Pretend for a moment that you are sneaking through the city that is longer home. Night has fallen and the streets are almost empty. Every sound makes your heart jump and you imagine an armed guard standing in every flickering shadow. You don't know exactly what you're looking for or what you'll do, and yet you understand that the future of your family rests with you achieving your objective.
Imagine all that, and then explore with me Nephi's story.
A. Key Players
Lehi
Prophet who took his family from Jerusalem after receiving a warning from the Lord.
Laman
Lehi's eldest son
Lemuel
Lehi's second son
Sam
Lehi's third son
Nephi
Lehi's youngest son and the writer of this chapter
Laban
The holder of the religious records, also known as the Brass Plates.
Zoram
Laban's servant
B. What was the storyline?
When Lehi's family fled Jerusalem, they took what they owned and left. Part of the rush may have been the threats made against Lehi's life after he began preaching in Jerusalem. There likely was immediate danger for Lehi and his family because of their beliefs.
Once the family was several days' journey away from Jerusalem, the Lord commanded Lehi to send his sons back to the city for the brass plates, which contained God's laws and commandments as well as a genealogy of their ancestors.
Laman and Lemuel, the two eldest sons, were not happy about this. They told Lehi that he was asking them to do a hard thing (1 Nephi 3:5).
Lehi was disheartened by the attitudes of his eldest sons. He felt sad that they didn't understand that the Lord was speaking to them through Lehi.
In other words, Lehi-their-father was not requiring any of this. Instead, these commands came from God, through Lehi.
Lehi spoke to Nephi and said, "Go, my son [to Jerusalem to get the brass plates], and thou shalt be favored of the Lord because thou hast not murmured" (1 Nephi 3:6, brackets added).
Note: to murmur means to complain.
Nephi promised to go, telling his father that he trusted the Lord to prepare the way for him to fulfill these commands (1 Nephi 3:7).
Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi then walked back to Jerusalem. Once they reached the outer walls of the city, they 'cast lots' to see who should be the one to go and get the plates.
Laman pulled the short straw and screwed his courage to the sticking place. (Sidenote: I'm finally reading Shakespeare).
Now we introduce a new person into our story: Laban, a notable citizen of Jerusalem who just happened to be the holder of these brass plates.
Laman met with Laban and they chatted. I've always wondered if they talked about how they were almost name twins-- they were each just one letter away from having to be known as Laban and Labanhah.
Laman made a straightforward petition for the brass plates but Laban wasn't having it. He got angry and accused Laman of being a thief.
"Behold, thou art a robber, and I will slay thee!" Laban threatened.
Understandably, Laman flew out of there and met back up with his brothers outside of the city.
The brothers were ready to call it a night and head back, but Nephi forestalled them.
Since Laban had accused them of robbing him, Nephi had the idea of trading for the brass plates. Accordingly, they went to their house and gathered up everything valuable.
They again petitioned Laban for those brass plates, this time offering treasure as a fair trade.
However, Laban had other ideas. He saw the gold, silver, and other valuables and decided to keep all of it. He threw out the brothers and sent servants to chase them down and kill them. Now he had the brass plates AND all of Lehi's wealth.
The brothers made it out of the city and hid in a cave.
"And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me (Nephi), and also with my father; and also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman. Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and did smite us even with a rod" (1 Nephi 3:28, parentheses added).
The two eldest brothers grabbed clubs and whacked Nephi and Sam for a while.
Ouch, right? Not cool.
BUT before they could do too much damage (would they have killed their younger brothers? Maybe.) an angel of the Lord appeared.
The angel spoke to them and told Laman and Lemuel that the Lord had chosen Nephi to be a ruler over them.
The angel then told them to go to Jerusalem again and the Lord would deliver Laban into their hands (1 Nephi 3:29).
Chapter three ends with Laman and Lemuel saying, "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?" (1 Nephi 3:31).
Nephi reassured his brothers and reminded them of Moses, who spoke to the Red Sea and the waters divided so that the children of Israel could walk through and escape from Egypt. Pharaoh's armies, however, were drowned in those same waters.
After reminding his brothers that the Lord has worked miracles in the past and could do so again, Nephi told his brothers to hide and he would go back into the city by himself.
Now the story gets interesting.
