We're back and safe--oh, maybe not

The First Book of Nephi

Chapter 5


My brothers and I returned home as soon as we could, and we were welcomed by our mother and father. They told us of how they had been arguing about my father sending us out to surely be killed. Lehi did comfort my mother though, and it was so good to be home.

We showed Father the Brass Plates, and he read them, and he told us about how they contained words of God through the prophets and a geneaology of our family and a set of commadments. We learned that we were of Joseph's lineage, who was sold into slavery into Egypt and saved all of Egypt.

Chapter 6

I'm not going to give you a full family history, but it's enough for me to say that we're descendants of Joseph. I don't have enough room on the plates that I'm writing on to copy down all of our family history.

My purpose is to bring others unto God.

Chapter 7

Jerusalem

After my father finished reading the plates, he told us to go back to Jerusalem. The Lord had told him that it wasn't good for our family to go into the wilderness alone.

And so we went and did as we were commanded, but this time, it was somewhat easier.

We went to the house of Ishmael, and we told him the words of the Lord, and the Lord softened his heart, and he took his family and followed us into the wilderness.

Unfortunately, on the way back, Laman, Lemuel, two of Ishmael's daughters, and two of his sons and his sons' families, rebelled against us, myself, Sam, Ishmael, his wife, and his 3 remaining daughters. They wanted to return to Jerusalem.

I tried to get them to continue back with us and tried to remind them of the miracles they had already seen, of the angel and getting the plates, and of how we knew that God would bless us if we followed His commandments.

They would not listen, and they tied me up,so that they would be left to return to Jerusalem. I prayed that I would have the strength to break the cords I was tied up with, and my faith was enough that they were loosened enough that I could get free.

When my brothers saw that I was untied, they were furious! They couldn't stand that I would prevent them from returning to Jerusalem, and they tried to kill me.

One of Ishmael's daughters stepped in, pleading to them for me not to kill me. Her mother and a brother stepped in to help, and they calmed down enough to spare my life.

After we talked, and I forgave them for what had happened, we returned to my father, and my parents rejoiced that we were all safe.

To read the real stories, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7

1 Nephi 4 : So What?

Read "I will Go! I will Do!", or read 1 Nephi 4

Why would this story be included in the Book of Mormon?

Why was it so important to go and get the brass plates? Why were the records so important that Nephi was commanded to kill Laban for them?

Why is it better for one man to die than for an entire nation to perish?

Nephi and his brothers had already tried to get the plates and had almost been killed, and they had even been robbed. Laban was a man with a lot of power and a lot of greed.

This shows several things, like how important records are. Things like journals, family history, and a copy of the law, or what would be considered the scriptures and history books to us today, are so important. We need these things so we can learn and grow and know where we came from.

There is another story in the Book of Mormon about another group of people who left Jerusalem who didn't have any records, and they killed themselves off, since they had no records. Their language changed dramatically, they had no written records, and their laws and standards and morals disintegrated, causing them to kill themselves off. You can find and read this story Here in the Book of Ether, a book in the Book of Mormon.

This also shows how God will always provide a way to keep the commandments He has given us. It was scary! It was dangerous! They had to keep trying, but they finally did accomplish what God had commanded them to do!

One thing that really stuck out to me was that Nephi remembered the story of Moses, and he remembered how Moses had been enabled to keep the commandments and do miraculous things to accomplish what The Lord wanted him to do, and Nephi knew that the same would apply to him, and he had learned all this from the scriptures.

What did you learn from this story? Why do you think God commanded Nephi to kill Laban? How would you have felt if you were Nephi?

I will Go! I will Do!

The First Book of Nephi

Chapter 4


My brothers continued to murmur.

We had just seen an angel and they were murmuring!

"Let's go back to Jerusalem!" I told them. "Let's be faithful to God's commandments! He is mightier than the whole Earth! Why wouldn't he be mightier than Laban and his fifty men? Let's go up. Let's be like Moses! He spoke to the Red Sea and led our ancestors through on dry ground and the armies of Pharoah were drowned. You know this is true! An angel spoke to you! Why do you doubt? The Lord is able to deliver us, just as He saved our fathers, and destroy Laban, just like He did the Egyptians."

They had no argument, but they were still angry with me and murmured.
They did follow me back up to Jerusalem, though.

I left them outside the city walls and went into the city by myself. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I trusted that the Spirit would guide me, and he did. As I headed towards Laban's house I found a man passed out in the street from drinking so much wine. As I came closer, I saw that it was Laban.

