1 Nephi 2:22

22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren.

This promise has an obvious temporal aspect, but I believe there is a type here that we can learn from. Nephi was a teacher, and therefore a ruler to Laman and Lemuel and their people as long as Lehi was alive. As soon as Lehi died and there was nobody to keep them in check, Laman and Lemuel rebelled, Nephi left, and he no longer was a teacher or ruler over them. I want to look at this in terms of spiritually taking charge of our temptations and hardships.

In the next couple of verses we will see that Laman and Lemuel served a specific purpose for Nephi and his people. 2 Nephi 2:11 teaches that there needs to be opposition in all things. That seems to be the Lamanites’ purpose, and the Lord was not going to take that opposition away. As long as we keep the commandments we will have power over our opposition. Or to put it in the words used here, “thou shalt be made a ruler” over thy opposition.