1 Nephi 9:6

6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

The scriptures tell us that all things are present to the Lord (Moses 1:6). I think this must be something unique with God and gods. That’s how, for example, He is able to keep two records against the eventuality of Joseph Smith losing one record. Satan must not have that ability, or he would have at least gotten suspicious about the other record and changed his plans. It’s a great advantage to have that foreknowledge. Sometimes this war we are in, and have been since the Great War in Heaven, seems very much like a game of chess. Only God is not only the master of strategy, but also knows His opponents’ thoughts and schemes. So He can counter before Satan even knows that he needs to be countered.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:6–8 says that God and angels live in a place that is a great urim and thumim. This would explain why God knows everything and Satan doesn’t. It’s not just that He is eternal that gives God this ability; otherwise Satan would have the same power. It’s where He resides. Satan remembers the pre-existence, but he can’t see the next life. God, because of where He is, in part, sees the beginning and the end. All things are known to Him.

• 1 Nephi 3:7 — Nephi’s testimony that the Lord makes it possible to accomplish all the things He commands us to do.
• D&C 130:6–8 — where we see that God’s very dwelling place is a great Urim and Thummim, where all things past, present, and future, “are continually before the Lord.”

1 Nephi 9:5

5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.

Obviously the Lord doesn’t reveal everything to His prophets. This is one example of that. Nephi is told to keep two separate records, but he isn’t told why. Alma (and most if not all the rest of the prophets) is told to preserve both records (Alma 37:2, 12, 14). Mormon is told to put bother records into his abridgement, and he wasn’t told why (W of M 1:7). At least not specifically why. They just accept on faith that it is for a wise purpose. I suppose, in hindsight, this is at least partially for the purpose of keeping the purpose away from Satan, who, if privy to this knowledge, could then change events so that a second record wouldn’t matter. But Satan is doomed to failure and he knows it. God is in control and will not allow Lucifer to deter or thwart His purposes.

1 Nephi 9:4

4 Upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reign of the kings, and the wars and contentions of my people; wherefore these plates are for the more part of the ministry; and the other plates are for the more part of the reign of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people.

Even if the Lord had not anticipated the lost manuscript pages, keeping a more spiritual record is a good idea. That and the more historical record have two different purposes, of course, but that makes it easier and more effective for those who come later to search the records for what they want. If they want to find a spiritual matter, they come to these small plates. Researchers don’t have to sift through so much history to get to the matters of the Lord.

1 Nephi 9:3

3 Nevertheless, I have received a commandment of the Lord that I should make these plates, for the special purpose that there should be an account engraven of the ministry of my people.

Later on, Enos is told that his fathers required of the Lord that these records be preserved. Surely his uncle, Nephi, was one of those fathers.

• Enos 1:16–18

1 Nephi 9:2

2 And now, as I have spoken concerning these plates, behold they are not the plates upon which I make a full account of the history of my people; for the plates upon which I make a full account of my people I have given the name of Nephi; wherefore, they are called the plates of Nephi, after mine own name; and these plates also are called the plates of Nephi.

There are parts of this large plates/small plates account that confuse me. Obviously this is done to counter an event that would happen over 2500 years later when Martin Harris lost the 116 manuscript pages. I was confused about the content of those pages. The Doctrine and Covenants Institute manual says the 116 pages were from the large plates of Nephi (D&C Student Manual, 1981, p. 23). They were, according to Joseph Smith, an abridgement of the plates of Lehi. So when they were lost, the Lord instructed Joseph to replace them with the unabridged plates of Nephi, which Mormon included somewhere in his abridgement. I just don’t know where they physically were.

• 1 Nephi 19:2
• Words of Mormon 1:2–11
• D&C 10:38–40

1 Nephi 9:1

1 And all these things did my father see, and hear, and speak, as he dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel, and also a great many more things, which cannot be written upon these plates.

I wonder how many years Lehi and his family stayed in the Valley of Lemuel. It seems like it was around eight years, going by the footnotes. Anyway, there were some important events and revelations recorded during that time. We know they were in the wilderness for eight years before they reached the place they called Bountiful, from which they built and launched their ship (1Nephi 17:4), but it seems like they were in the Valley of Lemuel for a significant portion of that time.

1 Nephi Chapter 9 Overview

Nephi makes two sets of records—Each is called the plates of Nephi—The larger plates contain a secular history; the smaller ones deal primarily with sacred things. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

This is kind of a transition chapter. As Talmage indicates, the translation is from an abridgement of Lehi’s ministry to an account of his (Nephi's) own (see Articles of Faith, 263–264). Nephi also tells us that he has two sets of plates going. The larger set is for the day-to-day history of the people, a political history, if you will, as it records the history of the kings. This, however, is the smaller set of plates and is reserved for the ministry of the people. From that I understand that the things written herein are of a spiritual nature. Even the historical narrative has a spiritual purpose. So that is how I will approach The Book of Mormon: with the understanding that it is a spiritual record first and foremost. I assume the historical events included are to give context to the spiritual principles being taught, or that the events themselves have some spiritual lesson.