1 Nephi 17: 37

37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.

People who say that the prophet has no business talking about non-religious things like politics do not understand this verse. Brigham Young said that, “all power is ordained of God and is in his hand. He sets up a kingdom here, and pulls down another there at his pleasure…If the people of God in ancient days had continued holy they would have continued in power and authority to this day” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 19). Of course the prophet can speak to politics. These powers are given and taken by God, and as God’s mouthpiece on earth, the prophet can speak for the Lord on whatever subject he is directed to.

The full quote:

“Whether they make good or bad use of it, all power is ordained of God and is in his hand. He sets up a kingdom here, and pulls down another there at his pleasure. He breaks the nations like a potter’s vessel; he forms a nucleus, and around it builds up a kingdom or nation, permitting the people to act upon their own agency, that they may do right, or corrupt themselves, as did the Children of Israel; and after they have become ripe for destruction, they will be scattered to the four winds. If the people of God in ancient days had continued holy they would have continued in power and authority to this day” (Discourses of Brigham Young, 7:148)

• Psalm 1:6
• Proverbs 14:34
• 1 Nephi 4:13
• Ether 2:10

1 Nephi 17: 36

36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.

I think probably at this time, even non-believing Jews at least believed in the creation as recorded in scripture. So I think Nephi is reminding his brethren that God did not create the earth on a whim, and it was for the main purpose that it be a place for his children and some of His other creations to live. He is also saying that because he created the earth, God can pretty much do His will here, and create circumstances where that can be fulfilled.

• Isaiah 45:18

1 Nephi 17: 35

35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them; and the Lord did curse the land against them, and bless it unto our fathers; yea, he did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.

When the scriptures say the Lord is no respecter of persons, they don’t mean that He has no respect for persons. They mean that He will accept anyone into His kingdom who is willing to live according to the commandments He gives. He makes that offer to anyone and everyone, no matter their race, religion, gender, age, income, or a hundred other ways we mortals separate ourselves. Because the offer is made to everyone, it shows that He loves everyone, or He “esteemeth all flesh in one.” Everyone gets the same deal. Then, after we make the deal, or the covenant, or even if we live righteously without a covenant, then we are “favored of God.” I think Heavenly Father is well aware that most people who live on the earth will not even hear the full gospel while in this life, let alone accept it. But I also think that’s not as big a deal to Him as we usually make it out to be. Surely He takes this life in context of the eternities, and surely He knows there will be a chance for everyone to make covenants with Him. That, after all, is part of His plan. That’s why we have temple ordinances for the dead. So I think it must be more important to Father that we live a good life, that we accept as much of the Gospel as we are given or understand, even if we don’t recognize it as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, if a person’s non-Christian religion teaches him to not kill or steal, and that person lives according to that teaching, I believe it will be counted as righteousness for him. This is because it agrees with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and because they lived accordingly. Would they have been much better off to be baptized with proper authority and receive the other saving ordinances? No question. But again, that’s why we have temples, and we must take the long view on things like this. People who live good lives are more likely to accept the Gospel and these ordinances in the next life than those who reject the Light of Christ and live according to the flesh instead of according to conscience.

The people that the children of Israel destroyed had rejected the gospel, which they apparently had the chance to accept or reject. And the Lord gives a nation plenty of time to get their collective lives in order before He destroys them. Genesis 15:16 indicates that the Lord knew about how long it would take for the inhabitants to become fully ripe for destruction: in the fourth generation after his people had been in Egypt (see Genesis 15:13–16). It’s just interesting to see this scenario in this light. The Lord promises this particular land to Abram for his inheritance, but Abram is not strong enough to take the land by force from the current inhabitants. Also, the current occupants (Amorites) are not yet full of iniquity, so it’s not their time yet. So about the time that Abram’s people would begin to receive attention from the Amorites, due to their increased numbers and strength, the Lord takes them away to Egypt, where they grow greater and stronger. They are allowed to grow until the iniquity of the Amorites is full, at which time the Pharaoh decides the Israelites are a threat to his kingdom. I don’t think that timing is coincidental. So the Lord delivers Israel out of Egypt, and teaches them for the next 40 years how to be an independent nation with their own government, etc. Remember that they had spent the last 4 generations under someone else’s rule, and the last part of that as slaves, so they had no government of their own. Now they are sufficiently strong physically, spiritually, and civically to remove the wicked Amorites (and others in the land) and claim the Promised Land given to Abram.

