1 Nephi 16: 39

39 And it came to pass that the Lord was with us, yea, even the voice of the Lord came and did speak many words unto them, and did chasten them exceedingly; and after they were chastened by the voice of the Lord they did turn away their anger, and did repent of their sins, insomuch that the Lord did bless us again with food, that we did not perish.

As a result of Laman once again threatening to be the death of Lehi and Nephi, and doom this mission to failure, the Lord intervenes, this time not with an angel, but with his own voice. He personally chastened those trying to do harm to the prophets, His servants. I take away a few lessons from this.

First, the Lord supports his servants, as opposed to Satan, who does not (see Alma 30:60). He may not always save their mortal lives, but he at least strengthens them in difficult times. A second lesson is that the Lord keeps trying to gather His children, even when they don’t want to be gathered (see Matthew 23:37). When He stops trying, that’s when you know you are in real trouble. But in the case of Laman and Lemuel, how many times did the Lord intervene with a divine show of authority, all to no avail in the end? Which leads me to a third lesson: miracles don’t make converts. Miracles strengthen testimonies; they sometimes get a person’s attention, and as in this case, a miracle may even bring a person to repentance. But conversion must come from within. Occasionally a person will be brought to his senses, and the repentance will really make a difference, as in the cases of Paul, Alma, and the sons of Mosiah, but all too often the change is temporary, as with Laman and Lemuel. They saw an angel, heard the voice of the Lord, witnessed many miracles, and still turned away in the end.

Once again, pride seems to be the key. The Lehites had some serious motivation for staying humble and repentant: food. That Liahona only worked according to their righteousness, and in the wilderness they depended on revelation from the Lord for survival. How different is that from our situation today? Don’t we rely on revelation for our spiritual survival in our journey through this earth life (our wilderness) in search of our Promised Land (exaltation)?

Alma 30: 60 (58–60)

1 Nephi 16: 38

38 Now, he says that the Lord has talked with him, and also that angels have ministered unto him. But behold, we know that he lies unto us; and he tells us these things, and he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes, thinking, perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness; and after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure. And after this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts to anger.

The irony here is that Laman, in accusing Nephi of lying about angels ministering to him, is himself lying. I can cut him some slack in not being present when the Lord talked to Nephi; he had to take that on faith. But Laman was eyewitness to at least one instance of when an angel ministered to Nephi. In that case, the angel stopped Laman from beating his brothers, Sam and Nephi (1 Nephi 3:30–31). So in at least that instance, Laman is lying for the purpose of turning everyone against his brother. The other thing here is that Laman is attributing all the miracles they have witnessed to Nephi instead of God. That means that everything from breaking the bands that bound him (1 Nephi 7:18) to seeing messages on the Liahona (vs. 27), which were all witnessed by the whole company, were worked by Nephi’s “cunning arts.” In other words, magic. And the whole purpose of using that “magic” was to make himself a king or ruler over everyone, an idea that was given to Laman by an angel. This is Laman’s pride, plain and simple. He is the one who wants to be a king and ruler over everyone. This is just another power play to do exactly what he is accusing Nephi of doing.

1 Nephi 16: 37

37 And Laman said unto Lemuel and also unto the sons of Ishmael: Behold, let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi, who has taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren.

This could be the first premeditated conspiracy recorded in the Book of Mormon. Laman especially must have been extremely angry. Up until now, Nephi and Lehi could pretty much keep the rebellion in check, often with an appeal to the experiences of their ancestors, such as Moses leading the children of Israel out of bondage to Egypt. This time, Laman seems pretty determined, even conspiring to break the Mosaic Law outright, and murder his father and brother. Several times Nephi has compared his brethren to the Jews in Jerusalem. Those Jews at least gave lip service to the Law of Moses, except when it came to prophets.

This verse coming at this point in the narrative almost makes it sound like Laman is offering his father to the children of Ishmael to compensate for the loss of their father, Ishmael, in some sort of apology for dragging them along on this foolish wild goose chase. “You lost your father because of my father, so let’s lose our father to compensate. Oh, and we’ll throw in our pesky brother as an added bonus.”

