1 Nephi 2:20

20  And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall ^aprosper, and shall be led to a ^bland of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

            -this is a promise that is effective in both time (this life) and in eternity.  It applies to the land across the ocean but also to the eternal residence of the celestial kingdom.  God’s blessings span both worlds.  We should not forget that not all blessings are delivered in this life but are held for a time when they may not be bound by time.  Eternal blessings are, by definition, largely reserved for an eternal realm.  Blessings in this temporal world are also generously given, but there are also temporal privileges bestowed by Lucifer which may appear to confound terrestrial cause and effect.  We must keep an eye on those blessings that while they begin in time, extend to eternity:  eternal marriage, priesthood, knowledge, character.

     "...inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper..."

            -this simple, straight forward, unambiguous promise  (encountered here for the first time in the record) is a continual theme throughout the Book of Mormon
 

1 Nephi 2:21

21  And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be ^acut off from the presence of the Lord.
            -equating rebellion against Nephi with being cut off from the Lord is a fascinating relationship.  Nephi has become a proxy for the Lord.  There are numerous examples in scripture where the Lord states that rebellion against him –in the form or sin, transgression, action and even thought- will result in being excluded from His presense but He applies that same rational to behavior against Nephi.  By extension then, Nephi has become like the Lord.  The same is true then, as we become Christ-like and pure in our own being.  Those who choose to reject our standard of living will be cut off from the presence of the Lord and they will be alienated from  us.  Not because we reject them but because they reject what is endemic to us (righteousness, purity, obedience).  Like Nephi, this division often plays out most visibly in the lives of those closest to us:  our children, siblings and friends.

1 Nephi 2:19

19  And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy ^afaith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

            -a second stage spiritual manifestation.  Many times in the scriptures a previous spiritual experience/visitation is followed up with a second one.  These frequently come when the mortal participant is seeking the welfare of his or her fellows. This is to be twice blessed.  Heaven wants to give us faith, knowledge and truth but we must meet the parameters that qualify for these divine gifts.  Too often we say “it is enough”.

     “blessed art thou… because of thy faith…”

            -faith is again identified as the reason for Nephi’s blessed/chosen position.  Faith is the key to heavenly manifestations, to repentance (as the Savior indicated over and again during his mortal ministry) and to obtaining answers to prayers.  What exactly is the composition of that faith?

     “for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.”

            -after identifying faith as the reason for Nephi’s priveledged condition, the Lord seems to define faith with this “for” statement.  Faith is a seeking of the Lord that is both diligent or consistent and humble (“lowliness of heart”).

1 Nephi 2:18

18  But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being ^agrieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.

     “Laman and Lemuel wold not hearken unto my words”

            -here is there second chance, a second turning point that would prove to define their lives.  They first had opportunity to believe their father.  When their brother, Nephi, also shared his experiences and spiritual witness, they were at a point of divergence.  Had they reacted differently everything about their life could have changed in this instant where Nephi first confided his experience.  As we know, however, their decision set forth a path that would impact untold individuals for generations.  They could not have known the significance of their decision in this moment, but the consequences were no less severe and lasting.  We rarely know the turning points and critical moments of our lives when we are in the midst of them.  No lights or sirens blare alerting us to the seriousness of our choice.  These come and go often without fanfare or self-awareness.  We make the grand decisions of our lives in blind ignorance.

    "being grieved...I cried unto the Lord for them."

            -Nephi didn't get mad at his brothers and revile or curse them, he prayed for heavenly intervention on their behalf.  Are there words of greater pathos or anguish than these: being grieved.  It broke Nephi’s heart!

            -something about this degree of compassion for his brothers greatly impresses me.  Nephi is not mad at them, but rather is   This is tremendously sad.  From this point forward the paths of these sets of brothers begin to deviate until, years later and many hard experiences, Nephi describes his brothers, who should have been bound to each other in the sweet companionship of love and respect, as enemies.

sorrowful and concerned.

   “I cried unto the Lord for them.”

