1 Nephi 16

(All of my own thoughts are in blue type.red 4/20 Green 1/21 Orange 4/22 Brown 2023 )

CHAPTER 16

The wicked take the truth to be hard You would think the wicked would not care about “the truth” or not even believe that there is truth…—Lehi’s sons marry the daughters of Ishmael—The Liahona guides their course in the wilderness—Messages from the Lord are written on the Liahona from time to time—So, I've been thinking about this alot the past few days. I just finished listening to "Saints, Vol 1" and was made aware of how much this phrase describes how the Lord leads us and His church. It is "from time to time". Yes, Jesus Christ is at the head of this church and it is led by revelation. But the revelation comes "from time to time" and it's often not complete (think "line upon line") The early saints had proxy baptism revealed to them, but not all the details, so at first, women were being baptized for men and visa versa. Then it was revealed that was not the way to do it. They were commanded to live polygamy, but not given all the details about it. Why does the Lord do it this way? It is bound to be fraught with error. What do we learn from learning this way? What does it mean about our church leadership today? Pres. Nelson used two different terms when speaking of his calling of counselors and two new apostles. In the latter, he said he was "instructed" by the Lord to call them and in the former he was "inspired" to call them. Is there a difference? We know Joseph called the apostles and many left the church. Was that God's doing to call them, knowing they would leave? (Think Judas) or was that Joseph's "feeling inspired" about them? I guess we have to receive our own revelation on these matters. But the promise is that God can make these things known to us if we ask and in His time and way. Ishmael dies; his family murmur because of afflictions. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear. Because we are wicked and don’t want to change? because of our fate? because we are feeling momentarily repentant? because we are feeling hopeless?

  2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken ^ahard things against the wicked, now this is carefully chosen wording...he keeps his reply centered in truth and does not make it personal. He let's them draw their own conclusion. according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, "explained by reasoning" and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the ^bguilty taketh the ^ctruth to be hard, for it ^dcutteth them to the very center. their heart; we all have the light of Christ which tells everyone what is right and wrong. All can discern between the two. The question isn't whether you can discern the voice of the Spirit, but whether you will yield to it. Things spiritual are hard for the natural man to yield to...it goes against its nature.... 
  3 And now my brethren, if he's still being very logical in his explanations ye were righteous and were willing you have choice to hearken hear it to the truth, and give heed do it unto it, that ye might ^awalk uprightly daily actions before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, for aligning your thoughts and actions with truth frees you from guilt and produces feelings of gratitude not resentment or resistance and say: Thou speakest hard things against us. How do you feel after church or general conference? Do you rejoice or murmur? Do you take "the truth to be hard"? Or are you "willing to hearken and give heed"?

  4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren, with all diligence, "steadily and carefully" to keep the commandments of the Lord. Always there is the message of the ability to repent and change. That change is centered in keeping the commandments and covenants you have made; to make the word of the Lord guide your daily walk. If a prophet told you that they had seen your future and that it doesn't look good...would you be fatalistic about that or feel like you still had agency to "change" that vision? If you couldn't change it...what would be the purpose of God in showing it to you?

  5 And it came to pass that they did ^ahumble themselves before the Lord; This is what you do when you realize that the "truth" has cut you to the core; when your response to hearing it was to murmur. Recognize it as a sign that you need to repent. Humble yourself and commit to change insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. Nephi is quick to forgive; quick to see the best in them; quick to believe that the word of God can change hearts and desires and actions.

  6 Now, all these things were said and done as my father interesting that he says, "my father" not "we" dwelt in a tent in the ^avalley which he called Lemuel. Lehi still honors his oldest boys by naming places after them…

  7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the ^adaughters of Ishmael to ^bwife; and also, my brethren took of the ^cdaughters of Ishmael to wife; and also ^dZoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife. Hugh Nibley seemed to believe it was likely that Lehi and Ishmael were brothers. Not super important other than it explains why it was so easy for Ishmael's family to leave Jerusalem and head off into the desert with Lehi's family. It is so culturally unacceptable for cousins to marry in our day...I've always heard it messes with genetics for the children, but clearly it was necessary so often throughout the world's history. I wonder if there was an “matchmaking” going on or if the boys and girls just naturally paired up. Was there any circumstances of two boys wanting the same girl? Or two girls wanting the same boy? Not a lot of choices here...