As justification for killing Nephi, Laman states that he (Nephi) has always tried to usurp his (Laman’s) rightful place, as the eldest son, to be the ruler and teacher, next in line from Lehi. That’s the rightful position in customary inheritance practice at the time. The same complaint was made against Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob. Even Jacob seems to be surprised at some of the dreams that Joseph had (Genesis 37:9–10). The proud or putout always resent when those who offend or put them out then claim some sort of leadership over them. The children of Israel made the same complaint to Moses (Numbers 16:12–14). Never mind that the Lord makes these appointments, not the servants of the Lord, who simply, and often reluctantly, accept the assignment. In this particular case, and angel had told Laman that Nephi was chosen to be a ruler and teacher over him and his brethren because of their iniquities (see 1 Nephi 3:29). So Laman should have known better, but pride seems to be his big downfall. He just can’t get past the fact that he is not the one chosen to lead, although, if not for his iniquities, he very well might have been that leader.

• Genesis 37:10 (9–11)
• Numbers 16:13
• 1 Nephi 2:22
• 1 Nephi 3:29
• 1 Nephi 7:16
• 1 Nephi 17:44
• 2 Nephi 1:24

1 Nephi 16:36

36 And thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me; and they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem.

It seems like it’s human nature to prefer the known to the unknown, at least when times get tough. Here is an example of that. As already noted, Ishmael’s children were justifiably sad when he died. And in their mourning, they started focusing on the hardship instead of the Promised Land. I’m sure that’s why they wanted to go back to Jerusalem. Another thing we as humans tend to do is romanticize the past. The children of Israel, wandering in the desert, came to a point where they would rather return to Egypt, to slavery, than face any more hardship (Exodus 16:2–3; Numbers 14:4 (1–5)). 

I, myself, have fallen victim to that thought process. I felt that going back to school to finish my Master’s Degree was an answer to prayer. My Patriarchal Blessing mentions a gift of teaching, and Sheri and I both had a strong answer to prayer that I should go back to school. So we left on a shoestring and a lot of faith on our journey to the “Promised Land” of a career change. It’s been very difficult. My marriage was tested during graduate school like never before. We obviously survived. My student loans have been an enormous burden, and the salary of a teacher, at least the jobs that I have had, has not been nearly enough to justify the debt load. There were many times over the past nine years (as of the time of this entry, May 2008) when I have wanted to turn back, to get out of education, to go back to working in a print shop. I forgot how hard that was at times, and how unfulfilling. Now that I am in my “Promised Land,” I see that it was all worth it, changing careers. I still have the debt load, but with my current job I see a way to reduce that debt, or even eliminate it altogether. So I can empathize with going back to Jerusalem. 

The problem is that as much as I wished at times I had never gone to school and started the journey, the fact is that I couldn’t go back. And neither could Lehi’s group. They had people in Jerusalem who wanted to kill them, not to mention the imminent destruction of Jerusalem. They didn’t know what a good deal they had, and wouldn’t really know until they actually reached their Promised Land.

1 Nephi 16:35

35 And it came to pass that the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly, because of the loss of their father, and because of their afflictions in the wilderness; and they did murmur against my father, because he had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, saying: Our father is dead; yea, and we have wandered much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger.

