First Nephi, chapter 15
As I read this chapter I felt a strong sense of sadness—something that I have never felt before when reading this part of the Book of Mormon.
It came as I was paying close attention to the interaction between Nephi and his brothers.
So Nephi’s vision ends, and he’s left to himself to think about what he saw. And one thing stood out to him: the destruction of his descendants. He says: “I was overcome because of my afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all, because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.”
So, my first bit of sadness was for Nephi. He has just seen one of the most remarkable and glorious visions. He saw the life and mission of the Savior. He saw the battle of good and evil and ultimate triumph of God and Jesus Christ. But the part that hit him personally was seeing that his descendants would fall away and see their civilization be destroyed.
Sometimes it’s hard to see the glorious when sorrows are upon us. Even Nephi, who gives us so many examples of how much power we have when we have faith in Christ—even Nephi gets bogged down at times with the difficulties he’s going through. It’s a lesson, I think, to remember that the glorious plan of God is still glorious and magnificent even when we are dealing with sorrow.
Then, as Nephi is thinking about the destruction of his people, he sees his brothers arguing about what Lehi had been teaching them. I can feel Nephi’s deep breath and heavy sigh—knowing that the destruction and wars he just witnessed have at least a part of their root right here, with the conflict between him and his brothers.
The next sad passage: Laman’s response when Nephi speaks to him. Nephi asks if they have asked the Lord to help them understand, and Laman gives one of the most tragic responses in all of scripture:
“We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.”
Laman and Lemuel will not ask the Lord to help them understand. They begin with an assumption: the Lord doesn’t reveal things to them.
I’ve long wondered if their response is sarcastic—implying that they think their father is just crazy and the Lord won’t reveal anything to them because he really isn’t leading their father. Or perhaps its a sincere, but tragic lie they’ve accepted: that the Lord reveals things to some people, but not to most of us.
Either way, I feel the Lord pleading with us all here: please don’t start by assuming He is silent. Don’t start with the assumption that He won’t reveal the truth to you. Don’t start with the assumption that He will never explain what is revealed by the prophets.
If there is one major difference between Nephi and Laman, this would be it. Nephi assumed that if he went to the Lord in prayer, the Lord would help him understand. Laman is the opposite—he assumes the Lord will never help him understand.
How much family heartache could have been avoided if Laman and Lemuel could get over this one, simple mental block?
And there’s a warning here for all of us. If we don’t go to the Lord to help us understand, there’s the possibility that we follow the same path of Laman and Lemuel—inflicting sorrow on parents and then inflicting bad ideas on their children for generations.
There are real consequences to sin. And those consequences and effects can last generations.
Finally, there was one last bit of sorrow. In exasperation, Nephi begins teaching what he has learned. And his brothers listen. They grumble some: saying that Nephi is saying hard things to them. And Nephi agrees that the truth of the Lord is hard against those who are in rebellion.
This is one thing we have to remember about the gospel: it is good news to the repentant, but it feels oppressive to those who are in rebellion. We can never stake our testimony on how popular it is among our society to live the gospel. I read a statement recently, proclaiming that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a PR problem.
Well, that’s going to be accepted as the people of the world reject and rebel against God more and more.
Yes, the Truth is hard to the wicked. Mormon talks about this at the end of the Book of Mormon, when he says that the Nephites have the sorrow of the damned—not sorrow that leads them to repent, but sorrow and anger and rage that they can’t sin and find happiness and peace.
But I don’t want to end here. Just go a few verses into chapter 16. Here’s how Nephi felt after this conversation with Laman and Lemuel is over:
“And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness.”
He believed that the truth had finally found place in their hearts. They became humble. It sounds like Nephi believed their habitual rebellion was ending.
How sad.
How sad that they couldn’t keep it up.
And it’s a stark reminder to all of us: just because we humble ourselves and repent once—it doesn’t mean we will stay on God’s path forever. It takes a lifetime of humility, a lifetime of faith, and a lifetime of striving to follow the Savior and let his atonement change our hearts.