Sunday, September 13, 2015

1 Nephi 4:38

38  And it came to pass that we took the plates of brass and the servant of Laban, and departed into the wilderness, and journeyed unto the atent of our father.
            -Mission accomplished!  The plates were secured.  While they had been threatened and had to act to preserve their lives, they were safe and unharmed.  The Lord had intervened on their behalf.  They had seen an angel.  Certainly the mission had developed differently than they supposed.  To be sure, in their own minds it would have unfolded in a very different manner.  But such are the operations of God in contrast to the operations of man. God’s ways are usually more simple, more understated and ultimately more effective.  He works by small and simple.  He delivered a drunken Laban right into Nephi’s path –no need to battle fifty of Laban’s guard.  He makes the walls of Jericho crumble.  He shuts the mouths of lions in a den.  He kills a mighty warrior with a single rock.  He causes a fog to shroud the enemy so an army can escape. 

            -How long did this endeavor take?  The journey itself is estimated to take about two weeks both ways.  In addition, how much time did the three plans take to execute?  At minimum, the sons of Lehi were gone for a month.  Their travel and objective was nothing short of perilous.  Analyzed from a temporal perspective, the odds of their success were very low.  Laban, we have learned, was a man of means, a man of social status and power.  He was not naïve to the craftiness of man… this was their opponent.

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