#18 JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 1 NEPHI 17-18

Thursday, January 30, 2020

#18 JANUARY 27 – FEBRUARY 2, 1 NEPHI 17-18

1 Nephi 16:34 Nahom revisited

            We mentioned Nahom in the last blog as the place where Ishmael was buried. But I wanted to say a little more about this place. Notice that Nahom appears to already have a name because the text says: Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom. There is accumulating archeological evidence that there really was a city in southwest Arabia by the name of Nahom or Nehem which would be in the right place based on the story in the Book of Mormon and that this city has been there since at least 800 BC, two hundred years before Lehi and his family would have passed through there. There is also evidence that it was a favorite burial spot in the region, consistent with their having buried Ishmael there. There is a good YouTube video from Book of Mormon Central about this and how it supports the Book of Mormon. It’s worth watching.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPFob0cjfw

Some critics of the Book of Mormon have claimed that Joseph Smith got his names for Book of Mormon places from ancient maps because, as you saw in the video, there is a place named Nehem on some ancient maps. What is the evidence that Joseph Smith (or anyone else in America in his time) ever saw any of those ancient maps? And what about all of the other names of places? For me, finding that there really was a place called Nehem in the right location to be the Nahom of the Book of Mormon strengthens rather than weakens my testimony of the book. How about yours?

1 Nephi 17:1-4 Eight years in the wilderness!

            After leaving Nahom, the Lehi colony, which had been traveling southward, makes a left turn and heads “nearly eastward”. If you took time to watch the video attached to the last blog showing the possible route of their travels through Arabia, you’ll see that it makes sense to head eastward from Nahom to get to the southern shore of the Arabian peninsula. Nahom was the first chance to head eastward because of mountains and impassable desert farther north. Generally, they were following the ancient Frankincense Trail. If you want to know more about that trail, there is a fascinating three-part BBC series on the subject. Each part is about an hour long, but you can learn a lot about what this area is like now and what it may have been like when Lehi and his family were traveling through. I found it quite interesting.

The link is: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mfzjr/episodes/guide

Finally, one more link to give you is to the Book of Mormon video that covers these two chapters. It is great - maybe the best I have seen so far. It shows the Lehi colony (including 2 camels as well as horses and donkeys) traveling through the desert. It shows strong women, lots of children (Don’t forget that Sariah had two children, Jacob and Joseph, during these eight years in the desert and other children were born to her daughters and daughters-in-law.) and even children eating raw meat. We see their excitement at arriving in Bountiful on the seashore. (Where did they film that? Certainly not in central Utah!) It also shows a more mature-looking Nephi with a full beard. He has aged in the desert. Before this in the earlier films, he looks fairly pre-pubertal compared to his very hirsute older brothers. The video shows Nephi building the ship, shocking his brothers, gathering provisions for the long voyage and the family starting the voyage in the ship they built. The ship is a two-masted double-hulled vessel that is pretty amazing! This video is really worth watching, especially if you have children or teenagers. If you are reading in the Gospel Library app, the link comes up in the footnotes at the beginning of Chapter 17. Or you can find it (and all of the Book of Mormon videos) at churchofjesuschrist.org and go to “Gospel Media” under “Serve and Teach.” Here is the link:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/1-nephi-17-18?lang=eng

1 Nephi 17:3 “Thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled.”

            Remember that I mentioned in the last blog to watch for the phrase thus we see. This is the second time we encounter it in the Book of Mormon. Nephi is saying, “Don’t miss this! I’m going to tell you something important for you to remember.” And then he goes on in the same verse to basically restate his famous reply to his father found in 1 Nephi 3:7. For Nephi, this verse is evidence that what he said to his father is right – God will not ask us to do anything without providing the way for us to do it. And their 8-year journey through the wilderness is living proof, at least to him. The message to us is that, if we will keep the commandments of God, He will nourish us, strengthen us and provide the means for us to accomplish what He has commanded us to do. And you can take that promise to the bank! Parents, teach this to your children and believe it for yourselves!

1 Nephi 17:5-6 The land Bountiful

            After eight punishing years in the desert, the Liahona leads them to the southern shore of the Arabian peninsula where there is a fertile seashore with fruit, honey and an abundance of good things they didn’t have in the desert. Experts are not in agreement on the exact location of the land Bountiful today. There are two or three good candidates and each has its major proponent(s). I’m not sure it really matters which is the exact place, except to know that there are places eastward across the desert from Nahom along the southern coast of the Arabian peninsula which could have provided all that the colony needed to live, build a ship, gather provisions and set out across the “many waters.” Someday we’ll know for sure.