  8 And thus my father had fulfilled all the ^acommandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly. Is he referencing his dreams and visitations? Or, since this sentence follows Lehi being obedient to all the commandments, is Nephi saying he was blessed to be able to keep the commandments of the Lord too.

  9 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake unto my father by night, another dream? and commanded him that on the morrow he should take his ^ajourney into the wilderness. Not much warning.  Perhaps we should be ready to “act” without much notice as well. Maybe they didn’t have that much to pack up; maybe it's better to not have too much time to think about it; maybe it's a test of how "quick" one is willing to heed the word of the Lord...maybe this is an example of the Lord speaking to Lehi "from time to time"...

  10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment Though the Lord spoke to him the night before, he didn’t mention that he would provide them with this special compass…I wonder if in Lehi's morning prayer he had expressed concern to the Lord about not knowing where they should go. "Lord, I'm willing to "go into the wilderness as you have commanded; and I know we are headed to a promised land; and I know you will lead us there...but how? Help me to understand how I shall know where to go."  he beheld upon the ground a round ^aball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one ^bpointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness. Prayer answered.  Nibley suggests that up until now, Lehi was traveling well-known trade routes of which he was familiar.  But now the Lord needed them to strike out in unknown territory, so they would need something to tell them where to go. No mention at this point about what the other spindle did...

  11 And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness, and all the remainder of our provisions which the Lord had given unto us; Does this refer to an acknowledgment of the fact that “all things come from God” or were they “given” other things miraculously by the Lord? and we did take ^aseed of every kind variety...where did they get all these? Did they gather them from plants? trade? previous stash? God? that we might carry into the wilderness.

  12 And it came to pass that we did take our tents and depart into the wilderness, across the river Laman. It is thought until now they followed the river. Now they are crossing it and leaving its path. Just thought that it wouldn't be that 'fun' to start out your journey wet...assuming they didn't build rafts to cross the river on. Maybe they did, depending on how deep it was.

  13 And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days, nearly a south-southeast direction, why does he include the direction? and we did pitch our tents again; and we did call the name of the place ^aShazer. (HEB twisting, intertwining) Ummm….I think it’s Nephi’s turn to have something named after him…Maybe this was Lehi's parental way of saying, "Nephi, you have already been given so much from the Lord, you don't need the honor of a place named after you too. I'm doing this to help keep you humble." (Just a thought. Probably not true, but obviously something I would do..haha)

  14 And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our arrows, and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families; and after we had slain food for our families we did return again to our families in the wilderness, to the place of Shazer. And we did go forth again in the wilderness, following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, which were in the borders near the ^aRed Sea. If they are "fertile" they must have had either rain or rivers to water the land. Maybe they are still by a river... seems like a river would flow into the sea, at least. 
  15 And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, ^aslaying food by the way, with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings. It seems that food may not have been one of their "provisions". Yes, they had seeds to plant when they got settled, but it seems they were dependent on wild game for food as they went along. For some reason I’m reading this as a sign of God’s approval of our eating meat when needed...and also that the animal sacrifices in the Law of Moses were eaten by the priests. Seems like meat was a staple of the Israelite diet. Just thinking Word of Wisdom and the counsel to eat meat sparingly.

  16 And we did follow the ^adirections of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.  "fertile" must just refer to "places where they could find game" and not plant food or it could be a good place to plant but off season (You'll see why I say that in a sec...) Or maybe there was natural “fruit” growing they could glean. 
  17 And after we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families. Time enough to plant some seeds?