            -Laman and Lemuel would not cry unto the Lord on their own behalf but Nephi did.  This presents a very interesting case of conflicting agency.  Laman and Lemuel seemingly want nothing to do with the Lord.  Can the Lord, therefore, insert himself into their lives?  How much efficacy does Nephi’s prayer have?  Clearly it is not entirely in vain to pray for those who have rejected the Lord’s presence in their lives.  Alma the Younger is specifically told one of the reasons for Heaven’s intervention in his life is because of the prayers of his father.  So how are we to understand thisvicarious effort?

1 Nephi 2:17

17  And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit.  And it came to pass that he believed in my words.

            -It is typical that once we hear and know the world of God we want to share it with others, even if the only other ones that are around us are our brothers (family).  What was Sam and Nephi’s relationship like?  Consider the sophistication, the depth and the closeness of a brother-brother relationship.  As a young man who would you confide in after having such a profound experience?  Surely it would be a good friend.  It is only a supposition but we can surmise that Sam was one of Nephi’s closest friends.

    “And I spake unto Sam…”

            -Nephi may have confided his experience with Sam early on, but he also made his testimony and experience known to Laman and Lemuel on many occasions.  He “spake unto” them as well.  The great and obvious difference is that Sam “Believed in (his) words” while his oldest two brothers never would.  What a tremendous influence Nephi became to his brother Sam.  In a very real way, Nephi became a savior to Sam.  Consider the possibility that Sam, while not convinced or committed one way or another, could easily have fallen in line with his older brothers if Nephi had not experienced and then shared this heavenly direction.

     “manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit.”

            -so what was the nature of Nephi’s spiritual experience?  Was he visited by the Savior or by the Holy Spirit?  Which would you prefer, why?  The plain truth is that there is no difference.  Both are members of the Godhead with the same message, the same priesthood, the same authority.  If we have seen or felt the presence of the Son, we have seen the Father.  The same can be said of the ministration of the Holy Ghost.  How many, then, have communed with God?  How many have had a spiritual manifestation of the Holy Ghost…  these have met with God.

1 Nephi 2:16

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 ^amysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did ^bvisit me, and did ^csoften my heart that I did ^dbelieve all the words which had been spoken by my ^efather; wherefore, I did not ^frebel against him like unto my brothers.

    “being exceedingly young”

            -how old would this suggest: twelve, fourteen… probably not much older than that.  It is certainly possible that in early youth a boy could quickly grow to be “large in stature”. 

            -the very young have frequently been called upon to do great things for the Lord.  In addition to Nephi, consider:

            David: represented all of Israel when he fought the great warrior Goliath.  Like Nephi, David’s strength was in his innocent and untainted faith in God.

            Moroni:  the second Book of Mormon prophet is nearly an exact character copy of the second o last Book of Mormon prophet.  Mormon was equally youthful when he was recognized for his soberness and his tremendous faith.

            2,000 Lamanite young “stripling” warriors:  these did not have any military experience but they had been raised with a tremendous legacy of faith.

            Joseph Smith:  considering all the previous examples from scripture, should we really be surprised that God would choose a fourteen year old boy as the mouthpiece to reveal Himself and restore the gospel through?

The young may lack experience but that may be the exact reason why they are able to do such great things.  They have not yet accomplished anything by their own genious or efforts.  Their source of strength is their reliance on God.  Their faith is unmitigated by recognized self-limitations or a rational worldview.  Children are rarely skeptics.  Doubt and reliance on our own strength only comes with sufficient experience.

     “having great desires to know of the mysteries of God…”

            -where or how is this great desire born?  Where does it come from?  Nephi had this great desire but clearly Laman and Lemuel did not.  Desire leads to action!  We can, therefore, identify what are desires are by inspecting our actions.  A person who shows very little spiritual actions or actions that draw us near to God we can be sure that such a person has very little desire to know about or be like God.  Lucifer uses desires –strong natural desires that can compel us to certain behaviors- to dictate behavior.  A synonym for desire –its natural or temporal manifestation- is addiction.  Physical desires are quite easy to cultivate but spiritual desires are frequently contrary to the nature of the body.  One way of viewing this life is a struggle between the phsycial desires and the spiritual desires:  a battle to see if the body will rule the spirit or if the spirit will rule the body.

