1 Nephi 7
This exchange is fascinating:
Now behold, I say unto you that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them. And now, if ye have choice, go up to the land, and remember the words which I speak unto you, that if ye go ye will also perish; for thus the Spirit of the Lord constraineth me that I should speak.
Laman and Lemuel don’t want to be in the wilderness, but when Nephi tells them they have their agency, they’re not brave enough to go back to Jerusalem.
In other words, he catches them in their rouse. “Nobody’s forcing you”, go back if you want, but if you do you’ll remember that you’re going to die there.
How often do we like to complain about something but not actually do anything about it? Reminds me of the quote “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3.16)
If you don’t want to do anything about it, don’t complain. Vote with your feet, not your mouth. (They were voting with their feet to leave Jerusalem but voting with their mounts against it.)
16 And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me. And it came to pass that they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceedingly wroth, and they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts. 1 Nephi 7.15–16
Also interesting is how they didn’t directly want to kill Nephi (didn’t have the courage here to try), but instead just decided to leave him to die (Joseph of Egypt style).
This is one of those “I’m not actually sinning because I didn’t do the sin” things. Tying someone up isn’t killing them. Should they die, that’s an unfortunate derivative consequence. But we didn’t kill him. 1
Backing up to a higher point: how often do we skirt the issue and not take full accountability? They can’t go back to Jerusalem and they can’t even properly attempt murder. They’re just lazy and without conviction all around.
But so are we. We all have these tendencies to disassociate from accountability for our life:
- well X person is annoying. “Are you going to talk to them?” No…
- Etc…
Own up. # Other Verses of Interest
Today I liked these verses:
Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world. 1 Nephi 6.5
Am I someone who is not of this world? Fascinating question because it makes me wonder what is “the world”. What was Nephibtrying to define here? Perhaps he was summarizing in his own way that those who have their head in the spiritual clouds will love these things, while those who live by “the world” won’t. It’s also reflective of his experience trying to share the gospel that some people don’t care. They just want to enjoy the pineapples and what not. Am I distracted by money, fame, greed, envy?
I also got a little ahead and listened to this scripture:
For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot. 1 Nephi 11.1
My kids love to come up to my phone and say “let me see!!!” If they hear audio in another room they come sprinting.
Why do kids love seeing? They want to see. They’re sponges. They’re also without much experience in life so they want to see it all! Make up for lost time…
To become like a little child is to want to see for ourselves.
They were living the Old law. Perhaps this was legal. But the law of the heart says: this is attempted murder.↩︎
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Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: