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