1 Nephi 15

Revelation

In chapter 15, we find another insight to Laman and Lemuel’s murmuring. In verses 7-9 we find a commonality of disbelievers. “Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken… And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” Laman and Lemuel simply did not believe that the Lord could reveal such things to them. They did not believe in revelation or inspiration. They believed that God could not communicate with man in any way, shape or form. This is a major misconception! We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (9th Article of Faith). Nephi also explains to them that the Lord indeed reveals his mysteries and his will to those who desire to know them. “If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you” (v. 11). Even more recently, President Faust has counseled, “Latter-day Saints, having received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, are entitled to personal inspiration in the small events of life as well as when they are confronted with the giant Goliaths of life. If worthy, we are entitled to receive revelations for ourselves, parents for their children, and members of the Church in their callings” (Ensign March 2002, Communion with the Holy Spirit).

I firmly believe that if we are obedient to God’s commandments and if we truly seek Him in faith, he will reveal to us that which we want and need to know. Many times I have received personal revelation on small matters. I have also gratefully received revelation on life-changing matters. Sometimes I actively seek the Lord’s advice. Other times His advice has come unsought.

As for understanding the mysteries of God … my belief is that individually, we can seek to understand the teachings and how to apply them to our lives. But obviously we need to guard against stepping outside the limits of our receiving revelation. For example, I think it is appropriate that we can seek to understand the teachings of Isaiah. But if we are sitting in the temple and receive a revelation to start a polygamist colony, then I think we’d be stepping outside those limits.

If we honestly keep the commandments and covenants with all diligence, then we put ourselves in a prime position to receive revelation. We can receive answers to our prayers. God wants us to know His will, but we must be willing to let him reveal it to us. Laman and Lemuel did not let God speak with them. They did not believe that He could communicate to them and therefore they were left in the dark and to struggle for themselves.

The Iron Rod is the Word of God

In verse 24, Nephi explains to his brothers what the rod of iron symbolizes. He says, the rod of iron “was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.” I honestly cannot fathom how a person, if he read and reflected on the teachings of the Book of Mormon and the Bible every day, could lead a life of sin and wickedness. In other words, I believe that if we study the scriptures daily (hold fast on them) and diligently try to apply those teachings to our own lives (hearken unto the word of God), then we could not yield to the temptations of Satan. And herein lies the key to living a Christian life … we must study the scriptures. If we do so, then sooner or later we will either consciously or subconsciously live the teachings of Christ and if we live the teachings of Christ, our works will be good. And if our works are good, then we will be judged to be clean and can live in the presence of God.

Judged of Works

The previous point leads me to the next point that Nephi teaches his brothers. In verse 30 he says, “the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire.” The justice of God is the judgment of our lives. “They must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation” (v. 32). He goes on to say that if you die in your sins and have sought to live a life of sin, then you are unclean and will remain unclean when you die. Consequently there is a place prepared for those who are unprepared to meet God … it is Hell.

Nephi’s teachings clearly demonstrate why Mormons believe the way we do. Some will attempt to go into the “saved by grace” vs. “saved by works” argument. Yes, we are saved by the grace of Christ … he has prepared a way. But we must choose to follow Christ and take advantage of his atonement. If we choose to sin our whole lives, then we will have missed our opportunity to take advantage of the Atonement.

Ultimately, we are judged for the things we do in life.

1 Nephi 11

Belief

In this chapter, Nephi discusses faith and belief, something Laman and Lemuel did not have! In verse 4, the Spirit asked Nephi if he believed the things his father saw. Nephi’s response was that he did in fact believe all of his father’s teachings. Contrast this with Laman and Lemuel’s beliefs. In chapter 15 verse 9 they told Nephi that the Lord does not reveal things to them or in other words, they did not believe that the Lord could reveal things unto them. They simply did not believe that it could be done. Nephi, however, believed.

Belief is not only central to understanding the Gospel and the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is also vital when striving to obtain other desires. As I am typing up my commentary that I wrote as a missionary, I see that many of the things that I desired as a missionary have been fulfilled. I can testify that belief is central to obtaining any blessing that one hopes to receive.

