1:1
Nephi introduces himself and partially explains the reasons for writing his record in the first verse. Let’s review his introduction:
“I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father…” Nephi was raised by good parents. They were admired and responsible. Lehi was obviously successful but this adjective relates to their character. As good, responsible people, they taught their children. Lehi taught Nephi ALL the learning of his father. That was likely a lot. I would bet that most of this learning was of a spiritual nature. I wish that, when my children were young, that I would have taught them more about the gospel like Lehi.
“…and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days…” Nephi’s afflictions have been what strengthens him. He is a valiant disciple of Christ - not through the easy times - but through the hardships. We don’t enjoy trials when they happen, but they are the classrooms and proving grounds of this mortal experience. (This isn’t Nephi writing as it’s happening. He’s writing this some time after the fact. Some have estimated that he was in his fifties when he wrote this.)
“…yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God…” Did Nephi’s great knowledge come from his father alone? I don’t think so. Was this knowledge implanted through revelation only? No. Nephi obviously did a lot of learning. He put effort into his study. The Spirit certainly opened his mind and taught him and opened his understanding. But, The Spirit only assists and supports us in OUR effort. The Spirit doesn’t do things for us that we can do ourselves.
Because of all that has happened in Nephi’s life, he knows he needs to document it. “…therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.” I’m guessing that Nephi regretted not writing this as it was happening. It was likely a big project after the fact. It’s a good reminder that all of us should be writing a journal…
1:3
A few nights ago, I was speaking with my cousin who has left the church. He said that he “hated it when members of the church conflate belief with knowledge.” He didn’t like members saying that they “know the Church is true” when they were truly just acting in faith. This initiated a lengthy discussion about belief and knowledge.
When it comes down to it, we are all acting in faith. None of us have seen God in the flesh or handled the golden plates. Mortality was meant to be this way. We are meant to act in faith, separate from God. We had already spent millennia in God’s presence and had progressed as far as we could with him. We needed to “leave the house and make it on our own.” Him giving us undeniable proof basically invalidates this whole mortal experience. We are in a situation where we have to make good decisions based on faith - not knowledge.
So, in this way, all of our testimonies rely on faith. Having said that, there are things that I know.
I know a 23 year old Joseph Smith didn’t create the Book of Mormon from scratch or base it on any other book. After reading and studying it, I know this to be true.
I know I have seen, with my own eyes, miraculous healings in my presence.
I know that I have been given knowledge from an outside source at times.
I know that the likelihood of a staggering amount of coincidences all happening in my life is very small.
I know that baptisms for the dead is talked about in the Bible and our church is the only church who practices that.
I know that Christ’s church was set up with twelve apostles and our church is the only current church that follows that pattern.
I know that the scriptures talk about a lower and higher priesthood and our church is the only church that even claims to have them both.
I know that the universe naturally digresses into entropy and doesn’t naturally become more organized and complicated over time. Humans don’t eventually evolve from single cell creatures.
I could go on and on with the things that I know. I have never seen God but I know enough to know that this church is true. Nephi also talks about what he knows. “And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.” Nephi had experienced enough to know that what he was saying was true. “And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge.”
1:5
“Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.” I am amazed when I hear about those who pray with all of their heart. I struggle with this. I’m not totally sure why. It may be my ADHD or my lack of intimate relationship with God. I have a hard time offering a sincere, emotionally saturated with feeling prayer. I have been in some desperate times and still struggle with praying with “all of my heart.” I’m 52 so I should have this skill but, alas, I’m still working on it.
This verse is especially interesting because Lehi is praying “in behalf of his people.” These are the same people who are mocking him and are attempting to take his life. So…not only is he praying with all of his heart but he’s doing it for his adversaries. It gives us a great insight into the character of Lehi.
I think his relationship with Heavenly Father strengthened his love for others. If we love a father, we naturally love his children. So, I think the sincere prayer and the selfless love go hand in hand.
1:11-12
I think it’s interesting that Jesus and the twelve others appeared to Lehi in a dream and “came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.” What a glorious vision and what a common thing to do! You’d think that Jesus would make some incredible speech or offer a blessing or perform some miracle. But, what does He do? He gave Lehi a book.
It suggests the importance of books and our reading of them. We ALL can have a spiritual experience when reading a book. Books obviously fill a large role in our salvation! We perhaps don’t take full advantage of the books in our lives.
“And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.” I just want to say that this can happen to ANY of us. We can each be filled with the Spirit as we read the scriptures. Visions may be displayed in our minds as we read. I am almost always given important insight into the gospel, Jesus Christ and the purpose of life as I read. I certainly gain wisdom about how to have peace in this life and eternal life in heaven! That’s a big benefit from such a basic thing.
This society is perhaps not appreciating the power of books - especially scriptures. I think we could all do better in the honor and attention that we give to books. The Lord in all his glory leads with a book to Lehi. That says something!
