Finding the ore, Nephi made a furnace to process the
ore. He made bellows and started the
fire using two stones struck together.
From Nahom to Bountiful, they made few fires. The lord made their “food become sweet, that ye cook it not” (1 Nephi 17:12). Why didn’t they make fire in the
wilderness? “Whether it was to save
fuel, along with the efforts that one expends to find fuel, or whether it was
to avoid drawing attention to themselves that the Lord ‘suffered [not] that we
should make much fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness,’ or both, is not
clear from the account (1 Nephi 17:12). “[1]
Jeffrey Chadwick explains:
[C]ontrary to the common consensus
that began with Hugh Nibley, I do not think that the party's spare
use of fire was due to the danger of attracting desert marauders.24 … What Nephi specifically wrote is that
"the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make
much fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness" (1 Nephi 17:12). While the
term suffered could be understood as allowed or permitted,
in the context of the passage it could also be understood as Nephi attributing
to the Lord the fact that, for practical reasons, they had simply not made much
fire on their journey.
There are three quite practical
reasons why Lehi's group would not have made much fire. (1) The availability of
firewood or other fuel was not consistent, and in some areas where few trees
and shrubs grew, kindling would have been largely absent. (2) The party would
often have traveled at night, particularly in the hot months, which means that their
resting hours were during the daylight, when no fire would be needed for
visibility. (3) They cooked very little of their food, animal meat or
otherwise, which seems obvious from the Lord's promise: "I will make thy
food become sweet, that ye cook it not" (1 Nephi 17:12). (Emphasis in
original)[2]
The Lord informed them He would be their “light in the wilderness” (1 Nephi
17:13). The importance of following the guidance
of the Lord was emphasized by Alma2 when preaching to the people of
Zarahemla.
O
ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world,
ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless
have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called
after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his
voice!
Behold,
I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name
he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto
the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye
are not the sheep of the good shepherd.
Alma 5:37 - 38
In the Olive Leaf revelation,
the Lord said, “Behold, that which you
hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because
you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth
abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound” (Section 88:66).
The Lord continued, if they keep His commandments, He would
led them to the promised land “and ye
shall know that it is by me that ye are led” (1 Nephi 17:13). This was similar to the Lord leading the Jews
during the Exodus. “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead
them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by
day and night:” (Exodus 13:21).
Nephi tells us he “did
strive to keep the commandments of the Lord” (1 Nephi 17:15). In his charge to Solomon before his death,
David told him to “And keep the charge of
the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments,
and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses,
that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest
thyself” (1 Kings 2:3). Following
the Lord’s command, He encouraged his brethren to be faithful and diligent in
following the commandments of the Lord.
Paul wrote to Titus, “These
things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise [GR disregard] thee” (Titus
2:15). In Hebrews, we are told that we
are to “exhort one another daily, while
it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin” (Hebrews 3:13).
[1] A
Case for Lehi's Bondage in Arabia, S. Kent Brown, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 30, 2013.
[2] An
Archaeologist's View, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute, accessed March 30, 2013.
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