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1 Nephi 16:25-31 

25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly chastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.
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 written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives.
28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.
30 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the directions which were given upon the ball.
31 And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts, insomuch that I did obtain food for our families.

Nephi has brought us to the critical turning point in his story. We are now at the time of apparent defeat in the chiasmus we described earlier He patterned the entire book of First Nephi after the cosmic myth, that is, after the same pattern as the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama.{1}

As in the cosmic myth, after reaching the point when success seems impossible, Nephi presents us with two critical elements that are the turning point toward their ultimate triumph and victory. Those two are their receiving of the Liahona and Nephi’s finding food at the mountain top to sustain his family. In the subtext, he has also brought us to the top of the cosmic mountain where we find the tree of life and can partake of its fruit. Having the assurance one receives at the tree does not portend an easy time from there, just as the food did not for Lehi’s family in the desert, but it does give the assurance that failure is no longer looming as a possible conclusion of the journey.
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FOOTNOTE

{1} As already observed, when written as a chiasmus, a pattern of 1 Nephi looks like this:
.    A. Nephi and his family must leave home
.         B. They are given a seeming impossible task
.             C. They receive all necessary empowerment
.                 D. Rebellion and starvation in the wilderness
.             C. Liahona directs him to mountain top for food
.         B. They travel to Bountiful to complete their task
.    A. They arrive at the promised land

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1 Nephi 16:23-24 

23. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make 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. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?
24 And it came to pass that he did inquire of the Lord, for they had humbled themselves because of my words; for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul.

It is probably true that no one has read this account without noting that Nephi did not presume to himself the prerogative of asking the Lord, but rather he went to his father to seek instructions. Nephi’s deference to his father calls into question the whole argument that his writing is for his own self-justification or self-aggrandizement.

The Hiltons have also given us important insights about the wood that could have made an effective bow. They wrote,

This, then, [the broken bow] was the problem facing Nephi. He records that he found wood to build a new bow in 1 Nephi 16:23. Our friend Salim Saad enthusiastically pointed out that the pomegranate tree, that grows around Jiddah, would make good bows. These trees grow throughout the Middle East, even in brackish water. Pomegranate is a relatively straight and close-grained fruitwood that is remarkable lumber and tough. Until a decade ago, Arab teachers kept a pomegranate rod handy for disciplinary purposes, and one friend told us that being struck once across the knuckles caused such severe pain that he reformed and became a model pupil. This made us wonder if, in addition to Nephi’s possible use of pomegranate wood as a bow, he might have suffered from its other uses earlier when his brothers beat him ‘with a rod’ (1 Nephi 3:28).{1}

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FOOTNOTE

{1} Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Ut., Cedar Fort, Incorporated, 1969), 114-15.
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1 Nephi 16:19-22 

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.
20 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; and also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.
21 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with my brethren because of the loss of my bow, and their bows having lost their springs, it began to be exceedingly difficult, yea, insomuch that we could obtain no 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 complaining against the Lord their God.

Writing an autobiography is an exceedingly difficult task. When we begin, there is a tangle of motives and perspectives with which he must deal. Some people write to “set the record straight,” to tell one’s own story, to show how things came to be—but always from hindsight, knowing how the story ends. It is also a daunting task. If we are honest, if we do not deliberately seek to portray ourselves as something we are not, writing can be a soul-wrenching experience, as we remove the facades and expose our inner Self for everyone to see. Nephi’s task was complicated beyond that because what he was writing was autobiographical but not actually an autobiography. He and his family spent eight years on a trail that could have taken them as little as four months. The Hiltons have calculated,

It is 2,156 miles from Jerusalem to Dollar, Oman/Bountiful. This is less than a four-month journey. Lehi’s group took eight years to do it. Where were they camped for the seven years and eight months that remained?{1}

No doubt, Lehi and his family had spent most of that time either in camp or among the people who lived in the cities, but Nephi tells us almost nothing about those times. His intent was only to write “the things of God” (1 Nephi 6:3-6, 2 Nephi 5:29-34). He does that by avoiding the events that do not give context to the principles he wishes to teach. Notwithstanding his care in doing that, we are often inclined to read First Nephi as a travel narrative, rather than a doctrinal essay.

Nephi was a prophet who had been commissioned by God to write holy scripture. He knew that, as do we, but it is easy for his readers to lose sight of his intent when we come across stories like this one about the discontent of his brothers and brothers-in-law, and even the discouragement of his father. He seems to be making himself the hero of his own story when he writes, “I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren,” but those words can more accurately be read as an abbreviated memory of his intense sorrow and frustration. The Lord had promised him that his posterity would inhabit a new world. The conclusion of the journey was not the issue because, in his mind at least, it was not in doubt. What was in doubt was the salvation of his brothers’ souls through the exercise of their agency. The issue was whether they world obey God and be blessed accordingly.
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FOOTNOTE

{1} Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Ut., Cedar Fort, Incorporated, 1969), 32.
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1 Nephi 16:18  

18. And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow, that was made of fine steel; 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.