I can understand mourning for the death of a parent, but the rest of this verse indicates to me that these daughters of Ishmael may have been on this journey for the wrong reason. I assume everyone in the company understood at the outset that this would be a difficult journey. I doubt any of them realized how difficult until they got into it. Those who have come in obedience to the Lord pretty much seem to roll with the punches. Those who came in obedience to a person, such as a father, are complainers. We see it with Laman and Lemuel, now we see it with the daughters of Ishmael. In my experience those who do things for a higher cause, or a reason bigger than themselves or their own self-interest are less bothered by difficulty and hardship. Or rather, they are too focused on the cause to be distracted by obstacles. Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal. At this point in the journey, though, it would be just as difficult for them to go back to Jerusalem like they want to, as it would to push forward. They are committed. It’s like walking on a tightrope, and halfway across losing your nerve, so you turn around and go back. Going back is just as difficult as going forward. The difference with Lehi’s company is the unknown. If you don’t have faith in the trip leading to the Promised Land, Jerusalem looks pretty good, even if it is just as difficult getting back as going forward. There is also the added factor of whether they would receive the Lord’s help to go back rather than forward. My guess is that He would hinder more than help that. For example, I doubt the Liahona would have cooperated with a return trip.

1 Nephi 16:33–34

33 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning; and after we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.
34 And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.

I wonder how long Ishmael had been in poor health (as I assume was his cause of death) before he died. The record doesn’t say how old he was; it doesn’t say what the cause of death was. We’re simply told that he died and was buried in a place called Nahum. We don’t know how long he was with the party before he died either, so there probably is no way of getting to this answer from the records we have. In fact, the records are pretty light on any information about Ishmael at all. Back in chapter seven, when the sons of Lehi went back for Ishmael and his family, we read that the Lord softened his heart so he came with them (vs. 5). But later on in that chapter, when they tied up Nephi, we don’t really know which side he took, because he isn’t mentioned on either side. I take that back. In verse 6 we see that he was one of the ones being rebelled against. So we can probably be safe in saying that he stood with Nephi. The curious thing to note is that he is not mentioned as one of the ones pleading for Nephi in verse 19. One possibility for that is that he could have been injured during verse 6. We don’t know, but it’s interesting that he is not accounted for in the conflict, although his wife is. Could it be that what happened in chapter 7 led to a weakened condition resulting in his early exit from the story? I suppose we’ll never know. It just seems odd to me that in a culture much more likely to record the doings of its men, that he would be so conspicuously absent from the record in an incident where he should be taking a leading role as patriarch of his own household. Unfortunately, Ishmael is a more interesting character by what the record does not say about him, than what it does say.

1 Nephi 16: 32

32 And it came to pass that I did return to our tents, bearing the beasts which I had slain; and now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy! And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord, and did give thanks unto him.

It is interesting to me how even after all that had happened in connection with this episode: Nephi’s preaching, the family’s repentance, the Liahona writing, after all that, there is no  mention that Nephi received any help with the hunting. In fact, he came back bearing beasts, and they beheld that he had obtained food. I think that if I had been chastened by the Lord (vs. 25), if I had seen the writing on the Liahona and felt that fear that they did (vs. 27), if I had felt the depth of sorrow and repentance that they did (vs. 25), I would have offered to help with the hunt. But there is no mention of help, just how happy everyone was when he came home with the food. He must have had at least one pack animal with him, such as a camel, because I don’t think that Nephi alone could have carried enough meat to feed the size of company I think they had. This is kind of like when they went to get the brass plates. There’s no indication then that he got any offers for help there either, even after the angel came. Nephi just went and did what needed to be done. I wonder if Nephi refused offers of help, or if there were just no offers. It’s possible also that he could have taken some servants or people outside his blood family who may have also come with them.It just seems curious to me. 

1 Nephi 16: 31

31 And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts, insomuch that I did obtain food for our families.

In the physical sense, Nephi provided nourishment for everyone’s physical bodies. In my spiritual analogy Nephi goes to the temple and obtains spiritual nourishment that he can share with his family. It’s a lesson to me of my obligation to go to the temple. As spiritual head of my family, the temple is where I go to obtain the depth of spiritual understanding that I can in turn share as spiritual nourishment with my family.

1 Nephi 16: 30

30 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the directions which were given upon the ball.

