Blessings in the "Furnace of Affliction" - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Twenty (1 Nephi 20, see also Isaiah 48)

It seems appropriate that the first words we hear from Isaiah are written as though it were the Savior Himself speaking. Nephi is showing his brothers and us how the Lord views the men and women of the world—his imperfect children. We call it writing in a “Messianic voice” because it is meant to represent the Messiah’s thoughts and intentions.

God does not choose His spokesmen lightly. So it seems important to provide a little description of who Isaiah was. The Latter-day Saint Bible Dictionary tells us that in Hebrew, his name means “The Lord is salvation,” and then provides the following description (in italics below):

Son of Amoz, a prophet in Jerusalem during 40 years, 740–701 B.C. He had great religious and political influence during the reign of Hezekiah, whose chief advisor he was. Tradition states that he was “sawn asunder” during the reign of Manasseh; for that reason he is often represented in art holding a saw.

Chapter 6 of Isaiah implies that he was called to be a prophet by the Lord while in the temple (probably signifying that he served as a high priest in the Temple of Solomon, probably in the “holy of holies” where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, covered with a lid known as the “mercy seat” that appeared to be a kind of throne attended by angels). At the time, the people of Israel had been divided into a northern kingdom (known as the Kingdom of Israel) centered in Samaria and a southern kingdom (Kingdom of Judah) centered in Jerusalem. Isaiah represented the Lord to the leaders and people of Judah, and the Kingdom of Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrians during Isaiah’s tenure as a prophet. The defeat of Israel and persistent threat to Judah doubtless provided some of the context for his prophecies about tribulation, captivity, and renewed freedom.

More on Jewish traditions regarding who Isaiah was and his eventual fate can be found in the Jewish Encyclopedia here.  

In addition to providing some of the most compelling accounts of the Savior’s life, death, Resurrection, and Second Coming found in scripture, Isaiah prophesied about many key events that would befall the people of Israel and Judah. By starting with a part of Isaiah’s writings known today as Chapter 48 (with slight changes given that the record Nephi transcribed from the brass plates was probably a bit more accurate than the version handed down through the generations over 2,000 years before being translated into English), Nephi puts us right in the middle of the action. Previous chapters in Isaiah explain that Jerusalem will be ransacked and the people will be taken captive by the armies of Babylon (which happens in 587 B.C.), but that Cyrus of Persia will conquer Babylon (which happens in 538 B.C.) and allow the Jews to return to their land.

For Nephi’s family, the capture of Jerusalem is a current event, and the liberation of the Jews about 40 years off. Clearly, Nephi is using Isaiah’s account from the brass plates to reassure his brothers that their departure from Jerusalem was necessary. But of course there’s more to it. At this point, there’s no going back after their long sea voyage. So what’s the point of sharing this passage from Isaiah?

I’m not sure there’s only one correct answer, but here’s my opinion. Nephi knows that he and his family have left everything they knew and are now starting over in a completely new place. There is great loneliness in this enterprise, and also it’s very easy to feel cut off from your heritage. So this chapter from Isaiah is important because it reminds them of the following fundamental truths at a time when they are very vulnerable:

• The Lord is in charge (not we or any other “idol” whose value we sometimes overestimate—money, worldly leaders, technology).

• The Lord’s people do not escape the sufferings of life, as verse 10 says they are “chosen” in the “furnace of affliction.” (In fact, in some way that we probably cannot fully comprehend or appreciate, it appears that challenges are a necessary part of growth for those who want to become closer to God.)

• Most importantly, the Lord wants desperately to bless us. And not just a little, but in great abundance.

And so, as we puzzle through Isaiah’s poetic and symbolic language, we can detect a basic invitation being extended. Come out of Babylon (wickedness), and “come ye near unto me [the Lord]” (verse 16). If you do this, you will reap blessings that are both named—peace as a river, righteousness as the waves of the sea, seed (offspring) as the sands (verses 18-19)—and strongly implied (redemption and eternal salvation). And you don’t have to physically return to Jerusalem to reap these blessings. They are accessible half a world away on an undiscovered continent as well. This is a message that should not be lost on Nephi’s family, having left all the comforts of life behind for affliction, and now just beginning to get used to new comforts from the prosperity of the promised land.