1 Nephi 17:7-15 “Get thee into the mountain”

            Life is pretty good in the land Bountiful. Laman and Lemuel think they must have died and gone to heaven compared to living in the desert! For the first time, they’re not so upset that they had to leave Jerusalem. We don’t hear any murmuring about life in the land Bountiful. This isn’t so bad after all! But after “many days” in their coastal paradise, their younger brother ruins everything.

            Nephi tells us that the voice of the Lord came unto me saying: Arise and get thee into the mountain. Later Nephi will say that, in the process of building the ship, I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord. His example is a good one for us – whatever our stage in life is or whatever we need the Lord’s help with, we need to go often “to the mountain”, i.e. to the place(s) where we can connect with our Father in Heaven. Later in the Book of Mormon, Amulek, a formerly less-active church member, will counsel the humble Zoramites to cry unto the Lord in their fields, in their houses and in their closets. We can pray to our Father wherever we are, but some places are obviously more conducive to prayer than others. That’s why Nephi went to the mount often. Wherever our “mount” is for us, we need to go often so our loving Father can help us.

            Once in the mount, Nephi didn’t just throw rocks down the hill or take a nap under a tree until the Lord spoke to him again. He cried unto the Lord. It’s not enough to just go often to our “mountain”, but we need to sincerely pray when we get there.

            In response, the Lord spoke to him and told him to construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee that I may carry thy people across these waters. It’s interesting that the Lord is saying this to Nephi rather than Lehi. Each time the family needed to move in the past, the Lord spoke to Lehi, usually in a dream at night. But now He is giving direction to Nephi. Maybe it is because Nephi is in a much better position to build a ship compared to his aging father. Notice that in the next chapter (1 Nephi 18:5), when it is time to go down into the ship, the voice of the Lord comes to Lehi and not to Nephi. Lehi is still the patriarch and leader of the family. It is interesting to see how intimately the Lord is involved with this family and in their lives. He really wants this venture to succeed. Do you think He is any less interested in us? I don’t think so.

1 Nephi 17:9 “Whither shall I go?”

            Notice Nephi’s faith-filled response to the Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools? Amazing! He doesn’t say, “I’ve never made a ship!” Or “How will I get my brothers to help me?” Or any of a dozen other questions he could have asked. He goes through in his mind what resources he has at hand, figures out what he can handle for himself and what he needs the Lord to help him with. He knows he can make tools but he doesn’t know where to get the ore for the tools. So that’s where the Lord – and faith – come in. His response is much like that the Brother of Jared 1600 years earlier. (See Ether 3) He needed light for the vessels he was making to cross the ocean (probably the same ocean) so he did all he could but asked the Lord to touch the stones he prepared. Because of his faith, the Lord did so and what followed is one of the great visions in recorded scripture. Nephi has the same kind of faith. Nephi must be skilled in metal working to know that he could make tools if he just knew where to look for ore.

1 Nephi 17:17-22 “Our brother is a fool!”

            Nephi sets out to build a ship. He starts making tools. His brothers are incredulous that he thinks he can make a ship. Their assessment is that our brother is a fool. His faithless brothers really go off on him. They give multiple reasons why they are sure that Nephi won’t be successful in building a ship and going across the ocean. Not only do they think he is a fool and doesn’t know how to make a ship, but that they would have been better off if they had died before coming out of Jerusalem and that Lehi had “judged” the people of Jerusalem to be wicked when Laman and Lemuel know they were righteous and keeping the Law of Moses.

           

1 Nephi 17:23-47 Nephi’s response

            Nephi gives an eloquent, powerful response to their objections. He draws upon the story of Moses and the Children of Israel as evidence that they can do this. Centuries later, Nephi’s descendants will sight his ability to build a ship and cross the ocean to strengthen the faith of those in their time. And in our time, we call upon the stories of the heroic pioneers of the 19^th Century to inspire faith in those of our day.

            Brother Jack Welch at Book of Mormon Central has some profound insights about these verses and Nephi’s response. He finds an example of chiastic writing in Nephi’s response. I totally missed it in all the times I’ve read this chapter. Remember the adage, “You see what you look for; and you look for what you know.” Jack Welch knows chiastic literary form, so he sees it where others don’t. Here is the link. It is fascinating, if you want to read more: https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/1-nephi-16-22

1 Nephi 17:48-55 “I will shock them”

            What was his brothers’ response to his eloquent defense? They were not only angry with him, but they wanted to kill him. They want to throw him off a sea cliff into the ocean, but Nephi is filled with the power of God. He commands them not to touch him and warns them that, if they do, they will wither up. He also commands them to stop murmuring and help him make the ship, which, to their credit, they do. And it is a fine ship! After several days, the Lord tells Nephi to touch his brothers and I will shock them. Nephi touches his brethren and they are shaken by the Lord. Once again, they repent (temporarily). In fact, now they want to worship Nephi, but he won’t allow that. He tells them to worship the Lord and honor their parents.