If this whole broken bow story has spiritual significance as a type, as I have suggested starting in verse 18, then this verse must also fill that requirement. If so, it could have reference to the temple. In the Topical Guide the terms “mountain” and “mount” have quite a few references, but when you narrow the search to include the word “top” there are very few references combining “top” with “mount” or “mountain,” including this verse, and one of those is a quote of one of the other verses. In nearly every other case there is direct reference to the temple, as in Isaiah 2:2 (2 Nephi 12:2), or at least there is sacred communion with God. So this term that Nephi uses, “[going] forth up into the top of the mountain,” is relatively a rare expression in scripture that seems to have specific, spiritual context and significance each time. I’m suggesting that in the context of this story as a type or an analogy, it carries the same meaning. Otherwise Nephi could have just said “into the mountains,” instead of specifically engraving the top of the mountain.

• Isaiah 2:2

1 Nephi 16: 29

29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.

Obedience to the Lord’s commandments may seem difficult at times, but it really is not too much for the Lord to ask of us. And when we are faithfully diligent in keeping the commandments, in heeding revelation we may receive, the Lord can accomplish great things. These great things that the Lord can bring about could be rightfully called miracles. They are brought about by our faith and diligence, which is a small thing by comparison. King Benjamin seems to imply this by his choice of words in Mosiah 2: 22, where he is talking about blessings from the Lord. He mentions or lists what the Lord is willing to do for us, and says, “all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments.” That’s it. Such a small thing. Keeping his commandments requires faith. Even if we do the right thing, if it’s for the wrong reason, it’s not considered obedience to a commandment. This is what Mormon teaches in Moroni 7: 6–10. If we offer a gift, or pray unto God, “except [we] shall do it with real intent…it is not counted unto [us] for righteousness.” Laman and Lemuel are great examples of this. They did the right things, came with Lehi, went back for the plates, helped build the boat, etc., but they did it all for the wrong reason. They weren’t obeying the Lord so much as they were obeying their father, or saving their skins. I don’t think their good works were counted as righteousness. Later on, in Moroni 7: 37, Mormon makes it very clear that miracles are only possible through faith. Faith, as James says, is best demonstrated by works, or obedience, heed, and diligence to the word of God (see James 2: 14–26). During the Savior’s ministry on earth, there was a time he went to his own country, and even He was restricted; even He “did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13: 58).

On the other hand, there is the example of Naaman in 2 Kings chapter 5. The Lord cured his leprosy because he washed in the river Jordan as directed by Elisha, the prophet. Such a small thing, washing in a river, which, as he pointed out to his servant, was something he could have done in any river (vs. 12). The servant, however, convinced Naaman to “experiment on [Elisha’s] words, and exercise a particle of faith,” which, when he completed the “small means” of Elisha’s instructions, great things were brought about; the instant cure of leprosy (see Alma 32:27 for the quote).

Lehi and his family enjoyed the miracle of revelation, very plain revelation, which is a great thing, through the small means of their faith and diligence. What a blessing to that family. We definitely get the better end of that deal in my opinion.

It occurs to me that this Liahona is symbolic of our relationship with various forms of instruction from God. There are two spindles, “one pointed the way whither [they] should go into the wilderness” (vs. 10). Presumably the other spindle pointed north, like a regular compass. If that’s the case, then the comparison could be made to the north-pointing spindle representing the scriptures. They are standard. They give God’s will in ways that could be applied to various circumstances through our own understanding. The spindle that pointed the way they should go could represent more current revelation, such as would come from a living prophet. In other words, you always know where north is (what the Lord’s standards are), now here is more specific instruction. In this case, go that direction. Then the writing on the Liahona might represent a very personal, very direct way of receiving personal revelation. An example of this might be when Nephi obtained the brass plates. The standard default position is that killing a defenseless person is murder, and against God’s commandments (the north-pointing spindle). Nephi is told to kill Laban so he can obtain the plates in disguise (the spindle pointing to where he should go in this specific case). Nephi didn’t want to do it, so he questioned the commandment given him by the Spirit. So He was given direct, detailed reasons by the Spirit for completing the commandment (the writing on the ball) (1 Nephi 4: 7–18). Maybe another, more modern example of this could be the Lord’s teaching that “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5: 28). This is the north-pointing spindle. Modern prophets tell us that viewing pornography would be like lusting after a woman and committing adultery in our hearts (the spindle pointing the way to go). Then we are prompted to avoid or leave a specific web site because of its pornographic content (the writing on the ball). So it gets more specific and personal at each level.