In the Lord’s reminders of His relationship to us and how He can bless us in a way incomparable to anyone or anything else, we hear echoes of what He has already done. When Isaiah writes that the Lord has both declared and shown “former things from the beginning,” I can't help but imagine, in addition to the Exodus from Egypt (verse 21), and the Creation (verse 13), a time before we were born, when our spirits lived in the Lord’s presence and He showed and taught us many things.   

There’s this wonderful sense of the Lord’s merciful nature all through the chapter. He will not forget those who have stumbled, and will continue reaching out for as long as possible to give them second chances. But in the chapter’s final verse, Isaiah speaks for the Lord with a very terse warning (meant for us as well as for Laman and Lemuel): “And notwithstanding he hath done all this, and greater also, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.”

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/20?lang=eng. Isaiah 48 is available here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/48?lang=eng.

Looking to Christ: Our Constant in Past, Present and Future - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Nineteen (1 Nephi 19)

Time is an interesting thing with the Lord. According to the little we know, the past, present and future is rolled out like a single scroll before Him. Our linear reckoning of events is something we have to accept as a condition of being on earth. The sensory experiences and basic human needs (water, food, shelter) of the present dominate our lives to such a degree that we need to make a great conscious effort to see the here and now in light of the past or of what we expect or hope to come in the future.

These realities seem to be on Nephi’s mind as he and his family begin their new lives in the “promised land” (American continent). We get a few short verses at the end of the previous chapter telling us of their arrival and their immediate material prosperity. But the rest of this book of scripture appears to be Nephi’s attempt to remind his family members and us of past prophecies of events that they and we need to keep in mind as they and we move forward in our lives. He’s basically trying to help us realize that the Lord can help us get a glimpse of how that single scroll should read when we make decisions that determine who we are becoming.

There’s an episode of the popular television show “Lost” that comes to mind. In the episode, one of the main characters finds himself traveling ever faster back and forth between the present and a specific point in the past—literally being transported through time in each instance. The frequency of time travel is so disorienting that it threatens his survival. While in the past, he finds a professor of physics who tells him to find something that is a “constant”—a fixed point that remains important for him no matter where (or when) he is. By locating and latching on to this constant in his life, the character is able to come to grips with the present in a way that saves himself.

Here, it’s clear that Nephi is presenting Jesus Christ as our constant. Just as faith in Christ led Nephi to look ahead and do what was necessary to get his family to the promised land after they had reached the land Bountiful, faith in Christ leads Nephi to turn his family’s attention back to familiar promises once they reach the promised land. In this case, because redemption in Christ is the answer for all times and places, looking back is looking ahead. Or at least preparing Nephi’s family for the challenges they will face in a way that helps us draw lessons for our own lives.

In this case, Nephi’s efforts include reading the records of the prophets of Israel and Judah to his family, but don’t end there. As we read his words, we realize that he is describing for us the process of making new scripture. We have already learned about the two different sets of metal plates that Nephi made (small and large) and used to make a record of his people. He tells us shortly after his family arrived in the promised land is the moment in time when Nephi fashioned those sets of plates and began the process of recording events, memories and impressions. Again, what we are reading comes from the small plates, which are devoted to particularly sacred things. So he’s not concentrating on all the details of who did what where and when, except for what really matters.

And that’s Christ. So what is important enough for Nephi to share about Jesus?

• That Jesus, the God of Israel, will humble Himself in such a way that He will live a mortal existence in linear time, just as we do.

• That He will yield Himself to the judgment of wicked men who will lift Him up, crucify Him, and bury Him in a sepulchre (verse 10).

• That all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, and He will bless “every nation, kindred, tongue and people” with the chance to be gathered in. The flip side is that those who have resisted this open invitation from the Lord to be gathered will find desolation instead, though because the Lord’s love for them and power is so strong, even they may receive more chances.