Nephi is telling his brethren that after all that, the Jews are in the same position as the Amorites were in, ready to be taken down because their iniquity is full.

• Genesis 15:16
• Exodus 23:31
• Deuteronomy 7:10
• Psalm 145:20 (1–21)
• John 15:10
• Acts 10:15 (15, 34)
• Romans 2:11
• 2 Nephi 26:33 (23–33)
• D&C 82:10 (8–10)

1 Nephi 17: 34

34 Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous? I say unto you, Nay.

The antecedent to “they” in this verse is the former inhabitants of Israel’s Promised Land. Nephi is making the point that the difference between these former inhabitants and the Israelites was righteousness. We often wonder at the disobedience of the children of Israel, but they obviously were more righteous than a lot of other people, including those who were in their promised place. If that people had repented (after the manner of Nineveh, years later when called to repentance by Jonah), their story would have been different. The thing that made Israel more choice than these other nations was their righteousness (and their covenant, but that is a topic for a different entry). The wicked don’t make covenants with God.

1 Nephi 17: 33

33 And now, do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

The implication here is that if the former inhabitants of Israel’s Promised Land had been more righteous they may not have been driven out and destroyed. This is not stated specifically, but I suppose the Lord had probably sent prophets to call them to repentance. This is something He always does (Amos 3:7). It looks like they didn’t repent, so after warning them He followed through. And just “coincidentally” at this time, the people who had been promised the land are led from bondage in another country. So in the Lord’s economy He used the people to whom the land was promised to punish the unrepentant occupants of the Promised Land. He punished the wicked and fulfilled a promise in one move.

1 Nephi 17: 32

32 And after they had crossed the river Jordan he did make them mighty unto the driving out of the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to destruction.

The real point Nephi is making in this verse is coming up in the next few verses, but I think there is at least one other noteworthy thing here. It’s important to note that the Lord will accomplish His purpose and keep His covenants, even if the obstacle to be faced seems insurmountable. The children of Israel were to posses the land covenanted to Abraham, even if there were other people already living there. In verse 35 we’ll learn the nature of those people, and that they had been warned to repent. I’m sure there were many more people in these established nations, and much better prepared armies, yet the Lord led Israel into battle, and time after time they won the day, usually completely wiping out whole societies, not just conquering. The Lord could have accomplished the same thing with some other means, like He did with Sodom and Gomorrah, but He chose to perform a different kind of miracle this time.

1 Nephi 17: 31

31 And it came to pass that according to his word he did destroy them; and according to his word he did lead them; and according to his word he did do all things for them; and there was not any thing done save it were by his word.

There is some interesting wording used here that really can be taken a couple of different ways. And both ways are, I think, correct, and both ways are important to understand. The phrase, “according to his word,” is powerful for at least two reasons, both of which support Nephi’s point. The first way in which this can be understood is that the Lord keeps His word. When He tells His people something, He follows through according to His word. If He says He will destroy someone, He will follow through. When He says He will lead them, He follows through with that as well. The Lord simply keeps His word. He has a proven record of that, and since that is what He has always done, we can count on it being what He will always do. He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (1 Nephi 10:18, among others that say the same thing). If there is anything or anyone we can count on being completely consistent, it is God.

The second way this phrase can be taken is hinted at right at the end of the verse: “there was not anything done save it were by his word.” This tells us that He has the power to keep His word by the power of his word. He has the power to perform miracles, such as parting the Red Sea, bringing water out of solid rock, providing light and protection in miraculous ways, and a lot of other things recorded and not recorded. He had the consistency to keep His word, and He has the power to perform according to and by His word. These are important to remember in spiritual matters as well. I’m thinking specifically of the Atonement. Not only does He promise to provide a pathway back to Heavenly Father, He has the power to keep that promise.