Nephi crept through the city towards Laban's house. This is where I can envision him channeling his inner ninja, sneaking carefully though the dark city in search of the brass plates. The danger was very real. If he had been caught by Laban or his guards, he likely would have been killed.
As Nephi walked down a street, he found a drunken man laying on the ground.
And then he saw that it was Laban, the very man who had tried to kill him and his brothers. The man laying on the ground had literally robbed Nephi of his inheritance.
Nephi saw the man's sword in its sheath and he drew it out to look at it. It was a beautiful sword, made from gold and precious steel. (This amuses me a little, because Nephi was a teenage boy. Of course he wanted to check out the sword.)
Then, while Nephi held Laban's sword, he was commanded by God to kill Laban.
Let's read Nephi's own words:
"But I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him.
"And the Spirit said unto me again, Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands. Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life; yea, and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord; and he also had taken away our property.
"And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands;
"Behold, the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.
"And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land of promise.
"Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.
"And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass.
"And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause-- that I might obtain the records according to his commandments.
"Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword" (1 Nephi 4:10-18).
Nephi understood that the Lord wanted him to do this unsavory, terrible, awful thing. Nephi understood the importance of it and, most of all, he trusted God. He knew that the Lord's ways were higher than man's ways, and he knew that God sees and knows everything from the beginning to the end.
Therefore, if God commanded him to kill Laban, then that was what obedient Nephi would do.
Nephi took Laban's sword and killed him with it.
Then he took Laban's clothing and armor and dressed himself to look like Laban.
He went to the treasury and saw one of Laban's servants. Nephi instructed this servant to get out the plates of brass and then to join him as he walked outside of the city.
The servant, whose name was Zoram, came with Nephi all the way out of the city until they reached the hiding place of Nephi's brothers.
However, Nephi's brothers saw this big guy wearing Laban's armor and assumed that Laban had caught and killed Nephi. They jumped up and ran for it.
Nephi yelled out for them to stop. At this point, everyone present realized what had happened. Zoram did an about-face and began running back to the city.
Nephi tackled the guy and held him so that he couldn't run away. He then promised Zoram that he wouldn't kill him if the man would join them in their trek through the wilderness. Nephi swore that the servant would be a free man.
Zoram took courage and accepted Nephi's offer. He made an oath and promised his agreement and the five of them began the journey back to their father's tent, carrying Laban's sword and the plates of brass.
Here's a video showing much of what we just talked about:
C. Interesting Insights.
Why did the Lord require Nephi to kill Laban?
Now, I know that this story is surprising and will cause mixed reactions. Some people will compare it to similar stories in the Old Testament and say, "Well, I'm remembering how the prophet Elijah killed all the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:40) and how Samuel commanded Saul to kill every living thing (1 Sam. 15:3). This story about Nephi lines up. What happens to Nephi next?"
Others will come to a screeching stop and say, "This can't be God's book after all. God would never do such a thing."
If you fall in the latter category, I want to talk directly to you for a moment.
I want you to know that I understand that this is a difficult story to wrap one's head around. I want you to know that I empathize-- sometimes, it's hard to understand God's ways.
Did you know that there is a way to find out, for yourself, if this story is real? There is a way to ask God if He himself gave this commandment to Nephi.
The Book of Mormon is God's book. God will help you and "manifest the truth of it unto you" as you read and as you petition Him for help. (Moroni 10:4).
I can't tell you exactly how He will answer your prayer, but I can tell you how He typically answers mine.
God answers my prayers with feelings of peace, hope, and light. Typically these answers come as I read the Bible and the Book of Mormon; a passage or a verse will stand out to me and the feeling of deep peace will affirm that it contains my answer from God.
If the story of Nephi killing Laban upset you, please understand that God cares so much about you and that if you ask Him "with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ," then He will answer your prayer (Moroni 10:4). The answer will come as you continue reading The Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true.
God always keeps His word. That's why I'm a part of His church. I have prayed to know the truthfulness of this book and I have had my prayers answered in real and powerful ways.
I know that He will answer your prayers. God always keeps His promises.
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Now, just for fun, let's imagine the likely outcomes if Nephi HADN'T killed Laban.
Imagine that Nephi took Laban's armor and dressed as him, then put Laban's unconscious body under a tarp and went to convince Zoram to give him the plates.
What would have happened when Laban woke up?
