Thursday, January 21, 2010

1 Nephi 16

At times we hear of someone who has left the church and now spend their time trying to expose the church or demean its doctrines. With such people, you can be sure of one thing, they left the church without repenting of sin. Those who leave the church because they don't agree with it or just don't like it usually retain a respect for it and its members. But when wickedness is involved, they take the truth to be hard and will continue to fight against it. Laman and Lemuel are like Cain in that they hear the voice the Lord. Cain refused to listen and continued on in rebellion. Laman and Lemuel at least repent for a time, but it will be short lived.

There were five daughters of Ishmael. On the trip back from Jerusalem, two of them had sided with Laman and Lemuel when they bound Nephi and threatened to kill him. One of the daughters and her mother pleaded with them to free Nephi. It makes sense that the daughters who sided with Laman and Lemuel married the daughters who sided with them, and the one who tried to protect Nephi married him. The oldest daughter married Zoram. It's probable they didn't all marry at the same time. When Nephi says that he had been exceedingly blessed of the Lord, he seems to be talking about his marriage. When writing narratives, it is Hebrew tradition for the name of the wife to go unnamed by the writer and Nephi does so here as he writes 30 years after the events occurred.

Two last short thoughts. You have to wonder what was written on the Liahona that caused them all to "fear and tremble exceedingly." Maybe it foreshadowed their doom if they kept going in the manner they were. And you get another glimpse into how the natures of Laman and Lemuel differ from Nephi when Nephi breaks his bow. Rather than say "that's too bad" or "those things happen," they blame him for all their troubles and then do nothing about it. They sit in their misery and complain. Only Nephi has the gumption to make another bow and go hunt for meat. Those two idiots must have worn Nephi out. It's a wonder he didn't just shoot them along with the animals.

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