Category: Book of Mormon Project

1 Nephi 8:1  

1 And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind.

Nephi had not mentioned seeds before this time, and they may not have brought them when they left Jerusalem. If they did not, this may be evidence of other times when the boys left camp. We can be sure that they did not go out into the wilderness to find their seeds, because the seeds he describes are all of domestic plants—the kind that one would find on a well-stocked landed estate. It is possible that they returned, secretly, to their own country estate where they could obtain all the provisions—including seeds—that they needed, without foraging into the countryside and taking anything that did not belong to them.

There is another implication here: sacks of seeds are heavy. This is one more evidence that they had camels. The seeds, tents, and people all suggest we are seeing a large and well equipped caravan. That would have required camel drivers and probably an armed escort made up of Lehi and Ishmael’s servants. Nephi mentions none of these, being concerned that we know only of the leaders of the party. They did no hide without making a fire until the last leg of their journey.

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1 Nephi 7:22 

22. And it came to pass that we did come down unto the tent of our father. And after I and my brethren and all the house of Ishmael had come down unto the tent of my father, they did give thanks unto the Lord their God; and they did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto him.

From Nephi’s statement, “and they did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto him,” one might ask, “Who were ‘they’?” Was it those who had tried to murder Nephi? One would expect that they would offer a sin offering. Or was it the head of each household— Lehi and Ishmael? One must have the priesthood to officiate in sacrifices and burnt offerings. We have already shown that Lehi could not have functioned in his office as a prophet without the Melchizedek priesthood. However, implicit in Nephi’s statement is the notion that others, besides Lehi, had the priesthood as well, and officiated in the ordinances performed. That implies, at least, that Ishmael also had the Melchizedek Priesthood, and so was probably one of the prophets whom the Lord had directed to warn the people in Jerusalem that they must repent.

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1 Nephi 7:17-18  

17. But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith that is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.
18 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

Verse 17 can be read two ways. It can be seen as a prayer of fervent believing, or it can be seen as an exercise of priesthood power. The wording suggests the latter. If it is, then it tells us something important about Nephi. He is only a boy, but since he was not a descendant of Aaron, he did not have the Aaronic priesthood. But relationship with heaven—hearing the words spoken by God, being defended by angels, untying knots that ought to have remained tied tight—all these experiences are priesthood experiences. They suggest that this boy was exercising the power and authority of the Melchizedek priesthood. The questions associated with verse 22 are relevant to this point.

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1 Nephi 7:13, 15

13 …and ye shall know at some future period that the word of the Lord shall be fulfilled concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; for all things which the Lord hath spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem must be fulfilled. …
15 Now behold, I say unto you that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them.

The Old Testament accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem shows how literally Nephi’s warnings would have been fulfilled. Second Kings details the destruction of the city and the Temple (2 Kings 25:1-19). The story told in 2 Chronicles is briefer, but no less poignant. It describes what might have happened to Lehi’s sons had they not escaped from the city (2 Chronicles 36:17-20). Had Lehi, Ishmael, and their families not left Jerusalem, or if their sons had returned, there can be little question that all the property they wanted to keep would have been destroyed, and they would have been killed or taken into slavery.

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1 Nephi 7:12

12. Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.

Our world is built on premortal covenants we do not now remember, but which the Holy Ghost will teach us as the time comes for us to fulfill our part of the covenants. Nephi is reminding his brothers that if they will be faithful to the Lord, he is able to arrange our affairs so that we can keep the covenants we made with him. That principle is one of the most important underpinnings of the gospel, and was part of the reason we were willing to risk coming into this lonely, dreary world in the first place.

There are several places in the scriptures where that promise is spelled out in some detail. We have already mentioned the first 14 verses of section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Another is the first chapter of Ephesians. There is more in this chapter about our personal covenants with our Heavenly Father in our premortal existence than in any other chapter of the scriptures.{1}
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FOOTNOTE

{1} For a discussion of Ephesians 1 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 785-86. A more complete analysis is in the second edition, p. 549-54. The second edition can be found on this website under “published books.”

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1 Nephi 7:6-11  

6 And it came to pass that as we journeyed in the wilderness, behold Laman and Lemuel, and two of the daughters of Ishmael, and the two sons of Ishmael and their families, did rebel against us; yea, against me, Nephi, and Sam, and their father, Ishmael, and his wife, and his three other daughters.
7 And it came to pass in the which rebellion, they were desirous to return unto the land of Jerusalem.
8 And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore I spake unto them, saying, yea, even unto Laman and unto Lemuel: Behold ye are mine elder brethren, and how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in your minds, that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set an example for you?
9 How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?
10 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?
11 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record?