This is what I wrote as a missionary a number of years ago: “Now a little personal commentary. I feel I need to build my faith up as far as baptizing and finding people. I believe that Elder Edwards and I will baptize. Some things are going. We found a lady (Mirium Garcia) the other day and we hope to baptize her in January. But mostly my faith right now is hoping and praying that some inactive members we are working with will come back and be active.

“Last night I talked to my brother Richard on the phone about my housing and schooling. Getting an education and job and doing well puts a lot of stress on me. But I have a lot of faith that I can reach my goals. I believe in myself that I will reach my goals.

“I also have faith that my brother Gary will come back and be with us as a family again. I also believe in my friend Crissy that she will continue to go strong and be faithful in the Church the rest of her life.

Today, as I read this commentary that I wrote as a missionary, I can testify that most of those things have been fulfilled. I graduated from college and got a job with with a large company. Elder Edwards and I did not baptize while together, but one of the people we found, Claudia Leal Garcia, was baptized after I left Coban. The first Christmas I was home from my mission, Gary miraculously and unexpectedly came back into the family. Crissy, the last I heard of her, fulfilled an honorable mission to Germany. I believed that all of those things would happen, and most of them have happened.

Belief is a very strong force.

General Notes Regarding This Chapter

In Lehi’s dream, we read about all the symbolism. Nephi, who sees the same dream as his father, fills in some details. He gives us the meaning of the symbols and he goes into greater detail about the mortal life of Christ.

Nephi sees Mary. He sees Christ’s birth. He sees Christ’s ministry. He sees John the Baptist baptize Jesus. He sees the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove. He sees the Twelve Apostles of Christ. He sees angels minister to men. He sees Christ heal many people. He sees the crucifixion. Lastly he sees the world gather together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb as well as the destruction of the world and its pride.

What does each symbol represent?
The Tree of Life = the love of God
The Fountain of Living Waters = the love of God
The Iron Rod = the word of God
The Large and Spacious Building = the world and the wisdom and pride thereof

Verse 35 caused me a little confusion. It says, “behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” When I read that, I was puzzled. Isn’t the house of Israel supposed to defend and help the apostles of the Lamb? I found the following quote that helps explain the verse:

“The world is still fighting the apostles of the Lamb because they represent the truth and the world rejects the truth. Even those of the house of Israel at times will gather to fight against the twelve: ‘And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb’ (v 35). This verse describes the apostasy following Christ's ministry in Jerusalem. The Apostasy was caused by the pride and wisdom of the world, but it will not stand forever: ‘And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb’ (v 36). The world still fights the Twelve Apostles and their teaching with its own wisdom, but it will eventually fall, and the pride that motivates the fight will be the cause of that fall.” (Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., Fourth Nephi through Moroni: From Zion to Destruction [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1995], 210.]

So this verse really foreshadows the Apostasy.

1 Nephi 10

This chapter discusses the prophecies of Lehi to his children.

The Prophecies

In verse 3, he foresees the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews being carried away captive into Babylon.

In verse 4, he sees the coming of Christ. In verse 7, he sees the coming of John the Baptist. He sees Jesus get baptized by John the Baptist and he sees John testify that Jesus is the Messiah. Next he sees Christ slain and resurrected.

In verse 13, he sees his posterity inherit the Promised Land as well as their scattering at the hand of the Gentiles.

Nephi Desires to Know Too

After Lehi tells his family of his vision and all the things he sees therein, Nephi desires to see and know for himself. He teaches us that the power of the Holy Ghost is a gift from God. God is the same yesterday, today and forever … he is unchanging.

Nephi truly believes that “he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them.” How many times have we been taught that if we desire to know something from God that all we need to do is ask in faith? Of all the lessons the Gospel of Christ teaches, this one is one of the most taught. “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9). As we later read, the Lord did indeed enlighten Nephi with regards to Lehi’s dream.

How can we apply this scripture to our lives? Simply put, exercise our faith and experiment on Nephi’s words. If these words are true, then we can petition the Lord in faith and in turn receive from his hand. Obviously God is not a genie and we cannot ask him to make us rich or request some other ridiculous favor. Our desires must be aligned with the Lord’s will. If we ask amiss (James 4:3), then we will not receive what we desire. We must know the will of the Lord and then seek to follow it. Only then, when we ask, will we receive what we desire.