• 2 Kings 5:13
• Job 32:8
• James 3:4
• Mosiah 2:22
• Alma 37:6 (6–8, 41)
• Moroni 7:37
• D&C 64:33

1 Nephi 16: 28

28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.

Ingredients for revelation

This verse is often used in connection with discussions about miracles, and how miracles are dependant on our faith and diligence to be performed. The Savior himself is limited in what He can accomplish if the people have no faith (see Matthew 13:38). However, this verse has to do with a specific type of miracle: revelation.

Revelation is indeed a miracle by itself. Think about it. We can talk to God whenever we want to through the process of prayer. But that could be done whether or not God even exists. The miracle occurs when He talks back! And that can take on any number of forms. Joseph Smith received an actual visit from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in answer to his prayer in the spring of 1820. Revelation doesn’t get any more direct or powerfully dramatic than that. More often than that are impressions we receive, giving guidance. Other times the Lord chooses to use physical means to reveal His will, as in the case of the Liahona. This was a form of revelation, and as such, this verse gives us valuable information on what it takes to receive continuing revelation. The pointers in the Liahona only worked according to the company’s faith, diligence, and heed given them. And so it is with revelation without the Liahona. It is only given according to our faith, diligence, and heed. If we remove any of these ingredients, we lose that gift, that miracle of revelation (see D&C 1:33; 43:10; 93:39). It reminds me of the parable of the talents told by the Savior (Matthew 25:14–30). At the end of the parable, when the lord said, “unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” As applied to the principle of revelation, if we are diligent and give heed to revelations we receive, we will continue to receive them. However, if we are not, then we lose the privilege of receiving revelations. For most people, it is a matter of being sensitive enough to understand revelations, and the faith to heed them. Most people don’t have a Liahona.

• 1 Nephi 18:12
• Alma 37:40
• Moroni 7:37

1 Nephi 16: 26–27

26 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said unto him: Look upon the ball, and behold the things which are written.
27 And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives.

This small part of the account is interesting to me for a couple of reasons. Most obvious is the strange reaction, especially of Lehi, a prophet, to the incident. He heard the voice of the Lord, and all it said was to look at the ball. I know if I heard the voice of the Lord I would have a pretty strong reaction. It’s possible that Lehi, being a prophet, was more used to hearing the voice of the Lord, but still his strong reaction came after he looked at the ball and saw what was written there. This is the first time we read that the Liahona had this capability to give written instruction as well as pointers, so the reaction may have been to that revelation. At any rate, they looked at the ball, then Lehi, along with nearly everybody else, “did fear and tremble exceedingly.” My guess is this strong reaction was because they didn’t realize that the ball could work that way.

Getting back to hearing the voice of the Lord, we don’t know what form that voice took when Lehi heard it. It could have been an actual audible voice that Lehi heard with his ears, or it could have been a flash of inspiration that came to him, prompting him to look at the ball. If it was the former, I think there would have been a stronger reaction. So I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was inspired in a much more usual manner. Given that, shouldn’t I be quicker, as was Nephi, to recognize the voice of the Lord in the flashes of inspiration I receive? Am I, even while heeding the inspiration, slow to recognize these insights as the voice of the Lord? I pray that I will be quicker to recognize these experiences for what they are: revelation from God. It’s my Heavenly Father taking interest in my life.

The next observation about this incident is that Nephi vey pointedly leaves himself off the list of those who feared and trembled exceedingly at the sight of the writing. Now, being the one keeping the record, Nephi can leave whatever impression he wants, and in this case the impression is that he alone, of the whole company, was not surprised by the new writing on the ball. So either he was surprised along with everyone else, and just didn’t want future generations to know that, or he genuinely was not surprised at this manifestation of God’s will.

