1 Nephi 13:7-8

7  And I also saw ^agold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined ^blinen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.

8  And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the ^adesires of this great and abominable church.

            -all these things are treasures, physical items of the temporal world.  They are transitory and have no lasting eternal value.  The most wealthy and powerful men of every century previous to this one, including kings, industrialists, actors, socialites, emperors, financiers… all of them now have a net worth of nothing.  Each is dead, buried and cannot buy a single trifle of the earth’s possessions.  Their wealth is useless.  Their fame is a relick and commands no personal advantage unless some commission is provided to their posterity for the number who visit their graves.  Gold, silver, fine clothing, silks, furs, jewels and cars are substances of mortality only.  They are envied by individuals and organizations who have laid their eternal claim on their standing in mortality.  These are the desires of those who want power, prestigue and glory now!  We can belong to the kingdom that exists on the earth or the kingdom that exists in eternity. Which do you choose?  What material items or worldly things do we desire?

1 Nephi 3:25

25  And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did ^alust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.

            -the man Laban is revealed to us in brilliant color (attempted murder, lust after another’s property, theft, false accusation).  He is a man driven by his lusts, particularly for material wealth.  Is there a greater example of a despicable, self-centered human being?  He seizes immediately on a strategy where his own appetites trump the most fundamental codes of morality.  Seemingly he takes such action in a moment indicating that this wickedness and evil is central to his character.  He is entirely corrupt, carnal and narcicistic.  He is a perfect villan:  clothed with mortal power and adept at iniquity.  To what extent is he an archtpe of the Jerusalem establishment?  No wonder destruction hangs upon them.  He, like King Noah of a later era, has no idea his mortal prominence and power are about to dissolve literally overnight.  All his pathetic schemes and tireless self-exhalting efforts to accumulate the riches of this world will amount to nothing in a matter of hours. 

1 Nephi 3:17

17  For he knew that Jerusalem must be ^adestroyed, because of the wickedness of the people.

            -Lehi abandoned his wordly wealth.  It was  part of the Jerusalem reality, a component and possibly a symbol of the wickedness of the people.  Lehi left all of it behind, he was able to disengage from an element of mortality that has such tremendous sway on our hearts:  money.  Are we equally willing to walk away from a value system that is so entrenched in us that it motivates so much of what we do (it significantly influences what we buy, what we wear, how we look at others, where we live, what we choose for a profession, what we spend so much time doing.  Money drives us like few other things.  Lehi tossed all the baggage associated with wealth (money) aside and freed himself.  Leaving his wealth at Jerusalem was a symbol of his new life free of the wicked influences of the world he knew.

     “he knew”

            -this definite knowledge was beyond the ability of man to see with or by his own power.  This is the privilege the Lord gives to his obedient followers.

    “must be”

            -wickedness is unsustainable.  It is as if Jerusalem had passed a point of no return.  Destruction was not simply a high probability event, it was a forgone conclusion.  Just as certainly as spring follows winter, Jerusalem, in its state of wickedness, would be destroyed.