• Numbers 26:65

1 Nephi 17: 30

30 And notwithstanding they being led, the Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day and giving light unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to receive, they hardened their hearts and blinded their minds, and reviled against Moses and against the true and living God.

Here Nephi implies that their exodus is like the one led by Moses. He starts to get his brethren to liken the scriptures to their own situation. Remember that the Lord had provided miraculously for the Lehites’ light and direction so they didn’t need to build fires (see vs. 12–13). Nephi’s brethren are well aware of their own history, so they know that the reason the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness was because of their rebellions. Again, the implication here is that if the Lord would punish His chosen people once for rebellion, He would do it again. The whole point that Nephi is leading them to is that the Lord has power to provide a way to keep His commandments. He also has power to bless His people with the things that are expedient, or suitable and appropriate for them. But, if His people rebel, He’s not afraid to punish as well. He can and will keep His word.

The use of the word “expedient” is interesting to me. The Lord knows what is best for us, and He will bless us with the things we ask for if it is expedient for us. If we ask for things that are “not expedient for [us], it shall turn unto [our] condemnation” (D&C 88:65). Usually the things that are not expedient for us are things that we ask for in our lust for more; we think that what we have is not enough. Watch out if the Lord blesses you with things that are not expedient for you. A couple of examples from the scriptures come to mind. When the children of Israel were begging for some meat to give variety to that boring old manna (miraculously provided, by the way), the Lord sent them so much quail that they couldn’t consume all of it. Some tried to consume more than was expedient, and the Lord killed them with the very object of their lusts (Numbers 11:31–35). Another example: the Jews got more than they could handle in terms of knowledge from God because of their lust for the knowledge and mysteries of God, and this turned to their condemnation as well (Jacob 4:14). It’s interesting to contrast that attitude with that of another Nephi generations after this first Nephi. The later one was promised that the Lord would bless him with whatever he asked for because he would “not ask that which is contrary to [the Lord’s] will” (Helaman 10:5). In other words, the Lord trusted that Nephi would only ask for expedient things.

• 1 Nephi 17:12–13
• D&C 18:18
• D&C 88:64 (64–65)
• Definition: expedient—suitable, appropriate

1 Nephi 17: 29

29 Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock, and there came forth water, that the children of Israel might quench their thirst.

Here is another verse giving evidence of the Lord’s power as Nephi builds to his final point, which is that “if the Lord can do all these things, why can’t he teach me how to build a boat?” But I just think the whole story of how Moses brought forth water from the rock is really a great story. Not only does it provide water to a thirsting people, but look at the symbolism. Christ taught that the rock of revelation is what His church would be built upon (Matthew 16: 17–18). He also taught that He was the Living Water (John 4:10–14). There are many references to Christ being the Rock as well. Paul may have one of the most explicit comparisons relative to this event that Nephi refers to in this verse (see 1 Corinthians 10:4 (1–4). None of this should be surprising to those who know that all the scriptures are full of types and symbols of Christ, or leading to Christ.

Ironically, this event is what prevented Moses from entering the Promised Land (Numbers 20:7–12). I read recently (I can’t remember the source) that this water still flows out of the rock today.

1 Nephi 17: 28

28 And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.

Nephi’s purpose here is not to demonstrate how manna was a type and shadow of Jesus Christ himself, as the Living Bread, but rather to add yet another miracle, another piece of evidence showing how the Lord takes care of His people. In this way, this and other miracles wrought by the Lord through His prophets are similar to parables. Parables can be understood on different levels, depending on your understanding and testimony of the gospel. In that way the miracles of manna could be seen as a miraculous way to feed a couple of million people, but it can also be seen as a way to teach that Christ is the Living Bread, which He did in John 6:48–51.

1 Nephi 17: 26–27

26 Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground.
27 But ye know that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh.

