THE FIRST BOOK OF NEPHI
HIS REIGN AND MINISTRY
CHAPTER 2
Lehi takes his family into the wilderness by the Red Sea—They leave their property—Lehi offers a sacrifice to the Lord and teaches his sons to keep the commandments—Laman and Lemuel murmur against their father—Nephi is obedient and prays in faith; the Lord speaks to him, and he is chosen to rule over his brethren. [ Between 600 and 592 B.C. ]
1 FOR behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, [ He has been faithful to the point that he received the dream then he was faithful enough that he declared the dream of doom and destruction to the people as he was commanded. I think that it is interesting but I don't think that Lehi ever cry's repentance to the people. Why because God knows that they are beyond that point. God has had his prophets like Jeremiah telling them to repent for some time and the people have just grown more wicked, so the tim eto cry repent is done, and Lehi's message is on of the doom that is waiting on the doors to overtake them. Sometimes the Lord commands us to do hard things, He does that for several reasons: 1) that he needs to have something done 2) He knows as we submit to his will; working in his behalf that we will grow closer to him - which in essense brings us closer to him. In that process we often find that we can do things that we otherwise thought impossible - or they would be impossible if not for the Lord's help. Make the weak strong so to speak. ] behold, they seek to take away thy life.
2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, [Why did the Lord command Lehi and not Jeremiah, or any of the other prophets? Was Lehi the only prophet from the tribe of Joseph the one who was promised these blessings? ] even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. [ Wilderness because there really is not much there, very little water, seasonal rain, sand and brush. Life is hard in these conditions. ]
3 And it came to pass that he was obedient [ This is why he left Jerusalem, because he Lehi was obedient the the will of the Lord. Perhaps some of the strongest words in scripture. It is a characteristic that the Savior had that enabled him to be perfect. ] unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him.
[ He does this without all of the answers. He does not know where he will be going for sure just that he is to leave. He does not know how long he will be gone either. But nonetheless he goes. Does the Lord ever prompt us to do something where we don't have all of the answers? He focused on what he did know that God told him to leave. ]
4 And it came to pass that he *departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, [ He was a wealthy merchant so this would be a real sacrifice for him and his family - you can begin to see up front why they would complain How could Joseph Smith have known? Hebrew uses conjunctions much more frequently than English does. One clear example of this can be found in lists of items. In English, the conjunction and is normally used only before the last item in a list, such as wood, iron, copper, and brass. But Hebrew usually uses a conjunction before each item. In such lists, Hebrew also repeats related elements such as prepositions, articles, and possessive pronouns. "And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family and provisions, and tents, and [he, 1830] departed into the wilderness" Such repetition seems to be a waste of precious space on the plates, except for the fact that it is required by the Hebrew language.] and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, [ The things that they would need in order to survive. The other stuff would have been of no value and would have just made the journey harder. (Symbolism for us as we leave this world we take nothing with us). Most likely Lehi had seen also in vision something of what conditions would be like and what he needed to bring as they Lord wanted them to survive these harse conditions. Certainly if he were not told specificially he most likely prayed and pondered what he should bring. ] and tents, and departed into the wilderness.
5 And he came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea; [ (Exod 13:18-20 )] and he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea; and he did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother, Sariah, and my elder brothers, [ no mention of sisters so where they born in the wilderness? As he mentions them in 2 Ne 5:6. ] who were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam.
6 And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, [ Lehi traveled three days before building an altar to give thanks. In that case, being three days away from Jerusalem, Lehi was out of the temple district of the Temple in Jerusalem. ] he pitched his tent in a valley by the side of a river of water. [ I Haven Barlow - Winter time. ]
7 And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, [ 12 stones one for each tribe, Not a big hugh stone altar because according to the law- none cut by the hands of man according to the Law of Moses - See Exodus 20:25; 24:4-5; Josh 8:31 & 1 Kgs 18:31-32 - interesting that the words are altar of stones the correct way to say it in hebrew and not STONE ALTAR as we would most likely say it today. This is the same thing that Abraham did. ] and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God. [ Since making an offerring outside of the Temple would have been contrary to the tradition of the Jews; as sacrifice anywhere but the temple was strictly prohibited. Why might Lehi have done this? Lehi recogizes that this journey will not be a short one, and that he will need to break tradition if he is to continue to offer sacrifice. So what did Lehi offer as the sacrifice? There is no mention of them taking flocks with them or any animals. So did they? If they did why would they not have eaten some of their flock or cattle when they get hungry later on? So what other kind of offerring is there? Grain offering maybe? ]
8 And it came to pass that he called the name of the river, Laman, [ See Lemuel in verse 10. ] and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.
