18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
Now we get to the meat of the reason Nephi read this chapter
to his brothers. After establishing the legitimacy of the prophets, Isaiah (or
the Lord) laments to Israel, and for Nephi’s purposes, Laman and Lemuel (see 1
Nephi 19:23). Through this verse Nephi is telling his brothers, “O that thou hadst
hearkened to my commandments!” If
you had kept the commandments, you would have a steady stream of peace,
and your righteousness would be as constant as the waves of the sea. This is
what Nephi was trying to get across. He wanted to persuade his brethren to more
fully believe in Christ, and they definitely lacked peace in their lives. It’s
not only in their best interest if they have peace, but if they become
converted, Nephi won’t have to worry so much about them wanting to kill him all
the time. Nephi was apparently the official teacher, and this was a time that
his brethren would listen to him. So Nephi tries to strengthen and convert when
he can.