            -all the great men and women of the scriptures had this desire in common.  They then pursued a common course of action:

 

    We are given here a whole wealth of insight:

1.      The above things acted as a process; one led to the next.  For example, his desires to know God led him to pray unto Him and (of course) if we pray we get an answer.  Hence we can also measure the degree to which we want to know God, I mean to really develop an intimate relationship, by the degree to which we talk (pray) to Him.  The “average” nightly 2 minute ho-hum prayer is not going to cut it.  This is why the saying “people come to know God in their extremities and trials” is true,… because people really pray (turn to) God in their extremities.

2.      Nephi gives us a proven formula about having the experiences like he did.  It is as simple, yet as difficult, as the things above.

3.      We are also shown that, by inference, Laman and Lemuel rebelled because they did not follow the steps that led to “I did not rebel.”  I would assume that one thing they did not do was “pray”.  Oh how we should watch out and make sure that we do pray.

       Nephi:    proactive, "do it", action!

       Sam:     passive follower

    “the mysteries of God”

            -what are these?  It is nothing less than to know God’s mind, how he thinks, what he is like and who we ar  Why are these things “mysteries”?  Is it because God does not want us to know these things?  More likely it is because we, at our current state of nature, cannot understand them.  God wants us to know all things, especially things about him.  We came to earth to gain knowledge through experience.  He wants us to know all things!

    “wherefore I did cry unto the Lord”

            -prayer is a great key that unlocks the mysteries of God.  The greater our mastery of effective prayer, the more we will qualify for the mysteries of God. 

    “he did visit me”

            -will the Lord visit us?  If not, why?  If so, how?

     “and did soften my heart that I did believe"

            -here is one of the great unspoken and inferred truths about Nephi and, by extension, about us.  Nephi was not born some sort of spiritual prodigy.  He was not altogether different than many of us.  The very fact that he admits that his heart needed softening suggests that he struggled with the course his father was pursuing.  He was, perhaps, resistant to the dramatic change and trajectory of his life.  Did he, previous to this moment, not believe in the claims of his father?  Did he protest against his father and God’s directives in his young life?  We do not know for sure.  This we do know, that he had an experience that caused some degree of change and was of such significance that he could identity it, in his later years, as a turning point in his life.

            -how does the Lord “soften” man’s heart?  What is the catalyst that brings about the softening?  Is it His majesty contrasted against our weakness and rudimentary condition?  Can we have a similar softening effect on others?  What would cause others to be softened?  The way we talk, the way we treat them, simply our presence?  Why does God have this influence and, largely speaking, we do not?  Or is it a feature of the observer/participant?  For example, one who would come into the presense of God would be profoundly touched while another would hardly recognize, much less be affected, by God’s influence.  Nephi stands as a perfect example of this receptiveness while Laman and Lemuel are examples of having similar brushes with heaven and yet are impacted very little.  Their hearts were, in fact, gradually made harder and less permeable.

     “rebel against him like unto my brothers."

            -how much sadness has been brought by children who rebel against the teachings and values of their parents?  Rebellion against parents, especially at a point in development between the ages of twelve and twenty, had grown to become a cultural expectation.  This age of adolescence and young adulthood is a time of growing independence.  Maturity brings a natural level of autonomy and reflection.  Satan eagerly seizes upon this natural stage and twists healthy independence into rebellion.  He turns the questioning of authority into definance of authority.  These actions appear to span many eras and cultures since they are easily visible in Jaredite times, in ancient Isreal (as evidenced in Lehi’s family) and clearly in the technological modern era. One balance to this trend is the commandment to honor thy father and thy mother.  There is a distinct difference between disagreeing with a father or mother and rebellion against them.  Rebellion is an ugly transgression on its own but it is also a sinful violation of one of the ten foundations of Judeo-Christian orthodoxy.