Recently my wife and I were confronted with a question. Since leaving college, we both know that we would like to return to the place where we grew up. Right now, we live over 1000 miles from our hometowns. But we know that jobs are somewhat scarce there and that the cost of living is much more compared to where we live right now. I’m almost finished with graduate school and we are at a crossroads in our life. Should we remain where we are and continue our career with the current company or should we attempt to move back to our hometown? Faced with this question, we really wanted to know the will of the Lord in the matter. If the Lord wanted us to stay, then we would be content with what we have. But if the Lord’s will is that we move back to our native state where we’d be much closer to family, then we’d gladly accept that and we’d do all that we could to move back there. We prayed, attended the temple and fasted about the matter … to know if it is the Lord’s will that we move back. We received an answer and we strongly feel that we should move back. So now we offer multiple petitions a day to the Lord asking his help in our quest to move back to our home state.

No Unclean Thing

Perhaps one of the defining doctrines of “Mormonism” is that we believe that men will be punished for their own sins if they do not repent of them. It is not enough to declare Jesus as our savior and then proceed to live a life of sin. Rather, we believe that everyone must repent of their sins and live a Christ-like life in order to live with God again.

About four years ago, a co-worker approached me one morning and invited me to join him at lunch the next day. We went to lunch and chatted a bit about work before he launched into his “first discussion” about his religion. Basically he wanted me to recite a prayer saying that I declare Jesus as my savior and that after I recite this prayer, I’d be saved. After reciting that prayer, I could then live a life of horrible sin and still be saved. His logic was that if I really believed, then my life would naturally reflect Christ’s life, but if it didn’t, I would still be saved.

Our church, on the other hand, believes that we must “prove” to God and Christ that we are willing to change. Once we truly repent, are baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and all the other ordinance of the Gospel and then endure to the end, we will be saved. Else, if we simply pay lip service and go through the actions but truly don’t repent and live a life of wickedness, then we will not live with God again.

As Nephi states, “Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment” (v. 20). He also teaches that “no unclean thing can dwell with God” (v. 21). If we have sought to do wickedly all the days of our probation, then we will be unclean and consequently cannot live with God.

1 Nephi 2

In verses 9 and 10, Lehi names a river after Laman and a valley after Lemuel. As he gives the river and valley names he teaches Laman and Lemuel a lesson about consistency. He hopes that Laman’s acts will always be pure and “[run] into the fountain of all righteousness.” I personally like Lamuel’s lesson better. Lehi hopes that Lemuel will always be firm, steadfast and immovable (just like a valley) in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Laman and Lemuel did not live up to the characteristics of the river and valley that were named after them. But the lessons that Lehi was trying to teach his sons still remain valid. Every time we look at a river or a valley, we can think of the lessons Lehi was trying to teach his sons, but we will be different. We will learn from his lessons. As we sit and observe a river or a valley, we can contemplate their unchanging characteristics and then instill them in our lives.


Jill has a picture of a valley that she took while serving a mission in El Salvador (the picture I posted here is just a valley ... not the one Jill captured on file). At the bottom of the picture, she placed the caption of the words Lehi spoke to Lemuel over 2500 years ago. I hope our children will apply the words of Lehi as their mother did during her mission.

We can look to Nephi’s life for an example of application of the lessons of Lehi to his sons. Nephi had great desires to learn the mysteries of God. We too ought to have great desires to learn not only the mysteries of God, but also (and firstly) the word of God, namely the scriptures and teachings of the modern-day prophets. We should fuel that desire to learn what the Lord’s counsels are to us. His counsels are revealed to us through the scriptures and our prophets.

Nephi’s example also shows us that he diligently prayed. We too have been commanded to pray often. We should strive to pray every morning and evening on our knees. We need to pray in our families. We need to offer silent prayers in our hearts when we need the Lord’s assistance. We need to establish that link of communication between us and our Heavenly Father and once it has been established, we need to keep that link open by using it often.

One final commentary on this chapter – the Lord tells Nephi that he will be a teacher and a ruler over his brothers if he keeps the commandments. He also tells Nephi that his brothers will be cut off from the Lord’s presence if they are not faithful. This is yet another piece of evidence that the Lord’s prophecies are fulfilled.