A good place to start in 1 Nephi is with Chapter 6:4-5
It is important to know at the outset of reading The Book of Mormon that Nephi and all prophets before him and following him, only write the things that are pleasing to God. They do not write the things that are pleasing to man. These things could include: changing habits, going against social persuasions, the believability of a human having visions of God, a human claiming to receive direction from God or angels, and specifically we'll talk about the command Nephi had to slay another man in order to preserve scripture. All these things go against human nature, which oddly enough, is as it should be. For we are here to overcome our natural tendencies and take on spiritual tendencies, which requires constant vigilance and effort.
There are so many things to talk about in the first few chapters of The Book of Mormon, but in my lesson I chose to focus on Nephi's experience of returning to Jersulam for the brass plates - or the first five books of the Bible (and additional content that we do not have in our current King James Version). So, here we go:
After two attempts to get the brass plates from a man named Laban, who refused those two attempts, Nephi enters the city once again, this time with confidence offered from an angelic visitor. He tries again because he knew that God had commanded him to and if God commands something, He would make a way for it to happen (see 1 Ne 3:7). And in fact he said in chapter 4, vs 6:
"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."
As he came into the city he found a man passed out in the street, who was in fact, Laban, the man who refused to give his the brass plates. You can read about it here: 1 Ne 4:7-24
but I'll give you a little summary. When Nephi saw Laban, he said the Spirit told him to take the sword and cut off Laban's head. Nephi, of course, shied away from doing that, saying he had never, at any time, had he shed the blood of man. The reasons given to Nephi were these:
1. He needed the brass plates in order to teach his family and preserve his language
2. It is better for one wicked man to perish than for a whole generation to perish in unbelief because they did not have scriptures as a guide
3. The Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth righteous purposes
4. You must keep the commandments of God and so must your posterity and how will they know the commandments if they can't read them?
So, he does it. In one of the foot notes in Chapter 4, ver 13a, we are referred to Doctrine and Covenants 98: 31-32. Actually this reference gives a more complete understanding: Doc and Cov 98:32-36 in which it says: this is the law I gave to my servant Nephi (and others), that retaliation is justified if there are three offenses against God. You should first lift a standard of peace (which Nephi and his brothers did), and if they did not accept that offer the first, second or third time,
"Then I, the Lord, would give unto them a commandment, and justify them in going out to battle against that nation, tongue, or people."
Nephi stated the three reasons, "standard of peace" offered in verse 11 of chapter 4:
1. "he had sought to take away mine own life"
2. "he would not hearken to the commandments of the Lord"
3. "he also had taken away our property"
So, by the Lord's law, he could intervene and deliver Laban into the hands of Nephi - sort of like David and Goliath.
If Mormons are trying to teach people the gospel, why in the world would a story like this be in the beginning chapters of The Book of Mormon? Talk about writing things that are not pleasing to man! Elder Jeffry R. Holland said this:
“I believe that the story was placed in the very opening verses of a 531-page book and then told in painfully specific detail in order to focus every reader of that record on the absolutely fundamental gospel issue of obedience and submission to the communicated will of the Lord.” (“I Have a Question,” Ensign, Sept. 1976)
With obedience and submission in mind, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said this:
Thus, acknowledging God’s hand includes, in the words of the Prophet Joseph, trusting that God has made “ample provision” beforehand to achieve all His purposes, including His purposes in our lives (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 220). Sometimes He clearly directs; other times it seems He merely permits some things to happen. Therefore, we will not always understand the role of God’s hand, but we know enough of his heart and mind to be submissive. Thus when we are perplexed and stressed, explanatory help is not always immediately forthcoming, but compensatory help will be. Thus our process of cognition gives way to our personal submission, as we experience those moments when we learn to “be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “Swallowed up the will of the Father.” Oct 1995
So, why is this story in the beginning of The Book of Mormon? I believe it is like one of the parables that Christ so often used while he was on earth. Parables were to hide meaning for those who were not ready to hear the message it taught, but to those who were spiritually ready, they would understand and want to know more.
For those who are ready for the message of The Book of Mormon (and being ready can just be a matter of situation and time of life - does not necessarily have anything to do with I.Q. or education), experiences such as Nephi had with killing Laban will lead them to want more information. For those who do not have ears to hear for some reason or another, stories like these will be repelling.
So, the question for us is: are we ready to get over the things that are pleasing to man (or our own human nature) and dig a little deeper to understand the things that are pleasing to God (a being who knows much more than we do, I might add)? If you are ready, read The Book of Mormon and pray for an open heart while doing so.
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