1:19
“And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world.” Lehi is giving them some GOOD news about the “coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world.” Lehi’s message should have caused joy and peace in their minds. Instead, they were mad. They missed the main message.
They were focused on Lehi’s criticism of them. We tend to focus on the negative. We also tend to not like folks making us feel guilty. Our brains are amazing things. They work very hard to protect us from feeling bad. Our brains desperately want us to be the HERO of our story. We don’t like anyone telling us we’re not the hero. When someone attempts to criticize, our brains immediately figure out why the other person is stupid or unreasonable or misled. To our brains, the problem can’t possibly be us! Does any of this sound familiar?
We’ve got to resist this when we are being corrected or reprimanded or criticized. We should build the habit of taking a minute and considering that the other person may be right! We may be wrong. We may need to change or improve. If those people would have paused a minute and truly weighed what Lehi was saying, I think they would have seen their issues.
The mocking doesn’t surprise me either. One excuse that our brains use to disregard others’ criticism is to label the person an idiot. If the person is an idiot, then their criticism isn’t valid. Easy peasy. We need to restrain our brains from immediately bullying those who are reprimanding us. Part of the natural man is to be defensive. We have to actively fight against it.
1:20
“And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.” This is a great missionary scripture! The young missionaries of the world are made mighty in the face of opposition because of their faith.
If we are exercising faith in Jesus Christ, we will experience the tender mercies of the Lord. We can each be made mighty in our own ways through God’s power. I have faith in this. My efforts in spiritually strengthening myself and others have been multiplied - I’ve seen in firsthand. I have a testimony of this.
Certainly, young missionaries who are putting their entire lives into the Lord’s hands for 18 or 24 months will experience the Lord’s mercy to make them mighty!
2:2-4
“And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him. And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.” Lehi was an obedient disciple.
Consider the difficulty in being asked to leave all of your possessions and take only what you can carry with you. You can’t make arrangements for your possessions to be stored. What kind of commitment and obedience would you need to have to do that? He could have perhaps considered his dream simply a dream. Heaven knows I’ve had some pretty meaningless dreams! How many ways could he rationalize his way out of this? Lehi wasn’t about that!
Clearly, Lehi saw reality clearly. He knew that his material wealth meant nothing when compared to his righteousness and the survival of his family. He had an eternal perspective. He was “thinking celestial.” Compared to eternity with God, some gold candlesticks don’t seem that valuable.
How often do we put our comfort or our focus on worldly wealth ahead of building the kingdom of God. Does it happen everyday? Does it happen every week? In Lehi’s case, his life was on the line. I suspect that, for us, it will soon be that way. We will not be able to simply scoot along without demonstrating a deep and abiding commitment to the gospel and heavenly priorities.
2:7
"And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.” This also demonstrates Lehi’s priorities. Imagine the challenge with picking up and heading into the wilderness. How big of a project was that? His normal process for eating in comfort and sleeping on his own bed are gone. His temporal needs are shouting pretty loudly in his ear.
However, the first thing he does after pitching his tent was to build and altar and offer a sacrifice. This, again, demonstrates his spiritual priorities. There were likely one thousand other issues right in front of him that were urgent. He had the spiritual strength to do what was important over what was urgent. This doesn’t happen on it’s own. If we hope to be this way, we’ve got to work at this now. We can’t wait until the emergency to get our priorities straight.
2:9-10
“And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness! And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!” This is a great example of looking for teaching opportunities. Are there opportunities all around us with our friends and family and children where we could teach a spiritual principle? We should look for and take advantage of every chance we have to use the events around us to reach, teach and uplift others.
2:11
“Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.” This is a great example of what a good father should be! He doesn’t allow the “stiffneckedness” of his two oldest boys to dissuade him from teaching the gospel. He’s not focusing on their wickedness or bad decisions. He’s offering them encouragement while teaching principles. This is a good pattern that I can use in my own life with my own family.
Laman and Lemuel didn’t want to leave their riches. Instead of being grateful for their father’s leadership and spiritual guidance, they focused on the worldly things that they left behind. The things of this world were more important than following the Lord.
Instead of admitting this, they did the same thing that the public had done. They didn’t accept that they were the ones who needed to change. Instead of being repentant, their brains need them to be the hero. They need their parent to be a visionary man rather than them being losers. Instead of being worldly, they consider Lehi to be foolish.
When we are tempted to criticize someone else, especially a church leader, we should first look at ourselves and make sure that we aren’t being exactly like Lamar and Lemuel. The consequences may be large - it was for them.
