1 Nephi 15:17

17 And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel.

So much history would have been different in this world if the Jews or the House of Israel had not rejected Christ. But for the very cause that they rejected Him, the Gentiles were the instruments through which the Lord is humbling His true covenant people. Through the Gentiles the Jews are scattered; through the Gentiles they are gathered. Abraham must have been one very special man for the lord to make such a strong and history-consuming covenant with him. It shows me that the Lord keeps His end of covenants, no matter what, as long as we keep our end. And Abraham must have kept his end, because the Lord is keeping His end, even though Abraham’s descendants have gone through many periods of apostasy, including the time when they crucified the very One who made the covenant in the first place.

1 Nephi 15:16

16 Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive-tree, into the true olive-tree.

I wonder if the house of Israel will literally remember that the Lehites and others that have been separated from them are actually part of their inheritance. Or maybe this is just the house of Israel accepting anyone who has made the covenant with the Lord? Either of those would most likely come about only after the Jews are converted and gathered in.

1 Nephi 15:15

15 And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?

Rhetorical questions (answered in the next verse), all making the same point: once their seed come to know their heritage and the gospel, they will come unto Christ.

1 Nephi 15:14

14 And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved.

It seems like for the remnant of Lehi’s seed, realizing they are part of the Israelite blood relationship will open the door, or make it easier for them to accept the covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. The covenant relationship is more important than the blood relationship (see Luke 3:8 and 2 Nephi 30:2).

• 2 Nephi 3:12

1 Nephi 15:13

13 And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed—

Nephi begins to introduce the fact that this lineage of Israel is more than bloodlines. It is a covenant lineage. When they talk about this comparison of the House of Israel to an olive tree, it is both a literal and covenant comparison. When a branch is broken off the family tree, it maintains its identity as far as being from the olive tree (house of Israel), but it has been removed from the original covenant people. The covenant relationship is more important than the blood relationship. Christ tried to teach this principle to the Jews, but they couldn’t get it (see John 8:33–59). John the Baptist also tried to teach them, also to no avail (see Matthew 3:7–12). So Nephi, after reminding his brothers of their blood lines and that the prophesies about the house of Israel are about them, introduces this idea of a covenant lineage as well, which he refers to as the “gospel of the Messiah.” This covenant will dwindle among the Lehites, then will be re-introduced to them by the Gentiles, who have no blood inheritance of Abraham, but do have a covenant inheritance.

1 Nephi 15:12

12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father; and behold are we not broken off from the house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel?

Nephi is setting up to teach Laman and Lemuel about their place in this recurring comparison of the house of Israel to an olive tree. He wants them to understand that the prophecies are about them. He wants them to liken the scriptures to themselves (1 Nephi 19:23). So he reminds them that they are a branch broken off of the Israelite family tree, and that the prophecies about that tree include Lehi’s little band of refugees.

This is a great principle for every student of the scriptures to remember. Paul taught this to Timothy, that all scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:14–17). This is only the case if we liken them to ourselves, if we personalize them, if we study them as if they were written to and for us individually, which they were.

1 Nephi 15:11

11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—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.

I have heard people ask why it is necessary to ask God for what we need when He already knows. This verse and its provided list of cross references gives some insight to that questions. Faith is an action principle. It cannot remain passive, and it leads to action. Of course, our Heavenly Father already knows what we need and desire before we do, but one of our main reasons for coming to earth is to learn how to exercise faith. Asking is one of the lessons.

Now the question is, why is it so important that we learn to exercise faith? I believe it is because faith is one of the main attributes of godhood. This earth life is, among other things, a school to teach us how to become gods (like Heavenly Father, not replacing Him). If we don’t have sufficient faith, we can’t do the things that gods do. This is our Heavenly Father’s work and glory, to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (MOS 1:39), which would be essentially godhood. Faith is a key ingredient.

The Lectures on Faith, taught under the direction of Joseph Smith, says the following:

“[Faith] is the principle by which Jehovah works and through which he exercises power over all temporal as well as eternal things. Take this principle or attribute (for it is an attribute) from the Deity and he would cease to exist.

“Who cannot see that if God framed the worlds by faith, it is by faith that he exercises power over them, and faith is the principle of power? And if it is the principle of power in the Deity, it must be so in man as well?” (Lectures on Faith 1:16–17)

Most of us don’t have that kind of eternal perspective on why we need to learn the principle of faith, or the importance of keeping the commandments. We believe it is so we can successfully get through this life and return to our Heavenly Father. Laman and Lemuel couldn’t even grasp that much of the principle. But at least Nephi could teach them that by asking in faith they could get answers to their questions. That’s a great lesson in our education.

• James 1:5 (5–6)
• 1 Nephi 2:19 (18–21)
• 1 Nephi 7:12 (9–13)
• Mosiah 26:3

1 Nephi 15:10

10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?

Again, as in verse five, Nephi is concerned with the spiritual life or death rather than the physical. Everyone dies, and Nephi knows that. Physical death is completely unrelated to “the hardness of [Laman and Lemuel’s] hearts” that would cause them to perish. It is definitely their spiritual welfare he is concerned with.

1 Nephi 15:9

9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

Of course the Lord maketh no such thing known unto Laman and Lemuel; they don’t ask. And why do they not ask? It’s because they have no faith that the Lord will answer them. They have no experience with spiritual things. Even on those occasions when they were obedient it was more out of fear than because of any conversion. There’s no evidence that Laman and Lemuel would recognize the Spirit, even if they did get an answer.

• John 7:17
• John 15:7
• 1 Nephi 2:12

1 Nephi 15:8

8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

Nephi asks his brothers the first and most obvious question that any of us should ask if we have questions about spiritual matters. The source of those spiritual experiences or revelations will obviously know what they mean. And that’s where we should go for answers. That’s what James taught in James 1:5. Joseph Smith took that counsel and became the instrument through which the Lord restored his Church. The Lord answered Joseph’s inquiry, and He will answer our sincere questions as well. Although I wouldn’t count on Him answering our prayers in quite as dramatic manner as Nephi and Joseph Smith, He will answer these sincere, searching prayers.

• Matthew 7:7
• James 1:5
• Alma 37:37
• Moroni 10:5 (4–5)