            Before going on the the next chapter, I’d like to make some comments about a couple more things in this chapter.

1 Nephi 17:13-14 “I will prepare the way for you”

            While still on the mount, the Lord makes a great promise to Nephi about the journey ahead. But each of us is on a journey through life. Put yourself in the place of Nephi and think about your “promised land” – your journey to the “place” where the Lord’s promises will be fulfilled for you. Put yourself into these verses:

And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.

Yea, and the Lord said also that: After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction; yea, that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem.

When I was 35 years old, I had sort of a premature midlife crisis professionally. After training for several years in one field of medicine (Internal Medicine and Rheumatology) and practicing for three years, I decided to make a change and retrain in a totally different field (Pediatric NeuroRadiology). I don’t need to discuss why I made the change or how the decision was made, but for me, my career change became my “promised land.” It took a supportive wife and five more years of training, including three years in Salt Lake City and two years in Toronto, Canada. It was a difficult time in some ways but a wonderful, growing time in other ways. I couldn’t see the end from the beginning, but the Lord could. It was only in retrospect when the training was completed, when we were home from Canada and I was in a new professional position (where I stayed for the next 31 years) that I could see the Lord’s hand in the whole journey. In this case, He honored my agency to make this career decision. But once having made it, since Lori and I did our best to honor our covenants and keep our priorities in order, He gave us the help we needed. We did all we could for ourselves, but He showed where to “find ore to make tools”, i.e. He supplied the things we couldn’t do for ourselves. It became clear that He was with us in the journey, as He has been in our lives since then. I can testify with Nephi, that, as we do our part and do our best to keep the commandments, He will prepare the way before us and will be our light in the wilderness. We are truly grateful!

1 Nephi 17:47 “I am full of the Spirit of God”

            Nephi must have been in some way transfigured before his brothers. When Moses came down from the Mount after speaking with the Lord, his face shown so brightly that the people couldn’t look at him (See 2 Cor 3:7). In the court of wicked King Noah, Abinadi was transfigured and could not be harmed until he had delivered his message. His face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord. (See Mosiah 13:5-9). On the wall of Zarahemla, Samuel the Lamanite could not be hit with arrows or stones. (See Helaman 16:2) Nephi’s brothers could not touch him for several days and, when they finally did touch him, they were physically “shocked” by the contact. Nephi was truly filled with the Spirit!

1 Nephi 18 Video of crossing the ocean to the promised land

            You have got to take time to watch the Book of Mormon video of crossing the ocean. It is about 13 minutes. It is really powerful and very well done! I don’t know how they created that storm on camera, but it is amazing! It helped me understand better what it was like for Nephi and the rest of them for the four days he was tied up. Finally, Laman admits, “The judgments of the Lord are upon us” and releases Nephi. The video is a link at the beginning of Chapter 18 on the Gospel Library App or the link is:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/1-nephi-18?lang=eng.

1 Nephi 18:1-4 “Curious workmanship”

            What was the ship like? It was not made “after the manner of men” but Nephi says I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me. The eight barges built by the Brother of Jared were “tight like a dish” so that they could go under the water as well as on top. They were tight like unto the ark of Noah. (Ether 6:7) (We’ll talk more about the voyage of the Jaredites and being “tight like a dish” later this year when we read the Book of Ether.) Was Nephi’s ship “tight like a dish” or a more open-decked ship? We don’t know. But we know that they “sailed” to the promised land, so it probably had sails and masts. And it had to be of pretty good size to take a group as large as the family now is.

            That makes us wonder how many were in the combined Lehi-Ishmael family by now. Obviously, we don’t know, but we can guess. Since Lehi and Sariah have had two children (Jacob and Joseph) while on the journey, if each of their married children and their spouses and Zoram and his wife each have two children each, then the company, accounting for the death of Ishmael, would total at least 33 people by now. It will take a pretty large ship to carry that many people and their provisions to the promised land. By the way, it’s possible that they made some stops along the way. The Liahona could have guided them to islands where they could re-provision themselves to continue the journey. Don’t you wish we knew more? Someday we will.

           

1 Nephi 18:5-8 “We were driven forth before the wind towards the promised land.”

            The Lord tells Lehi that they should go “down into the ship.” That’s an interesting phrase! A good friend, Stephen Done, has pointed out that Nephi says four times in as many verses that they went “down into the ship.” It sounds like the ship was built in some sort of dry dock or, more likely, it was built next to a wall or cliff which allowed them to go down into the ship. A dry dock wouldn’t work very well. How would they get a ship of that size from dry dock into the water? He points out that one of the candidates for the location for the land Bountiful has a water inlet with steep sides that would work well to build the ship between the walls and then go down rather than up in to the ship. Interesting!

