1 Nephi 2

1 Nephi 2

vs 1
Lehi sees Christ in a dream… or at least hears his voice.

Vs 2
Lehi receives a commandment from the Lord intended for his family only. This is an example of the personal revelation we should be receiving for our own families.

Vs 3
Lehi obeys the prompting. I have had personal experiences where I have obeyed promptings… but I have also had experiences where I have ignored promptings. Think of the consequences of Lehi ignoring this prompting because it was hard or inconvenient.

Vs 4
Lehi shows his willingness to give up the world and to not put his trust in the arm of the flesh. He leaves it all behind to follow the Lord. He only took his family and his provisions… perhaps his “year’s supply.”

Vs 7
Lehi continues to be obedient to the commandments and obeys the law of sacrifice. Think of the difficulty of performing the law of sacrifice in the wilderness without the “comforts of home”. It would be a bloody mess. How willing are we to obey when we are out of convenience? Perhaps when we are on vacation or away on business?

Vs 13
Laman and Lemuel didn’t believe that Jerusalem could be destroyed. I would like to interject a quote from Elder McConkie about Jerusalem here.(The Millennial Messiah; pg 462)

“Jerusalem is the Holy City, the city of David, the city of the Great King. It is the city where Melchizedek, the king of Salem and the prince of peace, reigned in righteousness and with his people served the Lord in spirit and in truth. Jerusalem, captured by David from the Jebusites, became the capital city in Israel and later the capital of the kingdom of Judah.

In her environs the Son of God was born; in her streets the Holy Messiah ministered; and in her temple the witness was borne of his divine Sonship. Outside her walls, in a garden called Gethsemane, suffering in agony beyond compare, he took upon himself the sins of all men on conditions of repentance. Outside her walls at a place called Golgotha, he was nailed to a cross and crucified for the sins of the world. Outside her walls in a quiet garden, he burst the bands of death, arose from the Arimathean's tomb, and brought life and immortality to light.

Jerusalem, in the days of her sorrow, was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar, conquered by Rome, put to the torch by Titus. And now for nearly two millenniums she has been trodden down of the Gentiles, and the end of her sorrow is not yet. In the days ahead some of the faithful will gather again within her walls and shall build the promised temple, a temple whose functions and uses will be patterned after the house of the Lord in Salt Lake City. Thereafter two prophets—valiant, mighty witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ—will teach and testify and prophesy in her streets for three and a half years, at which time they will be slain, resurrected, and caught up to heaven. In the midst of the great war of Armageddon then in progress, Jerusalem will fall, the Lord will come, and the remnant of Judah that remains will accept the Nazarene as their King.

Jerusalem has ascended to the heights and descended to the depths. The Lord Omnipotent, who was and is from everlasting to everlasting, made the dust of her streets holy because the soles of his feet found footing there. The blood of prophets cries from that same dust for vengeance against godless wretches to whom innocent blood was of no more worth than sour wine. Jerusalem has been and yet again will be destroyed for her iniquities. When Nebuchadnezzar pillaged and burned and slew and carried the Jews into Babylon, it was because they had rejected Jeremiah and Lehi and the prophets. It was because they walked in an evil course. When Titus tore her asunder, slew most of her citizens, and made slaves of the rest, it was a just retribution because she had crucified her King. And when she falls again, amid the horror and brimstone and blood and fire of Armageddon, it will be because she has again slain the prophets and chosen to worship Baal and Bel and Merodach and all the idols of the heathen rather than the Lord Jehovah.”

Vs 15
This is not the only place that Nephi points out that his father dwelt in a tent. Dwelling in a tent seems to be a symbol of his sacrifice. In what way am I willing to “dwell in a tent?”

Vs 16
Nephi has “a great desire” to know the mysteries of God. There is a belief among the LDS to leave the mysteries alone. However, Nephi goes on to say that it is because of this great desire of the mysteries that he “did cry unto the Lord: and behold he did visit me.” I can only conclude that seeking these mysteries must be done personally and privately… and not in classes and quorums.

Vs 17
Nephi shares these things with his trusted friend and brother Sam. Sam trusts and believes him.

Vs 19
The Lord speaks to Nephi: Is this separate from verse 16 or part of the same revelation? Was it really the voice of the Lord or was it “the still small voice of the Spirit”? The Lord compliments Nephi for his diligence.

Vs 20
“In as much as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper.” What a promise of the Lord! It reminds me of a scripture I read only a couple of days ago in Jeremiah (a contemporary of Lehi and Nephi).

Jeremiah 7:7-8 “7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

Vs 21-24
The promises of the Lord seem sure. If I obey I will be blessed. If I rebel I will be cursed. I choose obedience!