2 Nephi 1: 16

16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.

In all the hardships and dangerous experiences Lehi and his family have been through since they left Jerusalem, the thing that has been Lehi’s anxiety, the thing that has concerned him from the beginning is that his children, and especially these wayward ones, that they keep the commandments of God. All of the physical harm that could come to them was not as dangerous as breaking the commandments. The term used here is “statutes,” which means, or at least implies, established laws of God in this case. In other words, he’s referring to the Ten Commandments. This was the established law of God at the time. Then of course there is the rest of the Law of Moses, which came from God. How could they keep these statutes if they didn’t know them? Of course they had been taught from their early childhood, but it was obvious that they didn’t love the law or the scriptures, as Nephi did. Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life showed him that these wayward sons wanted a different path for themselves other than the one next to the iron rod. I suppose the anxiety of every righteous parent is that their children keep the commandments. Mortal life and death are not as weighty as eternal life and death.

2 Nephi 1: 15

15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

The image of being “encircled about eternally in the arms of [the Lord’s] love” is comforting on a couple of levels. First, it just feels good to get a hug. And to get that expression of love from the Savior must be amazing. The other thing being encircled about does is protect. It’s a protection against the demands or punishments of justice, which must be satisfied. This is the sense of being encircled about eternally in the Lord’s arms that Lehi refers to here. It takes faith and obedience to the Lord’s commandments, but the result or reward of that is the Atonement. God loves all His children, even those who are disobedient, which is why he extends the offer of the Atonement to all his children equally. All have an equal chance to partake, but only those who actually do accept the Atonement are “encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” Only those who accept the Atonement and repent receive the benefit of the protection afforded by those arms of the Lord’s love. The others must face the demands of justice on their own, as described in D&C 19: 16–19. Lehi’s faith in the Lord and His Atonement, coupled with his obedience to the Lord’s commandments make this confidence possible, as expressed so matter-of-factly by Lehi. It’s something we must strive for throughout our lives.

• Romans 8: 39 (34–39)
• Jacob 6: 5
• Alma 5: 33
• Alma 34: 16 (15–16)
• 3 Nephi 9: 14
• Ether 12: 6 (6–18)
• D&C 6: 20

2 Nephi 1: 14

14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.

The dying wish of a loving father is that his rebellious sons repent and come unto Christ. It’s interesting to note that the expressions Lehi uses to tell of his impending death are most likely either straight from the plates of brass, or they are evidence of Lehi’s Israelite heritage and tradition. The cross references at the bottom of the page are evidence of that. These expressions of death could just be cultural expressions that are common among Israelites at that time (see particularly Job 10: 21; Joshua 23: 14; 1 Kings 2: 2 for examples of this language in the old testament).

2 Nephi 1: 13

13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.

I think this verse gives a little bit of evidence that at least Lehi probably believes that his sons are not purposely rebellious and bad, but they have just gotten off the path. They have been lulled into a spiritual sleep that has finally put them into spiritual bondage. It seems like someone who is a believer, or has a testimony should be able to always go back to that testimony and stay on course. But it is not that easy. Sometimes we need to be reminded, as the Lord reminded Oliver Cowdery of when he received his testimony (see D&C 6: 22–23). Satan’s goal is to get everyone to leave that path that in Lehi’s dream led to the Tree of Life. Sometimes he will get people to openly and purposefully rebel, but probably more often he lulls “into carnal security,” and he “cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell” (2 Nephi 28: 21). One graphic example of this is when Amaliciah led Lehonti slowly and carefully from the high ground he had taken, making him believe that he (Lehonti) was in charge of his own destiny at all times. In fact, Amalikiah had deceived him, or lulled him into carnal security until Lehonti was eventually poisoned “by degrees” until he died (see Alma 47: 9–19). This can happen so gradually that we don’t even know it’s happening.

I have experienced how this must feel. When you are reading a book by natural light from a window, and all of a sudden someone enters the room and turns on the light. So engrossed have you been in your book that you never noticed it getting darker. It took someone on the outside to tell you that you were trying to read in the dark and didn’t even realize it. Or maybe you did realize it was getting darker, but you figured you could handle it, so you don’t bother to get up and let the greater light shine.

Lehi is trying to be that person who turns on the spiritual light for his rebellious sons so they can see the error of their ways and repent. They have been lulled away and are being led carefully down to hell.

• Alma 12: 11 (9–11)
• 1 Nephi 12: 18
• 1 Nephi 15: 28 (28–30)
• 2 Nephi 28: 21–24
• Alma 47: 18 (12–18)

2 Nephi 1: 12

12 Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall be bloodsheds, and great visitations among them; wherefore, my sons, I would that ye would remember; yea, I would that ye would hearken unto my words.

It seems almost inevitable, and certainly a matter of history that a people or society that rejects the gospel will end up at war. Sometimes they start it; sometimes they don’t. This would be an interesting research project to verify that claim. But it seems that if the Lord’s covenant people reject that covenant, war ensues at some point. Of course, this prophesy of Lehi’s was fulfilled to his sons, and about 400 years after Christ’s visit this society was torn apart by war. Not surprisingly, Mormon makes the observation that once a people have been “enlightened by the Spirit of God,” and they fall away into sin, “they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things” (Alma 24: 30). So this prophecy of Lehi’s not only applies to his posterity; it applies to any people who accept, then reject the gospel.

• Alma 24: 30

2 Nephi 1: 11

11 Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten.

While I have been applying these verses to the inhabitants of this land generally (today as well as in Lehi’s time), this verse seems to be directed specifically to Lehi’s seed. While the prophecy may yet come to pass applying to us in our day, it has already been fulfilled in regards to the American Indians. They have been scattered and placed on reservations and had their lands taken away from them during the 1800s. Of course, the world in general would not acknowledge this, but these last few verses make it clear that history would have been much different and kinder to the children of Lehi if they had not rejected the Lord. By so doing they lost the Lord’s protection.

The spiritual application seems obvious. As we maintain our covenant relationship with the Lord, we have his protection. As we stray, that protection erodes and we are open to being conquered by Satan. The Savior spoke of this in his parable of the talents (see Matthew 25: 14–30). If we don’t “prosper in the land,” an indication that we are keeping His commandments, then the “land” will be taken from us. Or you could plug in “talents” instead of “land.” Or more to the point, spiritual gifts and eternal rewards are what we are really talking about. Let’s do all we can to retain the lands of our eternal inheritance.

• 1 Nephi 13: 14 (12–20)
• 1 Nephi 22: 7
• Mormon 5: 19 (19–20)

2 Nephi 1: 10

10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.

One thing that makes this scripture significant is the concept of taking for granted the knowledge and blessings we receive from God. This verse makes a list of things we have knowledge about that we wouldn’t have without the Lord’s revelations. These include knowledge of the creation of this world and the origins of man (which is significant partially because it points to the Atonement), power to do all things by faith (referring at least in part to the priesthood, or God’s power), the commandments (what amounts to a divine rule book, teaching and preparing us to be like Him), and finally, just the blessing of being brought to this promised land. If, after all of those significant blessings we turn our backs on their source, God, then justice takes over. It has to, because those who reject these things are rejecting mercy. The system is binary. There is nothing between the two, and justice is the default judgment. So if we reject mercy, we must take justice. If we do not let the Savior pay for our sins, we must pay for them. Someone must make a payment. I believe that is a law of the universe that God could not break without losing His position as God (see Alma 42: 25). I don’t believe this arrangement is out of meanness, it’s just the way it is.

• D&C 82: 3
• D&C 59: 21