Lehi’s seed are to receive the gospel from the Gentiles in the latter days—The gathering of Israel is likened unto an olive tree whose natural branches shall be grafted in again—Nephi interprets the vision of the tree of life and speaks of the justice of God in dividing the wicked from the righteous. Between 600 and 592 B.C.
What a disappointment it must have been for Nephi to come home after his amazingly spiritual experience to hear arguing and bickering from his brothers. I’ve had similar experiences, where I come home from the temple or an especially uplifting meeting where I was edified, only to find out that life had continued without me. The kids are arguing, or there’s some household emergency to deal with, when all I want to do is bask in the spirit of the meeting, or share some of my spiritual insights, only to have the wind knocked out of the sails. In this case Nephi had just seen a truly remarkable and significant vision. I think we get some interesting insight into Nephi’s personality in this chapter. Is he feeling a bit sorry for himself in verse five? He certainly seems to be losing patience with Laman and Lemuel and their lack of spiritual sensitivity. He also establishes himself as the spiritual teacher of the family. He has already shown himself as the obedient one in the trips to Jerusalem. Now he becomes his brothers’ teacher as well. I think he would have been content to not have to take this role with his brothers. It seems to me that he is expressing some frustration with their lack of spiritual initiative before he begins teaching them.
This chapter also underscores the importance of Lehi’s vision, or at least its impact on Nephi. This will be the third time he gives a description or interpretation of it. It obviously had a major impact on Nephi.
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