Wroth, wronged, robbery and ruling

Reading: Mosiah 7-11

The strangest thing stood out to me while reading through this section.  I'm just going to paste the verses because it's not too long.  But it's a passage about the Lamanites and why they are such mean people to the Nephites.

Maybe I should give a little background first:
When Lehi left Jerusalem (600 BC-ish) to travel to the "promised land," his family came with him, which included Laman, Lemuel, Nephi and Sam and some sisters who are not named, and another family.  Through most of the journey, Laman and Lemuel complained about the whole situation, though they were ultimately obedient to the wishes of their father, though their motivations were never very pure.  But after Lehi died, they pretty much wanted to kill Nephi and any who would follow him and were acting to make good on their threats when Nephi was warned by the Lord to move his people to a different part of the land.  Nephi took the records of his people, the brass plates (which contained the writings of ancient prophets of Jerusalem, Moses, Isaiah and such) and life-sustaining necessities.  From this point on, the Lamanites sought war against the Nephites.  Not only the Nephites that the actual Nephi led away, but Nephite groups that broke off and settled in other lands.  This account comes from one of those groups who broke off from the original Nephite group and is a history of their dealings during the 80 years since they left.  Zeniff is the leader of this group and decides to leave the original group in order to recover their land of inheritance, or take back their land from the Lamanites.  The wicked king of the Lamanites, feigning peace, allows them to take over the land, but plots to let them become industrious then tax them heavily on the fruit of their labors.  In this section, Zeniff offers an explanation as to why the Lamanites are so mean (I will italicize references to the point I will make):

 11 Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the ^astrength of men.

 12 They were a ^awild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, believing in the ^btradition of their fathers, which is this—Believing that they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of the iniquities of their fathers, and that they were^cwronged in the wilderness by their brethren, and they were also wronged while crossing the sea;

 13 And again, that they were wronged while in the land of their^afirst inheritance, after they had crossed the sea, and all this because that Nephi was more faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord—therefore ^bhe was favored of the Lord, for the Lord heard his prayers and answered them, and he took the lead of their journey in the wilderness.

 14 And his brethren were ^awroth with him because they^bunderstood not the dealings of the Lord; they were also wroth with him upon the waters because they hardened their hearts against the Lord.

 15 And again, they were ^awroth with him when they had arrived in the promised land, because they said that he had taken the^bruling of the people out of their hands; and they sought to kill him.

 16 And again, they were wroth with him because he departed into the wilderness as the Lord had commanded him, and took the ^arecords which were engraven on the plates of brass, for they said that he ^brobbed them.

 17 And thus they have taught their children that they should hate them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi.

Let's just list out those things, the Lamanites:
1. knew nothing concerning the Lord
2. didn't know the strength of the Lord
3. depended upon their own strength (strength of men)
4. wild, ferocious and blood-thirsty
5. believe the traditions of their fathers (not in revelation or truth)
6. chose to be offended by people who served the Lord
7. understood not the dealings of the Lord
8. said Nephi claimed the power to rule, taking it out of their hands
9. accused Nephi of robbery for taking the brass plates
10. taught their children the same wicked beliefs and traditions

Laman and Lemuel were the oldest, so by right in inheritance, they should have been the ones to rule and should have been the ones to inherit property such as the promised land and the records.  However, the law of inheritance at that time was that the inheritance goes to the oldest son, IF he is worthy.  Laman and Lemuel were clearly not worthy.  Instead, they chose NOT to believe in the Lord, depend upon their OWN wisdom and strength, NOT seek for any other way with truth guiding them, CHOSE to be offended and acted on that feeling of offense by attacking people who served the Lord.

I believe you can learn from a good example and you can learn from a bad example.  We can learn from Lamanites.  Relying upon your own wisdom and strength grows a sense of insecurity, which develops a sense of wanting to one-up someone, or destroy that someone, just to prove yourself valuable, needed or important.  From there, mean deeds are done.

Even reading the feelings that were mentioned in this section, gives me a yucky feeling: wild, ferocious, blood-thirsty, wronged, wroth, kill, hate, rob, plunder, destroy.  YUCK!

However, relying upon the Lord, who has all wisdom, all power, and all love, does not take power and wisdom away from you - it taps you into the mainspring!  He gives feelings or peace, hope, good desire, love, willingness to serve, patience and much more.  If I can have access to these feelings, of course I'm going to apply to their author!