Recently, I've enrolled in an online class in search of a higher
education and to learn more about the scriptures. Of course, all roads
lead me to a Christian based school. I'm older and wiser, so I'm able to
concentrate a little more and learning this time around seems more fun.
As a way for me to express my feelings about the things I've learned (and
it was one of the options as an assignment), I've decided to blog about it.
Since I'm not as savvy as the other bloggers I follow, I'll use this as a
way to express myself and to keep track of my learning.
This week I studied 1 Nephi 15-22.
This would conclude the book of Nephi.
In chapter 15, Nephi returns to his
father's tent after he was whisked away in spirit to witness what his father
saw. When he returns, he sees his brothers arguing as they try to interpret
their father’s dream, however they could not.
Nephi then replies “Have ye not inquired of the Lord? (1 Nephi
15:8) He breaks it down for them in
layman’s terms where they could understand it.
Tree= Tree of Life,
Rod of Iron= Word of God, if hold fast to it, we will never perish
River of Water= Filthiness, it separates the wicked from righteous
In chapter 16, Lehi’s 4 sons and Zoram take Ishmael’s daughters as
wives, Lehi receives a Liahona (compass like gadget which works based on
diligence and faith) outside of his tent door which leads them to the more “fertile”
parts of the wilderness and Nephi and his brothers journey into the wilderness
to get food for their families. Somehow they
all end up with decommissioned bows.
Nephi’s steel bow breaks and the others lost their springs. They start
to argue with one another and the blaming game starts. They return home many nights with nothing which
has Nephi inquiring of the Lord for direction.
He makes a bow out of wood, makes arrows and even a sling shot with
stones. Nephi asks Lehi where he should
go and Lehi asks the Lord. Lehi is
chastened because he was among the group murmuring because they had no food. The Lord then tells them where to go and they
are back on the road to eating and receiving directions and guidance. Ishmael passes away during their journey and
they bury him in Nahom. They start to
blame Lehi for their father’s death and the situation they’re in and threaten
to go back to Jerusalem. Laman and
Lemuel also join in and volunteer to kill their dad and Nephi. They say Nephi just volunteered his self to
become a king and ruler over them and mock him in a way stating that he’s a con
artist who makes them do things that he wants them to do. Once again, the Lord “chastens them
exceedingly” (1 Nephi 15: 39) and they repent and He blesses them with food.
In chapter 17, the women bear children, they eat their raw and after
8 years of journeying in the wilderness, the group reach the seashore which
they called Bountiful because of all the fruit.
The Lord commands Nephi to build a ship to carry their families across
the waters to the Promised Land. The
Lord told him where to go to find ore to make tools and how to build fire with
2 stones and blowing mechanism out of animal skin and he made their food sweet
that they did not need to cook it. He promised
to bless and lead them to the Promised Land as long as they kept his
commandments. As Nephi started to build
the ship, his brothers began to complain as they did not want to help him since
they didn’t believe he could build a ship.
Nephi has the Spirit of God with him and goes through the list of things
that Lord has manifested in their situation and other situations, like Moses,
to get his point across. He holds his
hand to them and gives them a shock to manifest his power and they finally
believe him.
In chapter 18, they finish building the ship and the Lord commands
them to go into the ship and sail to the Promised Land. With much preparation, they bring honey,
meat, fruit and seeds. In this chapter
we learn that Lehi has 2 more sons in the wilderness, Jacob and Joseph. When they get on the ship after so many days,
Nephi’s brothers, Ishmael’s sons and their wives start party. Their dancing, singing and being rude. When Nephi sees this he gets scared and tells
them that the Lord will get angry with them for this type of behavior. Laman and Lemuel tie him, again stating that
they don’t want their younger brother ruling over them and the compass stops
working. A storm starts brewing and they’re
scared because they don’t where to steer the ship. However, their pride gets the best of them
and they don’t free Nephi. Finally, they
encounter a violent storm which they manifested as the Lord punishing them for
tying up Nephi so they untie him. Once
this was done, the compassed starting working again and it led them to the
promised land. Here they set up their
tents, planted their seeds and had abundance of food of every kind from the
seeds they planted, to the animals of the land and all types of gold, silver
and copper.
In chapter 19, prepares 2 plates to record 1) a genealogy of his people
and 2) the wars and contentions and destruction's of his people. He instructs his people that these recordings
should be kept and continued long after he is gone. He talks about how the angel shared that the Savior
will come 600 years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem. He reads and studies the plates and the prophecies
among them and shares them with his families.
How wicked people are that they do not believe that the Savior is among
them, so they torment him, whip him, hit him and spit on him. Yet, He suffers it all because he loves
us. He talks about Zenock, Neum and
Zenos who were prophets from the Old Testament that recorded among these brass
plates and also testified of the Savior’s life and his ministry. They also saw the destruction of Nephi’s
people in Jerusalem.
In chapters 20-21, the Book of Mormon Student Manual translated
these 2 chapters for me so that I could understand them:
1 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 49) is about “us”—the Nephites in America.> The Lord showed the Nephites to Isaiah—1 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 49).
These chapters are far more advanced and I find myself reading them and pondering them more.
I testify that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I can't wait to read chapters 20-22 over again and really study them.
