20 And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me.
This incident marks a real change in Laman and his gang. With
the exception of when they went to retrieve the brass plates, Laman and Lemuel
have always come around and repented. They have shown remorse, and recognized
the hand of the Lord. This time, though, there is no mention of that. The only
thing that convinced them to untie Nephi was the threat of their impending
destruction. Mormon comments on this in Helaman, where he says that the only
way the Lord’s people will remember Him is if they are chastened with
affliction and even threat of death (see Helaman 12:3). In the past, this
method has always worked with Laman and Lemuel. This time, however, there seems
to be a subtle difference. From this time forward there is no mention of their
hearts being softened. This one feels more to me like another time that Mormon
wrote about. He thought the people were lamenting in godly sorrow, but instead
it was “because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin”
(Mormon 2:13). There is more of a feeling of Laman just biding his time now,
waiting for Lehi to die so he could rule and finally put an end to his pesky
little brother. Even a successful end to their journey didn’t seem to soften
them.
- Helaman 12:3
- Mormon 2:13
