2 Nephi 1: 31–32

31 Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land; and nothing, save it shall be iniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity upon the face of this land forever.
 32 Wherefore, if ye shall keep the commandments of the Lord, the Lord hath consecrated this land for the security of thy seed with the seed of my son.

Based on his obedience, Zoram is adopted into Nephi’s blessing and inheritance in much the same way as the Gentiles are adopted into the inheritance of Israel. The only thing that would prevent them from receiving the same blessings of prosperity and security as Nephi’s seed is their own disobedience and unfaithfulness.

2 Nephi 1: 30

30 And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the servant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever.

I wonder how long it really took Zoram to trust Nephi. In 1 Nephi 4: 30–37 when they made the oaths with each other, binding their fates to one another, it records that their fears toward each other ceased. I think I wrote at the time in this journal about the binding power of an oath. But knowing human nature, I just wonder how long it really took Zoram to go from a person coming along for the sake of an oath to a person who was a “true friend unto Nephi forever.” There is not much written about Zoram, but based on a couple of clues I think we can conclude that even thought he was employed be a wicked man, Laban, Zoram was not really a wicked man himself. The first clue is when he was captured. When Nephi explained that their errand was commanded of the Lord, “Zoram did take courage at the words [Nephi] spake” (1 Nephi 4: 35). How did he know he could trust this man who had just killed his master if he didn’t have a common belief in the Lord, or at least know that he could trust people of God? The next clue is his behavior after joining Lehi’s party. Zoram had more “right” to murmur and complain than did Laman and Lemuel. They chose to obey their father and come on this journey. Zoram, on the other hand, was compelled to come. True, he was given the choice to come and be free, but I’m sure if he had decided otherwise, things would not have ended well for him, or at least he had to believe that, given that they had already killed a very powerful Laban. Yet there is no record of Zoram siding with Nephi’s brothers in any of the conflicts they had. The last clue is that when the time came for Nephi to split from his brothers, Zoram came with him (see 2 Nephi 5: 6). He truly was a friend to Nephi forever, and received the blessings Lehi gave him in the next verses.

2 Nephi 1: 29

29 But if ye will not hearken unto him I take away my first blessing, yea, even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him.

I wrote mostly about an inheritance of physical things in verse 28, but this verse turns my attention to where it probably should have been in the first place: an inheritance of priesthood authority. The cross references provided at the bottom of the page for this verse make it clear that Lehi is really talking about presiding or maybe just having priesthood authority. If we are talking now about conferring the high priesthood as suggested in Abraham 1: 2–3, then it could be bestowed on anyone deemed worthy. So there could be more than one high priest at a time, or at least more than one person ordained to the high priesthood. That makes verse 28 more meaningful, that Lehi really could have been addressing all the adult males in context of receiving his first blessing, which he further describes as “even my blessing” in this verse. The blessing that Lehi had was the priesthood, and that is something all worthy men in the company could have, but could be taken away because of iniquity, as suggested in this verse. I think, but I’m not sure, that the priesthood was usually passed down father to son, for the most part, or at least kept in the family, so to speak. If that’s the case, then it gives some credence to the notion that Ishmael’s sons had married Lehi’s daughters, assuming he had daughters. Of course, there is no record of this union between the families, but it has been speculated by some scholars. It would also explain why Lehi takes the next three verses explaining how the righteous Zoram fits into the picture, as somewhat of an exception to the law of inheritance, not being related by blood or marriage.

• Genesis 49: 3 (3–4)
• D&C 68: 17
• Abraham 1: 3

2 Nephi 1: 28

28 And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing.

With my current understanding of birthright traditions, as described in other places in scripture, this verse seems problematic, at least on the surface. The confusion starts with the inclusion of Lemuel, Sam, and the sons of Ishmael. So I’m not sure which is the right idea, but I will attempt to describe a couple of different possible ways to understand this.

Traditionally the first blessing, or birthright would go to the eldest son, giving him a double portion of the inheritance. Certainly this tradition has been broken in the past. We don’t have mention of Adam and Eve’s other children by name, only those in the patriarchal lineage. So we can assume that Cain was in line to receive the birthright, at least until he killed Abel. Is it possible that part of Cain’s jealousy of his younger brother was due to Abel’s accepted sacrifice putting him in line to receive the inheritance instead of Cain? If so, this is the first recorded incident of a younger brother jumping ahead in the inheritance line. Another example is Jacob receiving the first blessing instead of Esau. Isaac could have revoked that when he realized what happened, and that he had been deceived, but he didn’t, giving the inheritance to the second son. Jacob’s son, Reuben, forfeited his birthright to Joseph through his iniquity. So there is certainly history behind the birthright going to someone besides the oldest. In fact, in the case of Joseph, apparently for some reason besides iniquity, he gave his first blessing to Ephraim instead of the slightly older twin brother, Manasseh.

I suppose one possibility of Lehi’s blessing in this verse being conditional is to give the birthright to Nephi in a way that he hoped would cause the least amount of jealousy among his other sons. If that was the intent, it didn’t work, as described in 2 Nephi 5: 3. So one point of confusion is that Lehi can’t give his first blessing (birthright) to all of his sons. This is why I think we need to look at other interpretations of this verse.

Another possibility is that the verse could actually be two verses. The first sentence directed to all the sons; the second sentence directed to Laman only. It almost reads as if Lehi starts talking to Laman, then he adds the other sons to include them in his declaration that they would not perish if they followed Nephi (the prophet). The problem with the second sentence being directed to all of them is that Sam actually did follow Nephi, but Nephi was the one who became king (see 2 Nephi 5: 6, 18). So he did not receive the first blessing, even though he followed Nephi. The second problem with the second sentence applying to all of them is that the sons of Ishmael rightly could not be included in any discussion of Lehi’s birthright. Presumably one of them already possessed the birthright of Ishmael.

Yet another way to look at this (although less likely in my mind) is that Lehi was speaking of eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God. In that case, all his sons (and us as well) can receive the first blessing of all the Father has if we follow the prophet. If not, the blessing is taken from us and given to the prophets themselves. John teaches, “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19: 10). So as prophets in that sense, all believers in Christ can inherit the first blessing. I’m sure that’s reading too much into it, but it would explain how all Lehi’s sons could be eligible for the first blessing.

• 2 Nephi 5: 3

2 Nephi 1: 27

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