1 Nephi 3:2

2  And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: Behold I have dreamed a ^adream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall ^breturn to Jerusalem.

-The Lord commands Lehi to do things that affect/require Nephi but the Lord never commands Nephi to do things that affect/require Lehi.  It is the law of stewardship and right of revelations.

            “and thy brethren”

            -it is almost funny that the Lord commands the brothers to go back as well.  He knows that they are only going to be “unwanted baggage” during the trip, but by so commanding, two important circumstances are accomplished:

            1.  The brothers are given a chance to prove their worthiness or prove their condemnation. Isn’t this the same way life is structured?  The Lord knew how they would act and how we would act here but we must actually live out the situations and thereby provide actual evidence to merit our exaltation or damnation.  We must prove it to ourselves.

            2.  Although this is going to be a horrific experience for Nephi to endure (not only does he have to accomplish the goals of the journey but he has to fight Laman and Lemuel the whole way) it will give him great leadership experience in the face of opposition.

            -Why did God allow Lehi and the family to get so far from Jerusalem before he told them to turn around and retrieve the brass plates?  He could have instructed them to pick them up on the way out of town the first time…. Why didn’t he?  In the first place God’s main concern is not efficiency.  More than this however, consider what happened during the time of their departure and the present.  One tremendously important thing happened that would change the course of their lives:  Nephi received his testimony.  Nephi came to know that his father’s spiritual claims were accurate through first hand conversation with the heavens.  As soon as he has this experience, the family and the journey moves forward to the next step.  This is not altogether different than how each of us can grow through mortality.  We are elevated to the next level when we have qualified ourselves.  God is a master builder and gives us as we are ready to receive but this is not according to our own estimation but to his.  We sometimes think we are ready when we are not and we sometimes think we are not ready when we are.  We should never forget that God qualifies and He sees not as man sees.  With Nephi it is so obvious that he was not sent back to get the plates before his testimony allowed him to say, “I know that the Lord giveth no commandments except he prepares a way”.  To send Nephi before this time would have been to ensure failure and disaster.