The Hiltons described the climatic situation that would cause Nephi’s bow to break.{1}

But despite the dreadful weather in this area along the coast of the Red Sea, we were excited, for it helped us realize how Nephi’s steel bow might have broken and how the wooden bows of his brothers might have lost their springs. (For biblical references to steel bows, see 2 Sam. 22:35 and Job 20:24.) The bow-breaking incident occurred after the party had traveled “for the space of many days” (Nephi repeats that phrase twice, both in 1 Nephi 16:15 and in 16:17) and had pitched camp to rest for a season. This would have been natural for a party traveling at a speed dictated by the presence of women and children. Since Nephi says they again traveled “for the space of many days” (1 Nephi 16:33) to reach Nahom after leaving this camp of the broken bow, it may have been halfway between Shazer and Nahom. If so, the incident may have been roughly in the vicinity of Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, where the weather is a merciless combination of heat, humidity, sand, and salt–forces strong enough to destroy steel by rust. Between March and November the heat is pitiless. Even in late January the daytime temperature hovers around 85 degrees. Humidity averages about 60 per-cent year round, and in the more moist part of a fifteen-year cycle the humidity rises to a yearly average of 92 percent. Unpainted iron or steel simply cannot survive long in such conditions.

Might this also have happened to Nephi’s bow? Weakened by rust, it could have snapped in his hands when he drew it to its limit. The climate would also explain why his brothers’ bows lost their springs at or around the same time. Since they were wooden bows, they would have remained tensile and strong in the dry area around Jerusalem; but several years in the humid climate along the Red Sea’s coastal plain would inevitably have caused them to absorb moisture until they became as limber as saplings. In fact, acquaintances of ours reported moisture absorption in some of their wooden possessions.{2}

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FOOTNOTES

{1} For a discussion of ways Nephi’s bow might have been only partly steel see S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006),
66-67.

{2} Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Ut., Cedar Fort, Incorporated, 1969), 114.
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1 Nephi 16:11 

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; and we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness.

There has been a great deal of research about the course Lehi and his family traveled along the Red Sea. Much of this has shown that the author of First Nephi had a first-hand knowledge of that area, and that the Prophet Joseph could not have had access to that information even if he had used the finest libraries in the United States and Europe. Nephi’s description of the geography through which he traveled is just one more evidence of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.{1}
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FOOTNOTE

{1} For discussions of Lehi’s travels, see, Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Ut., Cedar Fort, Incorporated, 1969).
S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006).
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1 Nephi 16:9-10  

9 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake unto my father by night, and commanded him that on the morrow he should take his journey into the wilderness.
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 he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.

Whenever the Lord gives assignments to his servants, he also provides a way for them to accomplish them (cf: 1 Nephi 3:7). Here, the Lord gave Lehi instructions in the night, and the next morning Lehi found the Liahona that would give him and his family more explicit directions. Nephi gives us only a sketchy description of what it looked like, a round ball of curious workmanship, made of fine brass. “And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.”

Later, Nephi called it “the ball, or compass, which was prepared for my father by the hand of the Lord” (2 Nephi 5:12).{1}

King Benjamin called it “the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him” (Mosiah 1:16).

Its name, “Liahona” is found only once in the Book of Mormon when Alma spoke of it as “the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it” (Alma 37:38).

Nibley wrote that many have tried to find a Hebrew equivalent to the name. Then, after assuring his readers that there was no certainty about the meaning of Liahona, he wrote,

Our own preference has always been for le-yah-hon-na, literally, ‘to God is our commanding,’ i.e. ‘God is our guide,’ since hon hwn, is the common Egyptian word for ‘lead, guide, take command.’ This might be supported by the oldest and commonest of all known inscriptions in divination arrows: ‘My Lord hath commanded me’….{2}

He identified eleven remarkable features of the of the Liahona. They were:

1. The Liahona was a gift of God, the manner of its delivery causing great astonishment.
2. It was neither mechanical nor self-operating, but worked solely by the power of God.
3. It functioned only in response to the faith, diligence, and heed of those who followed it.
4. And yet there was something ordinary and familiar about it. The thing itself was the “small means” through which God worked; it was not a mysterious or untouchable object but strictly a “temporal thing.”…
5. The working parts of the device were two spindles or pointers.
6. On these a special writing would appear from time to time, clarifying and amplifying the message of the pointers.
7. The specific purpose of the traversing indicators was “to point the way they should go.”
8. The two pointers were mounted in a brass or bronze sphere whose marvelous workmanship excited great wonder and admiration. Special instructions sometimes appeared on this ball.
9. The device was referred to descriptively as a ball, functionally as a director, and in both senses as a “compass” or Liahona.
10. On occasion, it saved Lehi’s people from perishing by land and sea—“if they would look they might live” (Alma 37:46).
11. It was preserved “for a wise purpose” (“Alma 37:2, 14, 18) long after it had ceased to function, having been prepared specifically to guide Lehi’s party to the promised land. It was a “type and shadow” of man’s relationship to God during his earthly journey.{3}

In at least one of its features it functioned like the Urim and Thummim, for on occasion written messages would appear on it that were addressed to Lehi and his family (1 Nephi 16:26-29).{4} Even though there is no record that it was used by Book of Mormon prophets after the time of Nephi, it was preserved with other sacred items, and was shown to the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Three Witnesses in 1829 along with the Book of Mormon plates (D&C 17:1).