  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 ^asteel; 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. What about their own bows? Did he just mention his was made of fine steel so we would know he had a better bow? What about using slings and stones? 

  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. This is why I think they were dependent upon that which they could kill. They would have had no time to grow things.  And though they were in the more fertile parts of the wilderness, there must have been no natural vegetation to eat.

  20 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, lots and lots because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; sounds like they are throwing in more than just being hungry. I think this is a common tendency...we are upset about one thing and end up throwing in the kitchen sink while we are at it...and also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; Hunger is a powerful thing.  It was enough so that even Lehi murmured; a man of exceedingly great faith and understanding.  What will you do when you face this situation? Will your faith be stronger than your stomach? Fast Sundays should kind of prepare us for this, but I suspect most people have a hard time even going a full 24 hours without food. This is one of my greatest motivators for having some food and seeds stored. I really don't like being hungry. And I like being around other hungry people even less…Even with plenty of food around, my least favorite question of the day is, "mom, what's for dinner!" yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did ^amurmur against the Lord. Is murmuring contagious? Is hunger the universal test? Notice they are blaming the Lord for their situation. Surely they had given him credit for all the game they were finding earlier, so it only follows that if they can't find game it's His doing as well... Was this a test? Did God cause the game to disappear? I think famines are one of God's first tools to try to humble us. And it's coming....soon! There’s so much tampering with the food supply that there’s already a famine of healthy food. 

  21 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with he says "afflicted with" not "afflicted by"...so is he saying, "hey, I'm hungry too...but you have a choice still...look...I'm going to choose something different." my brethren because of the loss of my bow, and their bows having lost their ^asprings, so why is it Nephi’s fault? it began to be exceedingly difficult, yea, insomuch that we could obtain no food. no. food. Another possibility: 'afflicted' is sometimes used in conjunction with the devil. Were they being afflicted by the devil? Did God let Satan afflict them to tempt them and to try them as Job to see if they will remain faithful? Did the devil scare all the game away so they didn't find food?

  22 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren, because they had hardened their hearts again, even unto ^acomplaining against the Lord their God. No doubt this was another “remember” speech. You can complain you are hungry; that you are tired; that it's hard....but complaining against God means you have forgotten everything you know about Him.

  23 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did ^amake 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. There's the sling and stone. Why no mention of going out with these before without a bow and arrow?  And I said unto my ^bfather: Whither shall I go to obtain food? Nephi was a “doer”  He knows they aren’t going to die…he’s had a vision.  But so has Lehi.  Nephi honors his father’s patriarchal position and shows confidence in him by asking him where to go for food.  Perhaps he wanted to know where to specifically go instead of “being led, not knowing beforehand what I should do” because he had little strength to wander? This shows great humility on Nephi's part. He knew full well he could go to the Lord and inquire for himself where to go. And he surely would have been tempted to say, "whatever, people! I'll just take care of this myself!" But he didn't. He helped his father "remember" his faith and his right as patriarch to receive revelation for his family. This also shows Nephi has no desire to be in charge or rule over others.

  24 And it came to pass that he did ^ainquire of the Lord, for they had ^bhumbled themselves because of my words; "remembering" kind of words…It must have taken some courage for Nephi to speak to the whole group of murmurers. He seemed to stand alone on this one. But it made a difference. for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul. He seems a little frustrated with them…But not everyone thinks like you, Nephi…Nor have they had the revelations that you have. Be patient…they are hungry...( but so is Nephi...)

  25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly ^achastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow. sorrow for sin; remorse 

  26 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said unto him: Look upon the ball, and behold the things which are written.

  27 And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were ^awritten upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives. WHAT DID IT SAY!!!!

  28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers are these the same as the "two spindles"? which were in the ball, that they did work according to the ^afaith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them. This is the principle of revelation. It is given according to our FAITH, DILIGENCE, and HEED.  Faith, Continual mental and physical effort, obedience….