• That there are so many witnesses of Jesus and the salvation He offers. Nephi’s account reveals to us the names of three prophets from the brass plates whose names have otherwise been lost in history: Zenos, Zenock and Neum.  

I get the impression that Nephi is earnestly pleading with his family—and, as always, particularly Laman and Lemuel—to recognize that they represent a branch of the Lord’s people He has promised to ultimately gather. To drive this point home, Nephi feels especially inspired to share the prophecies of perhaps the most powerful Old Testament-era witness of the Messiah: Isaiah.

He explains why he reads Isaiah to his family by saying that, more than other writings found in the brass plates, Isaiah’s writings can “fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer.” He tells us that he encourages his family to “hear ye the words of the prophet” and to “liken the scriptures unto yourselves, that ye may have hope” (verse 24). Hope? Hope in what? It’s not too difficult to guess—again, hope in Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life.

It’s quite clear that Nephi isn’t simply documenting what he said to his family. More importantly, he’s telling us that his earnest plea to them to heed Isaiah’s message applies to us too. After all, Isaiah’s prophecies are renowned for having more than one meaning. When Nephi shared them with his family, Jesus’ coming in the flesh was the main topic because that was their future. But in applying these teachings to us, he is referring to the important part of Isaiah’s prophecies for our future. That is Christ’s Second Coming. In both cases, the Lord has spoken through Isaiah so that those who look back to him receive help in learning how to look ahead in their lives to Christ in some way, either on earth or in the next life.

With this chapter, Nephi sets the stage for him and his younger brother Jacob to share a total of 19 chapters from Isaiah’s prophecies by directly copying them from the brass plates into the plates constituting the records of their people. By doing this, Nephi and Jacob indicate to us that Isaiah’s writings are not just valuable to us as poetry or as evidence for how people worshipped 2,500 years ago, but as something whose value and vitality has actually increased rather than decreased over time.

So if you only take one thing away from this chapter, it should be the importance of learning to know and love the teachings of Isaiah. We’ll have that chance over many other chapters to come!

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/19?lang=eng 

Constant Faith Amid Turbulence - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Eighteen (1 Nephi 18)

As we finish the previous chapter, Nephi has stood up to his brothers Laman and Lemuel and shown them an undeniable manifestation of the power of God that is with him. Here, we witness how miraculous an effect Nephi’s demonstration has had. His brothers turn from his worst ridiculers to his uncomplaining helpers in the project to build the ship that is to take them to the promised land. More importantly, they are back on the same page in their humility and reverence before God. Still, we get hints that Nephi remains exceptionally vigilant in his efforts to know and do the Lord’s will. He tells us in verse 3 that he visits “the mount oft,” and the Lord shows him “great things.” These great things include, but do not seem limited to, how to build the ship.

Again, this family is not from a seafaring place, so they rely on the Lord’s specifications in constructing the ship. And it’s not clear what the finished product looks like, except that Nephi hints it may not look like what we typically picture when we think of a ship.

Finally, everything is ready, and the Lord tells Lehi it’s time to get his family and their provisions on board so they can shove off. During the wilderness journey, we learn that Lehi and Sariah have given birth to two additional sons named Jacob and Joseph.

The shallowness of Laman’s and Lemuel’s repentance becomes apparent many days into the journey. Everything seems to be proceeding well. Laman, Lemuel, the sons of Ishmael, and their wives begin “making merry,” apparently not just in a happy-go-lucky way, but pretty thoughtlessly and rudely.

Nephi, aware that their promises of safety and security are contingent on their humility before the Lord, attempts to speak to his brothers “with much soberness” (verse 10), presumably hoping to moderate their behavior. But the old resentment and envy returns, and Laman and Lemuel tie up Nephi. This shows how important leadership can be. I have wondered why Sam did not rush to Nephi’s defense, or at least why there’s no record of this in Nephi’s account. But perhaps I’m being too unrealistic or harsh. Nephi had developed his leadership qualities (most importantly, a strong determination to live by the Lord’s guidance) over time, and once he is out of the way, maybe we can’t just expect someone else to spring up in his place.