The Spirit constrained me to kill him, and the instruction shocked me. I had never killed a man before. I may have been large in stature, but I was still young. I stepped away, not wanting to kill him.

The Spirit prompted me again, and said "The Lord has delivered him into thy hands. He had sought to take away your life and the lives of your brethren. He does not keep the commandments and took away your property." And he again commanded me to slay him, and then added "Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."

When I heard hose words, I was reminded of the promise The Lord gave me in the wilderness, that as my seed follows the commandments, then they will prosper in the land. They couldn't keep the commandments if they didn't know what they were, and I knew that the law was written on the brass plates.

And so, I obeyed the promptings of the Spirit and killed Laban, and put on his clothes and took his sword. I went to Laban's treasury, and I ran into one of his servants, but he thought I was Laban, since I was dressed as him, and so I commanded him, in the voice of Laban, to get the brass plates. As we walked together, the servant talked about the elders of the Jews, because that was who Laban had been with that night, and I talked as if I was Laban. We found the plates in the treasury, and I told him that we would carry the plates to my elder brethren outside the city walls, and the servant thought I was talking about the brethren of the church, and I asked him to come with me and he did, still thinking that I was Laban.

When my brothers saw me, they thought I was Laban coming to kill them, and they started to run away, but I called them back, and they saw that it was really me. But now the servant was scared and was about to run away, but I was large in stature, and God had given me a lot of strength, and so I grabbed him and held him so he couldn't flee.

I told him that if he listened to us and did what we told him, then I would spare his life. I made an oath that he would be a free man if he came to the wilderness with us. I also said, "The Lord commanded us to do this. Shouldn't we be diligent in keeping the commandments? If you will come down to he wilderness with us, my father will have a place for you."

The servant's name was Zoram, and he decided to come with us, and made a promise that he would continue to travel with us so that the people of Jerusalem wouldn't know about our journey, so that they wouldn't come after us to destroy us.

And so we started our journey back to my father's tents.

To read the actual scriptures, go Here

So What?

1 Nephi 3: So What?

Read the post this is about here

Why does God ask us to do things that seem so impossible? Why does he give us commandments that don't seem to make any sense?

We're generally not going to be in fear for our lives because we need to obtain some journals, and we usually don't have to risk our necks to do a little family history, and today, we don't have to worry about leaving behind our scriptures or being killed for having them because it's so easy to get another copy.

So why do we have a whole chapter about how it was so hard to do this? Any speculations?  Why is this included in the Book of Mormon?

Comment! Share! Questions? I want to hear about what you're thinking!

Why Can't We Get The Plates?!!!

The First Book of Nephi

Chapter 3

"So how are we going to get these plates?" Lemuel asked, looking up at the city wall.

Sam spoke up thoughtfully, "we don't all need to go. It would look rather pathetic. Just one of us should go."

"Well, I guess that would be Nephi," Laman said, pushing me forward. "It was your idea to follow Father's crazy notions."

"But you're the oldest! You know him better than I do. He wouldn't listen to me anyways! He'd just laugh at me! The youngest son of Lehi come to get the records."

Sam stepped in between us. "We'll cast lots. Whoever it falls on will go."

There were nods around, and we cast lots, sort of like throwing dice or rock paper scissors, and it fell upon Laman. He grudgingly left, and we waited in our tents outside the city.

We waited anxiously to see how Laman would do.

***

We saw Laman exit the city wall, and we all stood, watching as he ran towards us. We only stared worriedly as he reached us and doubled over breathing hard. He told us about he had gone to speak with Laban and asked for the plates, but Laban had gotten angry and commanded his servants to kill Laman.

"We're never going to be able to get the plates!" We all complained, worrying about what we were going to do.

We had started back towards our parents, but then we remembered how we had left everything in our home in Jerusalem. We turned back, took all of our gold, our silver, and our precious things, hoping we could buy the plates.

We tried again, and Laban received us well, admiring our possessions. He listened pleasantly, taking the gold and silver into his possession, but instead of giving us the plates, he commanded his servants to kill us! We escaped into the caves outside the city, just barely getting safe.

Laman and Lemuel were so angry at me, yelling at me, and beating me with a rod. Suddenly, the cave was filled with light, and an angel stopped them.

He spoke to my brothers, and said, "Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands."

It stopped them for a moment, and the angel left, but soon after, they started to complain and to question what the angel had said.

"How will we get the plates?" Lemuel growled.

"Laban will kill us all!" Laman said. "He commands fifty men, he could kill fifty men! He could easily kill us!"

To read the actual story, go here 1 Nephi 3

So What?