1 Nephi 4

Vs. 1
It is humbling to me to ponder that everything belongs to our Heavenly Father and we really have and are nothing. The earth is made up of matter. All of this matter belongs to our Heavenly Father. Our homes, our cars, and most importantly our bodies are all made from His matter. When we die, the matter of our bodies simply becomes part of the earth again. It is simply by His goodness that He allows us to borrow anything. Pondering this concept makes me realize that He, and only He, is in charge of all things. This makes 1 Ne 4:1 relevant.

Vs. 3
Nephi tells his brothers “an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt?” This phrase makes me think of Jacob, the brother of Nephi, when he was speaking with Sherem found in Jacob 7:5 which reads:

“And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.”

For Jacob, seeing an angel helped him have faith that couldn’t be shaken! Such miracles only seem to strengthen the faith of the righteous; the wicked are not phased by it.

Vs. 6
How often do we need to step into the darkness relying on nothing but faith?

Vs. 10
Many times in my life I have felt a prompting to do something or perhaps not to do something and I have second guessed myself; particularly when I was younger and less experienced in following the promptings of the spirit. I have often asked myself “is this really the spirit or just my own feelings?” Did Nephi feel this way or was he experienced enough to know it was of the Lord? It appears that he knew it was a prompting of the Lord but that he didn’t want to do it at first. It was against everything he had ever been taught.

Vs. 11-12
In both these verses Nephi says “the Spirit said unto me.” Only experience can teach us to hear the still small voice of the Spirit!

Vs. 13
We learn from the experience of the Mulekites what the result would have been if they hadn’t taken the plates.

Vs. 14
Nephi writes “when I had heard these words”. Again, was it the still small voice or more literal? He goes on to write “I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness.”

Vs. 18
“I obeyed the voice of the Spirit.”
I have learned from my own experience that if I obey the voice of the Spirit, the voice comes more often and more clearly. If I disobey, the next time is slower in coming.

Vs. 30-38
I have many thoughts and questions about Zoram. It seems apparent that Zoram didn’t actually know Laban very well because Nephi was able to hide his identity. Zoram knew the armor or the clothing of Laban more than he knew the Man.

It appears that Zoram was more of a slave than a servant. There was no discussion of Zoram leaving his family behind. Nephi also promised Zoram that he would be a “free man” if he would go into the wilderness with Nephi.

I am also amazed at what binding attributes are associated with an oath in that day. Nephi writes “when Zoram made an oath with us, our fears did cease concerning him.” This seems unheard of in our day.

Another Thought
I have often pondered on how important it was that Nephi was the one successful in getting the plates from Laban. Later in the story, as the Nephites and Lamanites part ways, Nephi’s group takes the plates with them. I am convinced that if Laman had been successful in getting the Plates from Laban, that when they parted ways that there would have been a fight over the plates and Laman would have ended up with them. Think of the consequences!