9 And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain [ This is an interesting choice of words for Joseph Smith to use. The Arab word for fountain is Yam - hence Yam Suph - is "The Gulf of Red Sea" or "Sea of Reeds" How could he know that fountain in arabic and Semitic language means gulf? ] of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, [ Means white - Laban means same thing. ] saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into [ heb meaning - "entering or changing form". ] the fountain of all righteousness!
10 And he also spake unto Lemuel: [ Means Godward or God is bright. ] O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, [ in other-words that we might name the valley after you - which is interesting because that is a customary way of doing things - the valley and the river are not named the same thing as opposed to how they did things in the times of Joseph Smith Ohio Valley - Ohio River, Mississippi Valley and river...] firm [ Strong. ] and steadfast, [ STEAD: Place, to fill the place of another, in names of places distant from a river or the sea, signifies place, as above; but in names of places situated on a river or harbor, it is from Sax. Stathe, border, bank, shore. FAST: Literally, set, stopped, fixed, or pressed close,Firm; immovable, Firmly fixed; Firm in adherence. ] and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord! [ (Prov 3:1-4) ]
11 Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman [ Who is the oldest would be especially ticked as he would be the one who would inherit a double portion of their father's wealth. ] and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, [ Speaking to those who do not want to leave (see Exod 16:1-3; Num 11:4-6; 14:2-4) ] because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart. [ They had a good life in the city, everything was going great as far as they were concerned. So leaving to Laman and Lemuel would have been a great hardship. In their minds their father had lost his mind. Without the knowledge of God and his workings in their lives you would be left to think nothing else. Does this apply to us today? If so in what ways? Importances of knowing the ways of God and trusting him lead to increased fait, lead to being able to understand the signs of the times, why bad things happen to good people, and allow us to follow the prophet in faith when what he might be asking us to do just does not make any sense. ]
12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. [ I suppose of any line in the Book of Mormon this is the best one to summarize why Laman and Lemuel will do as they do going forward. What are the dealings of God? How does he interact in our lives? Why is it so important for us to know that God loves us and knows us, and that we trust him? Because the purpose of this life is to be tested. This ensures that there will be times in life when life is tough. The better we know and understand the plan of salvation the better we can cope with the trials of this life. Why was Nephi's experience in the desert so different from that of Laman and Lemuel? Nephi’s journey, which is a type of our journey in life, was different because he knew of the dealings of God , he understood how God works, that God had a purpose for Nephis, that Gods purpose would require Nephi to stretch, to grow, to become more than a empty shell. At his core his understanding was different - he had a sense of who he was, and had a sense of God's plan for him - which made all of the diference in the world. Even if Laman and Lemuel had not been given to whining and had wanted to assume a good attitude about the journey, all the best self-talk in the world pales pathetically to what Nephi had. Their problem is clear. They “knew not the dealings of that God who had created them” and therefore their wilderness journey was going to be merely a miserable, futile experience that not only did not transform them to make them fit candidates for the kingdom, it ground them into empty whiners with murderous resentments. ]
13 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. [ If we do not know God we are left to trust in the power of man. ] And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.
14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound [ To throw into disorder, To perplex; to disturb the apprehension by indistinctness of ideas or words, To abash; to throw the mind into disorder; to cast down; to make ashamed, To perplex with terror; to terrify; to dismay; to astonish; to throw into consternation; to stupify with amazement. ] them, that they durst not utter against him; [ Shows that they could tell that he was speaking as more than the old man that he was. They felt a power greater than normal, as they were in their prime and he was long past it so they could have taken him so to speak at anytime from a pure physical sense. ] wherefore, they did as he commanded them. [ Just as Lehi did as he was commanded to do in verse 3. The difference is what motivated them to be obedient. Lehi did it simply because he was asked by God and wanted to be obedient. Laman and Lemuel did it out of fear. ]
15 And my father dwelt in a tent. [ Why is this information significant to us? So why is that important to us? - This scripture plays upon the protective and sheltering role of the tribal head in Middle Eastern culture. Allowing someone into the tent symbolized a general extension of hospitality and sometimes refuge. Through covenants, we can enter God’s tent and receive the blessings of His love and mercy. And in the stakes of Zion we gather “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm” (D&C 115:6). Symbol that he had wealth. Num 9:17-20 Lehi pitches the tent and then sacrifices on an altar, as did Abraham in Gen. 12:8).