Nephi now begins to build an argument that indisputably makes the case that the Lord takes care of His covenant people when they follow His commandments. He does that by leading them out of bondage, both physical and spiritual, if they will follow his prophets. He does it by protecting his people from those who would destroy them. This account of Moses leading the children of Israel out of bondage is so much a part of their history and identity that even those who are not particularly religious, like Laman and Lemuel, and the others who always were rebelling against Lehi’s lead, even they can turn to this defining event in their history as proof that God lives and has power in their lives. In Moroni’s great challenge and promise to those who read the Book of Mormon he makes a point of telling us to remember how merciful the Lord has always been to men (Moroni 10:3). It is important to remember specific events demonstrating this mercy in your own personal experience if possible, but in others’ experiences, like those found in the scriptures, if you can’t point to anything more personal. If God has always shown mercy, maybe He will show mercy to me. That is our hope.

1 Nephi 17: 25

25 Now ye know that the children of Israel were in bondage; and ye know that they were laden with tasks, which were grievous to be borne; wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them, that they should be brought out of bondage.

Nephi continues to remind his brethren of the mercies God has shown His people in the past by leading them out of Egypt’s bondage. That’s important for us to remember as well, but the bondage we are more likely to be led out of is the bondage of sin, and the tasks grievous to be borne by us are addictions. Satan uses addictions to force our agency away from us, just as surely as a person in physical bondage has his freedom or agency taken away. That person in physical bondage to someone else has his freedoms forcibly taken from him. It is slavery to another’s will. The person in bondage to addictions also loses his freedom or agency, but usually with addictions we start by willingly handing it over. But the loss of freedom to choose (agency) is just as sure as if it had been taken from us by force. It is “a good thing for [us] that [we] should be brought out of [this] bondage” of sin and addiction. The Lord has a long record of leading people out of this spiritual bondage, and it is just as important for us to remember that as it was for Nephi’s brethren to remember how Israel was led out of Egyptian bondage. He has provided the Atonement, which was symbolized for the children of Israel by the Passover, and he has provided a prophet, like Moses, to show us the way out of our spiritual bondage.

• Genesis 15:13 (13–14)
• 2 Nephi 1:13
• Alma 12:11
• D&C 101:79

1 Nephi 17: 24

24 Yea, do ye suppose that they would have been led out of bondage, if the Lord had not commanded Moses that he should lead them out of bondage?

I believe one reason the Lord works through prophets is that many people lack the faith and courage to leave their comfort zones without somebody to follow. Any situation, no matter how bad, can become comfortable and difficult to leave, even bondage. All people need to be led out of bondage of some sort. Usually the bondage is that brought on by iniquity, but Nephi’s reference is to actual physical bondage. The comparison of the children of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt’s bondage and our own exodus out of Satan’s bondage of sin is a good one, and it’s not accidental. Since most of us lack the faith or the confidence to trust our ability to discern the Lord’s will, He provides a person that we can see and hear to be His mouthpiece. And just like the children of Israel needed a leader to follow, so do we.

Because Nephi is trying to convince his brethren to follow his lead in building this boat, in a roundabout way he is proclaiming himself to be a prophet here. (See my comments to verse seven in this chapter.) He is making the point that as Moses was called to lead the Lord’s people out of Egypt to a Promised Land, he, Nephi, has been called to lead the Lord’s people (Lehi’s family in this case) to another Promised Land. And just as their ancestors would not have left the bondage of Egypt for the Promised Land on their own without a prophet to lead them, so Laman and Lemuel would not leave the bondage of sin in Jerusalem to their Promised Land without a prophet. In both of these instances (Moses and Nephi) it was important that the people follow the prophet. If people don’t follow the prophet who speaks for God, then the prophet is reduced to saying in effect, “I told you so,” after the fact. Ether and Mormon were put in that situation in two of the most dramatic cases recorded in history of people not following the prophet. There needs to be a leader, and there needs to be people willing to follow the leader’s lead. I suppose if everyone was a prophet (see Numbers 11:29 and Revelation 19:10) there would be no need of a specific, called mouthpiece for the Lord, because we would all be receiving and following direction directly from the Lord. That takes more faith and sensitivity to receiving revelation than most people have, however, so until that time the Lord will continue working through mortal prophets as His mouthpieces.