2:12-13
“And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.” I think it’s interesting that Nephi points out that they are the eldest. I think Nephi considers it poor form that the eldest were murmuring. I also think that, when we feel we are close to the leaders, that we are in a position to criticize. I’ve often said that “familiarity breeds disrespect.” It’s the reason that spouses feel comfortable disrespecting each other. It’s why children will misbehave with their parents but not with the neighbors. Because Laman and Lemuel were the eldest they may have felt more comfortable disrespecting their parents.
They clearly put their faith in the world. They believed that their “great city” couldn’t possibly be destroyed. I think many people will feel exactly the same just before the prophesied destruction happens to our great cities.
Our current job is to know the “dealings of God.” We need to be familiar with how he works. We can grow to know his nature. It’s a beautiful process. These scriptures that Nephi was after certainly helped!
2:16
“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.” Do we have great desires to know the mysteries of God? I believe that the mysteries of God are the foundational principles of the plan of salvation. There aren’t any tricky, hocus-pocus mysteries that are hidden from those striving to be disciples.
The mysteries of God are about who God is, what are we doing here in mortality, the role of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation, how Christ’s atonement empowers us, how faith and hope are so important, what repentance really is and how that relates to the infinite grace of God and Jesus. These aren’t mystical, but they are hidden from the world generally. Without the Spirit, it’s nearly impossible to understand these “mysteries.”
When we know these key principles, our hearts are softened. We are open to direction from the Church or the Holy Ghost. We lose our pride and see things clearly with an eternal perspective. We are more willing to repent and be faithful.
2:19
“And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.” Diligence and humility are key ingredients in what makes us faithful disciples. When I am training a new photographer, if they are diligent and teachable, I can mold them into anything. I think God is the same way with us and guiding us into higher levels of righteousness. Both are needed for meaningful progress.
3:7
“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” This scripture is well-used. Any member of the Church is very familiar with this one.
I love the verbs “go” and “do.” These are better verbs than “getting ready for” or “fixing to one day” or “thinking about doing.” Go and do are action verbs. They suggest moving forward. They mean progress.
Sometimes we think about something too long. We have a prompting to do something and then our brains want to reevaluate and plan. Pretty soon, we end up not doing anything at all! When we are prompted, let’s just get up and start moving. Let’s pick up the phone and text instead of thinking about texting!
The more we become the type of disciple that will go and do, the Lord will give us more opportunities to go and do.
3:8
“And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words he was exceedingly glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord.” Notice that Lehi wasn’t exceedingly glad because Nephi was so faithful and obedient. The credit, instead, went to the Lord. We can all learn from that and give credit to the Lord at every opportunity. All that we have, all the gifts we’ve been given, all that we will ever be is because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - both in pre mortality and mortality and after he was resurrected.
3:11
“And we cast lots…” I think it’s interesting that they cast lots to decide who went to Laban. If they were four faithful brothers, they probably would have knelt down in prayer to ask for guidance about who should go. I think that Laman and Lemuel were more concerned about fairness than receiving divine inspiration.
3:14
“But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceedingly sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness.” When Laman was rejected by Laban, Laman and Lemuel were done. This was the first obstacle and they were ready to quit.
I’ve known a lot of people who are like this. I’ve had employees who will stop at the first obstacle. I’ll ask for something to be done and, if they have any hiccup at all, they abort. Valuable people don’t do this. When they reach obstacles in their path, they figure it out. They’ll go above, around or crawl underneath the obstacle.
Many will quit after two obstacles…or three. The truly valuable people in this world are those who will not quit regardless of the number of obstacles in their path. This is something to remember folks when you find something in your way of your objective.
3:16
“Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord…” Nephi could have said “let us be obedient in keeping the commandments.” Usually, when we think about keeping commandments, it has to do with obedience. Here, Nephi is focusing on faithfulness.
Being obedient will keep us out of trouble. It is a way to fortify ourselves against evil. It is about submitting to the will of God. Obedience is the foundation of righteousness. However, progression is more about being faithful. Becoming like Heavenly Father is more about being faithful. Faith is what inspires diligent action. We must believe that there is a good consequence to our good behavior. If our obedience is fueled by faith, we are on the path to eternal life!
3:19-20; 5:21; 4:13-15
“And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto this present time.” In 1 Nephi 5:21, we read, “And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.”
Why are these records so valuable? Nephi and Lehi knew enough about human nature to realize that their posterity would quickly drift away from the “commandments of the Lord” if they didn’t have the “words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets.” If the wisdom was simply handed down orally, it would twist and fade.
Nephi thought this when he was commanded by the Spirit to kill Laban. In 1 Nephi 4:13-15, we read, “Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief. And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise. Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.”
They needed the word of God directly from the holy prophets. They needed to reconnect with pure gospel truth regularly. We humans have short memories. We’re fickle. We are easily persuaded. We think we are wiser than others just because. There’s a big difference between reading Moses’s words directly or listening to Stan tell me what he remembers about them.