  29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, some have used this term to describe what we see in the scriptures when we’ve read them a dozen times, but this time they seem “new” to us. which was plain to be read, which did give us ^aunderstanding concerning the ways of the Lord; What does this refer to? This is a phrase I should include in my prayers, "Lord, please teach me thy "ways" and it was written and changed from time to time, there you have it "from time to time" according to the faith and diligence believe and act maybe the "time to time" thing is a product of our inability to be steady...our faith and diligence ebb and flow and waiver and so we cut ourselves off from constant revelation by our own weakness...which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by ^bsmall means the Lord can bring about great things. Put this on your bathroom mirror! Just heard Jordan Peterson teach that we should not dismiss the “small” daily things in our lives because they make up so much of our lives and who we are! If we make “small” changes....”great” things can come to pass!

  30 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the ^adirections which were given upon the ball. "Darn…I have hardly any strength, and the food has to be at the TOP of the mountain?"  Talk about your spiritual “boot camp”! When things are hard...God will still ask you to "climb". "You asked Me where the food was. I told you. Now, do you have the faith to go get it?" Nephi answers "yes." If God told me the food was at the top of the mountain, then I have the faith He will give me the strength to climb it! But it will still probably be really hard!
  31 And it came to pass that I did slay wild ^abeasts, more than one… insomuch that I no help from the others? did obtain food for our families.

  32 And it came to pass that I did return to our tents, bearing the beasts which I had slain; that must have been fun…carrying all those dead animals down the mountain…alone...at least it was downhill! but when you act in faith, God gives you the strength to accomplish what you set out to do. The strength to get there, even though you are exhausted and then to do what you need to once you arrive. Just thinking about the downhill return. If you are going downhill, you probably have to hardly expend any effort. So Nephi's choice was, have the food be on level ground so it takes no unnecessary energy to get to it, but then bear the full weight of the catch to drag/carry it home OR expend a little extra effort to climb up, but almost none after you accomplish your desires. Seems to be great mercy in this even though it may not be realized until the moment you're going downhill. God's ways/thoughts truly aren't ours! and now when they beheld that I had obtained ^afood, how great was their joy! Why didn’t any of his brothers go with him? I think they wanted to be justified in their anger…even though starving…they wanted to be right.  Or they had no faith they would be led to find food. And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord, and did give thanks unto him. Oh, how much better it is when we are NOT compelled to be humble…how much easier to be humble after the blessing; when you are not hungry or being tested. There are many lessons here about journeys; hunger; being fed; faith; prayer; grace. Can you find them all?
  33 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning; and after we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.

  34 And it came to pass that ^aIshmael died, This is sad…but maybe it emphasizes that the “journey” is the purpose…not the “arrival” and was buried in the place which was called ^bNahom. Was this an already named place? If not, wouldn't he have said "the place we called Nahom? Although the footnote says it is probably Hebrew for "consolation"...so maybe they did name it...

  35 And it came to pass that the daughters he had sons too. Did they not participate in this mourning and murmuring? of Ishmael did ^amourn exceedingly, because of the loss of their father, this would be expected, unless Nephi is making a point by saying "exceedingly," which implies "beyond what is normal" and because of their ^bafflictions in the wilderness; are the daughters tying the two things together? and they did ^cmurmur against my father, because he had brought them out forgetting that their father had agency to follow or not...of the land of Jerusalem, saying: Our father is dead; true yea, and we have wandered not true...you are being led to a promised land...maybe they did do some wandering when they weren't obedient, like the children of Israel. It shouldn't have taken them 8 years to get to the shore...if that is the case, the wandering was their own fault much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; true and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger. Not true. Notice how the adversary tempts us to string a list of realities together to come to a false conclusion. This is an example of losing sight of the fact that "what we know will always trump what we do not know." (Apr 2013 GC Holland, "Lord, I Believe") This is a hard lesson…Though some may die along the way, they, as a PEOPLE, will not die.  They will make it to the promised land. As we go through these “last days”, some will die….but, as a PEOPLE, the church will survive and become the Zion that it needs to become to greet the Savior. We must not let “death” sting us, or cause us to lose hope or faith!  They sound alot like the Children of Israel after Moses freed them from captivity. Lots of murmuring in spite of constant miracles...

