The repetitive missionary: A brief study of 1 Nephi 7

What interests me about this chapter is how much missionary work plays into it, and how the actors return again and again to missionary work.

Remember that at the end of chapter 5, Lehi is prophesying about his family.  The sons are receiving revelation directly from the Lord about their eternal inheritances as well as how the Lord will more immediately bless them with a chosen land.  Immediately thereafter, the Lord gives them a commandment to go back down to Jerusalem.  That doesn't seem coincidental to me; to receive revelation is to receive a duty, so when the sons are blessed with the word of God concerning their future families, they must go out and seek wives.  

That process, however, is nothing more than missionary work.  The sons go to Ishmael and convert him, telling him of the word of God and inviting him and his family to join them in the wilderness.  They convert him, and as we'll later see, his wife and several of his children.  The family of Ishmael begins to follow the sons back into the wilderness.

Here, Laman and Lemuel begin to lose faith.  They had been in the wilderness before, and were now headed back.  They had returned to Jerusalem, not just once, but twice, and they could see that it would be the last time.  Previously, they could have just been on a camping trip.  Now, with no more inheritance, and women to wed, they have to realize that Lehi is serious about actually going to a far off place to build a life.  This will be the end of this life.

Nor is it obvious that they're heading for a better place.  The threat to Jerusalem seems remote, and they know they're headed for more work.  Do we do the same?  Do we receive the gospel with joy, and then when we get into the work of it unconsciously back out or block?  For Laman and Lemuel, they felt the need to rebel and refuse to go back to Lehi in the wilderness.  They wanted to go back to Jerusalem.

Enter more missionary work:  Nephi starts preaching to Laman and Lemuel.  Nephi tells them that Jerusalem will be destroyed, and reminds them of all they have seen and all they should believe.  Laman and Lemuel, however, aren't impressed.  They tie him up and left him for dead.  Nephi prays to have the cords burst; they are loosened.  Then some more missionary work:  Nephi said he "stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again."

Personally, I might have wanted to save myself, but Nephi is trying, yet again, to save his brothers.  With the help of Ishmael's wife, and several of her children, Nephi convinces the brothers to repent.  They do, and Nephi forgives them.  They continue on their way, into the wilderness where they have lots of work to do.

When we hear in our hearts the call to Paradise, to Zion, to the Promised Land we each have in store for us, we must first travel through a wilderness.  We must repetitively preach, returning again and again and again in an effort to save others, not ourselves.

One day we will reach that holy place.  One day we will be in Zion.  I think we will find that the wilderness was part of it all along, and that the work we did gave us the strength to bear the glory of it all.  So let's work--heaven is at stake, heaven both in this life and the next.

Spiritual rigor: A brief study of 1 Nephi 6

This is a rather short chapter which Nephi uses to remind his readers of his priorities.  He tells us what purpose his record has, and what method he will use to do it.

The linchpin of this chapter is found in verse 5: "Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world."

What Nephi is doing is assuring spiritual rigor in his writing.  A scientist insures that his research is scientifically rigorous by reviewing relevant literature and experiments, by using the proper methods to study his topic, and by accounting for and holding constant other variables not studied.  Similarly, Nephi is insuring that there is spiritual rigor in his writings by concentrating on the relevant spiritual context (the Plan of Salvation and Atonement of Jesus Christ), by using the proper methods to study his topic (faith, charity, hope, etc.), and by accounting for and holding constant other variables (by understanding and mitigating the point of view of the world).

Let's use a different analogy.  Carpenters use a variety of tools in their trade: hammers, screwdrivers, planers, etc., each designed to accomplish a different objective.  Carpenters with few tools aren't as useful as those with more.  More dangerously, to the carpenter with only a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

If we concentrate on thinking like the world does, we start limiting our spiritual perspective.  We start thinking that the world is full of nails, and can't understand what the Lord's people are saying when they start talking about screws.  Turn a nail with a hammer?  How?  That's completely foolish!

However, if we broaden our perspective to include the eternal, we find that the prophecies, teachings, sermons, and commandments we once found foolish become anything but.  With the proper context, we better understand what is happening to us, and what we must do.

That's why Nephi is making his record more than just a chronicle of the rulers of his people.  This isn't a history book; that's not what we need.  Most of all, we need a book that will "persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham..."  By concentrating on the things of God, Nephi's record (and the larger Book of Mormon) won't be acclaimed by scientists or historians. But it will contain spiritual rigor, and that's the sort of rigor we need most.

Natural and Godly Parenting: A Brief Study of 1 Nephi 5

In the first verses of this chapter, we see excellent examples of both natural and godly parenting.  Sariah, discouraged by her sons' absence and lacking a testimony of her husband's calling, complained to Lehi in a way that sounds very similar to how Laman and Lemuel had complained to Nephi:

• You're a visionary man, Lehi (read this as: I didn't see the vision, you did).  
• We don't have our inheritance anymore.
• My sons are no more.
• We will die here.

This are all completely natural worries and concerns.  Stuck in the middle of the wilderness, having forsaken their fortune for mere supplies, and with their strong and able sons gone, anyone can be excused for being fatalistic.  It wouldn't be very smart to be optimistic at this point.

In other words, Sariah is acting like the wonderful wife and mother she is.  She is concerned about her family's safety and security, she worries about her family's place in the world, and she is engaged with each member of her family and hasn't written anyone off.  She has also stayed with Lehi even when he (seemingly) comes up with a harebrained scheme to leave comfort for the wilderness.  

All this is very natural, and without a full and complete testimony (which she doesn't gain until verse 8) it's remarkable that she's apparently been (mostly) patient until now.  Only after the sons leave for the brass plates do the scriptures record that she begins to complain, and those complaints arise from a natural, motherly concern for her sons and her family.

However, even though those complaints are natural and motherly, they are still complaints, and relatively faithless complaints at that.  She doesn't trust that the Lord has guided their steps, and doesn't believe that He will save them and deliver them to the promised land.  

Lehi's response is meek, but effective.  He reminds Sariah of the context she has overlooked: that his visions allowed them to escape a Jerusalem that was bent on killing them, that God has promised them a land of promise greater than any inheritance they had, and that since their family was on the errand of the Lord, He would not permit them to die.  Sariah was comforted.

The sons return and here we see the truly godly parenting come into play.  First and foremost, Lehi makes sacrifice unto the Lord, Even before he read the scriptures he had just received, even with finite herds and supplies, Lehi sacrifices.  Then he reads the plates of brass from the beginning, discovering many things of "great worth" on them.

Lehi's example is clear.  He is heaven-bent on acquiring what is of most worth for his family.  Are the treasures they abandoned in Jerusalem good?  Sure, they could have provided the family with some measure of comfort and security, but only temporarily.  The greatest inheritance was found in looking beyond the temporary, remembering the eternal context of their lives, and acting in accordance to the commandments of a loving God, no matter how hard.

That is what our true Parents do, and how we should emulate them.  By doing the hard, necessary things we build for our families a far greater life than mere comfort ever could.