1 Nephi 17: 23

23 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake unto them, saying: Do ye believe that our fathers, who were the children of Israel, would have been led away out of the hands of the Egyptians if they had not hearkened unto the words of the Lord?

Nephi’s response to Laman and Lemuel’s complaint is to remind them of the Lord’s hand in the history of their people. This is consistent with what Moroni instructs us to do when he tells us how to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10:3). Moroni says that one of the first things we should do when we read the Book of Mormon is to “remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men…and ponder it in [our] hearts.” I think one of the main reasons for Moroni’s advice and Nephi’s approach to answering his brothers’ complaints is to establish the Lord’s track record. If you can believe that the Lord would help His people in this other situation, then why can’t you believe He would help His people this time as well? The other point Nephi is laying the foundation to make is that the Lord will help His people if they listen and hearken to what He says. So if the children of Israel had not done what the Lord told them, they would have been stuck as slaves in Egypt. The obvious connection here is that if Lehi had not hearkened to the Lord, he and his family would have been destroyed with the rest of Jerusalem. This is part of the case Nephi will make over the next several verses.

• Moroni 10:3

1 Nephi 17: 22

22 And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.

There are just a couple of things that Laman and company say here that are major assumptions on their parts, and demonstrate a spiritual immaturity. When they state that they know the people in Jerusalem are righteous they give as evidence the fact that they keep “the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments according to the law of Moses.” This is a major assumption for them because it assumes that the outward show made by the priests was all that was necessary to be righteous, and that the show was all there was to them. In other words, the assumption was that because they made a public show of righteousness, they also kept the commandments in private. Even if the priests were perfectly upright all the time, the brethren also assumed that the rest of the people were also righteous. The Lord looks on the heart, while man tends to look at outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7), and there must have been something that Laman and Lemuel missed that would cause the Lord to allow Jerusalem to be destroyed. So that’s assumption number one in this verse. Number two is that Lehi judged the people. I think it would have been more accurate to say the Lord judged them, and Lehi was the mouthpiece, the prophet of the Lord. They did get it right when they accused Nephi of being like Lehi. It’s an indication of a lack of testimony that Nephi’s brethren used this fact as a point of contention. This verse also confirms that Laman and Lemuel came on this journey in obedience to Lehi, not to the Lord. Big difference between that attitude and Nephi’s, who would go and do the things the Lord commanded, one of which was to honor and obey parents, by the way.

• 1 Samuel 16:7

1 Nephi 17: 21

21 Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.

I have heard so many people express the fact that wealth cannot buy happiness. Maybe in the case of Laman and Lemuel it could. More likely, however, they had romanticized their memory of the life of ease and luxury they may have enjoyed before this journey. They seem to be equating hardship with unhappiness, when the real culprit is sin and transgression. Righteousness buys happiness, and “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10).

• Alma 41:10

1 Nephi 17: 20

20 And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflictions.

I’m sure Laman, Lemuel, and company thought they were really insulting and hurting Nephi, trying to make him feel guilty for bringing them out of Jerusalem. What they didn’t understand is that Nephi had accepted his role as prophet by now. Just like Lehi, Nephi wasn’t about to apologize for being a prophet or obeying the Lord (see 1 Nephi 5:4–5). So that insult missed the mark. The second thing they didn’t understand about Nephi was that he had a totally different take on how the trip affected the women. So while his brethren tried to make him feel guilty about dragging their women through the wilderness (“It’s one thing to get us out here. We’re men. We can handle it. But think about our poor helpless women!”), Nephi had a much different understanding about how well the women were handling the trip (see vs. 2–3 in this chapter. Also refer again to Alma 62:41 for insight on how people going through the same experience come to different conclusions). Nephi knew that through obedience to God, the women were handling the hardships of the journey just fine. If anyone, including the women, was not handling the hardship well, it was due more to disobedience than to the hardship of the journey itself. So Laman and company missed Nephi on those two points, just like in verse 19 when they tried to tell Nephi that he lacked the judgment to build a ship. Nephi might have agreed if he didn’t know he was on the Lord’s errand.

