48 And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these
words they were angry with me, and were desirous to throw me into the depths of
the sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them,
saying: In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not,
for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and
whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he
shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.
49 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that
they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold
their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.
50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do
all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this
water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be
done.
51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has
wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot
instruct me, that I should build a ship?
52 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things
unto my brethren, insomuch that they were confounded and could not contend
against me; neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their
fingers, even for the space of many days. Now they durst not do this lest they
should wither before me, so powerful was the Spirit of God; and thus it had
wrought upon them.
53 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me:
Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither
before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that
they may know that I am the Lord their God.
54 And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand
unto my brethren, and they did not wither before me; but the Lord did shake
them, even according to the word which he had spoken.
55 And now, they said: We know of a surety that the Lord
is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us.
And they fell down before me, and were about to worship me, but I would not suffer
them, saying: I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother; wherefore,
worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days
may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
After hearing Nephi’s words, his brethren were downright
angry with him. They had had
enough. They were so angry, they were
going to throw him in the ocean. “Laman
and Lemuel attempted to kill Nephi by throwing him into the sea (see 1 Nephi 17:48).
This seems to imply cliffs overlooking the ocean, since Nephi's life would not
have been threatened by being thrown into the ocean from a beach.”[1]
As they tried to grab Nephi, he warned them, “In the name of
the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the
power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his
hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught
before the power of God, for God shall smite him” (1 Nephi 17:48). When Moses saw God, he beheld his
power. “[M]ine own eyes have beheld God;
but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have
beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was
upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him” (Moses 1:11).
When Abinadi was filled with the Spirit of God, he warned
King Noah, “Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me,
for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither
have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will
not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time” (Mosiah 13:3).
In the new world, Lehi would remind Laman and Lemuel:
“And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto
you. Ye say that he hath used sharpness;
ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his sharpness was the
sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye
call anger was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not
restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities.
“And it must needs be that the power of God must be with
him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the
Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that
he could not shut it” (2 Nephi 1:26-27).
He commanded them so stop
complaining and get to work building the ship.
He told them, “God had commanded me that I should build a ship … If God
had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say
unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it
would be done … , if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many
miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that
I should build a ship” (1 Nephi 17:49-51).
Paul, writing to the Philippians, told them, “I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).
Nephi expounds on the effect his words had on his
brethren. “I … said many things unto my
brethren, insomuch that they were confounded [IE ashamed, overawed] and could
not contend against me; neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me
with their fingers, even for the space of many days. Now they durst not do this lest they should
wither before me, so powerful was the Spirit of God; and thus it had wrought
upon them” (1 Nephi 17:52).
The Lord wasn’t with them.
A few days later, Nephi was commanded to “[s]tretch forth thine hand
again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will
shock [IE cause to shake or tremble; see vv. 54–55] them, saith the Lord, and
this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God” (1 Nephi
17:53). This he did.
His brethren responded that they knew the Lord as with him,
and what he has done he did through the power of the Lord. They fell down and began to worship Nephi.
This was similar to Paul and Baranabas’s experience in Greece.
“And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his
feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
“The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him,
and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
“Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up
their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in
the likeness of men.
And they called Barnabas, Jupiter [GR Zeus] ; and Paul,
Mercurius [GR Hermes], because he was the chief speaker.
“Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city,
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with
the people.
“Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they
rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
“And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you,
and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living
God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein”
(Acts 14:8-15).
Nephi immediately stopped his brothers from worshipping him,
saying, “I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother; wherefore, worship
the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be
long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee” (1 Nephi 17:55).
We get a tremendous insight into Laman and Lemuel. Richard Bushman writes:
“[A] frequent result of the brothers' assaults on Nephi was
a rebuke from the Lord. Once an angel appeared to chastise them, and on another
occasion they heard the voice of the Lord. They gave way in the face of these
rebukes, but on one occasion they did more than relent. When Nephi was about to
construct a ship and the brothers in anger tried to throw him into the sea,
Nephi was given the power to shock them physically with a touch. This show of
power so overwhelmed Laman and Lemuel that they swung to the opposite extreme.
Nephi says they ‘fell down before me, and were about to worship me,’ and he had
to reassure them he was still only their brother (1 Nephi 17:53-55). This
reaction, combined with the brothers' repeated violent assaults on Nephi,
suggests that force was their characteristic reaction to crisis, the only
language they understood in such situations. It seemed to be a matter of smite
or be smitten.”[2]
Robert Rees describes the situation.
“For a brief period, Nephi has such great power that his
brothers realize he could kill them merely by touching them. The Lord then
commands Nephi to stretch forth his hand and shock them. Laman and Lemuel then
use the word know honestly for the first time: ‘We know of a
surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power
of the Lord that has shaken us’ (1 Nephi 17:55).”
What Nephi is doing, of course, is confronting his brothers
with truth that no Israelite could deny: the miraculous deliverance of the
Israelites from Egyptian bondage, their rebellion against God, and their
eventual arrival in the promised land. He then uses this great defining moment
in Israelite history to parallel the Nephites' sojourn in the Arabian desert
and their voyage to their own promised land. By employing the words know/knew 22
times in this short passage, Nephi dramatically demonstrates the difference
between the ways that he and his brothers operate in the world (they are
dishonest or, at best, manipulative, while he always acts with integrity) and
also helps the reader see that this small episode is in reality a microcosm of
the entire Book of Mormon narrative. (Emphasis in original)[3]
Virginia Pearce describes their behavior.
“We see that very often people comply or are obedient
because they're afraid not to, and that's certainly the lowest level of obedience,
but sometimes in our own families we resort to that. Then other times, Laman
and Lemuel are persuaded. Nephi exhorts them. He is a convincing person, and
they are persuaded on their own. They humble themselves, they are persuaded,
but then they go back. There is even one place in this story where it says they
know of a surety (1 Nephi 17:55), which is the same thing that Sariah says (1
Nephi 5:8), but they don't hold on to it like Sariah does. The moment Sariah
says she knows of a surety, she never goes back. She seems to have what Nephi
has, which is tenacity, and Lehi, Sam, Jacob, and Joseph have it as well. It is
just some kind of core that moves them forward once they make that decision.
Laman and Lemuel just don't believe. In the face of experience after experience
after experience, they are motivated by fear.”[4]
[1] The Arabian Bountiful Discovered? Evidence
for Nephi's Bountiful, Warren P. Aston, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute.
[2] The Lamanite View of Book of Mormon History,
Richard L. Bushman, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[4] Virginia Pearce, as quoted in Lehi's Family,
S. Kent Brown, and Peter Johnson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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