Nephi’s words to his brothers are a brilliant, concise, and a thorough analysis of the attitudes of one who apostatizes. Nephi asked, “How is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in your minds?” To know what he is asking, we must define the purposes, objects, and uses of one’s heart and mind.

In our world, we assign all thoughtful activity to our brains, leaving our emotions only symbolically to our “hearts.” That is easy to understand because we do not feel any emotions in our head. Not even our academia seems to be a part of our head. When we learn new and exciting information, we do not feel the excitement in our head, but rather in our chest—in our “heart.” That is equally true of our emotions—we feel them in our “heart”—except for compassion. If we were to see a puppy hit by a car, we would feel it right in the pit of our stomach—thus the phrase, “bowels of mercy.” But all other emotions we feel in the heart. So the ancients were describing their experiences when they attributed almost all of their intellectual and emotional activities to their hearts.{1}

Thus, in Proverbs, the admonition, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart”(Proverbs 3:1-8), is talking about total trust: academic, emotional, as well as spiritual.

The heart was also the internal judge by which one evaluated the truthfulness and usefulness of any idea or emotion. That is, any information, philosophy, religious idea, or emotional response that was not found within the circle of the things the heart accepted, was not considered by the person to be, true, meaningful, or valid. The heart was the key to one’s worldview—because it defined what one accepted as truth; it also defined one’s Self. Thus, Samuel could be instructed, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart “ (1 Samuel 16:7). Ezekiel was promised that if the people would repent, God “will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).

Now the question is, what is a hard heart? That phrase is apparently used with some precision in the scriptures. As Alma explained it, a hard heart is one that refuses to learn the mysteries of God. If the heart is the seat of judgement by which one decides what is truth, then a hard heart is one that has judged the principles of the gospel to be of no value, and has discarded them as untrue. Alma says that if we do that, then we forget the things we once prized as eternal truth (Alma 12:9-11).

Nephi was concerned that his brothers had forgotten. He asked, “How is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in your minds?” His question poses another question to us. If the heart was where people thought and learned, and where people decided what was true and what was false, then what was the mind for? What did Nephi mean by a blinded “mind”? The answer to that question was given by King Benjamin:

9 Open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view (Mosiah 2:9).

The “mind” was to the spirit what the “heart” was to the body. That is, the “mind” is the seat of the intellect and emotions of our spiritual Self, and it serves the same function in spiritual matters as the heart does in worldly matters. Sometimes, in the scriptures, it is called the “spirit,” sometimes it is only called the “mind,” but whichever it is called, it is the part of the human soul that gives us access to the light of heaven, and makes our bodies alive. One of the major functions of the Holy Ghost is to facilitate communication between our spirit with its memory of things past, and our “heart,” with its memory limited to things of this world. The tragedy is that if the heart becomes increasingly hardened, that communication is eclipsed until a light goes out, and darkness settles in.

That idea of a dual intellect—one physical and one spiritual—is found throughout the Old Testament. Thus a prayer in the Psalms reads, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalms 51:10) Six times in his last great sermon to the Israelites, Moses repeated the command, to “love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”{2} Elsewhere in the Old Testament that command is repeated several more times.{3}

Lehi spoke to his sons about his own “soul” and “heart” in the same sentence he spoke of his sons’ “mind” and “heart” (2 Nephi 1:21). In Job’s lament that he did not die before his troubles began, he uses “mind” to speak of the seat of God’s intellect, but he uses “heart” to describe his own (Job 23:12-17).{4}

It is the “mind” that understands visions and revelations. Nephi observed of his father, “the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water” (1 Nephi 15:25-27).{5}

The spiritual “mind” is a vital part of one’s Self, for the quality of one’s spiritual intellect is all-important.{6} The scriptures often use heart and mind in tandem, emphasizing that, notwithstanding our dual nature, we are really one person. It also recognizes the tensions between our physical self and our spirit, trying to create a unity between them that defines one’s Self as a single, eternal Self.

Moses warned the children of Israel that if they chose not to serve the Lord, he “shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life” (Deuteronomy 28:65-66).{7}

The phrase, “might, mind, and strength,” seems to have reference to spiritual vigor. King Benjamin contrasts his having “all manner of infirmities in body and mind” with his determination to serve the people “with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me” (Mosiah 2:11). In the Doctrine and Covenants “heart” is added: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him (D&C 59:5, 4:2).{8}

The interrelationship between one’s heart and one’s mind is frequently mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Like Nephi, several Book of Mormon prophets warn against the double danger of a hard heart and a blind mind.{9}

In contrast, as Moroni warned, forgetting one’s testimony is one of the most apparent and dangerous symptoms of a hardened heart and a blinded mind.