Lehi and Nephi were playing a really long game. They were giving up their short-term safety for long-term, intergenerational righteousness.
I am one of the people who have been blessed by their sacrifice. I am the posterity that they had in mind. Thank you Lehi and Nephi!
3:25-26
“And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property. And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, and we were obliged to leave behind our property, and it fell into the hands of Laban.” Nephi had a great plan. It made sense that he could trade all of their riches for these plates which Laban likely never read.
Nephi’s plan didn’t work. But, I think it was good that he tried something. God won’t do something for us that we can do ourselves. So, Nephi did some thinking and this is what he came up with. Often, our good ideas will be good ideas. This idea wasn’t but it was still a good exercise for Nephi to problem-solve. Perhaps if Nephi would have involved the Lord in his planning, it might have been different.
Again, Nephi is demonstrating his ability to continue in the face of obstacles. They have now failed twice. But, this doesn’t discourage Nephi. Nephi is patiently and diligently following the commandment that he was given by his priesthood leader. He is being a good example of continuing to move forward with faith in the face of adversity - even failure.
3:31
“And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?” God’s ways are not our ways! We must remember that. Our math is not God’s math. Miracles can happen through means that we don’t understand.
Nephi reminds them of this in the next chapter. In 4:2-3, we Nephi tells them, “Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians.” He’s making the obvious point that, if God asks you to do something, it can be done.
I don’t think that their negativity led to their lack of faith. I think their lack of faith led to their negativity. They simply didn’t have faith. They hadn’t done the work to develop faith! An angel had just appeared to them and told them to go to Jerusalem again. How could they not believe an angel??
Because they hadn’t diligently searched the scriptures and built their faith over time prior to meeting the angel, a heavenly visitation was not going to affect their faith to any degree. Conversion almost always happens slowly over time - almost never does it happen by a single, impressive event.
Honestly, I think they just didn’t want to do it and were trying to rationalize their way out of it. Perhaps we all do this to some degree. We are quick to do the things that we want to. When we don’t want to do something, our super-computer brains will quickly calculate why we shouldn’t do that thing. Whether it was pride or laziness or fear or stubbornness, they used rationalization as an excuse not to act in faith. We must be hyper aware of when we do the SAME. EXACT. THING.
4:6
Nephi heads towards Laban’s house. “And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” This whole experience with Nephi and the plates is a masterclass on faith in the Lord. It’s one thing to have a plan that you know the Lord will help you with. It’s another thing to start walking towards an objective with no plan. It requires a faithful person to take steps into the darkness - simply relying on the good graces of God. I hope to be like this.
4:31
“And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord, therefore I did seize upon the servant of Laban, and held him, that he should not flee.” Nephi was large man. With his size, I’m sure he was naturally strong. Many of us would just say, “I am really strong.” Nephi can’t help himself but give credit to the Lord. He could let his athleticism be a source of pride. But, he’s trained his mind to give credit to the Lord for all of his physical and spiritual gifts. I need to have a better trained mind!
5:2-3, 4-6, 8
“For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.” It’s an authentic account that Nephi includes. Why did he include this not-so-flattering account of his mother murmuring?
I think Nephi included this story to help us better relate to this story. He didn’t want to whitewash his account and remove any of their weaknesses as a family. He wanted us to empathize with his and his family’s struggles. All of us have some family drama. All families do. Nephi wanted to be clear that it wasn’t just obedience and faith in the Lehi household. There were times of contention to be sure.
Sariah did what most of us do. She imagined the worst-case scenario. She had no proof that what she was saying was true, but she accepted her fears as facts. I don’t blame her - it’s what most of us do.
I love how Lehi handles his wife’s criticism. “And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren. But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness. And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews.” Lehi empathizes with her by agreeing that he is a visionary man. He wasn’t disputing what she was saying. It’s hard to fight with someone who is agreeing with you. For him to take a second and empathize with her is good.
He also expresses his faith in the Lord. This appears to be a gentle reminder that she should do the same. He doesn’t tell her what she should do but testifies of his own faith. This is also good. He made this conversation about faith in the Lord - rather than faith in Lehi. I’m sure that helped nudge Sariah in the right direction.
Lehi comforted Sariah. He wasn’t offended about her criticism. He responded in an empathetic, faithful, comforting way. It is clear that he cared for his wife. His love for her never dipped, even in the midst of criticism from her. Good job Lehi!
He set this up so that, when their sons returned, Sariah’s faith would be magnified.
“And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.” How beautiful is that!? It sounds like her faith was made even more sure. Perhaps she had been just going along with her husband. Now, she possessed her own faith. If we will take leaps of faith and then see the results of that, we will see our own faith grow and grow. If we don’t take leaps of faith ourselves, we will never be in a similar situation as Sariah and Lehi.
Comentários