Come Follow Me Personal Thoughts: Book of Mormon Lesson #5

Book of Mormon Lesson # 5—1 Nephi 16–22

“Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It

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Ponderize Scripture: 1 Nephi 17:3. “And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them.”

Introduction

This week’s reading ends their journey of faith through the Arabian wilderness and takes them on the long sea journey to the New World, the land of promise. It also introduces us to the first Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon, Isaiah 48 and 49. We will mainly be dealing with 1 Nephi 16–18. For commentary on 20 and 21, see the admittedly sparse notes here
http://p3sslessons.blogspot.com/2014/10/lesson-38-alison.html
If you want some fun, spend 50 minutes with Hugh Nibley as he talks about 17-19, 22.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTCl1Xwkarw

To see the Neal A. Maxwell/FARMS documentary on the Journey from Jerusalem to Bountiful, see here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_M_Faw_s3s

There are two aspects the lesson manual wants us to concentrate on and they have to do with two physical things—the Liahona and the ship. Both are miraculous in their way: the Liahona because of its divine communication, and the ship because of the necessity of divine inspiration on how to do it and the steps Nephi had to take to gain those skills. My take on both of these is the necessity of daily repentance to avoid the Laman and Lemuel in our nature, the reality of the guidance of the Holy Ghost, and the absolute truth of continuing personal revelation—all made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

1. The Lord guides the families of Lehi and Ishmael according to their faith and diligence.

1 Nephi 17:4–55; 18:1–4.

If we look at their toil in the wilderness from Nephi and Sam and their families point of view, what do we learn. If we look from Laman and Lemuel’s point of view, how is it different. Pres Kimball: “If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball (2006), 15.)

Elder Christofferson, “Some see only sacrifice and limitations in obedience to the commandments of the new and everlasting covenant, but those who live the experience—who give themselves freely and unreservedly to the covenant life—find greater liberty and fulfillment. When we truly understand, we seek more commandments, not fewer. Each new law or commandment we learn and live is like one more rung or step on a ladder that enables us to climb higher and higher. Truly, the gospel life is the good life.”[1]

2. Nephi demonstrates unwavering faith by fulfilling the Lord’s command to build a ship.

1 Nephi 16; 17:1–3.

Sis. Elaine Jack: “One of the things I recognize is that if we are obedient, faithful, and earnest, the Lord helps us prepare our offerings. We learn this from Nephi, who was told, “Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters” (1 Ne. 17:8). Nephi was not from a seaside community; he had never built a boat. But his response was so full of faith and accountability: “Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Ne. 17:9). Without hesitation or question, Nephi began to prepare an offering to the Lord in the shape of a ship.”[2]

Regarding 1 Nephi 16:2, Elder Maxwell said, “God is not only there in the mildest expressions of His presence, but also in those seemingly harsh expressions. For example, when truth ‘cutteth … to the very center’ (1 Nephi 16:2), this may signal that spiritual surgery is underway, painfully severing pride from the soul” (Ensign, Nov. 1987, 31). Have you ever experienced “spiritual surgery”? It isn’t easy. The surprising thing is that even that is not sufficient to turn Laman and Lemuel permanently. We talked last week about hard-heartedness. For those who persist in this condition, it has the capacity to win out in the end. Doesn’t that put a new light on what it means to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. As Hugh Nibley said in the quote Br. Lott shared with us last week, we need to repent—every day! It’s the only way not only to avoid Laman and Lemuel’s fate, but, more importantly, to make sure our personal Liahona, the Holy Spirit, is able to continually guide us.

Elder Bednar: “As we each press forward along the pathway of life, we receive direction from the Holy Ghost just as Lehi was directed through the Liahona. ‘For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do’ (2 Nephi 32:5). The Holy Ghost operates in our lives precisely as the Liahona did for Lehi and his family, according to our faith and diligence and heed” (Ensign, May 2006, 30–31).

Regarding the bow incident—here Nephi has already received his call to be a prophet (1 Nephi 12), but instead of asking the Lord himself where he should go to get food, he submits himself to his father’s authority. As an interesting side note, Hugh Nibley puts in perspective what the loss of the bow meant, “Things looked black when Nephi broke his fine steel bow, for the wooden bows of his brothers had "lost their springs" (1 Nephi 16:21; note the peculiarly Semitic use of the plural for a noun of quality), and though skilled in the art of hunting, they knew little enough about bow-making, which is a skill reserved to specialists even among primitives. Incidentally, archery experts say that a good bow will keep its spring for about one hundred thousand shots; from which one might calculate that the party at the time of the crisis had been traveling anything from one to three years. It was of course out of the question to make the familiar composite bow, and was something of a marvel when Nephi ‘did make out of wood a bow’ (1 Nephi 16:23), for the hunter, the most conservative of men, would never dream of changing from a composite to a simple bow. Though it sounds simple enough when we read about it, it was almost as great a feat for Nephi to make a bow as it was for him to build a ship, and he is justly proud of his achievement. According to the ancient Arab writers, the only bow-wood obtainable in all Arabia was the nab' wood that grew only ‘amid the inaccessible and overhanging crags’ of Mount Jasum and Mount Azd, which are situated in the very region where, if we follow the Book of Mormon, the broken bow incident occurred. How many factors must be correctly conceived and correlated to make the apparently simple story of Nephi's bow ring true! The high mountain near the Red Sea at a considerable journey down the coast, the game on the peaks, hunting with bow and sling, the finding of bow-wood viewed as something of a miracle by the party—what are the chances of reproducing such a situation by mere guess work?”[3]

3. Laman and Lemuel bind Nephi, who shows courage and gratitude despite this trial. After they free him, he guides the ship to the promised land.

1 Nephi 18:5–25.

In England there are various ways to leave the “Garden Isle” to go to mainland Europe—air, sea, and land. By land you can go through the “Chunnel” by train and your car can go too. By sea you have the option of a hovercraft or boat. Often people take the boat in order to get relatively cheaper French wine—it’s called a “booze cruise.” Why do I cite this fairly frivolous example? Well when we talk of hard-heartedness, it often seems to be fueled by something that isn’t good for you, whether spiritual, like hate, envy, pride, or physical, like alcohol and drugs. And obviously no matter where humans are, they will find a way to ferment something. Now it doesn’t say that Laman and Lemuel and their families actually had alcohol on board, but “make merry” to me does suggest a certain abandonment that is often alcohol-fueled. Be that as it may, after all the evidences of God’s hand in their lives, their rebellion continued to the extent that their parents were nearly brought to death and Nephi was bound, but, at least as far as we know, they did not plan to kill him. Nevertheless, their concentration on amusing themselves led to spiritual deafness, Elder Wirthlin: “Some are spiritually deadened and past feeling because of their choices to commit sin. Others simply hover in spiritual complacency with no desire to rise above themselves and commune with the Infinite. If they would open their hearts to the refining influence of this unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, a glorious new spiritual dimension would come to light. Their eyes would gaze upon a vista scarcely imaginable. They could know for themselves things of the Spirit that are choice, precious, and capable of enlarging the soul, expanding the mind, and filling the heart with inexpressible joy” (Ensign, May 2003, 27).