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FOOTNOTES

{1} He called it a ball when it was first given to his father (1 Nephi 16:16-27) and a compass when it failed to work during his brothers’ rebellion on the sea (1 Nephi 18:11-13)

{2} Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City. Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), Footnote 80 of chapter 9, “Some Fairly Foolproof Tests.” For his explanation of “divination arrows” see Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City. Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), 257)

{3} Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. 253-54.

{4} Examples of the Lord’s giving Joseph Smith messages through the Urim and Thummim are: D&C 6:1-4 (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951], 1:32 – 33), D&C 11:1-3 (History of The Church, 1:44), and D&C 17:1 (History of The Church 1:52 -53)
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1 Nephi 16:5-8  

5 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.
6 Now, all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.
8 And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly.

The culture of ancient Israel which is also the culture of the Book of Mormon, rarely gives expression to the idea of love between a man and a woman.{1} A striking exception is the story of Isaac and Rebekah, which simply reads,

27 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death (Genesis 24:67).

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FOOTNOTE

{1} Among the most famous expressions of devotion in the Old Testament is that between Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi, when Ruth said, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Another is David’s love for Jonathan: “And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul” (1 Samuel 20:17). “How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women (2 Samuel 1:25-26).
There is also David’s mourning, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33).

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1 Nephi 16:5  

5. 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.

Nephi’s feelings are the very foundation of true Christianity and the strongest testimony of the power of the Atonement. We come to this world of hunger and death in linear time with two objects—one is thrust upon us by our physical needs in time and place. The other seems to linger in the shadows of a foreordination that we do not remember. The first is that we must eat, sleep, and be warm when the earth is cold. To do that one must earn a living, provide shelter, food and warmth for himself and those he loves. The linear time in which we finds our Selves projects those needs into an unknown future, magnifying their intensity and diminishing their ability to be satisfied. This seems good, for it teaches one to be prepared for the future, defines him as wise and gives a sense of security to himself and his loved ones. But if it becomes too big, too urgent, too consuming— his job, social standing, expensive toys, and position of “respect” and power—it can calcify his soul, turn love to a desire to possess or to control, and cause him to lose sight of the mission for which he came here.

Everyman is a Silas Marner who, if he turns around, ceases to be the thing he was, and makes himself receptive to the new heart Ezekiel promises (Ezekiel 11:19). The Biblical word translated “repentance” does not mean to change what one is and become something else, it means “to turn”—implicitly, to walk toward rather than away from Christ.

6. Now, all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley that he called Lemuel.

Here again, Nephi introduces us to a series of sacred events by reminding us that his father dwelt in a tent.{1} The sacred events he describes in this context are his marriage and his father’s discovering the Liahona.
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FOOTNOTES

{1} For a discussion of the tent as a temple, see above, the chapter called, “1 Nephi 2:4-6, Lehi’s tent as a Tabernacle.”

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1 Nephi 16:1-4  

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.
2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.
4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren, with all diligence, to keep the commandments of the Lord.

Nephi was a brave and tenacious young man. His brothers had already shown they had short tempers, and they would show it again. To Sam, he was probably something of a hero. But to his other older brothers he was someone who had to be dealt with. That relationship was apparent both before and after this event, but this time was different. They actually listened to him.

It is apparent that Nephi’s brothers understood the intent of his words. He had reminded them of the blessings they had received and probably of the covenants they had made and also, of the consequence of their continued inconstancy. The power of Nephi’s words moved them to a temporary repentance. Nephi was quick to see hope in their contrition, and reported,

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1 Nephi 15:32-36  

32 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.

“Works,” in many places in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, refers to ordinances.{1} That should come as no surprise, because that is always the criterion God uses for our entering into his presence. Nephi clarifies that meaning when he adds:

33 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.

Righteousness is zedek, that is, correctness in priesthood and temple ordinances and covenants. While it is certainly true that we will be judge according to all the things we do and are, it is also true that there must be order in all things. No one can take priesthood honor to himself. What we do in the kingdom must be sanctioned in advance by calling, ordinance, and covenant, and then sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise or it has no validity.

34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy.
35 And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken.
36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen.

We wonder, if the words had not been dictated to him by the Holy Ghost, how differently Nephi might have written Doctrine and Covenants 76. The words in that revelation, as Joseph wrote them, are a celebration of God’s love for all of his children and the assurance that each person will inherit that degree of glory that is most consistent with his nature as he has defined his own nature. However, while Nephi’s message does not deny that, it completely redirects its focus. To Nephi, Alma, Mormon, and all the prophets in the Book of Mormon, salvation is being where God is. Anything that is different from that is different from salvation.

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FOOTNOTE

{1} Some scriptures where “works” refer to ordinances are: Psalms 145:17-18; all of the book of James; Alma 5:54, 11:44, 12:30, Alma 13:3, Moroni 8:23.

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