This experience reminds me of the account in Daniel, chapter 5 in the Old Testament. That’s the account of the king of Babylon seeing the writing on the wall that Daniel interpreted. Occasionally the Lord’s communication takes a very physical and public form like this. I would say that these cases, such as Daniel’s and Lehi’s are the minority. Usually revelation is much less obvious, much more personal, and takes more effort to discern and understand. I don’t really have any hope of understanding the Lord’s reasoning in this or many other matters, but I wonder if He just sometimes needs to get someone’s attention. That seems to be the case here. Maybe He just needed to remind Lehi’s company who was really in charge (see verse 29).

1 Nephi 16: 25

25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly chastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.

I’m sure it’s not a pleasant experience to be chastened by the Lord Himself. Here Lehi endured it; later on in the Book of Mormon we read that the brother of Jared was chastened by the Lord for three hours! One other thing these two accounts have in common is that at the end of the chastening, both Lehi and the brother of Jared received new instructions. It’s wonderful evidence that when the Lord forgives, it really does become water under the bridge, so to speak. He does not hold the sin against the truly repentant sinner, and their relationship moves forward just the same as it was before, if not stronger.

Several scriptures point to the fact that this chastening of the Lord is a good thing. It’s evidence that He loves us, and that He has hope for us (see Job 5:17; Proverbs 3:11–12; Hebrews 12:5–9 for evidence of this). In Ether 2:14–15, where the brother of Jared’s experience with this is recorded, the Lord warned him that he needed to straighten up and sin no more, because His “Spirit will not always strive with man.” It would be much worse than being chastened by Him, to get the silent treatment from Him. That implies that you are so far gone that you are beyond hope, even for the Lord, who stands ready to forgive.

• Job 5:17
• Proverbs 3:11–12
• Hebrews 12:5–9
• Ether 2:14–15

1 Nephi 16: 24

24 And it came to pass that he did inquire of the Lord, for they had humbled themselves because of my words; for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul.

Alma said, “the preaching of the word [has] a great tendency to lead the people to do that which [is] just” (Alma 31:5). Lehi especially, being the Lord’s prophet, was responsive to Nephi’s preaching. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall during this episode. Nephi said “many things unto them in the energy of [his] soul.” I just wonder in what attitude that energy was displayed. Was it frustration at their lapse in faith? Was it encouraging, like a pep talk? How do you call a prophet to repentance, especially when that prophet is your own father? It would have been an interesting scene to witness.

• Alma 31:5

1 Nephi 16: 23

23 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?

If this experience is to be compared to something spiritual, everything needs to represent something. If we compare this experience to the Tree of Life dream, for example, the bow could equal the rod of iron. Without the bow and arrow, they could not obtain food; without the iron rod they cound not get to the Tree of Life. Just like holding to the rod is a voluntary act showing initiative to obtain the fruit of God’s love, making the bow is a voluntary act requiring initiative, and making it possible to obtain food. Because of our agency, initiative is an important component in returning to Heavenly Father. It insures that only those who want to return actually do return. It takes effort to make and keep covenants with our Heavenly Father, and although He loves all His children, only those who make and keep covenants will have a chance of truly becoming like Him. Just wanting it isn’t quite enough, as described in Matthew 7:21–23.

The second significant part of this verse is what Nephi does after he makes the bow and arrow. He asked his father where he should go to find food. What an expression of humility and obedience! Whether you take it from the standpoint of honoring his parent, or looking to the prophet for direction, it’s significant because Lehi had been one of the complainers (vs. 20), but he was still in charge. This also teaches that all of our initiative will only take us so far. We still need to look to the prophet as the Lord’s mouthpiece, and therefore the source of spiritual nourishment and direction. It’s also important to note how this show of confidence helped Lehi repent and turn to the Lord again.

• D&C 28:6–7

1 Nephi 16: 22

22 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren, because they had hardened their hearts again, even unto complaining against the Lord their God.