1 Nephi 2:15

15  And my father dwelt in a ^atent.

       "tent"

            -the Arabic word (bayt) for "tent" is also the word for "family".  In essence when one says “this is my tent” it is like saying, “this is my family”.  This also has significance in the context of a famous Bedouin (which means “desert dweller”) saying, "I against my brother, my brothers and I against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers". This saying signifies a hierarchy of loyalties based on proximity of kinship that runs from the nuclear family through the lineage, the tribe, and, in principle at least, to an entire genetic or linguistic group.  When resources were plentiful, several tents would travel together as a goum. These groups were sometimes linked by patriarchal lineage, but were just as likely linked by marriage (new wives were especially likely to have close male relatives join them), acquaintance, or no clearly defined relation but a simple shared membership in the tribe.(Wikipedia, “Bedouin”)  Lehi’s family is his tent, which is similar to a more familiar saying in our culture:  home is anywhere the family is.  Additionally, Lehi and his family are now desert dwellers and are exemplifying the “I against…” cultural value.  Lehi could rightly have said, “let’s hunker down and fortify our home because it is us against the world.”  This is a perfect analogy to the stance we must take in our day.  God has ordained that the family unit is the most fundamental (and essential) organization providing protection, defense, sustenance and strength in a world and at a time when wickedness advances in the world around us.

            -a slightly altered translation of this phrase could easily read: “and my father found life in his family”.  “He lived for his family”.  Lehi’s entire focus was on his wife, his sons and daughters.  This is why he is working so hard to convince Laman and Lemuel.  Nephi who is the author and commentator of the history is focusing entirely on how Lehi’s experience is affecting the family.  The telling of this story is through the eyes of family.  Consider how frequently elements and derivitives of family (brother, sons, growing up, home, parents, rearing) permeate these first chapters and continue on.  The tree of life vision could be explored through the prism of doctrine but the majore theme and context is again, how it effects Lehi’s family.  The doctrine is obviously presened and apparent but it is positioned in relation to the family:  Lehi wished to share the fruit with his family, he looked around, could not find Laman and Lemuel, etc.

1 Nephi 2:14

14  And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the ^avalley of Lemuel, with ^bpower, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did ^cshake before him.  And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.

            -Here is the definition of true power.  It is not given to us by building muscles, learning a martial art, holding a gun, surrounding ourselves with devices or having the wealth to so enable ourselves, but power is obtained when we are “filled with the Spirit”.

       "...did speak unto them with power, being filled with the Spirit..."

            -what excellent training for Nephi, who would draw on such experience later in life.

     “until their frames did shake before him”

            -Laman and Lemuel were not inexperienced with feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost.  They participated in powerful manifestations of the Spirit on several occasions.  Likewise, there are many of us, especially youth, who have at one time (or several times) felt the Spirit and  then as time passes, seem to forget their experience with God and spiritual reality.  The proximity of mortal concerns and desires crowds out the experience of God.  The important questions are:  why?  How is it that one is changed by these experiences and another quickly goes back to their mortal orientation?  Why does faith grown in one person and not in another?  How can we maintain our high commitment to righteousness that follows a spiritual experience as time, adversity and mortal monotony wear us down?

            -while it does not seem to us now, the physical body is subservient and subject to the much more immense power of the spiritual body.   We live is a physical domain and have come to know only the power of the physical –muscles, mental and psychological.  To us these seem quite extraordinary.  We have tamed this world, by sheer desire and determination we can endure many things, great athletes demonstrate great feats of strength and agility…. And yet, when we have the full faculty of our spiritual beings –when the veil is removed- the extent of our spiritual power will reveal the enimic reality of our physical   By the power of our spiritual strength we will move mountains, channel mighty rivers and set in motion entire universes.  Spiritual strength consists of righteousness, faith, knowledge and the priesthood.  It has nothing to do with physical stature or prowess.  There will be quadrapeligics who wield immense power and muscule bound athletes rendered feeble and impotent.

