Purpose:
Help the reader understand Nephi and his sorrow for his people.
Identify whether God is a predictable God or an unpredictable God.
Understand how men forget God and His blessings.
Learn about the importance of the brass plates to Lehi and his seed.
Mine Afflictions Were Great Above all
The theophany of Nephi had a great impact on him. All of his writings afterward were influenced by his great theophany. This especially includes Nephi’s Isaiah and the way he communicated the Doctrine of Christ at the end of his ministry. If you look at all of his writings afterward, they are all a product of what he saw in his vision.
Nephi saw the entire destruction of his people.
“And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all, because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.” - 1 Nephi 15:5
The destruction of his people included this description:
“I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed.”
“I saw wars and rumors of wars…”
“Behold these shall dwindle in unbelief.”
“...dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” - 1 Nephi 12:19-23
The destruction of Nephi’s people happened 1,000 years after Nephi saw it. What could Nephi possibility to affect the outcome of his people?
There was very little Nephi could do alone to affect the outcome. He will die and be buried. Eventually, his words and revelations will be lost or corrupt. However, there is something he could do, he could receive a covenant.
A covenant with God reaches far beyond the grave. It spans generations, millenia, continents, estates, and lifetimes. God will write the covenant in the palms of his hands and will never forget it. Nephi received a covenant for his people.
“...yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed—
And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved.
And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?” - 1 Nephi 15:13-15
The only successful thing Nephi can do is to receive a covenant. A covenant can reach across time and eternity and will be fulfilled because God is not a liar.
Does man create covenants or does God create covenants?
How would we receive a covenant? What is involved?
The Unpredictable God
It is much easier to believe in a predictable God. A God that fits into a known format or pattern. A God who is obedient to man’s structure. A God who understands how man works and is gracious enough to not fall out of line from the “unwritten rule of things.”
Laman and Lemuel believe in the predictable God. A God that conforms to their own understanding of “the way it should be.”
“And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflictions.
Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.
And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.” - 1 Nephi 17: 20-22
According to Laman and Lemuel, Lehi and Nephi were foolish. The Jews at Jerusalem were a “righteous people”. They kept the law of Moses. And because they kept the law of Moses, they were just fine.
Laman and Lemuel believed in a predictable God. All the Jews needed to do was keep the law of Moses and they were fine.
Keep the law of Moses = Happy God
With the same breath, Laman and Lemuel aren’t that interested in asking God to find out what He truly thought.
“And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” - 1 Nephi 15: 8-9
To be fair to Laman and Lemuel, what would you need to ask God for if you already knew the answer? The Jews kept the Law of Moses, so of course God would be fine with them. The Jews had a leadership who would never lead them astray. Who God is not fine with, are those who are going against tradition and established leadership and authority.
“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.” - 1 Nephi 1:5
“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and having great desires to know the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord…” - 1 Nephi 2:16
The idea at man can approach God and get answers is a silly idea, right? Sounds like “foolish imaginations of [their] heart.”
Alternatively, a man should look at the predefined organizational chart, see who isn’t dead yet and at the top of the org chart and know without a shadow of a doubt that that person will never lead a them astray; thanking God that all is well in Zion.
To clarify how God works, it is helpful to understand how God defines oracles.
"Where there is a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man unto whom God gives his oracles, there is the kingdom of God; and where the oracles are not, there the kingdom of God is not." (Documentary History of the Church, Volume V, pg 257)
An oracle is something God gives us. He gives his oracles to a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man. A prophet is one who has the testimony of Christ, a priest is someone with ecclesiastical authority and a righteous man (or woman) could include anyone else.
"And all they who receive the oracles of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing, and are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house.” D&C 90:5
You can hold an oracle in your hand and at the same time make it a light thing. (I do not know if you could hold a physical person in your hand.)
Perhaps this has something to do with what Christ told Peter that the church would be build on.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock [the rock of revelation] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” - Matthew 16:18
So, God is going to work through delivering oracles to man. Oracles are revelation. Those who have the oracles, or in other words revelation, will have the Kingdom of God. It is the revelation that is important.
Remember, the word is given from the Father to the Son to true messengers. It is the word that is the iron rod. It is the word or the message/oracle/revelation that is important.
Good thing for Laman and Lemuel that the message/oracle/revelation will always come down through the approved, predictable channels, right? God is predictable, correct? He is going to use the “unwritten rule of things” every time he has a message. This is why Laman and Lemuel could immediately discredit their father Lehi and say it was “imaginations of his heart” instead of true revelation.
