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
