Chapter 18

Nephi’s description of building the ship and travelling to America is so brief that it is breathtaking.  These accomplishments are, in and of themselves, worthy of great praise by us, the readers of his record.  Yet, Nephi only mentions them in passing to get to his main point: We will reach the Promised Land if, and only if, we are willing to submit to the Lord’s will in all things.

Building the ship was not done after the knowledge Nephi possessed.  The Lord revealed what and how.

Sailing through the thousands of miles of open sea, around continents, islands, and unknown waters and to the precise place they were supposed to go, was accomplished only through the Lord’s tutorials.

When “rudeness” was introduced by some of the family aboard ship, the Lord chastened the sea-goers with a near death experience.  He will not be mocked, and rudeness will not be accepted without consequences. 

As Nephi mentioned early in the ship-building process, “And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things,” we too must seek Him daily and listen to His promptings, then he will show us the way to go.

Chapter 17

Eight years; they traveled for eight years in the wilderness before they reached Bountiful!  What took them so long?  In all of that traveling, the only thing Nephi says is his brothers stopped murmuring.  I supposed that was very significant to him.  They are rewarded for their efforts with a new home on the beach.  They are “exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore,” Nephi exclaims.  

Were Nephi and his father, Lehi, metallurgists?  He knew how to make a bellows “to blow the fire.”  He knew how to make tools.  But building a ship was new.  He needed to be instructed by the Lord to accomplish this monumental task, and he needed his brothers’ help.

Their eight years without murmuring ended with a vengeance.  They sought to throw Nephi into the sea.  But the Lord gave Nephi power to shock and shake them.

Am I currently in my eight years in the desert period?  Or, am I in my make my tools and build a ship period, relying on the Lord to instruct me in a new and untested field of learning and doing?  Does Satan redouble his efforts when he sees me moving upward and onward?   

Chapter 16

Who should I marry?  How will I know I have chosen wisely?  When should I move forward with my marriage plan?  I met Jean when I was 16 and she was 15.  By today’s church standards, we were way too young to pair up and get serious.  And then there is the little matter of her being a Catholic.  Here are some principles we learned in the process.

(1)         My parents were supportive of the relationship.  They adored Jean and liked how happy she made me.  Even though her mother was not supportive once we became engaged, we still needed to be respectful of her feelings.  Her father wanted us to be respectful of her mother’s feelings too.

(2)         Catholics are good too.

(3)         Priesthood leaders give key advice and support.

(4)         The temple is the goal.

For Nephi, I wonder if the girls from Ishmael’s family lined up by age with Lehi’s boys.  What criteria did they use in their courtships?  Did they know each other from childhood or recent experiences?  Chances are, they were well acquainted.  Perhaps Nephi had his eye on his future bride before they left Jerusalem, making his faith in leaving her behind all that much more impressive and heart-breaking. 

The key point in choosing a spouse is how you feel when you are together talking about points of doctrine:

Does he love the Lord?

Is she rebellious or obedient?

How does he feel about the importance of the temple?

Can she talk easily about matters of the heart?

Does he love the Church and the ways the Lord does things?

Does she want to follow the prophet?

What does he feel about having children? 

How do discussions about the roles of men and women go?

Given a great deal of compatibility on the points of doctrine, moving forward toward marriage is mutually gratifying.  Fears are swept aside and doors open for things to work out.  Manipulation is a non-factor.  The Spirit of the Lord whispers to both of you that this marriage can work.

Nephi didn’t have to worry much at all about playing the field.  The field was very limited.  But he got it right.   

 

Chapter 15

“Have ye inquired of the Lord?”  Nephi, with this question challenges us all to revisit our prayer life with our Father in Heaven.  He quotes the Lord on the matter of prayer, “If ye will not harden your hearts and ask me in faith believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.”  Whatever we need, whenever we lack wisdom, when we petition with a penitent heart, he will tell us all things what we should do.  And we “shall come to the knowledge of (our) Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that (we) may know how to come unto him and be saved.”     

Chapter 14

Nephi’s vision was all inclusive regarding the winding up scenes of this earth and its future in the eternities.  However, he was commanded not to write any more regarding the future because that was John the Revelator’s privilege and calling.  Nephi doesn’t mope about this or aspire in any way.  Each writer of scripture was happy with his part.  Generally speaking, “his part” was the story of his own experience with the members of the Godhead and how they interacted with his family.  That said, Nephi is given the opportunity to quote the words of an angel regarding the future: “For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken.”     

Chapter 13

Nephi is shown the history of the Americas, its native people, its discovery and habitation by other people from faraway lands, the fate of his recorded history and religious writings in the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Church of Christ on the earth and the establishment of Zion on the American continent.  It must have helped motivate him to continue the writings to completion for they would have a great impact on the future of the people here.  Together with the Bible, the Book of Mormon provides unshakable evidence of the Living Christ.  Drink from the fountain of living waters.      