Isn’t this an interesting point in comparing Lehi’s journey to the Promised Land to our own journey through mortality. If anyone, including the Lord’s covenant people, is not handling the hardships of life well, it is more likely due to disobedience and iniquity than to the hardships of life. Just like the women were given strength “like unto the men” (vs. 2), if obedient, we will be given strength to handle temptations and other pitfalls of this life.

• 1 Nephi 17:2–3 (for contrast)
• Alma 62:41

1 Nephi 17: 19

19 And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.

In their arrogance, Nephi’s brethren totally misinterpreted Nephi’s mood. They thought he was discouraged because he could see that they were right, and building a ship to cross the ocean really was beyond him. Never did it enter their minds that Nephi might actually and sincerely be concerned for their spiritual and physical welfare. Selfish and proud people are notorious for assigning their own motives to everyone else’s actions and decisions. That’s what Laman and company did here. They assumed that Nephi was putting them through this elaborate hoax so he could put them all in a position that he could be their ruler. They thought that by refusing their help they were thwarting Nephi’s plans, and that is why he was discouraged. So they took a few verses to gloat. Unrepentant selfishness and/or pride are probably the biggest reasons people like this will never understand people of God. And yet godly people can understand the proud and selfish ones, to an extent, because they battle with and overcome those very traits in their paths to spirituality.

1 Nephi 17: 18

18 And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.

Nephi’s brethren are about as stubborn as they come. Either that, or they just have short memories. Apparently nothing they had experienced over the past eight years had prepared them for building a ship for crossing the ocean. Not the Laban incident (complete with angel visitation), not the bringing wives incident (where Nephi broke his bonds after they tied him up). The Liahona thing apparently taught them nothing about Nephi’s determination to keep the Lord’s commandments, and the Lord’s determination to make that possible (see 1 Nephi 3:7). Maybe they thought that if they didn’t help, Nephi would just give in, come to his senses, and say, “You’re right. This whole trip was a bad idea. Let’s go back to Jerusalem.” This whole Lehi journey is a great example of how different people can go through the same experience and come to completely different conclusions (see Alma 62:41). Nephi learned from the Lord, his brethren did not.

1 Nephi 17: 17

17 And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters.

These murmuring brothers just don’t get it. They don’t have any vision (see Proverbs 29:18). They are small-minded. I’m sure part of why they started murmuring about building a ship is because they were content with staying there in Bountiful. It was beautiful, they had all the food they needed, and in their minds there really was no reason to move on, especially after the last eight years of living the nomad life. Crossing the ocean also represented their last chance of ever going back home to Jerusalem. I wonder if they had been secretly planning to return after Lehi died. The stated reason for complaining was simply that they didn’t believe Nephi, their pesky little brother, was smart enough to design a ship sea-worthy enough to cross the ocean. The scripture says, “build,” but I think it was more a matter of design. Nephi had already shown that he could work well with his hands. None of these people were lazy; I just think they didn’t trust Nephi to be smart enough to design a ship. That and their vision wasn’t large enough to take in the whole ocean. I don’t think they could wrap their heads around that idea. Once again, we shall see that they underestimate the Lord.

1 Nephi 17: 16

16 And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.

One thing this verse illustrates is that while the Lord “giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them [to] accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7), He will not keep the commandments for us. If the Lord could provide an instrument as delicate and complex as the Liahona, surely he could have provided some axes and hammers. But that’s not how this life works. We may be given the things we can’t provide, but we are expected to provide that which we can provide. In this case, Nephi could make tools; he didn’t need those provided for him. He could not provide the necessary ore with which to make the tools; the Lord provided that part.

This applies to the Atonement and other areas of spiritual progression as well. For example, the people of Alma, when they were in bondage to the Lamanites under the vengeful direction of Ammulon. The Lord could have removed or prevented the burden from the people, but instead strengthened them against the burden. If there had been no burden, there would have been no motivation to move to Zarahemla and organize the church (see Mosiah 24). Another example is the Atonement itself. The Lord, through His grace and mercy, will do for us what we can’t (resurrection, justification), but we must do our part as well (keep commandments, exercise faith, etc). Hence Nephi’s statement that “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). If our emphasis in that last clause is on the word “we” and not “after,” we see the same principle as Nephi making his own tools instead of waiting for the Lord to provide them.

