Eric Poulin

Posts Tagged ‘Zoram’

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.