17 And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a
ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he
thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross
these great waters.
18 And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were
desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build
a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.
19 And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly
sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I
began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did
rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we
knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so
great a work.
20 And thou art like unto our father, led away by the
foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of
Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our
women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the
wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been
better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have
suffered these afflictions.
21 Behold, these many years we have suffered in the
wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of
our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.
22 And we know that the people who were in the land of
Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of
the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore,
we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and
hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother
is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and
complain against us.
23 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake unto them,
saying: Do ye believe that our fathers, who were the children of Israel, would
have been led away out of the hands of the Egyptians if they had not hearkened
unto the words of the Lord?
24 Yea, do ye suppose that they would have been led out
of bondage, if the Lord had not commanded Moses that he should lead them out of
bondage?
25 Now ye know that the children of Israel were in
bondage; and ye know that they were laden with tasks, which were grievous to be
borne; wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them, that
they should be brought out of bondage.
26 Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do
that great work; and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were
divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground.
27 But ye know that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red
Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh.
28 And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the
wilderness.
29 Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word
according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock, and there came
forth water, that the children of Israel might quench their thirst.
30 And notwithstanding they being led, the Lord their
God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day and giving light
unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were expedient for man
to receive, they hardened their hearts and blinded their minds, and reviled
against Moses and against the true and living God.
31 And it came to pass that according to his word he did
destroy them; and according to his word he did lead them; and according to his
word he did do all things for them; and there was not any thing done save it
were by his word.
32 And after they had crossed the river Jordan he did
make them mighty unto the driving out of the children of the land, yea, unto
the scattering them to destruction.
33 And now, do ye suppose that the children of this land,
who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye
suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
34 Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more
choice than they if they had been righteous? I say unto you, Nay.
35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that
is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word
of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was
upon them; and the Lord did curse the land against them, and bless it unto our
fathers; yea, he did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did
bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.
36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should
be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
Having made tools, Nephi is ready to build the ship. The murmuring returns. “Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that
he can build a ship” (1 Nephi 17:17).
When Nephi asked for help, the made it clear they wanted nothing to do
with this project. (Their laziness
streak continues unabated.)
Nephi was saddened because of the hardness of their
hearts. When his brethren saw Nephi’s
sorrow, they rejoiced! “We knew that ye
could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment;
wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work” (1 Nephi 17:19). Oh, the arrogance of those who “know.”
Why were Nephi’s brethren so opposed to making a ship? I propose a number of possibilities.
First, they weren’t shipbuilders. Hugh Nibley asks why they should know
anything about shipbuilding. “Shipbuilding
was the jealously guarded monopoly of the coast people.”[1]
Next, Laman, Lemuel, and their little group were lazy. “The grumbling brothers who refused to help
Nephi build a ship out of pure laziness (1 Nephi 17:18).”[2]
Finally, why would they want to leave Bountiful? We know that, after leaving Nahom, they “did
travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17:1). Now they have plenty. They are not suffering as they had in their
earlier journey.
It’s not surprising they mocked and ridiculed Nephi. And it continued.
They accused Lehi of having been “led away by the foolish
imaginations of his heart” (1 Nephi 17:20).
“[I]t seems likely that when Laman and Lemuel described their father as
a ‘visionary man,’ they were not simply suggesting that he was an old fool.
They were accusing him of being a false prophet who was leading their family
astray.”[3]
They whined about what their wives and children had
suffered. If would have been better for
their wives to had died before they left Jerusalem that to experience the
suffering they had. (I’d like to hear
the wives side of that claim!)
Had they stayed in Jerusalem, instead of suffering the
wilderness, they would have enjoyed their wealth; their possessions. They could have a great life and been happy
instead of having suffered.
See, they grumbled, we know (oh, the arrogance!) they people
in Jerusalem are a good and righteous people.
They obey the commandments and judgments of the Lord. They follow the
Law of Moses. Because Lehi had judged them unfairly, they had been led away
from Jerusalem. And, their idiot brother
is just as bad as their father is.
Daniel Peterson wrote, “They’re quite complacent, quite satisfied with
the way they have been behaving. And they don’t like it when a prophet comes
along and tells them, ‘Actually you’re sinners and the Lord has rejected you.’