1 Nephi 17: 15

15 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.

The promise made by the Lord in verse 14 is at least one reason why Nephi kept the commandments: not just the promise of a temporal salvation from Jerusalem’s destruction, but the promise of a spiritual salvation from the World. It’s worthwhile to note that the commandments Nephi strove to keep were according to the Law of Moses. However, where some kept the commandments for Law’s sake, Nephi kept them for the sake of this promise and out of love for the Lord. Paul taught the Galatians that the “law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). This is the reason Nephi kept the commandments. I think he had a pretty strong understanding of the Law’s purpose. As for exhorting his brethren to “faithfulness and diligence,” all of those who are converted are under the obligation to encourage, lift and help those around them. We are all in this life together, and we need to help one another as best we can. Nephi knows that.

1 Nephi 17: 14

14 Yea, and the Lord said also that: After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction; yea, that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem.

I have to say that this verse has a dual meaning. First, the Lord is telling the Lehites that when they get to the Promised Land they would receive confirmation that they really did leave Jerusalem just before it was destroyed. That confirmation would come much later when they met the Mulekites. This particular group of travelers, however, would still need to take that on faith.

The second meaning relates to this life and our journey through it to our own “Promised Land,” exaltation. Jerusalem, in that case, represents the World, or worldly things, which would be destroyed eventually. As we go through our spiritual journey back to our Heavenly Father we take it on faith that we are doing the right thing by forsaking the World and following Him. We take it on faith that the prosperity of the World will not help us, because there is more to life than “the World” and its type of prosperity or forms of pleasure. We just have to do our best to follow the Spirit and have faith that it is worth it. When we get to the end of our journey (death) we will be given evidence that we did the right thing, and that the World really was destroyed (or would have destroyed us spiritually), and we were able to escape that spiritual destruction by allowing ourselves to be delivered from it by the Lord. That’s the Atonement and the covenants we make with the Lord. At some point, if we endure to the end, and don’t return to the World, we will know we made the right decision. For now, we take it on faith.

• 2 Nephi 1:4
• Omni 1:13–16
• D&C 5:2

1 Nephi 17: 13

13 And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.

The Lord wants it understood very clearly that the success of this journey to the Promised Land depends on Him. The Lehites didn’t need fire, a fundamental part of traveling or camping, because the Lord would provide nourishment, light, and direction, everything they needed if they would just keep His commandments. The comparison to our own spiritual journey to our own land of promise (exaltation) is both clear and irresistible. As we keep the commandments the Lord provides our spiritual nourishment. The Lord taught the children of Israel after their 40 years in the wilderness (and was quoted by Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:4) that the reason he fed them with manna was “that he might make [them] know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3). So the scriptures provide spiritual nourishment to those who “feast upon the words of Christ” (2 Nephi 32:3). Those who ignore scripture, or the words of Christ, do not get the spiritual nourishment they need to flourish, and spiritually they wither on the vine. This is a major contributor to them falling away from their testimonies and covenants that would have brought them to their Promised Land.

Just as the Lehites depended on the Lord to provide light in their wilderness that would normally come from fire, He provides spiritual light, enlightenment, or revelation to guide us so we don’t have to rely on the philosophies of men to guide us through our wilderness. We need this light for discernment every bit as much as Lehi’s company needed it to help them see in their wilderness. For us the light of Christ “is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16). In fact, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is given as a gift to those who make a covenant with God, we may know the truth of all things. Now that is light.

Finally, if we keep His commandments, we will be following the Lord, and He will lead us, step by step through our spiritual wilderness to our Promised Land. But it has to be His way, or we won’t make it. We need to depend on the Lord for spiritual nourishment, light, and direction, or we will not return to our Heavenly Father. This is, I believe, what the Lord is teaching Lehi and his family, and us, in these verses.