Forgetting God
There are a number of times Lehi and his family, or a portion of his family, forget God. I believe there is a misnomer concerning forgetting God. Forgetting God does not include a memory gap. They didn’t forget God, as if they didn’t remember who God was. Forgetting God includes forgetting to have faith in Him. In order to have faith in God man must 1) believe in God, 2) know God’s character, perfections and attributes, and 3) know the course of life you are pursuing is according to His will. Each time we forget God, or Nephi’s family forgets God, one of these items are missing.
“And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; and also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.” 1 Nephi 16:20
Would God lead Lehi, Ishmael and their families out of Jerusalem and leave them to starve and die? Sounds like they might be forgetting God’s character, perfections and attributes.
“And after we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days, behold, my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and also their wives began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness, yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.” - 1 Nephi 18:9
The record doesn’t go into specific detail about what they were doing. We know that it must have offended the Spirit. Sounds like their course in life wasn’t according to God’s will.
Forgetting God simply is to forget what actions are required for salvational faith. Once we act outside of the the three requirements for salvational faith, we forget God.
Knowledge of Christ - Brass Plates
The brass plates contained many revelations concerning Christ. It is highly likely that Laban inherited the brass plates from his fathers. His ancestry and Lehi’s ancestry were probably the same.
“And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.
And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records.”
- 1 Nephi 5: 14, 16
The brass plates where a record of the descendants of Joseph of Egypt. These include Ephraim and Manasseh and prophets who were within this lineage including: Zenock, Zenos, and Neum. These prophets had a great understanding of Christ.
“...to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.” - 1 Nephi 19:10
This book of scripture had a detailed description of the covenants, promises and outcome of Joseph of Egypt’s seed. This included revelations which described:
- Three days of darkness for those on the isles of the sea (1 Nephi 19:10)
- God will visit with his voice and with destruction to the people on the isles of the sea (1 Nephi 19:11)
- Great destruction to the isles of the sea at the time of Christ’s death (1 Nephi 19:12)
- God will “gather in” the isles of the sea (1 Nephi 19:16; Jacob 5)
- God’s promise to Joseph of raising up a righteous branch (2 Nephi 3:5)
- God will fulfill his covenants of Joseph in the latter day (2 Nephi 3:5)
- God will raise up a choice seer among Joseph’s seed (2 Nephi 3:7)
- The seer will be for the seed of Joseph (2 Nephi 3:11)
Note: People on the isles of the sea = Lehi’s seed (or at least include them)
The brass plates included books from the Bible (1 Nephi 5:11), but it also contained the prophecies of Ephraim and Manasseh’s seed which are not included in our Bible today. These prophecies were “of great worth” unto Lehi because they were specifically prophesies of him and his seed (1 Nephi 5:21).
Talk about Lehi self-selecting himself. There is a mountain of revelation from Joseph of Egypt, Zenos, Zenock and Neum related to a breaking off of a branch of Israel, which will be a righteous branch, that will be found upon the isles of the sea.
Lehi, independent from a program, manual or church leader asks to know truth. He receives a theophany and a covenant. That covenant is a fulfillment of prophecies from former prophets. Those former prophets didn’t control, direct or coarse Lehi into fulfilling their prophecy. Lehi did it all on his own. He self-selected himself by asking God in faith to know truth.
God is constrained in His actions to one important thing - he can only persuade. He cannot force anyone to act. This is why there are always restorations and apostasies. When a people become caught up in their tradition and culture, they don’t fight against the struggle for authentic truth. Why seek truth if you already have it? This is why an outsider is typically the vehicle God uses to restore truth. God can persuade an outside. A lifetime participant in the tradition and culture typically isn’t looking for truth.
God can only persuade and open the door when someone knocks. If no one is knocking, he is unable to open. Lehi was a conduit for the fulfillment of prophecy because he knocked and God opened the door for him.
Summary:
Nephi sorrowed for his people because he saw their utter destruction. Nephi received a covenant from God which promised the latter-day recovery of the remnant of Lehi’s seed.
God is not a predictable God. He uses whatever means he chooses to fulfill his work.
Man forgets God when they go against the fundamentals of faith. This halts the progression of the person and incurs the displeasure of God.
The brass plates were valuable to Lehi because they talked about him and his seed.
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