BOM and Faith 1 Nephi 3-4

After Nephi had received his vision, he returned to the camp.  Lehi told him he had been commanded to send his sons to Jerusalem to get the brass plates.

Laman and Lemuel complained and whined. This is too hard; why do we gotta do this? This is why he was giving Nephi the task of obtaining them.

Once again, we see the strong faith Nephi had in his father and the Lord. “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7).

Nephi most likely had no idea how he would go about accomplishing this; however, this did not prevent him from obeying the Lord’s commandment. All Nephi need was his faith. His faith was his assurance he would accomplish the task. “Because Nephi first trusted in God, God put great trust in Nephi. The Lord blessed him with great outpourings of the Spirit that blessed his life, the lives of his family, and the lives of his people.”[1]

“Lehi receives a command from the Lord to send his sons back to Jerusalem for the plates of brass. How did Laman and Lemuel respond to this? They murmured! And so, Lehi sends for Nephi and says, ‘The Lord has given me a commandment, but your brothers have murmured’ … So, expressing faith and obedience, Nephi responds, and the brothers go back to Jerusalem.”[2]

Laman first goes and attempts to convince Laban to give him the plates. Laban became angry and threw him out, accusing him of being a robber. Under the Mosaic Law, robbery was a capital offense, so Laban’s execution would have been justified (if only the truth had not gotten in the way).

Nephi convinces his brothers to get their wealth and attempt to trade it for the brass plates. Laban lusted after this wealth. He again chased them out, but sent servants to kill them. Now Laban had become the robber and committed a capital offense.

Laban and Lemuel began beating Nephi and Sam. They were stopped by an angel.

He challenged Laman and Lemuel to exercise faith in the Lord. This is the only way they would accomplish their task.

Nephi returned to Jerusalem to attempt It was decided Nephi would go and attempt to obtain the plates. Nephi knew his life was at risk as he journeyed into Jerusalem. He wrote he did not know

“beforehand the things which I should do” (1 Nephi 4:6). Through his faith, Nephi placed his safety in the hands of the Lord. He had absolute faith he would be led by the Lord and know what to do when the time came.

This time, the Lord had prepared a way for Nephi to obtain the brass plates. He was able to accomplish his task and return with the plates.

Nephi understood the importance of the plates.

“And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers;

“And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto this present time” (1 Nephi 3:19-20).

The importance of the plates became clear when Mosiah₁ found the Mulekites. “[T]hey had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator” (Omni 1:17).

Some five centuries had passed since Nephi placed his faith in the Lord, knowing He would provide a way for him to obtain the records necessary for his people to know and follow the Lord’s law. His faith made the difference to his people.

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[1] Earning the Trust of the Lord and Your Family, Elder Richard J. Maynes, October 2017 General Conference.

[2] Nephi’s Teachings in the Book of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute website.