1 Nephi Chapter 2 - May 2, 2017

[pam]

Discuss

[Sunday21]

LEhi and his family depart into the wilderness. I am surprised that they take no servants. They are a wealthy family. We know this because they bring a valuable gift to Laban so why no servants.? However, we also know that Nephi has sisters who are not mentioned here so perhaps there are servants but like the sisters are unmentioned?

The righteousness of Nephi is apparent here. It is mentioned that he has sought the Lord in much prayer. Perhaps, Nephi has been doing what we are often counselled to do, pray to ask God, what his path should be in life. PErhaps he prays before attending services to have the Holy Ghost witness to him as Bro Bednar asks us to pray before conference? Perhaps this is advice to us?

NEphi's righteousness is in great contrast to his older brothers. Perhaps his brothers have been caught up in the impure practices of the city? What bad things were the citizens up to at this time? Worshipping idols? These older brothers seem to have a strong desire to rule. Does this mean that Lehi's family had some sort of business empire? political connections? Would these brothers have had some sort of Poltitical authority if they had stayed in the city? LAban seems to be some sort of prince or local chief. L&L seem afraid of him so it seems unlikely that the LEhi family had a previously friendly relationship with him. So perhaps the family has no political power. So what type of power were L&L so desirous to have? What inheritance are they so keen to inherit?

 

[person0]

Quote

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 mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.  (emphasis added)

Even those of us who sincerely seek after righteousness can just as easily be beguiled by the wisdom of men.  It is only by being willing to humbly submit to the will of God and receive of His wisdom that we can escape the trap into which popular or attractive ideals may lead us.  Nephi, was a righteous youth; from the beginning we generally assume he was obedient to his father.  It is clear from this verse that he was skeptical about his fathers visions and revelation, possibly just as much as Laman and Lemuel, and might even have considered also rebelling, or at least that his brothers might be right.  However, Nephi opened his heart to the enticings of the Spirit, received a personal witness from the Lord, and was able to learn for himself that the words of his father were true.  Nephi's experience is a testament to the fact that true knowledge is imparted by God through His Holy Spirit.  He learned at a young age that it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that we can know the truth of all things.

Quote

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.  (emphasis added)

Sam may have prayed to receive his own witness as well, but that is unknown.  What we do know is that Sam received a testimony of two witnesses; the witness of Lehi, the father, and that of Nephi, his son (Sam's brother).  By the testimony of these two witnesses the Spirit, a third witness, could then ratify to Sam the truthfulness of the message.  Such an interesting type that we see a father/son witness ratified by the Spirit, just as from Christ Himself.  From the words written, I presume that Sam was mentally and spiritually prepared to receive the confirmation of the Spirit he needed in order to fully believe and act accordingly. I hope that we all keep ourselves sufficiently prepared for such an experience.

Edited May 2, 2017 by person0

[pam]

Sometimes I like to get a visual as I'm reading.  So I discovered that Jerusalem is about 180 miles from the Red Sea.  Lehi and his family went 3 days beyond this.  So that meant they had traveled 12-14 days till they stopped. 

This chapter is where we start reading about the murmurings of Laman and Lemuel.  I was reading a talk last week by Elder H. Ross Workman regarding murmuring.  He says:

Quote

 “murmuring consists of three steps, each leading to the next in a descending path to disobedience.” First, when people murmur they begin to question. They question “first in their own minds and then [plant] questions in the minds of others.” Second, those who murmur begin to “rationalize and excuse themselves from doing what they [have] been instructed to do. … Thus, they [make] an excuse for disobedience.” Their excuses lead to the third step: “Slothfulness in following the commandment.”

I see this a lot even today.  It just brings to mind how we are taught that the  Book of Mormon was written for people in our day.  So in that sense I can see how it applies to us today.

The Lord speaks to Nephi and tells him that as long as he keeps the commandments he shall prosper.  Though I never thought of prosper as necessarily gaining wealth. Nor does it mean that life will be free from trials.  

[zil]

10 hours ago, pam said:

Sometimes I like to get a visual as I'm reading.

Read the first section of Lehi in the Desert - it will give you fantastic cultural and visual background for the story of Lehi, et al, leaving Jerusalem.  IMO, it makes starting the Book of Mormon much richer.  The other two thirds do the same for the book of Ether.

It's very easy reading, almost like reading a novel.

[pam]

2 hours ago, zil said:

Read the first section of Lehi in the Desert - it will give you fantastic cultural and visual background for the story of Lehi, et al, leaving Jerusalem.  IMO, it makes starting the Book of Mormon much richer.  The other two thirds do the same for the book of Ether.

It's very easy reading, almost like reading a novel.

I wish they had used a different font or made the text darker.  I am having a really hard time reading it.

*edit* Never mind.  I just greatly enlarged the font and that is much better.

[Sunday21]

I wonder if anyone has insights as to the personalities of L&L. They are so odd...see an angel..rebelling a verse later, I have difficulty believing that they actually existed!