But, with Nephi's repeated references to the tent there must be something more to it than simple symbolic connections. Nibley, in _Lehi in the Desert_ suggests it is cultural:
The editors of the Book of Mormon have given a whole verse to Nephi's laconic statement, "And my father dwelt in a tent" (1 Nephi 2:15), and rightly so, since Nephi himself finds the fact very significant and refers constantly to his father's tent as the center of his universe. To an Arab, "My father dwelt in a tent" says everything. "The present inhabitants of Palestine," writes Canaan, "like their forefathers, are of two classes: dwellers in villages and cities, and the Bedouin. As the life and habits of the one class differ from the those of the other, so do their houses differ. Houses in villages are built of durable material; ...on the other hand, Bedouin dwellings, tents, are more fitted for nomadic life." An ancient Arab poet boasts that his people are "the proud, the chivalrous people of the horse and camel, the dwellers-in-tents, and no miserable ox-drivers." A Persian king but fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem boasts that all the civilized kings "as well as the Bedouin tent-dwellers brought their costly gifts and kissed my feet," thus making the same distinction as the later poet. One of the commonest oaths of the Arabs, Burckhardt reports, is "by the life of this tent and its owners," taken with one hand resting on the middle tent pole. If a man's estate is to be declared void after his death, "the tent posts are torn up immediately after the man has expired, and the tent is demolished," while on the other hand "the erection of a new tent in the desert is an important event celebrated with feast and sacrifice." And the cult of the tent was as important to the Hebrews as well. Indeed, the Hebrew word for tent (ohel) and the Arabic word for family (ahl), were originally one and the same word. "The Bedouin has a strong affection for his tent," says Canaan. "He will not exchange it with any stone house." So Jacob was "a plain man, dwelling in tents" (Genesis 25:27), though, let us add, by no means in squalor: "Casual travelers in the Orient, who have seen only the filthy, wretched tents of the tribeless gypsy Bedouins ...would be surprised, perhaps, at the spaciousness and simple luxury in the tent of a great desert sheik."
Then from Hebrew we learn that this phrase has much greater meaning. so, a lot of times we read little statements, ‘and my father dwelled in a tent.’ Now we think, okay, Lehi, he’s camping, but the reality is, this is what is call an ancient marker. Anytime there is a temple teaching, you will be prefaced with,’ and my father dwelled in a tent.’ The michgan in the wilderness was a tented dwelling. Okay, my father dwelled in a tent, is referring me back to the Michgan in the wilderness. The Tabernacle in the wilderness. so, He’s given me a teaching on all those… So in other words for those who have eyes to see, if he says, and my father dwelled in a tent, you know that there’s something right around that scripture he’s teaching you, that is to help you ascend to the promise land. ]
16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, [ About 12 - 14 years old. Also young as to things of the world - a contrast between him and his brothers. ] nevertheless being large in stature, [ So most likely having gone through puberty (ages 10-15 usually) in order to start to have some stature. Or at least for his age since he is contrasting his age with his stature. So this does not mean that he is a really big burley guy. Remember he receives "much strength of the Lord" in order to restrain Zoram. ] and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, [ Among those mysteries was he wanted to understand how God works in our lives. Why is that important? see verse 12. ] wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; [ Knew enough to know that if you want to know something for yourself - then you better ask for yourself and not rely on testimony of others. ] and behold he did visit me, [ Nephi's first vision. So Nephi goes to the source to understand what God is asking of him and his family. Not for direction on how to lead the family as his father Lehi is the prophet, but he wants to know what his part is. Personal revelation for himself in his individual stewardship. In 2020 the Prophet received revelation that the temple endowment presentation needed to be changed. He was instructed that it needed to: The three "C"s as they were internally referred too: Center on Christ; Clarify and simplify the endowment, what it is and what it means;
Covenants - help us to better understand what we are covenanting to do. This message was given forth to those who would be involved in the process of changing the presentation to accomplish those three things. So here we have Nephi doing essentially the same thing. The prophet did not tell each of us how to individually do our jobs, no he outlined what was to be accomplished and then invited each of us to get our own specific revelation on how to perform what our Father in Heaven wanted. At this point it does not really matter what the Lord was telling Nephi, other than the fact that he was speaking directly to Nephi. So if we follow this story over in chapter 3:1-2 where he goes to the tent of his Father (the prophet). ] and did soften my heart [ Why did Nephi need to have his heart softened? The first though that come to my mind is that his father is making him leave all of his friends, he is at that venerable age where it is tough to make friends, and no fun. Here id father says that we need to pick up and move. Note how the Lord blessed him - with a softer heart - humility. he is the one making the choice to ask God, and God responds - this is direct contrast to what his brothers are choosing to do. ] 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. [ So here Nephi tells us the reason why he did not rebell like his brothers. Because he took the time to ask God. I am sure he was not happy to move, to leave the comfort of their home, the many comforts that it provided, his friends. Everything that he had going for himself was left behind, so as a teenager I can see how he might have wanted to rebell himself, but he did not. ]
17 And I spake unto Sam, [ In Egyptian Sam means Shem and is not an abbreviation for Samuel. ] 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.