It would have been clear that someone had robbed him. If he had any sort of wit, Laban would have run straight home to see if all was in order there.
Then Laban would have been told of Zoram's desertion.
Now, let's put ourselves in Laban's head and think like him.
If I were Laban, I'd send some servants into the city and other servants outside of the city to find Zoram. After all, if your treasure-keeper goes mysteriously missing, it's not unreasonable to assume that some treasure disappeared with him.
After sending my fastest guards after Zoran, I'd assign servants to immediately begin accounting for my treasure. I would need to know how much he stole.
After a couple of hours, the servants in the city would return with nothing.
The accountants would come back from the treasure-house with this news: all is there, except for those valuable brass plates.
Then the penny would drop.
Who had been petitioning to take the brass plates?
Who had I (literally the day before) robbed of all their wealth?
Those rascally sons of Lehi. They must have gone a step further to get my plates; they had conspired with my treasure-keeper and STOLEN THEM!!
It's not a difficult jump to make. Nephi and his brothers tried twice to get the plates, and the second time I (Laban) stole their stuff and had my guards chase them from the city.
I mean, it makes sense that they would see the plates as rightfully theirs since I took their gold-- they had paid for the plates and I had taken their money and then tried to kill them. It makes sense that the next thing they would try would be to go around my back and compel my treasure-keeper to join them.
Having figured this out, I would send a huge number of guards outside of the city to track down Nephi, his brothers, and the deserting Zoram. I wouldn't rest until they were found.
The rest is easy to assume, isn't it? Laban would send many guards after the brothers and Zoram. He would kill them all.
Lehi and Sariah, Nephi's parents, were elderly and would then be alone in the wilderness. They would continue on until they died, alone in the wilderness.
But wait a second. Couldn't the Lord protect Nephi? Couldn't the brothers run for it and make it, even if Laban was chasing them?
Of course He could, and of course they could, if that was what the Lord wanted for them.
But His ways are not our ways. He had a plan all worked out for Nephi's family and their journey. That plan did not involve this family being chased, hounded, and possibly captured by Laban.
Other times when God commanded his servants to kill their enemies instead of saving them:
Moses and his people pass through the sea on dry ground, but the armies of Pharaoh are drowned (Exodus 14).
King Saul is commanded to kill every living thing in the city of Amalek. (1 Sam. 15:3)
Samuel kills the king of Agag (1 Samuel 32-33)
Elijah kills all the priests of Baal. (1 Kings 18:40).
Elisha and the she-bears (1 Kings 2:23-24)
Abraham pays tithes after killing the king (Genesis 14:18-20).
As a final note, I want to point out that Jerusalem was just a few years away from being totally destroyed. By having Nephi get the plates and take them away, God kept the valuable scriptures safe despite the city's near annihilation.
Interesting Insight #2
Nephi trusted that the Lord would prepare a way for him to fulfill each commandment. Did this prove true? What can I learn from this today?At the beginning of the chapter, Nephi told his father: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" (1 Nephi 3:7, underline added).
Nephi trusted that if God commanded, He would also prepare the way.
Nephi was absolutely right, but it's interesting to see how the Lord prepared the way and to draw parallels for our own lives.
Was it easy for Nephi? Was it smooth?
Did all go right the first time?
Ohhhh no it didn't.
They failed, they struggled, Nephi was hit with a big stick multiple times.
Then Nephi found that the way forward was far different than he'd ever imagined it would be.
BUT they also had an angel appear to them and were led by the Spirit of the Lord. Nephi either felt or heard the Lord speaking to him and assuring him of His will.
What can we learn from this?
Perhaps that life is difficult, but for those who follow the Lord, the path is prepared.
One of my favorite examples of this comes from a woman I know who understood that God expected her to obey the Word of Wisdom and quit smoking.
She didn't know how to do it. She was afraid.
But she decided that if this was what God wanted, she would do it.
And so, she threw out the cigarettes.
A month later, she told me in utter amazement that when she had gone 'all in' and trusted God to help her, she found that she could do it! The cravings weren't there. She had quit smoking and found that her way was prepared.
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Thanks for reading this REALLY long post with me. This was an important one to discuss and I hope that it was helpful.
Next post will be 1 Nephi 5-7, which is about 50 verses altogether.
