Chapter 16
The wicked take the truth to be hard—Lehi’s sons marry
the daughters of Ishmael—The Liahona guides their course in the
wilderness—Messages from the Lord are written on the Liahona from time to
time—Ishmael dies; his family murmurs because of afflictions. About
600–592 B.C.
1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made
an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared
unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.
2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew
that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and
the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at
the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth
them to the very center.
3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were
willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk
uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say:
Thou speakest hard things against us.
4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my
brethren, with all diligence, to keep the commandments of the Lord.
5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves
before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they
would walk in the paths of righteousness.
6 Now, all these things were said and done as my father
dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the
daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my brethren took of the daughters of
Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.
8 And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments
of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed
of the Lord exceedingly.
9 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake
unto my father by night, and commanded him that on the morrow he should take
his journey into the wilderness.
10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the
morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld
upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass.
And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we
should go into the wilderness.
11 And it came to pass that we did gather together
whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness, and all the remainder of
our provisions which the Lord had given unto us; and we did take seed of every
kind that we might carry into the wilderness.
12 And it came to pass that we did take our tents and
depart into the wilderness, across the river Laman.
13 And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of
four days, nearly a south-southeast direction, and we did pitch our tents
again; and we did call the name of the place Shazer.
14 And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our
arrows, and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families; and
after we had slain food for our families we did return again to our families in
the wilderness, to the place of Shazer. And we did go forth again in the
wilderness, following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of
the wilderness, which were in the borders near the Red Sea.
15 And it came to pass that we did travel for the space
of many days, slaying food by the way, with our bows and our arrows and our
stones and our slings.
16 And we did follow the directions of the ball, which
led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.
After Nephi had finished teaching his brethren, they complained that what he had taught were “hard things, more than we are able to bear” (1 Nephi 16:1). Nephi replied, yes, I know what I said were hard things addressed to the wicked. The wicked often respond in anger. After Stephen had preached to the high priests, we read that, “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth” (Acts 7:54). Nephi would later write that his writings “speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil” (2 Nephi 33:5).
Nephi then gives us
an important truth, “the guilty taketh the truth to be hard” (1 Nephi
16:2).
“And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil.
“For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved.
“But he that doeth
truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are
wrought in God” (John 3:19-21).
“The world cannot
hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are
evil” (John 7:7).
Nephi exhorted is
brethren to walk uprightly before the Lord, stop whining about everything, and
keep the Lord’s commandments. They began
to humble themselves before the Lord.
Life went on in the
valley of Lemuel. The next set of events
was the marriage of the daughters of Ishmael to the sons of Lehi and to
Zoram. “And thus my father had fulfilled
all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the
Lord exceedingly” (1 Nephi 16:8).
One night, the
voice of the Lord commanded Lehi to continue their journey the next day. That morning, as Lehi found a ball in his
doorway. Nephi described it as “ball of
curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass.
And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way
whither we should go into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:10).[1]
The family gathered
things together along with a variety of seeds and began their journey again in
the wilderness.
They traveled for
four days in a south-southeastern direction.
They found a place where they could pitch their tenets. They called this place Shazer [HEB twisting,
intertwining].
They went into the
wilderness with their bows and arrows to get food for their families. They were successful and continued their
journey in the same south-southeast direction, keeping in the most fertile
parts of the wilderness. Hugh Nibley
explains, “A strong point for the Book of Mormon is the claim that Lehi’s
people survived only by ‘keeping in the more fertile parts of the wilderness’
(1 Nephi 16:14), since that is actually the custom followed in those regions,
though the fact has only been known to westerners for a short time. Nephi gives
us a correct picture of hunting practices both as to weapons and methods used.
Even the roughest aspects of desert life at its worst are faithfully and
correctly depicted.”[2]
After spending a
short time in Shazer, they continued their journey for many days. As they traveled, they followed the
directions of the ball. This led them to
the more fertile parts of the wilderness.
Hugh Nibley explains how this fits in with what is now known about this
part of the world.
“Intrepid explorers
of our own day have learned the secret, however, and Lehi knew of it too. Like
a sudden flash of illumination comes the statement that Lehi by divine
instruction “led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness” (1 Nephi
16:16). Woolley and Lawrence describe such ‘more fertile parts’ as ‘stretching
over the flat floor of the plain in long lines like hedges.’ They are the
depressions of dried-up watercourses, sometimes hundreds of miles
long. They furnish, according to Bertram Thomas, ‘the arteries of life in
the steppe, the path of Badawin movement, the habitat of animals, by reason of
the vegetation—scant though it is—which flourishes in their beds alone.’ In
Arabia it is this practice of following ‘the more fertile parts of the wilderness’
(1 Nephi 16:16) that alone makes it possible for both men and animals to
survive. Cheesman designates as ‘touring’ the practice followed by men and
beasts of moving from place to place in the desert as spots of fertility shift
with the seasons.”[3]
After being commanded by the Lord to depart from the valley
of Lemuel, they travelled many days.