We learn that Lehi tries his best to get Laman and Lemuel to reconsider, but in his older age, it appears that Laman and Lemuel are unmoved by his entreaties. One of the saddest parts to this story is how selfish Laman and Lemuel show themselves to be in a setting where you’d expect everyone to be very mindful of the need to pull together. Usually on a ship, you try your best to get along with your crewmates, even if they’re complete strangers. We know this from the phrase, “we’re all in the same boat.” Here, however, Laman and Lemuel exhibit indifference to their own mother and father to the point of the parents’ near-death in their grief. Nephi fills out the scene for us with his tearful wife and distraught children and younger brothers.

And it appears as though the Lord is going to let Laman and Lemuel reap the full consequences of their actions. There is no miracle to deliver Nephi from their pettiness.

We learn that, far from being on automatic pilot, the family is very dependent on the Liahona to guide them on the waters, just as it guided them on land. Once Nephi is bound, the compass doesn’t work. And, in addition, a big storm kicks up, threatening the ship with destruction. After four days of this, the selfish survival impulse finally goads Laman and Lemuel into untying Nephi.

It’s important that we recognize Nephi’s faithfulness throughout the ordeal. Had he not continued to praise God during his afflictions, things could have ended disastrously for the family. It seems as though they were on the verge of being “swallowed up in the depths of the sea” (verse 20).

So don’t take for granted what Nephi is able to do. Only from great patience and resilience is he able to be in the right frame of mind and spirit to get the Liahona to work again and to pray to the Lord to calm the storm. Although Nephi is not the Savior, through his actions as a prophet (and thus a representative) of the Lord we get a taste of the kind of power Jesus Himself will later show in calming the Sea of Galilee amid great turmoil and fear among those around Him. To not let a turbulent environment and panicked people affect your faith is an uncommon accomplishment reflecting great discipline and wisdom accumulated over time (though everyone can work at it). As the family reaches the promised land, Nephi is going to need every bit of his faith and strength with the challenges he will face. And, of course, Nephi’s example is a lesson to us to build up our own reserves of faith and strength as we strive after the “promised land” in our own lives.

The chapter ends on a note indicating how abundantly Lehi’s family is blessed by their new surroundings from the very beginning. Looking back on their journey, it becomes all the more miraculous when we consider that the likeliest route from the Arabian Peninsula to the American continent took the family across two oceans (the Indian and Pacific) in an age of navigation 2,100 years before Columbus.   

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/18?lang=eng

Using Lessons from Israel's History to Build a Boat - First Book of Nephi, Chapter Seventeen (1 Nephi 17)

In this chapter, we really begin to see the gap in spiritual perception and power widen between Nephi and Laman/Lemuel.

But first, Nephi fast forwards his account ahead in time. It’s now been eight years since Lehi’s family left Jerusalem. It is not clear from Nephi’s narrative why it takes them this long to reach the seaside area they call Bountiful. It may be in part because Lehi’s group is taking its time, but more than 500 years later in the Book of Mormon the prophet Alma the Younger explains to his son Helaman that the slothfulness and lack of faith and diligence shown by the group rendered the Liahona (compass) inoperative—preventing the group from traveling a direct course, and afflicting the people with hunger and thirst (Alma 37:41-42). Nephi tells us that during these eight years of arduous wilderness life and a diet of raw meat, their women have had children and have held up with little complaint.

As mentioned in the last chapter, Bountiful may correspond with the present-day area of Salalah in Oman, located on the Arabian Sea coastline and known for relative fertility (especially when compared with the desert climate to which Lehi’s group is accustomed) because of occasional monsoons (rainy seasons)—see the picture below.

As comforted as Lehi’s group probably is after finding a relatively fruitful area, this is not the ultimate promised land the Lord has in store for them. There is this interesting passage where the voice of the Lord tells Nephi to head to a nearby mountain to communicate with Him. I always imagine Nephi being suddenly awakened in the pre-dawn hour by this voice, gradually shaking off the fatigue as he ascends the mount, and then earnestly crying out to know what the Lord would have him do.