 

            -This verse records the first time Lemuel and Laman are brought to be convinced of the power of God and the truth of their circumstance.  The two have multiple experiences with the convincing power of God.  See Appendix for a summary of these.

 

1 Nephi 2:13

13  Neither did they ^abelieve that Jerusalem, that great city, could be ^bdestroyed 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.

            -Laman and Lemuel were so wrapped up in the temporal viewpoint/orientation of life that they couldn’t see even two weeks past their own noses.  We should be careful about becoming so caught up in worldly affairs, even if they are worthwhile, honorable or genuinely important (like making a living) that we don’t miss the forest for the trees.

            -was Jerusalem, “that great city”, destroyed independent of the beleifs of two of its obscure residents?  Was it destroyed contrary to the beliefs of its most promienet socialites or its most learned scholars or its most powerful military figures?  Yes, it was!  It does not matter the social or intellectual status of pundits, God’s words –however far fetched they may appear to man—have and will always come to pass.  The fact that Laman or Lemuel did not believe in some future condition had no (zero) bearing on reality.

     “neither did they believe”

            -we live in a world of belief.  In the religious world we call this faith.  We are very upfront about possessing faith, that our beliefs and subsequent actions are built on faith.  Make no mistake, all men and all their worldviews (be it science or otherwise) are also based on belief.  There is just as much faith required to believe in science as there is in God even though it is not presented as such.  We think because we can see, touch, feel, measure, hear or intellectually deduce and induce things that those things are absolute, understandable and lasting.  Granted, we know a lot:  science has taught us about the world and we’ve been able to tame and harness it to some extent but so also has religion taught us about morality, law and civility.  Love, not a scientific absolute, is a primary driver of human behavior and relationships.  Beyond a whole host of similar, non-rational emotions, attitudes and beliefs, the most advanced scientists and scientific questions admit that we really don’t know much (consider dark matter, quantum physics, the gaping holes in the evolutionary theory, constant –alpha, etc.).  We live by belief and our belief can be in us or it can be in God.  One is self-proclaimed to be omnipotent, the other has at times claimed himself to be great but the trackrecord of human history suggests otherwise.

    “Jerusalem, that great city”

            -the history of the world is filled with accounts of once great cities that have fallen and become mounds of dirt.  For us, who are more versed in human history, to think that somehow we are different and not subject to similar potentialities –ths is the height of narcicism and arrogance.  Do we not read in the writings of every previously great civilization a claim to their own greatness and their vaunted immunity.  The claim, but we are different has got to be the most tired and pathetic claim spanning the history of mankind.  There is no city, there s no state, there is no people great enough who will not be reduced to the dust heap of history.  This truth is independent of any technology, any political or social system, any denomination of currency or measure of wealth.  The common theme of this temporal world is that all things of this world are temporary.

     “And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.”

            -it is unlikely that Laman and Lemuel would have placed themselves in the same company as the Jews who tried to kill Lehi and the other prophets.  It is rare that wickedness and evil is so self-aware.  In fact most of the time the wicked have a tremendous amount of self-delusion even thinking that they are doing good.  Consider Saul of Tarshish.  Self-awarness is nota quality of evil.  In fact the wicked frequently project evil motives on those who oppose their actions.  Others become “close minded”, “oppressive”, “intolerant”, “judemental” and obstructors of their freedom to do and act as they wish.  After all, it is the righteous who promote and abide by moral boundaries and behavioral constraints I(also known as “commandments”).

1 Nephi 2:11

11  Now this he spake because of the ^astiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did ^bmurmur in many things against their ^cfather, because he was a ^dvisionary 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 he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel”

            -parents see the weakenesses and character faults in their children.  A proactive parent will engage opportunities to help their children overcome those tentencies that will bring sadness and difficulties later in life.  Parents, motivated by love, like our heavenly parents will apply longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness and pure knowledge;  these will also accompany chastisements not out of meanness but because a parent loves those who they reprove.  It is the easiest thing to look away and let a child get away with poor behavior.