18 But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" to "listen" and "obey". ] unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.
19 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, [ Nephi's second vision - He has most likely gone off by himself somewhere to be alone as in 3:1 he returns to his fathers tent. ] saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart. [ Or Nephi; thank you for taking the time to ask me directly so that I can explain the reason that you need to move directly to you, and not just rebelling against the idea. Note the contrast here between Nephi and his brothers. One seeks the Lord and is humble; the other seeks for the power and material things of the world, follow their pride as they are proud of what they have; their lifestyle. The Lord knew full well that Laman and Lemuel would never come around so why did he choose to bring them along? Because of the valiance of Lehi? Because he wanted the opposition to help Nephi and others grow? Would they not have survived with out them? see verse 24. ]
20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, [ First this is a message directly to Nephi. What did Nephis go to the Lord to ask him? It was a lot like Joseph Smith asking the Lord which church to join, but Nephi is just asking to know why the Lord told his dad that we have to move? He wanted to understand and he had been taught that if you really want to know the answer of things ask God. The common message of the Book Of Mormon. Do God's will we prosper, rebel and we are cut off as in the next verse. So why does it seem that those who do not keep his commandments prosper just as well? Does this only have to do with spiritual blessings? (4:14, 2 Ne. 1:20, Jarom 1:9, Mosiah 2:22, Alma 9:13, Alma 36:1, Alma 50:2, Hela. 3:20). The only appearance of a similar statement elsewhere in Scripture is 1 Kings 2:3, and that lacks the negative "cut off" portion. This is one of those unique rhetorical cues for the BofM. ] and shall be led to a land of promise; [ (Exod 12:25; Deut 19:8) ] yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; [ Prepared for you! This is the answer to his prayer that he started with. He just wanted to know why the Lord told his father that they needed to move when it did not sound like a good idea to him(as he was a teenager). ] yea, a land which is choice above all other lands. [ While his father Lehi was blessed to see in vision what was going to happen to the people in Jerusalem, Nephi is blessed to see the latter day gentiles and his people on the promised land. Nephi's primary audience will then be people that he will never see, he will not be among them. While Lehi taught the people of Jerusalem, Nephis knew that his primary audience would be generations in the future, he would never see them so the only way he could communicate with them was through the written word. It is interesting also that Nephi's vision started with him being taken to an exceeding high mountain(1 Ne. 11:1), Nephi is writing after the fact, some years after the events have happened, but his experience is much like that of Ezekiel as found in Ezekiel 40:2. The vision that Ezekiel will see on his mountain is of the temple in Jerusalem. His vision is estimated to be written around 593 to 571 BC while he is a captive in Babylon. It is also interesting that Nephi is in the promised land and receives a similar vision(only of things that will happen on the American continent) around 600 to 592 BC. ]
21 And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee,< [ God basically tells Nephi that this is his plan, it is under his direction and you can get on board of not. But if you do not I will treat you the same way that I will treat your brothers if they continue to rebel. ] they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. [ Who is cutting who off here? Is the Lord inflecting punishment on them then? This is not something that the Lord is doing to them but that they are doing to themselves, by rebelling they pull away from the truth, the more they pull away the harder it is to find truth. ]
22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren. [ That becomes obvious almost as since Laman and Lemuel don't have and cannot recognize the truth then they need someone else to teach it since you cannot teach what you do not know. ]
23 For behold, in that day that they shall rebel against me, I will curse them even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall rebel against me also.
24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance. [ Laman and Lemuels' seed would continue to act like their parents and as a result would persecute the Nephites and get them to humble themselves when they became unrighteous. verses 21-24 provide answers to "Why did the Lord even bother to take Laman and Lemuel along in their first place? Why not just leave them too?" It is because the Lord views our earth life in a different perspective than just Nephi and his immediate family. The Lord is viewing things as a social engineer of generations.These verse also show us a little about God and how his plans work - we can see that he does not make people act a certain way - but it is because he knows just how they will act that he uses that to develop his people. ]
* Verse 4 [600 B.C.].