1 Nephi 17: 12

12 For the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness; for he said: I will make thy food become sweet, that ye cook it not;

(vs. 12–13) Nephi had learned early in this trip that when the Lord gives a commandment He provides a way to keep it (1 Nephi 3:7). That’s what the Lord was doing in this case. As to why the Lord limited their use of fire, I can only speculate. Certainly, one of the answers is given in the next verse, and that is for a testimony of the Lord. But I wonder if there wasn’t also an element of safety from other nomadic groups. I’m sure that others living in the wilderness would have seen a fire, maybe for miles. Just because they were in the wilderness does not mean that they were necessarily alone. Maybe one of the hardships of the journey was avoiding or defending from others. So rather than draw attention to them, the Lord makes the uncooked meat nutritious and flavorful so the Lehites don’t have to build fires. At any rate, I’m sure it simplified their lives and their journey to not have to build fires every time they stopped. Not to mention the possibly unsteady supply of fuel for a fire.

As evidence that motive is most important (i.e. why we do something is often, if not always, more important than what we do, as important as that is), we can contrast this verse with the description of the Lamanites given by Enos (Enos 1:20). The Lamanites in this description also ate raw meat, which was part of the reason Enos called them wild, ferocious, and bloodthirsty. What was right in one circumstance, due to the Lord’s commandment, was not right in another. The same could be said for when Nephi killed Laban to get the plates. Because it was a commandment from the Lord, this was not counted as murder, as was Nehor’s murder of Gideon (Alma 1:9 (7–14)). There are many other examples of this concept in the scriptures.

• 1 Nephi 17:2
• 1 Nephi 17:30
• Enos 1:20 (for contrast)

1 Nephi 17:11

11 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make a bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts; and after I had made a bellows, that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire.

I think it would be quite interesting to discover how Lehi and his family lived day-to-day before this journey. For example, did Nephi already know how to extract metal from rock? Where did he learn how to make a bellows? Are these things he did back in the family business before they left Jerusalem? Or are they things the Lord taught him to do here on the mount? There is some speculation that they ran an olive vineyard and traded the fruit and oil. Did they make their own tools? I know these are not doctrinally expedient, but they are interesting to think about. It makes the scriptures come alive for me, and is a reminder that these are real people, recording real experiences, but also having many experiences that are not recorded.

1 Nephi 17: 10

10 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.

Nephi makes it sound so simple to receive revelation. I wish it were that easy for me. Unfortunately, I have my receiver tuned to the wrong source sometimes. Most of the time I just don’t listen closely enough that I can hear the still, small voice that so often is the way the Lord, through the Holy Ghost, communicates with us. I have had clear and undeniable revelation at times, but not as often as I would like.

1 Nephi 17: 9

9 And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?

This is typical Nephi. After the Lord shows him the plans for the ship, he wants to get to work. I think they probably had some tools for this journey, but maybe not the ones they needed for this kind of construction. We don’t really know much about the ship or how it was constructed. Did Nephi need to make nails? Did he need more hammers? Saws? Axes? He just wanted to get going, and needs the tools to fulfill his new calling. That’s a great example for when we receive callings in the Church. We accept the call, then we need to find out where to get the materials, training, whatever tools we need. Nephi is just a great example of accepting an assignment cheerfully and just doing what it takes to get the job done.

1 Nephi 17: 8

8 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.

When the Lord wants something built right, he gives the pattern or the plans. He did it with Noah’s ark, Moses’ temple, David’s temple, the Kirtland temple, the Brother of Jared’s barges, etc. President Gordon B. Hinckley said the plans for the so called “mini temples” that have been built around the world was revealed to him. So here is another example of the Lord revealing plans for a ship. It needs to be built right. It needs to be more substantial than what Nephi was familiar with, because he was crossing an ocean, not just a lake or even a small sea.

I’m sure there is also some type or shadow in this. Maybe it’s a comparison of the ship to the Savior. They both “carry” us to the Promised Land. So this may be another reason for dictating the construction of this ship. Getting to the Promised Land must be done the Lord’s way. Also, there may be symbolism involved with its design that we are not aware of. In either case, it is apparent that the Lord wanted it right, so He provided the plans.