Typical of faithless people, Nephi’s brethren started blaming the Lord for their difficulties. In many cases, trials come as a result of iniquity, but this just seems to be due to the natural difficulties associated with a hard life in the wilderness. Although, as Alma suggests to his son, Helaman, in the case of Lehi and his family, any hardship such as this was due to getting lazy in following the directions on the Liahona (Alma 37:40–42). When the Children of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years, they complained to the Lord, or against the Lord when they had difficulty. They blamed Him for their hardships, when really the hardships were due to their own slothfulness in keeping the commandments, or their outright rebellion. In either case, complaining and blaming the Lord for hardship due to either natural circumstances or our own iniquity just makes matters worse. If it had not been for Nephi in this situation, things could have gotten much worse. D&C 59:21 says that the Lord gets offended or angry only against those who “confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.” In this account, that would apply to the Liahona. It’s possible that using it day to day became so routine that they took it for granted. And that led to the hardship of the broken bow.

• Alma 37: 42 (40–42)

1 Nephi 16:21

21 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with my brethren because of the loss of my bow, and their bows having lost their springs, it began to be exceedingly difficult, yea, insomuch that we could obtain no food.

This is the verse that got me thinking about this account as more than a story about hunting. The cross-reference at the bottom of the page to the word “springs” takes us to Genesis 49:24. Just before Jacob died he gave a blessing to each of his sons, and this is part of the blessing he gave to Joseph, the ancestor of Lehi. This blessing refers to a bow metaphorically, which got me thinking that Nephi might be using this experience to teach about something higher than mere bow hunting to feed the body. Nephi feeds his family spiritually, which they sometimes resent, but they sure don’t resent it when he feeds his family physically.

Genesis 49:24

1 Nephi 16:20

20 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; and also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.

This verse illustrates just how bad things got as the company got more and more hungry. Even Lehi, the prophet, the visionary (realize that pessimists and negative people, by definition, can’t really be classified as visionary) started to murmur against the Lord. Murmur is an interesting word. It’s not coming out in open rebellion, rather it is just griping and complaining. It’s the same thing Laman and Lemuel have been doing all along. And now, things are bad enough that their father, the prophet who brought them on this journey in the first place, began to murmur against the Lord. I’ll bet Nephi’s brethren had a hay day with that one. Again, this just illustrates how important physical nourishment is to spiritual wellbeing.

1 Nephi 16:19

19 And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.

It seems like we can handle pretty much anything life throws at us as long as we have food to eat. Hunger amplifies any negative feelings or thoughts or suffering we may be experiencing. Maybe that’s part of why the Lord wants us to fast regularly. If we can discipline ourselves to do without physical sustenance for a time (i.e. control our appetite for food), then surely we can control our appetite for sin. That being said, there is a huge difference between fasting with a spiritual purpose, and just going hungry. The Spirit sustains us on the former, not so much on the latter. Lehi’s group was just going hungry.

1 Nephi 16:18

18 And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow, which was made of fine steel; and after I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.

I have heard it said that critics of the Book of Mormon point to Nephi’s steel bow as being too modern for the time, an anachronism. There is, however, evidence pointing to an early version of steel. Hugh Nibley says in his book, Since Cumorah: The Book of Mormon in the Modern World, that “one cannot be dogmatic in dating the appearance of steel…in ancient times; and when a particularly fine combination [of ingredients] was hit upon it would be kept secret in ‘individual workshops’ and passed on from father to son for many generations” (quoted in the Student Manual for Religion 121–122, 1979, p. 43). He concludes that it is not surprising to find evidence of high quality steel in early Europe and even earlier further east. Beyond that, we only need to look at the footnote at the bottom of the page for this verse to see a reference to 2 Samuel 22:35. This is long before Nephi, during the reign of David, and it says, “He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken in mine arms” (my emphasis). Apparently, not only did the ancients have steel bows, but they could potentially break with enough stress.

• 2 Samuel 22:35