            They gather their provisions for the journey. One of the other proposed sites for the land Bountiful is rich in fruits and even honey, making it a possibility. As I said above, they’ll need lots of provisions for a group their size. Maybe they were able to catch fish along the way. The protein would be helpful.

            They went into the ship in order “every one according to his age.” That’s interesting! He is probably referring to himself and his parents and siblings, because he mentions that they also took “our wives our children.” Why would Nephi add that? Maybe they went youngest to oldest (That’s the order in our family for the last water skiing run of the day. My kids will get that. Being the unselfish father I am, I always let them go first. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that the water usually gets smoother the closer to dark it gets when the other boats have gone in for the night and the wind dies down.) If they went youngest to oldest, then Nephi would go first. Maybe they wanted him to show that he trusted the boat he built enough to go in with his family first. And Lehi and Sariah will be last to enter to be sure that everyone gets on board. Or maybe they went down into the boat oldest to youngest (the way we water ski in the morning, when the best water is for the very first skier. Somebody has to brave the chilly water first in the morning. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that that’s when the water is like glass.) If they go oldest to youngest, then Lehi and Sariah will go first to show the way and Nephi and his family bring up the rear. It probably doesn’t matter, but Nephi put that in there for some reason. Maybe just to remind us that these are real people; this is a real ship and they are a real family going to cross a real ocean. It must have been pretty scary!

            They were driven forth before the wind towards the promised land. Just like when the Jaredites made their crossing, the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land. (Ether 6:8) It is the “winds” in our lives that “blow” us toward the promised land. It is the trees that grow in the windiest places that have the deepest and strongest roots. The principle is similar to what Elder Bednar was teaching in a Conference talk when he told the story of a friend whose truck was stuck in the snow until he filled the bed of the truck with wood. Then he had the traction to get out of the snow. Elder Bednar asked,

“Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?” “Bear up their Burdens with Ease”, Ensign May 2014.

There is a “prevailing wind” that blows toward the promised land. When we set our sails to catch that wind, it will carry us home.

            So which way did they go across the ocean? If you look at a world globe, you can trace their possible route. They must have sailed south and east from the coast of the Arabian peninsula crossing the Pacific Ocean to the western shore of North or South America. (See below)

1 Nephi 18:9-21 “They did forget by what power they had been brought thither”

            You know the story. The voyage goes well for awhile until Laman, Lemuel and those who think like they do forget the miracles that have gotten them to that point and start to party and act rudely. Nephi tries to help them remember. Their response is their familiar mantra, We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us! They tie up Nephi. A great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest comes. The Liahona won’t work. The storm goes on for four days. Nephi’s wife pleads for him. Lehi and Sariah nearly die. Jacob and Joseph, who are still very young, along with the other children are terrified. No one can get Laman or Lemuel to back down until the storm becomes even more fierce on the fourth day. Nephi writes, There was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts. They release Nephi; the storm ceases; the compass works; they make it to the promised land. You’d think that Laman and Lemuel would finally get it, but they are becoming “past feeling”. Nephi says they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me. They may have “repented” of tying him up but there is no mention of their acknowledging the power of the Lord or the power He gave Nephi to calm the storm or steer the ship.

           

1 Nephi 18:22-25 “We did call it the promised land”

            After many days, they make it to the promised land. In the Book of Mormon video it is Jacob, just a young lad, who spies the land first. Even though that doesn’t come from the Book of Mormon text, I think it is a subtle way of the directors of the video acknowledging that eventually Jacob will become a leader of the people and, as his brother and father before him, will point the way to the promised land.

            Where did they land? We don’t know. But we have this one piece of information from Mormon’s writing in the Book of Helaman,

Now the land south was called Lehi, and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south. (Helaman 6:10)

So Lehi landed somewhere in the “land south.” That’s all we know, presumably on the western coast of North or South America, but south of where Mulek landed.  But, we do know that Lehi and Mulek landed close enough that the two colonies, though living separately for about 400 years eventually discover each other. Mosiah I leaves the land of Nephi and is led by the Lord with his people through the wilderness to the land of Zarahemla, where they find the people of Mulek. (See Omni 1:12-16) The two groups must have landed close enough to each other that they would eventually find each other, though it took 400 years.

            The promised land, at least where they landed, they found is rich in resources. The seeds they brought with them “grow exceedingly” and they find many different kinds of animals and metal ores. Life is good! (At least for now).

            This is the end of the history contained in the Book of First Nephi. There are four more chapters, but they deal with the making of the Small Plates and some important doctrine and prophecy. I will have one more blog post for this week to deal with these last four chapters.

           

Thanks for reading! The Book is true!

Richard