  36 And thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me; and they were desirous to ^areturn again to Jerusalem. Time for the “remember” speech….plus…”back” is a really, really, long way. Maybe ahead is shorter….(a couple of my favorite "don't look back" talks: this one,(Jan 2010 GC Holland) and this one Jan 2009 Holland-Brand New Year)

  37 And Laman said unto Lemuel and also unto the sons wait...the sons weren't complaining...don't pull them into this...of Ishmael: Behold, let us ^aslay our father, and also our brother Nephi, who has taken it upon him to be our ^bruler and our teacher, the crux of their grudge who are his elder brethren. Why is this the solution they always go to?  How about just leaving? He is your brother! Really? murder?  Jan 2021 and censorship is in full swing by social media giants and fully supported by the leftist politicians. Pure communism trying to take over our country. This is a sure sign Satan is behind your thinking. April 2022, censorship is still alive and well. "Woke" is the new religion. We are in trouble! Feb 2023 Science is the new religion. And it’s not even real Science!

  38 Now, he says that the Lord has talked with him, and also that ^aangels have ministered unto him. ("...Though we know they have spoken to us (in anger no less)... but "here we go again...we'll have no rest from all this "vision" stuff even after Lehi dies..." But behold, we know no you don't that he lies unto us; no, you are the ones lying and he tells us these things, and he worketh many things by his cunning arts, "You know…when he got out of those ropes we tied him up with….magic trick…" that he may deceive our eyes, "we don't want to believe what we see" thinking, we get into trouble when we assume we know what others are thinking perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness; okay...if that is what you want to call the "promised land; a land choice above all others"... and after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, nope. didn't say that. that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure. nope. He only teaches to do according to God's will and pleasure. And after this manner did my brother Laman ^bstir up their hearts to ^canger. Sounds like this is THEIR OWN hidden desire….Why is it that the things that things we say bug us most about others often reveal our own weakness? And they were pretty quick to forget their dependence on the Lord after they almost starved to death and Nephi's faith in the Lord was what saved them.

  39 And it came to pass that the Lord was with us, yea, even the voice of the Lord came How can they argue with this manifestation? How can they so easily forget? and did speak many words unto them, not just a few…they cannot doubt they heard His voice…. and did ^achasten them exceedingly; a bit of a lecture, I suppose… and after they were chastened by the voice of the Lord they did turn away their anger, and did repent of their sins, insomuch that the Lord did bless us again with food, that we did not perish. Nephi did not have to respond to their threats this time... the Lord did. How merciful is the Lord? How many chances does he give us? I was thinking, though, that “there must be opposition in all things”, so the Lord needed Laman and Lemuel to get to the promised land with Nephi, to provide that opposition…though he was more than happy to give them chances to repent.  He just knew they wouldn’t. But still, “as oft as my people repent, I will forgive them.” Looks like they had another test with food and hunger...

Another thought here...We know the Lord allows the wicked their agency. But He intervened here and did not let Laman and Lemuel kill Nephi. Well, I suppose they could have still done it even after being visited by the Lord, so their agency wasn't taken from them. But God can intervene with some really strong persuasion. While we may be tempted to pray for this kind of intervention for our wayward children, we must be careful to let the Lord do it in His own way and time. For, it would seem their fate would be sealed if they had a manifestation like this and still didn't change their hearts. It is also another witness that the purposes of the Lord cannot be frustrated. He will intervene if and when He needs to so as to keep His promises. Know this can/will happen again:) I'm wondering how the Lord spoke to them...Nephi didn't say an angel came to them this time. Was it an audible voice only, like from a cloud? Was it the Lord himself? He says, "the Lord was with us", but then, "Yea, even the voice of the Lord came" so it doesn't sound like it was the Lord's physical self.