After sharing his father’s vision, Nephi writes he will not
make a full account of everything his father has written, all his dreams and
visions, and all his prophesies on these plates. He will make an account of his father’s
record on his other plates.
Nephi would later write that he did not make a full account
of his people’s history. He made one set
of plates called the (large) plates of Nephi.
He made a second set that are an account of his people’s history, their
wars, etc. On these plates, he will make
an account of his ministry (see 1 Nephi 2-4).
S. Kent Brown discusses how Nephi may have used Lehi’s
plates.
“Most of Lehi’s record must have been completed by the time
Nephi made and started writing on the large plates. This would be after
arriving in the promised land. Nephi tells us that he recorded on those plates “the
[abridged] record of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more
part of all our proceedings in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 19:2). Nephi could have
obtained the genealogy from the brass plates, where Lehi had learned about it
(see 1 Nephi 5:14). But his father’s own version of the events in the
wilderness (for example, 1 Nephi 5:2-6, which happened in Nephi’s absence)
would have had to come from another source, most likely Lehi’s own. Lehi probably
had begun writing his record while still in Jerusalem so that he could include
his visions there while they were still vivid (see 1 Nephi 1:16).”[1]
Marilyn Arnold further explains Nephi’s use of Lehi’s
plates.
“[We] have only a tiny fraction of Lehi’s words. In my
journal I say, referencing verse 16, “Nephi notes that Lehi had written a great
deal about his visions, dreams, and prophecies.” In fact, Nephi refers to Lehi’s
writings three times in a single verse, twice explaining that he can’t record
them all, so vast are they…
“Both 16 and 17 are important verses if we are to comprehend
just how prolific Lehi was and Nephi’s role in dealing with his father’s
record. We tend to skip over the passages about Lehi’s writings, and I think we
should not. Nephi is careful to add that he will not write an account of his ”proceedings”
until after he has abridged the record of his father (see v.
17). This postponement of his own work in order to prepare his father’s affirms
the importance of Lehi’s writings. It also underscores the great respect Nephi
shows his father throughout the narrative.”[2]
Why did Nephi make a record telling us about his father’s
visions? “In his account of his father’s
visions, Nephi seems to be responding in some measure to his brothers’
accusation that Lehi was a false visionary.”[3]
Having received these visions concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem, he began to prophesy to the people of Jerusalem, telling them what
the Lord had revealed to him.
The Jews reject his message.
He was mocked because of the things he testified to them. “But they mocked the messengers of God, and
despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose
against his people, till there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:16).
At the time Lehi was preaching, Jeremiah was preaching as
well.
“THE word that came
to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon;
“The which Jeremiah
the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, saying,
“From the
thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day,
that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me,
and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not
hearkened.
“And the LORD hath
sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but
ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear” (Jeremiah 25:1-4).
They were angered because he testified of their
wickedness. He clearly told them what
had been revealed to him by the Lord. He
told them what he read in the book, which testified of the coming of a Messiah
to redeem the world.
What might have made them so angry?
“Now this man, coming from one of the oldest families and
having a most unobjectionable background and education, suddenly found himself
in bad with the ‘people that count.’ First, there was mockery, then, anger, and
finally, plots against his life (1 Nephi 1:19—20) which, since they were
serious, must have been supported in high places, for in openly siding with
Jeremiah (cf. 1 Nephi 7:14) he had made himself a traitor to his class and his
tradition.”[4]
Nephi tells us “they also sought his life, that they might
take it away” (1 Nephi 1:20). Was
Lehi’s life in immediate danger? Jeffry
Chadwick speculates:
“When discussing the threat to Lehi, we] probably overstate
the actual danger to Lehi in Judah. While it is true that some in Jerusalem had
sought to take Lehi’s life (1 Nephi 1:20; 2:1), these may have been
spontaneous attempts of individuals angry with his prophecies, not necessarily
a conspiracy in which Zedekiah or the government was involved. Once outside the
big city, on the wilderness paths to either Jericho or Ein Gedi, Lehi was
probably as secure as anyone else traveling the byways of Judah.”[5]
Nephi closes the first chapter by promising us, “I, Nephi, will show unto you that the
tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of
their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Nephi 1:20). “As I read this sentence, it struck me that
we might take this to be Nephi’s ‘thesis statement’ for the Book of Mormon:
Nephi and the other Book of Mormon prophets give us to remember the tender
mercies of the Lord so that we can be delivered according to our faith.”[6]
[3] Scripture Update: Lehi as a Visionary Man,
Matthew Roper, Maxwell Institute..
[5] The Wrong Place for Lehi’s Trail and the
Valley of Lemuel, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute..
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