27 And it must needs be that the power of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it.
Nephi’s brothers certainly had experience with the power of
God working through him. Some of those experiences were so strong that they
really should not have been able to forget them. I’m thinking of when the angel
appeared to them when they went to get the brass plates (1 Nephi 3: 29–30),
when he was able to break free from the chords they tied him with when they
went to get their wives (1 Nephi 7: 17–18), the shock they received when they
refused to help build a ship (1 Nephi 17: 53–55), and calming the storm on the
sea (1 Nephi 18: 21). These are the significant events recorded by Nephi, but
there had to be others as well. Even Lehi had been on the receiving end of
Nephi’s teaching, when Nephi’s bow broke and he made the new one to go hunting
with. The difference is that Lehi had experience with the Lord’s will being
expressed through him (see 1 Nephi 3: 5). Lehi learned from his experience; the
brothers apparently did not.
I know this will sound counterintuitive, but it takes
humility to show the Lord’s power and command in His name, as Nephi did on many
occasions. The reason I say that is that the Lord’s will is rarely the popular
thing to do in the world. So in order to have the courage to do His will,
including commanding in his name as Nephi has done, requires that you put your
own insecurities and desires subject to the Lord’s will. So while the world
might see this as exercising power and authority over others, maybe even
grandstanding, depending on what the Lord requires, it actually is a great show
of faith and humility to bury your own selfish desires for popularity, or
ignore your own selfish comfort zones, and do what the Lord wants you to do.
I’m sure the easy thing for Noah to do would have been to not build the ark, or
if he had to do it, not make such a big production of it. I’m sure the easy
thing for Joseph to do would have been to submit himself (as a slave) to the
will of Potiphar’s wife. The scriptures are full of these kinds of examples of
people who could have taken the “easy” way out, but instead, subjected their
own wills to the Lord’s will in order to do the uncomfortable or difficult
thing. Of course, in the long run, it turns out better to do things the Lord’s
way, as Noah found out when it started raining, and as Joseph found out when he
was promoted from prisoner to regent over all of Egypt.
There is a story, however, that teaches it is actually easier
to do the Lord’s will than it is to ignore it. I am referring to Jonah in the
Old Testament. A short book, Jonah’s experience of trying to run from his
responsibility to cry repentance to his enemy was not only fruitless, but made
his life miserable as well. This is a great illustration of what Lehi means
when he says that “it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in [Nephi], which opened
his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it.” For a man like Nephi it
would have been very difficult to ignore the prompting of the Spirit to open
his mouth rather than to ignore it, regardless of the consequences with his
brothers.
- Jonah 1–4
- 1 Nephi 13: 5
- 1 Nephi 17: 48
- D&C 33: 8
- D&C 121: 43