When Nephi confronted his brothers, he was zeroing in on that early evidence of their apostasy. For Nephi, who understood that symptom, it was probably an understatement when he recalled, “And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.” When he spoke to his brothers, there must have been urgency and pleading in his voice as he asked, “How is it that ye have forgotten?”

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FOOTNOTES

{1} For a discussion of ancient understanding of the “heart” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 613, 886-7, 964; Second edition, p. 437, 622-3, 671

{2} Others are 1 Kings 23:1-3;Deuteronomy 6:5-6, 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 26:16, 30:2-6.

{3} 1 Kings 2:4; Joshua 22:5; Jeremiah 32:41.

{4} Other places that speak of God’s “mind” are Leviticus 24:11-13 and Jeremiah 15:1-2. The phrase “heart, might, mind and strength” is found in the Doctrine and Covenants three times (42:2, 59:3-6, and 98:47). However it is not found in the Book of Mormon. However, the phrase “might, mind and strength” is found there in three places (Mosiah 2:11, Alma 39:13, and Moroni 10:32) and twice in the Doctrine and Covenants (11:20 and 33:7).

{5} Other examples of the “mind” being an important part of revelations are Numbers 24:13-14; Enos 1:10; Alma 19:6, 32:34-35.

{6} Other examples of mind as intellect is Numbers 16:28-29, Mormon 1:15, Moroni 7:28-31, D&C 9:8.

{7} Other places where the mind shows emotion are: Genesis 26:34-35; Proverbs 21:26-28; Lamentations 3:20-21; Alma 15:3-5, 22:1-3

{8} Others spoke of loving and worshiping God with “all your mind, might, and strength.”1 Samuel 2:35, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Daniel 5:20, 2 Nephi 25:29, Alma 39:13, Moroni 10:32.

{9} See also 1 Nephi 14:7, 17:30; Jacob 3:1; Jarom 1:3; Mosiah 7:33; Alma 13:4, 48:3; 3 Nephi 2:1, 7:16; Ether 4:15; Moses 7:18.
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1 Nephi 7:1-5

1. And now I would that ye might know, that after my father, Lehi, had made an end of prophesying concerning his seed, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto him again, saying that it was not meet for him, Lehi, that he should take his family into the wilderness alone; but that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto the Lord in the land of promise.
2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that I, Nephi, and my brethren, should again return unto the land of Jerusalem, and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness.
3 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did again, with my brethren, go forth into the wilderness to go up to Jerusalem.
4 And it came to pass that we went up unto the house of Ishmael, and we did gain favor in the sight of Ishmael, insomuch that we did speak unto him the words of the Lord.
5 And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the heart of Ishmael, and also his household, insomuch that they took their journey with us down into the wilderness to the tent of our father (1 Nephi 7:2-7).

We know almost nothing about Ishmael except what Nephi tells us here.

The tradition that Ishmael was descended from Ephraim is based on a discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow. He said, “

The Prophet Joseph Smith informed us that the record of Lehi was contained on the 116 pages that were first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgment is given us in the First Book of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of lineage of Menasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis.{1}

The thing that seems to have been most impressive to the boy was that Ishmael would give them an audience. He says, “We did gain favor in the sight of Ishmael, insomuch that we did speak unto him the words of the Lord.” The implication seems to be that Ishmael was a man of such dignity and high standing that it was a privilege to even talk with him.

He was older than Lehi. We can know that because he had at least two sons who were old enough to be married. and Lehi’s oldest son had not yet come of age. We surmise that he had a large estate from the fact that as soon as he died his sons wanted to return home and reclaim their inheritance. We may also surmise that he and Lehi were good friends, and it is possible that they had already agreed that Lehi’s sons would marry Ishmael’s daughters.

However, this we do know: he was a man of great faith in the Lord. It is likely that he was one of the “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed” (1 Nephi 1:4). If so, his life may have been in danger for the same reasons that the Jews sought to kill Lehi.
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FOOTNOTE

{1} Journal of Discourses, 23:184).

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1 Nephi 6:4-5  

4. For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.
5 Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world

Respect for Nephi insists that one look at this and the verses around it, and try to understand what he is saying. He is not just saying “I want people to know about God.” His words are much too formal to be mean something that casual. That phrase, “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” is not used much in the scriptures. and when it is, it is never used casually. By Nephi’s use of this very formal name of God, he is trying to call our attention to something very important.

