Chapter 5
The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep
the law of Moses, and build a temple—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites
are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge
unto the Nephites. About 588–559 B.C.
1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much
unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren.
2 But behold, their anger did increase against me,
insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.
3 Yea, they did murmur against me, saying: Our younger
brother thinks to rule over us; and we have had much trial because of him;
wherefore, now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted more because of
his words. For behold, we will not have him to be our ruler; for it belongs
unto us, who are the elder brethren, to rule over this people.
4 Now I do not write upon these plates all the words
which they murmured against me. But it sufficeth me to say, that they did seek
to take away my life.
Lehi has died. Laman, Lemuel, and company are angry with Nephi.
Nephi continued to call upon his brethren to repent and turn
away from their anger. But, the more
Nephi called on him to repent, the angrier they became.
Laman and Lemuel continue to accuse Nephi of wanting to rule
over them. Once again, their response
was, “Let’s kill him. We are the oldest
so we should rule over this people!” It’s
too bad they didn’t spend a little time actually thinking about the
situation. Why would Nephi want to rule
over them? They did nothing but complain
and whine. Nobody in their right mind
would want to deal with this behavior for the rest of his life. Laman and Lemuel never got it.
This was similar to their threats after Ishmael died.
“And Laman said unto Lemuel and also unto the sons of
Ishmael: Behold, let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi, who has
taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren.
“Now, he says that the Lord has talked with him, and also
that angels have ministered unto him.
But behold, we know that he lies unto us; and he tells us these things,
and he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes,
thinking, perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness; and
after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler
over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure. And after
this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts to anger” (1 Nephi 16:37-38).
They also conveniently forgot Lehi’s blessing. They were promised Lehi’s first blessing if
they cease murmuring and ceased to rebel against Nephi as he preached the word
of God, they would receive his first blessing.
If they refused, the first blessing would rest upon Nephi (see 2 Nephi
1:24-29). They made their choices and
lost their blessings; however, it’s always easier to blame somebody else for
all our problems than to have to admit we are responsible for our problems.
Moses also was accused of wanting to rule of the children of
Israel. “Is it a small thing that thou
hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us
in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?” (Numbers
16:13).
As we read the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites carry the
tradition of Nephi usurping Laman and Lemuel’s authority throughout their
history.
Towards the end of Jacob’s life, (around 500 B.C.), he
wrote:
“And it came to pass that many means were devised to reclaim
and restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; but it all was vain,
for they delighted in wars and bloodshed, and they had an eternal hatred
against us, their brethren. And they
sought by the power of their arms to destroy us continually” (Jacob 7:24).
Around 420 B.C., Jacob’s son, Enos, would write, “And I bear
record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites
unto the true faith in God. But our
labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil
nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full
of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and
wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins
and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and
the ax. And many of them did eat nothing
save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us” (Enos
1:20).
Some 300 years later, Zeniff would write:
“[The Lamanites] were a wild, and ferocious, and a
blood-thirsty people, believing in the tradition of their fathers, which is
this—Believing that they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of
the iniquities of their fathers, and that they were wronged in the wilderness
by their brethren, and they were also wronged while crossing the sea…
“And again, they were wroth with [Nephi] when they had
arrived in the promised land, because they said that he had taken the ruling of
the people out of their hands; and they sought to kill him” (Mosiah 10:12, 15).
During the great Nephite and Lamanites wars a hundred years
later, the leader of the Lamanites, Ammoron, would claim in his epistle to
General Moroni2, “For behold,
your fathers did wrong their brethren, insomuch that they did rob them of their
right to the when it rightly belonged unto them” (Alma 54:17),
In some ways, the hatred Laman and Lemuel felt for Nephi was
similar to the problems between Jacob and Esau.
The Nephites and Lamanites for whom Enos prayed were very
much like Jacob and Esau. Nephi, like Jacob, had to flee with his family
because his elder brothers Laman and Lemuel sought to kill him (2 Nephi 5:1–7).
Nephi’s people were settled and industrious, constructing a temple and other
buildings (2 Nephi 5:15– 17), while the Lamanites became “an idle people, full
of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey” (2
Nephi 5:24). Enos later described the Lamanites as “wild and ferocious, and a
blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of
prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short
skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in
the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax” (Enos 1:20) and noted that they sought
to destroy the Nephites (Enos 1:14).
“[T]he Bible describes Esau as ‘a cunning hunter, a man of
the field’ (Genesis 25:26), who loved to hunt with the bow (Genesis 27:1-5).
Before God for gave his sins, Enos ‘went to hunt beasts in the forests,’ where
he remembered the words of his father, which prompted him to seek God’s
forgiveness (Enos 1:3-4). By describing himself as a hunter, Enos may have been
comparing his preconversion self to the Lamanites and to Esau.”[1]
[1] FARMS Update: Jacob and Enos: Wrestling
before God, Insights Volume - 21, Issue – 5, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute.
No comments:
Post a Comment