We find out that the Lord is stretching Nephi beyond what he has done before. People from Jerusalem are not generally known as seafarers, yet the Lord tells Nephi that He will show him how to build a ship to get the group to the promised land, if they can keep His commandments. Nephi shows his typical faith by immediately asking the Lord where he can find metal in the ground to make the tools he’ll need to construct the boat. Thus, the preparations begin.

But his brethren (Laman and Lemuel) have other ideas. I can imagine that after all their traveling, Laman and Lemuel are probably thinking that they’ve finally found someplace halfway decent, and now Nephi is going to try to get them to commit suicide by convincing everyone to get on an amateur-built boat going who-knows-where.

This is where the gap between the brothers in spiritual perception and power becomes very apparent. Laman and Lemuel insist not only that Nephi is foolish in trying to build a boat, but that the whole project of leaving Jerusalem is a mistake. They go on to claim (despite their own experiences with the deceitful Laban to the contrary) that the people still in Jerusalem are righteous—hinting that Lehi was wrong when he warned of the city’s impending destruction and the captivity of his inhabitants.

But Laman and Lemuel are way out of their depth. When they showed discouragement after failing to get the brass plates from Laban in Jerusalem, Nephi had rallied their spirits by referring to a story from their heritage—the miracles of Moses leading their Israelite ancestors out of captivity from Egypt (1 Nephi 4:2). Nephi does something similar here, but his teaching is far more detailed and powerful. Instead of merely referencing the parting of the Red Sea, he connects the immediate circumstances he and his brothers face with the entire history of the people of Israel. 

My belief is that Nephi has now had eight years to drink in the stories and lessons of Israel’s history from examining the brass plates. Because he has been “studying his scriptures” regularly, and Laman and Lemuel have not, it really shows in Nephi’s ability to use those scriptural examples to convey the truth that the Lord “raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked” (verse 37). In doing so, Nephi exposes the false nature of Laman’s and Lemuel’s narrative.

Essentially, Nephi’s argument demonstrates to Laman and Lemuel that the people of Israel did not gain freedom from Egypt and seize the land of Canaan from its earlier inhabitants simply because the Lord loves them more or because their birth into the tribes of Israel makes them inherently more worthy or better than other peoples. These blessings came through obedience to the word of the Lord. Even then, the people of Israel had not been perfect in their obedience, but for a time they were more obedient than others. Now, this had changed, and that’s why Lehi was warned that Jerusalem was doomed and they had to leave. It was also why they needed to listen to the Lord now in the matter of building a ship to get to the promised land. Nephi is trying to help Laman and Lemuel realize that if they don’t come around to what the Lord is commanding him to do, they will regret it.

I’d like to emphasize two very important passages. One is where Nephi relates an account from when Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness after fleeing Egypt. As the Old Testament also teaches (Num. 21:4-9), the Lord plagued the Israelites with some sort of poisonous snakes (“fiery serpents”) because of their disobedience. The antidote to the poison was to have anyone who was bitten look at a brass serpent that Moses had raised on a pole at the Lord’s instruction. Seems pretty simple, right? Well, according to Nephi (in verse 41), several of the Israelites thought it was too simple. They couldn’t believe that just looking at something could heal them. And so tragically, many Israelites died because they weren’t humble enough to consider that the simple way of open-minded faith was more important than anything else.

The second passage is where Nephi remarks that despite all the experiences Laman and Lemuel have had with the Lord’s angel and His “still small voice,” they have shown themselves to be “past feeling.” So the Lord has had to get their attention by essentially raising his voice at them.

There are huge lessons for us in these teachings, and we see Nephi’s faith bear fruit when he wards off Laman’s and Lemuel’s threats against him with a physical manifestation of the Lord’s power. Previously, Nephi had to rely on others to coax Laman and Lemuel out of their harmful intentions. Now, his power in and through the Lord is enough that he is self-sufficient. It is enough to literally shock some sense into Laman and Lemuel. But for how long?

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/17?lang=eng