1 Nephi 6
Nephi’s father, Lehi, was from the tribe of Manasseh. He would have established this through is father’s line. Using the same method, Nephi could have said, “I am from Manasseh.” But both he and Lehi were content to say they were descended from Joseph (coat of many colors). A modern day application is for me to think about Joseph as my great ancestor. Ephraim is my tribe. But I know nothing of him except his tribe became very wicked and was eventually taken captive by Assyria and scattered. Like Nephi, I prefer to think of myself as from Joseph. The tribe of Ephraim is not superior in any way to his brother’s tribe, Manasseh. Just think to Lehi and Nephi and you will see this.
I love Nephi’s decision to keep his small plates simple and sacred. I think that “small” meant few. And I think “large” meant many. So, Nephi created the “Small Plates,” meaning few and the “Large Plates” meaning many. I don’t think that it means the size of the plates.
1 Nephir 7
Nobody complained when it was time to go back to Jerusalem and bring Ismael’s family back. Future wives and husbands sounded good to everyone. On the way back Laman and his wife to be and a few others rebelled and tied Nephi up. The Lord loosed him and finally the rebellious ones calmed down. I like that Nephi “frankly” forgave them.
1 Nephi 8
In some ways Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life is similar to the story of Adam and Eve. Both are very symbolic, revealing God’s Plan of Happiness. In Lehi’s case, we must consider ourselves as if we were his children. Or we must put ourselves in his parental place and consider the situation of our children. Lehi tells of a tree with fruit. Eventually, he tells us the tree is the Tree of Life and bears fruit representing Eternal Life. Christ is symbolized by the tree; partaking of the fruit is partaking of His love. In the Garden of Eden version, Eve represents the bride, or in other words, the members of the Church. Adam represents the bridegroom, or in other words, Christ. More personally, Eve represents me. Adam represents Jesus. Eve partakes of the fruit and dies; Adam resists temptation, but must partake of physical and spiritual death like Eve in order to be able to save Eve (me). Eve (me) makes covenants through her husband (Christ), whereas, Adam (Christ) covenants directly with the Father. Because of his great love for us, Christ has atoned for our sins and has overcome physical and spiritual death so that we may live again with Him and our Father. If we hold on to Christ’s love, the iron rod, or to His words and his covenants, we can eventually be with Him again.
1 Nephi 9
Nephi explains the purpose of the Large and Small Plates. He explains that he has created the Small Plates “for a wise purpose in him (the Lord).” I think the words “large” and “small” in this context refer to the number of plates. Thus, there were a large number of plates (Large Plates of Nephi) and a small number of plates for the more sacred part of the record (Small Plates of Nephi).
1 Nephi 10
Nephi recalls the words of his father, Lehi, who saw in vision the Messiah. He saw that he was killed by the Jews and then was resurrected bringing to pass the resurrection for all mankind. He called Christ “the Redeemer,” indicating he paid for our sins. If we exercise faith in the Redeemer, we can know all things. Nephi wanted to see and know for himself the things his father had spoken. We must repent and come unto Christ. I want to know for myself these things. Therefore, I must repent and exercise faith in Christ.
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