1 Nephi 6 Overview

Nephi writes of the things of God—His purpose is to persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham and be saved. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

This is a very short, but important chapter. In it, Nephi sets forth the criteria for what is and is not included in his record. He also gives commandment to his seed after him that they use the same criteria as they continue the record. This gives us a basis to consider any story or event as a spiritual experience, so that is the point of view I will take in my journal.

1 Nephi 5:20–22

20 And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us.

21 And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.

22 Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise.

These verses talk about the value of scripture preservation. This is how we learn the mind and will of God. Later we will learn other benefits of carrying scriptures with them, but these verses focus on preserving the word of the Lord.

1 Nephi 5:17–19

17 And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed—

18 That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.

19 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.

Lehi makes an interesting prophecy about the brass plates going to “all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.” I believe this has reference to the gathering of Israel in the last days. Lehi’s descendants probably are not the main people of every nation on earth, nor are they the only ones receiving the Book of Mormon, which contains the record of the brass plates. But that is not what Lehi said in his prophecy, or at least I can see a different understanding. Lehi is of the seed of Joseph, which he discovered from the plates. Probably about 95% of people who get their patriarchal blessings are of the tribe of Joseph, mostly Ephraim. Those who receive their patriarchal blessings are members of the Church who have received the Book of Mormon. This verse could also refer to how Lehi’s descendants who may be found throughout the world will accept the Book.

1 Nephi 5:16

16 And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records.

I wonder how much Lehi knew about his genealogy before he read the brass plates. When he first told Nephi about them (1 Nephi 3:3–6) he said “Laban hath the record of the Jews, and also a record of my forefathers,” which could have been a reference to Jacob, which would have been a general record of the forefathers of all the tribes of Israel. It makes sense to me that “the record of the Jews” would reside with the tribe of Joseph, due to Joseph’s birthright. But this language makes it sound as if Lehi didn’t know why his genealogy should also be on these records, nor did he realize what he would find. Once the brass plates were brought back and Lehi had a chance to look them over, he found a “genealogy of his fathers; wherefore (for this reason) he knew that he was a descendent of Joseph.” (vs. 14) The word “wherefore” means “because of” or “therefore.” In other words, it seems that this record is the means of Lehi learning of his royal lineage, and maybe he didn’t know it before. This verse says that “thus…Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers.” So it seems he didn’t know that a) he was descended from the royal or birthright line of Joseph, and b)that he was related to Laban. Laban must have known, having access to the record, unless he just wasn’t aware that he had any living relatives. It is possible that this is another reason for him not wanting Lehi to have the record. If someone else were known to have the royal bloodline, it would weaken his political position.

1 Nephi 5:15

15 And they were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them.

The whole experience of the Israelites being led out of captivity from Egypt is such a pivotal and defining event for the House of Israel that it is referred to time and again. References to it and the miraculous way the deliverance was accomplished can be found in every book of scripture (except Pearl of Great Price, maybe) from the Old Testament to the Doctrine and Covenants. Because it is simply a matter of history and so undeniably evidence of the Lord having a direct interest in His covenant people, Nephi and other prophets refer to it even to non-believers as a common point they can start from. That whole deliverance story also serves as a great type of how the Lord can miraculously deliver us from the bondage of sin.

1 Nephi 5:14

14 And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.

This verse verifies that Lehi is descended from Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. It also shows that The Book of Mormon fulfills Ezekiel’s prophecy in Ezekiel 37 about combining the records of the house of Judah (Bible) and of Joseph (Book of Mormon) and using both records together.

• Ezekiel 37: 16–17
• 1 Chronicles 9:3

1 Nephi 5:11–13

11 And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;

12 And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;

13 And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.

These brass plates, in many ways, were similar to our Old Testament. They contained the books of Moses, which is something each tribe of probably had a record of, as well as a history of the Jews and prophesies and writings of the prophets. My guess is that each tribe of Israel kept an official record, each one containing these items. The things that would differ between the tribes is which prophets to include. They probably kept the record of the main prophet plus any others that pertained to that tribe specifically. In verse 14 we’ll see that the plates also contained a genealogy of the tribe of Joseph, which means that if my theory is right, each tribe also kept a genealogy of its own. It would be impossible to keep everybody’s genealogy on one official record, so it’s probably a royal genealogy, which would indicate that Lehi was in the royal line.

• 1 Nephi 19:23