They stopped and pitched their tents for a while. Hugh Nibley writes about traveling in the
desert.
“Lehi’s party is described as moving through the desert for
a few days (three or four, one would estimate) and then camping ‘for the space
of a time’ (1 Nephi 16:17). This is exactly the way the Arabs move. Caravan
speeds run between two and one-quarter and three and nine-tenths miles an hour,
thirty miles being, according to Cheesman, ‘a good average’ for the day, and
sixty miles being the absolute maximum. ‘The usual estimate for a good day’s
march is reckoned by Arab writers at between twenty-eight and thirty miles: in
special or favoured circumstances it might be near forty.’ On the other
hand, a day’s slow journey for an ‘ass-nomad,’ moving much slower than
camel-riders, is twenty miles.”[4]
Nephi left to find food for the party. Unfortunately, Nephi broke his bow and was
not able to obtain food. His brethren
were angry with Nephi over the loss of his bow.
Nephi tells us his was a steel bow. What does this mean? John Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper respond to a
critic of the Book of Mormon and explain the steel bow.
“The English word steel … did not originally denote carburized iron as it does today.
It originally denoted anything hard, and we still use the verbal form ‘to steel’
in the sense of “to harden.” Webster’s 1828 dictionary, which reflects usage in
Joseph Smith’s day, defines steel not only as iron mixed with carbon but notes
that its derivation is ‘probably from setting, fixing, hardness.’ One of the
four meanings of the noun is ‘extreme hardness; as heads or hearts of steel,’
while it is used figuratively of ‘weapons; particularly, offensive weapons,
swords, spears and the like.’ One of the meanings of the verbal form is ‘to
make hard or extremely hard.’ So just like the ‘bow of steel’ in the KJV
(2 Samuel 22:35; Job 20:24; Psalm 18:34), Nephi’s bow may have consisted of a
copper alloy like bronze. However, it is likely that the metal was only
one component of the bow. Roland de Vaux argued that the ‘bronze bow’ in the
biblical passages ‘refers to the metal covering of certain bows,’ sometimes
used to reinforce composite bows.”[5]
Laman and Lemuel, along with the sons of Ishmael, led the
complaining. Surprisingly, even Lehi
murmured against the Lord.
The other bows had lost their spring. “Now Saxton Pope in his classical work
called Hunting with the Bow and Arrow says the average bow is worth a
hundred thousand shots. After that it loses it spring and you can’t use it
anymore. Lehi [Nephi], who seemed to be a very capable fellow, must have been
using his bow for years. It says that their bows had lost their springs, and
that would happen.”[6] They could not acquire food. Nephi spoke to his brethren as they had
hardened their hearts and complained about God.
Nephi took things into his own hands. He made a bow out of wood and an arrow. Nephi, the obedient son, went to his father
and asked him where he should go to find food.
Even though Lehi had complained, Nephi still recognized him as the head
of the family.
Lehi humbled himself and inquired of the Lord. The voice of the Lord came to Lehi. He was chastened by the Lord because of his
complaining.
After having been chastened by the Lord, Lehi as commanded
to look upon the Liahona to see the words that are written. When Lehi “beheld the things which were
written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my
brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives” (1 Nephi 16:29).
Nephi learned the pointers worked based on their faith. Richard Rust explains:
“Considered from this perspective, the Book of Mormon is a
Liahona. It provides heaven-sent direction ‘according to the faith and
diligence and heed’ given to it (1 Nephi 16:28). Apparently some in Lehi’s
party accepted the ball too casually and overlooked it because of its
simplicity. For the Liahona to work properly, Alma taught, it was necessary to
take it seriously and diligently observe it with faith (Alma 37). So too with
the Book of Mormon. And in its literary dimension as well, the Book of Mormon
is like a Liahona … The Book of Mormon, too, gains effectiveness and
memorability by presenting doctrines and covenants through figurative language,
narratives, typology, and the like.”[7]
We frequently think of the Liahona as a “compass,” guiding
Lehi’s party on their journey. But, I
believe the most important role the Liahona played was as a “message board”
used by the Lord to communicate with his people. Everything else was secondary. Nephi wrote, “there was also written upon
them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding
concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to
time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it” (1 Nephi
16:29).
Nephi gives us a profound and powerful truth about how the
Lord works. “And thus we see that by
small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29).
[1]
Nephi never gives the ball a name (though he later refers to it as a
compass). The only reference to it, by
name, was by Alma2 when he gave it Helaman2. Here he tells him that it was called “Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a
compass” (Alma 37:38).
[7] “At the Judgment-Seat of Christ” - Larger
Perspectives, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute.
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