Ultimately, the covenant the Lord made with Abraham and its attendant blessings are the great door by which we are given entrance to all of the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement. An example of the formal and important use of that phrase is:{1}

6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God (Exodus 3:6).

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FOOTNOTE

{1} There are only a few other examples. They are: Genesis 26:24, 28:13, 31:42; Exodus 3:15-16, 4:5; 1 Kings 18:36; 1 Chronicles 29:18; 2 Chronicles 30:6; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13, 7:32; 1 Nephi 6:4, 19:10; Mosiah 7:19, 23:23; Alma 29:11, 36:2; 3 Nephi 4:30; Mormon 9:11; and D&C 136:21.
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1 Nephi 5:10-13 

10 And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.
11 And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;
12 And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;
13 And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.

Even though Nephi tells us something of what was on the brass plates, we still cannot be sure what else was there. It is easier to know what was not on them. The history books in our Old Testament that comprise Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were all written or compiled after the Babylonian captivity. Second Kings ends with the story of what happened to the Jewish royal family who were captive in Babylon. Second Chronicles concludes with Cyrus’s decision to send the Jews back to their homeland. Since Lehi left before either of those events, they could not possibly have been included on the brass plates.

Of the writings in our Old Testament that we can be sure are on the brass plates, we have Moses and Isaiah, who are quoted frequently. Job is paraphrased,{1} and the Psalms are quoted and paraphrased.{2} We also know of two ancient Israelite prophets, Zenos and Zenock, who are quoted repeatedly in the Book of Mormon, but whose records are not found in our Old Testament. It is likely that there were many others, such as Neum (1 Nephi 19:10).

Another thing we do not know is what was in brass plates version of the Books of Moses. Nephi wrote that the Law and apparently all else in Moses writings was a testimony of the Savior and his mission, yet, evidence of that is hard to come by in our biblical version of the five books of Moses.

The Book of Mormon contains many references to the ancient Israelite temple services.{3} It is likely that they were a part of the original Law of Moses but were edited out of our Old Testament.{4} The Biblical books of Moses tell us what the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood holders did, but nothing about the parts played by the people, the king, or other Melchizedek priesthood holders such as the prophets. Yet, it is apparent from the psalms that they played significant roles.{5}
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FOOTNOTES

{1} Job 10:21 is found in 2 Nephi 1:14 and probably in Mosiah 3:25. Job 19:26 is in 2 Nephi 9:4.

{2} See above, 1 Nephi 2:20-22, “prosper” as a code word in the Psalms, for a discussion of the psalms in the Book of Mormon.

{3} Two examples are in Alma 12 and Moroni 10.

{4} For evidence of how severely the Bible version of the five books of Moses was edited compare Genesis 6:1-13 with Moses 8:15-30.

{5} For a discussion of ancient Jewish temple drama in the Psalms see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, all of part 1.

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1 Nephi 5:9  

9 And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

Nephi does not indicate which sacrifices and offerings were performed, but at least three would have been appropriate. A thank offering is the most obvious as a celebration that the boys had returned safely and successfully. Since Nephi had become unclean by his contact with Laban’s corpse, a “purification from sin” offering to cleanse him would have been necessary.{1} Another important sacrifice was a reaffirmation of family ties with God by symbolically sharing a family meal with him. Moses reminded the Israelites that when they entered the promised land:

7 And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee (Deuteronomy 12:7).

It is significant that Nephi writes that his parents “did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings.” Our edited version of the Law of Moses{2} suggests that only the descendants of Levi could officiate in offering sacrifices, yet elsewhere in the Old Testament we find Solomon and other kings, and Elijah and other prophets offering sacrifices. This indicates that people holding the Melchizedek Priesthood also had that authority.{3} Lehi was a prophet who had been in the presence of God,{4} so we can be sure he had the Melchizedek Priesthood, and that he performed the sacrifice and offerings by the authority of that priesthood.

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FOOTNOTES

{1} See Jacob Milgrom, “Sacrifices and offerings,” in Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1991), 766-67.

{2} For a discussion of ancient Jewish editors who changed the books of Moses see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 57-74; 2011(paperback) edition, 55-65.

{3} Psalm 110 says that the anointed king was “a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” Paul later quoted that and other scriptural references to kingship when he showed that the Savior was the King of Israel (Hebrews 5:6).

{4} Without the Melchizedek priesthood “no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live” (D&C 84:19-22).

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