1 Nephi 1-10

Did you watch the Book of Mormon videos as you read through the scriptures over the last two weeks? I thought they were excellent, but we have to be a bit careful to remember what is actually in the scriptures, and what is assumed from the video. So for example, the video shows Lehi instructing Laman and Lemuel to remove all the gold goblets and trinkets from the camel's saddlebag, whereas the scripture only says "he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things". It doesn't say that Laman and Lemuel wanted to take them.

Getting the Records
I love that the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon, which are doubtless the most read chapters of all, given how many people start reading it but don't get beyond the Isaiah sections, tell us immediately how important the scriptures are. When Lehi departs into the wilderness he takes only the essentials, but he soon has to send his sons back to get something vital they missed. In chapter 3 verse 4 we learn that "the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban and seek the records [see verse 3 for what records they were] and bring them down hither." Note those words, "the Lord hath commanded me." It's the same reason Lehi left behind the gold and silver. In verse 16 Nephi says "Let us go down to the land of our father's inheritance, for behold he left fold and silver and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done because of the commandments of the Lord."

Lehi does what God commands him. So does Nephi. In a verse which is the youth theme of the year he says "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7)

How right--and prophetic--he was. In groups we looked at the three attempts to get the records from Laban, and what they tell us about doing what the Lord commands us.

First, in 1 Nephi 3:9–21 we have the diplomatic approach. Laman talks to Laban but fails to persuade him to hand over the records. Interestingly, when Nephi later gives a pep talk to his brothers he's rather more effective in encouraging them and inspiring them to action. "After this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God."

The second attempt is in 1 Nephi 3:22 - 4:4. I had initially tagged it bribery. The four young men said "Here's all our gold and silver, now can be have the records." However, Sylvie pointed out in class that it's more accurate to say they were trying to buy the records, or at least barter. Whatever the approach, it failed, and they lost all their precious things. But they'd abandoned those anyway, so no big deal.

Finally, in 1 Nephi 4:5–38 Nephi heads out alone at night. He doesn't have a plan this time. "I was led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." (verse 6) Maybe he was relying on the promise of the angel from 3:29: "the Lord will deliver Laban into thy hands." Nephi just trusted God, and indeed Laban was delivered into his hands. All the same, Nephi struggled with what God wanted him to do, but ultimately he obeyed. I was reminded in class that these were bloodier times, and Tracey pointed out that Laban had been out with the elders of the church and got so drunk he didn't wake up when Nephi took his sword, which tells us a lot about the state of things in Jerusalem at the time.

From these attempts we concluded that when given a commandment from God, persevere, expect it to be challenging, and trust God entirely.

So the young men and Zoram (along for the ride) take the records back to Lehi. We looked at Lehi’s attitude toward the scriptures. In chapter 5:10-19 we see that he:

• prayed first
• started at the beginning
• read them with his family
• identified how they related to him
• allowed the spirit to touch him and move him to prophesy afterwards

Remember in the last lesson we compared how the Book of Mormon witnesses saw the plates, and said that everyone’s spiritual experience was valid? Well, if you need additional proof of that compare 1 Nephi 2:11-19 with 1 Nephi 3:28-31. Nephi prays and is given faith to believe his father's words. Laman and Lemuel see and angel and still don't believe. You may wish you had seen an angel, but just having your heart softened enough to believe someone else’s words may be your testimony.

Tracey also said that Laman and Lemuel get a bad press. They may have murmured a lot, but "nevertheless they did follow me." (1 Nephi 4:4)

Lehi's Vision
There’s a lot of symbolism in Lehi’s vision, and we get it three times. Once in chapter 8 from Lehi, then again in chapter 11 when Nephi sees it, and again in Chapter 15 when it is explained. In class we drew this very fine picture of the vision and went through all the imagery. A reminder, too, that "strait" does not mean the same as "straight". The "strait and narrow path" is a difficult one, not one that goes in a straight line.

Jonny Bleakley pointed out that some of these symbols had more than one meaning. For example, we know that the iron rod represents the word of God (not just from the hymn, but from 1 Nephi 15:23-24) but we know also from John 1 that the Word is also the Saviour. Similarly, the "fruit which was desirable above all other fruit" is eternal life, and the metaphor is continued in Alma 32.

Thank you all for your contributions and insight, and here's a slightly better picture of the tree of life vision.