Eric Poulin

Archive for the ‘C) 1st Nephi’ Category

1 Nephi 5:9

“And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.”

Keep in mind now… Lehi’s family had just fled from Jerusalem a short while ago and perhaps still had concerns about whether or not they were pursued by the Jews. Lehi’s once rich abundance is gone and all they have is what they brought with them. To take one of their precious animals and offer it as a burnt offering was truly a sacrifice for them. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 5:5

“But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness.”

Lehi here shows true faith. In fact, he has not yet obtained the land of promise, he has nothing tangible to show for his obedience, but he is so sure that the Lord will deliver on His promise that he counts those things as already fulfilled. Of course, he is comforting his wife who thinks her sons are dead, so I’m sure he’s laying out the good parts of the situation as plain as he can, but there’s a lot to be said about this kind of faith. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 5:2

“…she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.”

Even Sariah was feeling the effects from the loss of the comforts Lehi’s wealth provided them. This reads like: ‘first we have to leave our wealth, and now my sons are dead and we’re going to die too’, as if she were listing her greatest grievances. It’s interesting that amongst her greatest complaints, even used in the same sentence as her sons being dead and her and her husband’s imminent death, is the loss of wealth. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 4:33-34

“And I spake unto him, even with an oath, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.
And I also spake unto him, saying: Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord? Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us.”

This is the beginning of another common theme in the Book of Mormon; which is obedience to the Lord’s commandments makes us free.

While Zoram was certainly under duress while making his decision to go with Lehi’s family into the wilderness (and it seems his life was on the line), part of the reasoning was that he would be following the commandments of the Lord. Zoram decided to go with them, and thus by his following the commandments of the Lord, he became free in at least the following ways:

• he was a servant (of Laban) who managed someone elses wealth and never gaining any of his own. We know the Lord wants us to be prosperous, and this is not possible in servitude. Now he could be a free man, servant to none. He could seek wealth in his own way, and we learn later in the Book of Mormon, that the Zoramites become a wealthy and prosperous people.
• he escaped the destruction that would soon befall Jerusalem. Those who remained in Jerusalem when it was overtaken by the Babylonians, were either killed and put into subjection of the Babylonian rulers. Hard to be prosperous under the wrong circumstances. The Lord prepared a way for Zoram to be prosperous; all he had to do was follow the Lord’s prophet. We too have this opportunity as we follow our prophet who gives us commandments, advice and warnings, which, if we heed, will keep us in circumstances where the Lord can prosper us.
• he escaped some spiritual death since those in Jerusalem had stoned and imprisoned the prophets. The word of the Lord was no longer with them. Lehi and Nephi became the prophets which brought the word of the Lord to Zoram.

1 Nephi 4:20-24

“And after I had done this, I went forth unto the treasury of Laban…. And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass, to my elder brethren, who were without the walls.”

Nephi is a hero in so many ways. He obeys the Spirit and kills Laban, on the spur of the moment comes up with the plan to dress as Laban and then goes towards the treasury Zoram, Laban’s servant. But once in the treasury, he doesn’t take anything else of value. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 4:19

“And after I had smitten off his head with his own sword, I took the garments of Laban and put them upon mine own body; yea, even every whit; and I did gird on his armor about my loins.”:

Nephi here is trying too appear as Laban to get the plates. He can now freely walk into Laban’s home with his servants respecting him. We don’t know if Nephi looks anything like Laban, however, its the clothes that demand the respect, not Laban himself. Think about it… its Laban’s wealth that demand respect, not Laban himself. Take away Laban’s wealth and he doesn’t garner the respect that his servants give him. His fine clothes are a symbol of his wealth. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 4:11

I’ve always found it interesting that, as Nephi was constrained by the Spirit to kill Laban, he used in his reasoning and justification (amongst a few reasons the Lord spoke of) that Laban had taken away Lehi’s family’s property. I’ve often wondered about this. My understanding of future celestial glory is that people would live in a united order, where all things are shared, people are given stewardships of land, but possessions begin to lose their meaning as traditional possessions are held in common to be allotted by Bishops. The early saints experimented with living this order but it was a dismal failure. Clearly the people were not ready for such a jump in understanding and paradigm shift. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 4:9

“And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.”

We read later in the Book of Mormon that this space was reserved for sacred things and not much was written because of the difficulty of engraving on plates of gold. So, why did Nephi take the time to describe the features of Laban’s sword? Maybe, as Nephi stumbled upon Laban in his drunken state the sword reminded him of Laban’s wealth and power. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 3:28

“And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; and also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman. Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod.”

As we discussed previously, Laman was lusting after the wealth of his father, his inheritance. Although they’d been taken into the wilderness, the return to Jerusalem surely brought back some of these desires. Handling their wealth and offering to Laban must have been hard for him. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Nephi 3:24-25

“And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.

And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.”

We can use our physical precious things for righteous purposes. Nephi and family tried to get the brass plates with their precious things. Read the rest of this entry »