     “the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel”

            -for the first time in this record we are shown the character of Laman and Lemuel.  Even at this early time in the journey they displayed stubbornness, obstinance and defiance.  Evidently they complained about their father’s spiritual insights and failed to develop or possess faith. “Stiffneckedness” is close to a more contemporary description: hardheaded.

      “murmur”

            -an interesting word to say the least.  What is the extent of its meaning?  To complain… to object… to resist… to oppose… to cry… what?  Perhaps the closest synonym is “complain” but it also contains more meaning.  To murmur is an expression of weak or absent faith.  It also evidences a childish attitude frequently expressed as “but I don’t want to…” and contains an ugly self-deceptive (unaware) ignorance  -a lack of vision that another way is better than what you want to do particularly because long-term conditions that require short-term sacrifices are infinitely better than current ease.  Murmuring is an adult behavior that illustrates infantile, ignorant and obstinant character.

     “because”

            -because statements are priceless since they connect an eventuality or situation with its antecedent.  This because statement identifies the reasons why Laman and Lemuel murmured.  ALL of the reasons show their temporal (versus eternal) orientation to life:

      1- “because he was a visionary man”

            -Laman and Lemuel weren’t really upset about the visionary part, they were upset because of what the vision was.  It meant leaving their worldly status (their money, comforts, etc.).  I might suggest that if Lehi’s vision was one of increased wealth and leisure with their friends, they would have praised their father.

      2- “because he… had led them out of the land of Jerusalem”

            -this complaint is not uncommon since many young adults have experienced relocation during the time in their lives when home, friends and status have become important.  Laman and Lemuel simply did not want to leave the context that was such a central part of who they were.

      3- “because… to leave their inheritance, their gold, their silver, their precious things”

            -the choice was between the treasures of mortality and the promise or potential of eternal treasures.  Granted, the eternal treasures would be deferred until eternity and would be accomplanied by temporal/immediate difficulties.  Treasures now or treasures later….  Not a tough one for Laman and Lemuel (or for many of us so profoundly engaged in the here and now).  By and large, one of the choices we make in this life is the nature of our inheritance:  are we living for (striving for, focusing on, dreaming of) a mortal inheritance or an eternal inheritance.  They require very different paths.  We cannot be double minded.  Lehi’s family was torn apart because a portion was focused on each  -a house devided cannot stand.

        “their precious things”

            -we can see where we stand in relation to God by asking ourselves the question:  What are our ‘precious things’?

        4- “to perish”

            -what a sad commentary about their attitude!  They were going to die in the wilderness, they just assumed that they were.  What a lack of vision!  The wicked have no vision while they persecute those who do  -- even when the visions of the righteous are promises of good things for all; even for the wicked and those fighting against the vision.

            -those whose lives are oriented around a worry or a fear of dying cannot have a healthy view of living.  They will be so preoccupied with things of this temporal world that their vision will not extend toward those things of eternal consequence.  In their trepidation over the end of life they will engorge themselves ironically in things of a temporal (not lasting) nature.  They have died before their heart stops beating.

        “foolish imaginations of his heart”

            -isn’t it amazing that the wicked consider the “things of the heart” to be foolishness.  The voice of God --which is spoken, not in the mind nor is it always rational but through the heart—is fundamentally “felt” in the heart.  Most assuredly, leaving all your wealth, your possessions and your home and then trekking into the desert is not the most logical thing to do.  But it was the right thing to do because God commanded it.  Yes, it would be considered “foolish” by the prevailing opinion of the masses but it was not an imaginary directive.  Lehi did not imagine this course of action within himself nor did he imagine a divine directive.  It was actual.  And like Joseph Smith, the world has a difficult time differentiating between spiritual actuality and imagination. A world build on sensory (eyes, ears, touch, smell, etc.) reality will not recognize spiritual realities.