1 Nephi 2:2

2  And it came to pass that the Lord ^acommanded my father, even in a ^bdream, that he should ^ctake his family and depart into the wilderness.

            -the migration of the righteous away from the wicked happens so frequently in the scriptures that this seems to be a pattern for how the Lord works to preserve his disciples and further His work.  Global real estate appears to be of very little concern to God.  We, however, have a value system that puts a premium on land.  Possession of property and territory is something for which we are ready and willing to go to war.  God, however, seems to have no problem commanding his followers to pick up and move.  And more than this, to go in to the unknown without having a knowledge of an end result, a master plan or an objective.

     "...the Lord commanded..."

            -of interest here is the verb Nephi chooses to use.  I don’t know that the Lord would necessarily have had to say to Lehi, “I command you to…”  I suppose that he probably told him to leave and even if He had suggested that Lehi leave I think he would have willingly gone, especially after being told that the people are looking to murder him.  So why the strong word “commanded”?  I suggest that this was a reflection of Nephi’s character.  Anything the Lord did, would or might say to him would be as good as law written in stone.  He was 100% committed to the Lord and viewed his communications as law or “commandments”.  There was no hesitation for Nephi, all from the Lord was a command to be strictly obeyed.

    “he should take his family”

            -the exact instructions to Lehi was to take his family.  Who was his family?  His wife and ALL his children.  We wonder why Lehi did not just leave Laman and Lemuel who resisted the whole way.  They appeared to be well beyond the age of accountability and might even have been young adults fully capable of setting out on their own course in life… but the exact instruction was to take his family.  The Lord had a plan in mind.

      “the wilderness”

            It would be good for us to remember that however frightening and uncertain this departure is for Lehi and the family (into unknown places and unfamiliar dangers), there is no wilderness to the Lord.  When He leads us into areas and activities that push beyond our personal frontiers we should take solid comfort knowing that He who guides us is intimately acquainted with the “terrain” we will cross.

Footnote:

   a.  1Nephi 3:16 and 4:34:  notice the impact of the father's example to his son.

    OBSERVATION:  So much of what Nephi did, so much of his greatness can, it seems, be traced to the unspoken but highly influential example set by his father.  For example;  1Nephi 3:7.  How could a boy have such a beautiful understanding?  Because his father had just (in leaving Jerusalem and the direction of the Lord) illustrated beautiful obedience.

    c:  1Nephi 1:18-20;  the scope of Lehi's stewardship focus: