditions of the Middle East put such value on a man's word or oath that it's perfectly natural to accept that once the two had exchanged oaths, they didn't give such matters a second thought. 

So, it didn't exactly go as planned, but ultimately the brothers find themselves heading back toward their family with the plates in hand, and an extra man at their side.

Read the chapter here: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/4?lang=eng