Chapter 12

The coming of Jesus Christ to the American continent is seen by Nephi in a vision.  He sees Jesus ordain “twelve ministers,” who seemed to me to be the same in authority as the original Twelve.  The only difference is that the original Twelve will judge the twelve ministers and not vice versa. The argument about whether there were two sets of twelve apostles on the earth at the same time is solved in my mind because of the two worlds that existed then.  So, it is my opinion that the there were two sets of apostles, both with all of the keys of authority.  What is by far a more important matter is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What a joy it was for me to tell the Navajo people I taught on my mission that Jesus came to their people anciently and set up his church and gospel the very same as he had done in the old world.  He came to them after his death and resurrection in Jerusalem.  Thus, the Book of Mormon is a second witness of his ministry and glorious resurrection.  His visit was also a type of things to come.  What great rejoicing awaits the earth for the Lord of Lords will return again and rule and reign among us!       

 

Chapter 11

Lehi and Nephi were privileged to see Jesus Christ.  They were two of his special witnesses.  In beautifully poetic language, tempered by the Holy Ghost, they tell us of the sacred events of his life.  They loved Jesus Christ and tried with all their capacity to encourage us to love him too.  The visions and dreams they shared were sacred and precious.  The Holy Ghost whispers to us that they have supreme significance.  The life of Christ, his love for his father and us, are made manifest through these words in the Book of Mormon.  As we sit pondering this chapter as Nephi was doing when he received his vision, we too can come to know Jesus Christ a little deeper and more personally.      

Chapter 10

Nephi teaches us from the words of his father.  His father compares the House of Israel to an olive tree.  The olive tree was an everyday object that his family could relate to.  Braking off a branch made sense.  His family being taken to another land was a branch broken off.  The branches of the House of Israel don’t die, but are replanted in different parts of the world.  In Lehi’s case it was here in America.  The connection to Israel is so important because of the covenants the Lord made with Israel and his descendants.  Those covenants are in our church today.  Baptism and temple ordinances are an important part of the Lord’s promises to Israel. 
Nephi wanted us to know that we can know about sacred things. Regarding personal revelation he said, “For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”      

Chapter 9

Something inside tells us to keep a record of our lives.  I have kept a journal since the beginning of my mission.  My blog has become part of my written record but I must keep my personal journal going.  I’ve noticed I haven’t been as diligent in keeping a daily journal since I’ve been blogging.  Nephi kept large and small plates with different purposes for each.  There is also a need to take our journals and abridge them into a more concise life history.       

Chapter 8

The rebels have been humbled; they have been “frankly” forgiven by Nephi.  They return to their parents in the wilderness.  The joys of marriage ceremonies, performed by the patriarch, Lehi, have been completed.  It is time for further light and knowledge from the Lord. Lehi is going to dream his famous dream.  I focus here on the tree Lehi saw.  Living plants have xylem and phloem within their trunks and branches.  They transport water and essential sugars and nutrients from the ground to the plant for photosynthesis to take place.  Xylem and phloem are comparable to the blood vessels and veins found in the human body.  The tree Lehi saw in his dream was a living tree.  Water, sugars, other nutrients, produced the desired food for the tree and the tree was able to produce yummy fruit.  I presume the tree was beautiful too.  Its leaves, its limbs, its trunk, it roots, all exquisite in form and function.  The tree was perfect in every respect.  Now, look beyond the symbol of the tree to who it represents.  The tree is Jesus!  He lives!  He is beautiful and perfect in every respect.  He has the right way to make us happy.  He is the right way.  He is good medicine.  He is delicious fruit.  The rod that Lehi saw is the word of God, but it too is a symbol of Christ: solid, true, reliable, and leading us to our destination with God the Father and His Holy Son. The nutrients found in the xylem and the phloem of the tree are prayer and scripture study.  His words, His spirit, His love, His Character, flow to us forever and ever. 

Lehi was a dreamer.  I want to dream like Lehi dreamed.  I want this spiritual gift.  Right now I must not need the gift because the Lord has not granted it to me.  I want revelatory dreams.  I want to see my posterity down the road.  I want patriarchal dreams for my family like Lehi had.  When this becomes a need perhaps the Lord will give me the gift.        

     

Chapter 7

After the brothers have been paired with their future wives and they are heading back into the desert, there is an insurrection led by Laman.  The rebels want to go back to Jerusalem.  Nephi is seriously frustrated by their actions.  “How is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us…?”  he laments.  Why do we forget so quickly the daily blessings and tender mercies of the Lord?