So, it is a natural human response ‘Oh no we’re not!’” (Daniel Peterson).[4]
After the children of Israel came upon the promised land,
they saw others lived there. The Lord
made “them mighty unto the driving out of the children of the land, yea, unto
the scattering them to destruction” (1 Nephi 17:32). The Lord commanded the children of Israel, “Observe
thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the
Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite,
and the Jebusite” (Exodus 34:11). “Then
ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy
all their pictures [HEB stone figures], and destroy all their molten images,
and quite pluck down all their high places [OR hill shrines]: And ye shall
dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you
the land to possess it” (Numbers 33:52-53).
Nephi then teaches important truths, truths we often miss
when reading the Book of Mormon. Why, he
asks, were the people driven out of the promised land? Were they righteous? No.
And this is the key to an essential gospel principle. “Forget that pious
cant about Chosen People, Nephi tells his brothers. If the Canaanites had been
righteous they would have been as ‘choice’ to God as the Hebrews (1 Nephi 17:34).”[5]
Hugh Nibley continues:
“[T]he Israelites are not to get the idea that because the
Lord has turned out other people to give them the land, it is because of their
righteousness, or that victory in the field has come to them as a reward of
virtue: ‘Speak not thou in thine heart saying: For my righteousness the Lord
hath brought me to possess the land: but rather for the wickedness of these
nations the Lord doth drive them out’ (Deuteronomy 9:4). This is
exactly the lesson of Nephi to his brothers as they pass through those same
lands. Whether or not these people were more or less wicked than Israel is for
the Lord alone to decide. But here he tells them that it was not because they
are righteous, but because the others were wicked; he had a score to settle
with them and would have smitten them whether Israel had been anywhere around
or not (1 Nephi 17:33-38).”[6]
Had the peoples residing in the promised land been
righteous, they would have been as “‘choice” to God as the Hebrews. What is important to the Lord is not the
people, it is the righteousness of the people.
Another principle is that “the Lord esteemeth all flesh in
one” (1 Nephi 17:35). After receiving
his vision commanding him to preach the gospel to the gentiles, Peter said, “Of
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). Paul,
writing to the Romans, wrote, “For there is no respect [GR partiality] of
persons with God” (Romans 2:11). The
Lord has said, “For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall
know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand,
when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over
his own dominion” (D&C 1:35) and “for your salvation I give unto you a
commandment, for I have heard your prayers, and the poor have complained before
me, and the rich have I made, and all flesh is mine, and I am no respecter of
persons” (D&C 38:16). The righteous
are favored of God. “The text explains
that the redemption of Israel was made possible because the patriarchs loved
the Lord and chose to accept his covenants.”[7]
Sidney Sperry observes:
“Here is courageously expressed the principle that,
everything else being equal, all mankind stands in the same relation to God.
There is no favoritism. The only thing that can change that relationship is sin
and unrighteousness; God definitely favors the righteous.”[8]
Because they had rejected the word of God, they were living
in iniquity. The Lord cursed the land
and blessed the children of Israel.
Their iniquity led to their destruction and removal from the land; the
children of Israel, through the power of God, obtained it. “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall
sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalms 55:22); “If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my
Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).
Hugh Nibley sums up this principle.
“It is convenient to imagine all the righteous in one camp
and the wicked in another, and this has been the usual and comfortable
interpretation of the Book of Mormon—it is the good guys versus the bad guys.
But this is exactly what the Book of Mormon tells us to avoid. God plays no
favorites. Nephi rebukes his brothers for believing that because they are Jews
they are righteous; God does not judge by party, he tells them; a good man is
good and a bad one is bad, according to his own behavior: ‘Behold, the Lord
esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God’ (1 Nephi
17:35). Family and race and nationality account for nothing; ‘God is mindful of
every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people’
(Alma 26:37).”[9]
[4] As
quoted in Jerusalem at the Time of Lehi,
S. Kent Brown, and Peter Johnson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute.
[7] The Lord Will Redeem His People: Adoptive
Covenant and Redemption in the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, Jennifer Clark
Lane, , Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[9] Last Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the
Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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