I started school
two weeks ago and am learning many interesting things. Today’s post is in response to an assignment
to share with others some of the teachings I am learning in my class about the Book
of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
We have been instructed to study the Book of Mormon – not just read it –
and to use various study skills to do so.
The study skill for this week is to look for principles taught in the assigned
scripture block.
Principles are described as “unchanging
truths, eternal laws, fundamental beliefs, and they are portable.” In other words, if it is a true principle, it
was true yesterday, it is true today, and it will still be true tomorrow; it
will also be true in all circumstances.
Sometimes the writer points out the principle by using the words “thus
we see.” Other times we can find a
principle by looking for the moral of the story.
Our scripture block for this
week was 1 Nephi chapters 1-5. These
chapters contain the story of Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem and
traveling into the wilderness; they also contain the story of Lehi sending his
four sons back to Jerusalem to obtain the Brass Plates. I cannot share in this post all the
principles I found, but I will share a few of them.
The first principle is: Humble and sincere prayer invites personal
revelation. This principle comes from 1
Nephi 1:4-18, and the setting is Jerusalem about 600 years before the birth of
Jesus Christ. There were “many prophets”
crying repentance and telling the people that Jerusalem would be destroyed if
they did not repent. Some of these
prophets were Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Obadiah. Lehi heard the teachings of the prophets and
felt great concern; he knelt in humble prayers for his people. He saw a “pillar of fire” that “dwelt upon a
rock,” and “he saw and heard much.”
Lehi returned to his home and “cast
himself upon his bed” because he was so “overcome with the Spirit” and what he
had seen and heard. He received a vision
while he was resting, and in the vision he saw “God sitting upon his throne,
surrounded with numberless concourses of angels” who were “singing and praising”
God. He saw “One” descending from heaven
with “luster was above that of the sun at noon-day” and “twelve others” following
him with “brightness” like the stars.
They gave Lehi a “book” and told him to read it. Lehi read the book and “was filled with the
Spirit of the Lord.” He attempted to share the information with the people of
Jerusalem, but he was rejected. The
people threatened to kill Lehi, and he was forced to take his family into the
wilderness.
I found Lehi’s story to be very
similar to that of Joseph Smith. Both
prophets prayed and received visions of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They were each given a book, and both taught
the information to others and prophesied.
Lehi’s life was threatened, but Joseph Smith was slain.
The second principle comes from
1 Nephi chapters 3-4 and is: The Lord
will provide a way for us to keep His commandments if we exercise faith in Him
and keep His commandments. Lehi and his
family had traveled into the wilderness for about two weeks when the Lord
instructed Lehi to send his four sons – Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi – back to
Jerusalem to get the Brass Plates from a relative named Laban. The Brass Plates contained “the record of the
Jews” and Lehi’s genealogy.
Laman and Lemuel murmured and
objected most of the time, but Nephi and Sam were obedient and faithful in
their duty. Laman went to visit Laban
and simply asked for the plates. Laban
became “angry,” called Laman a “robber” and threatened to kill him. Then the sons tried to purchase the plates
from Laban. They went to their father’s
property and obtained “gold and silver, and all manner of riches” and then went
to see Laban. Laban saw their property
and wanted it. He “thrust” them out of
his house and “sent his servants to slay [them]” (3:11-14, 16, 23-27). Laban was given two opportunities to give the
plates to Lehi’s sons.
Nephi understood the value of
the Brass Plates and how Lehi’s family needed them to (1) “preserve … the
language of our fathers” and (2) preserve the words of the holy prophets (3:19-20). He was determined to obtain the Brass Plates
and went back into the city after dark, being “led by the Spirit.” As he walked he came upon a man passed out on
the street and recognized the drunken man to be Laban. The Spirit told Nephi three times to kill
Laban, but Nephi did not want to commit murder.
The third time the Spirit told Nephi, “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” (3:10-13).
Remembering the Lord’s promise to “prosper” his family if they were
obedient to God, Nephi realized that they could not keep the commandments if
they did not know them. Since the Brass
Plates contained the law of the Lord, Nephi knew he needed to get the
plates. Then he understood that the Lord
had “delivered Laban into [his] hands for this cause – that [he] might obtain
the records according to his commandments” (4:17). Nephi followed the promptings of the Spirit,
obtained the Brass Plates, and left the city with Laban’s servant, Zoram.
I have noticed in recent years
that the Lord continues to give difficult assignments to me. Six years ago I was inspired to write this
blog. I knew absolutely nothing about
writing a blog, but I had no doubts about the directions I was given. Two years ago I was content with the amount
of food I was growing on my city lot; I had a rhubarb plant, some strawberries,
and a large raspberry patch. I thought I
was being obedient to the counsel to grow food.
Apparently I was not because I was inspired to grow more food. At first I tried to grow food in pots, and
the plants did okay. Then I purchased a
tent-like greenhouse to grow tomatoes and other plants, and I built two raised gardens
to grow vegetables. I took a gardening
class to learn more about growing food and gained much knowledge. Now the Lord has instructed me to further my
education. Like Nephi, I too know that
the Lord “giveth no commandment” without “[preparing] a way” for me to
accomplish what He commands. I know that
with the Lord’s help, I can accomplish difficult things.
The third principle is: We can help others to become more faithful
when we respond to them with patience and love.
This principle is found in Chapter 5.
Sariah, Lehi’s wife, left her lovely home and her many friends in
Jerusalem because people were threatening to kill her husband. She traveled into the wilderness and was
living in a tent. Her husband sent her
four sons back to Jerusalem to obtain the Brass Plates, a journey that would
take at least a month. She had no means
of communicating with them and no idea if they were still alive. She became worried about her sons and “complained
against [Lehi].” She called him “a
visionary man” who led her family from “the land of [their] inheritance”; she
expressed her feeling that her sons “were no more” and they would “perish in
the wilderness” (verse 2).
I believe the natural response
for Lehi would be similar to “Woman, you need to support me, not complain
against me!” This was not the way Lehi
responded to the concerns of his wife. I
can see him taking her in his arms and speaking soothingly to her. He first admitted that he was a visionary man
and that he had seen a vision. He bore
testimony that he knew they would be destroyed if they had stayed in
Jerusalem. He reminded her that he had “obtained
a land of promise.” He testified that he
knew “the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban and bring them
down again unto us in the wilderness” (verses 4-5).
Lehi continued speaking soothing
words to Sariah until she was comforted.
Both Lehi and Sariah rejoiced when their sons returned with the Brass
Plates. Sariah then testified, “Now I
know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the
wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my
sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power
whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them”
(verse 8).
This experience illustrates how
a soft answer can help strengthen relationships as well as strengthen
faith. I believe that using a soft
answer when we respond to our spouses, children, and others can do much to
strengthen our families. A soft answer
seems to extinguish the fire of anger and frustration. I believe that we can all learn much from this
experience of Lehi and Sariah.
When we look for the principle
being taught – the moral of the story – as we study the Book of Mormon, we can
learn much more than the story. The
principles help us to understand the story better, but they also bring much
understanding of why the story was included in the scripture in the first place. Looking for principles can deepen our
understanding and help us become better disciples of Jesus Christ.
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