13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the
ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible
tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days;
and they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the
sea; nevertheless they did not loose me.
14 And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back,
the tempest began to be exceedingly sore.
15 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed
up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters
for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God
were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their
iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon
my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were
much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.
16 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise
him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine
afflictions.
17 Now my father, Lehi, had said many things unto them,
and also unto the sons of Ishmael; but, behold, they did breathe out much
threatenings against anyone that should speak for me; and my parents being
stricken in years, and having suffered much grief because of their children,
they were brought down, yea, even upon their sick-beds.
18 Because of their grief and much sorrow, and the
iniquity of my brethren, they were brought near even to be carried out of this
time to meet their God; yea, their grey hairs were about to be brought down to
lie low in the dust; yea, even they were near to be cast with sorrow into a
watery grave.
19 And Jacob and Joseph also, being young, having need of
much nourishment, were grieved because of the afflictions of their mother; and
also my wife with her tears and prayers, and also my children, did not soften
the hearts of my brethren that they would loose me.
20 And there was nothing save it were the power of God,
which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore,
when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea
they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me.
21 And it came to pass after they had loosed me, behold,
I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass
that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease, and
the storm did cease, and there was a great calm.
22 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship,
that we sailed again towards the promised land.
23 And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the
space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon
the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.
24 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the
earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the
earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass
that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.
25 And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of
promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the
forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and
the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the
use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and
of copper.
The Lord was not pleased with the merry making. He was even less pleased with Nephi being bound and the threats against his life. They encountered a huge storm. When Jonah was attempting to flee the Lord, “the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken” (Jonah 1:4).
They faced a storm for three days. They began to fear for their lives, that
their ship might sink and they would drown.
Even with the threat of their deaths, they would not release Nephi. King Benjamin would describe this experience
along with his observations to Mosiah. “Therefore,
as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but
were driven back, and incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore
they were smitten with famine and sore afflictions, to stir them up in
remembrance of their duty” (Mosiah 1:17).
On the fourth day, the storm strengthened and they came to
the reality that their deaths were not only possible, they were very
likely. It was then that they finally
released Nephi. After Nephi3
asked the Lord to cause a famine, Mormon would break into the record and share
his thoughts with us.
“And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his
people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and
with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not
remember him.
“O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish,
and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men;
yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their
hearts upon the vain things of the world!
“Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to
boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to
remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow
to walk in wisdom's paths” (Helaman 12:3-5).
Had Nephi complained during this time, it would have been
understandable. But, Nephi placed his faith
in the Lord and he “praise[d] him all the day long” (1 Nephi 18:16).
It appears the bullying and abuse was not limited to
Nephi. If anyone spoke for Nephi, they
would find themselves facing the wrath of Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of
Ishmael. Lehi and Sariah face their
wrath. “On board ship, [Lehi], at age
fifty-four, and Sariah are both characterized by Nephi as ‘stricken in years,’
having ‘grey hairs,’ and about to enter a ‘watery grave.’ Still Nephi indicates
that this was because of grief brought upon them by their children more than
because of age per se (1 Nephi 18:17-18).”[1]
Even their younger brothers, Jacob and Joseph, suffered from
the abuse. Jacob, the oldest, was
probably around ten years old. Nephi’s
wife and children pleaded with them to release Nephi. It would not be all that surprising to learn
the cruelty of Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael towards Lehi, Sariah,
Jacob, Joseph, and Nephi’s family probably made them feel like “leaders” and
powerful men. Such is the fate of the
true coward.
Only when their death was imminent did they finally repent “of
the thing which they had done” (1 Nephi 18:20).
The first thing Nephi did was to take the Liahona. It immediately began to work. Nephi refers to the Liahona as “the compass”
(see 1 Nephi 18:21). This has been a
point of contention among critics of the Church. According to these “experts,” it was
impossible for Lehi’s party to have had a “compass.” Daniel C. Peterson replies:
“Of course, it isn't entirely clear that the Liahona was a
compass at all, in the usual understanding of the term. For it worked according
to the faith, diligence, and obedience of those to whom it was given (1 Nephi
16:28-9; Mosiah 1:16; Alma 37:40); it ceased to function when they were
unrighteous (1 Nephi 18:12-3; Alma 37:41-2); and it resumed functioning when
they repented (1 Nephi 18:21). I am grateful that my Boy Scout
compass didn't behave that way. (Otherwise, our troop would certainly have
perished miserably in the wilderness.)[2]
Nephi prayed and everything calmed down. Things apparently went well from that time forward.
“[A]fter we had sailed for the space of many days, we did
arrive at the promised land [around 589 B.C.]” (1 Nephi 18:22). We don’t know how long the trip took. There has been speculation that it took as
much as two years to arrive in the promised land.
They settled and began to plant the seeds they brought. The crops thrived and they were blessed with
a good supply of food. They also found
cows, oxen, horses, goats, wild goats, and wild animals. Things were looking good in their new home.
[2] Yet More Abuse of B. H. Roberts (footnote 17), Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute.
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