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.
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.
Nephi was truly a selfless man which I'm sure is why he was a chosen man.
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