1
Ne 16:2 the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for
it cutteth them to the very center.
The
light of Christ is given to every man. When the wicked hear the word of God as
taught by the Spirit, the light of Christ swells within. This causes a painful conflict
between the truth and the spirit of rebellion. This concept is taught with the
imagery of the sword which represents the word of God, For
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow (Heb 4:12). Mormon tried to speak with the sharpness
of a two edged sword to his people in a desparate attempt to get them to
repent. But like Laman and Lemuel, when he speaks the
word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no
sharpness they harden their hearts against it; wherefore, I fear lest the
Spirit of the Lord hath ceased striving with them (Mor 9:4).
The
Savior also used the sharp sword of the word of God to offend the wicked.
‘But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all
manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to
have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the
synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as
graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of
them.’ (Lu 11:42-44, see also verse 45-54).
See
also the parable of the wicked husbandmen, Lu 20:9-20. These scriptures bring
more meaning to the phrase, blessed is he,
whosoever shall not be offended in me (Matt 11:6). Only those who feel
the conflict between truth and a rebellious spirit will be offended for the
obedient have no reason to be angry.
Neal
A. Maxwell
“God
is not only there in the mildest expressions of His presence, but also in those
seemingly harsh expressions. For example, when truth ‘cutteth
… to the very center’ (1 Ne. 16:21 Ne. 16:2), this may signal that spiritual
surgery is underway, painfully severing pride from the soul. (Ensign,
November 1987, p. 31.)
“There
is kindness in this pain, for as truth, the Lord's laser, cuts through to all
but the hardest of hearts, so the healing light of the gospel is let in. The
outer encrustations of evil can make us so insensitive that only the cuts ‘to the very center’ have any hope of bringing the
desired response!” (Things As They Really Are, p. 79.)
“Most
of us don't like to be cut to the center [see 1 Ne. 16:21 Ne. 16:2], and when the gospel standards cut
us it hurts. The tendency is to deal with the pain by rejecting further
surgery. (For the Power Is in Them…: Mormon Musings, p. 49.)
1
Ne 16:6 all these things were said and done as my
father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel
At
this point the two families have not begun to travel beyond the valley of
Lemuel. Quite a bit has happened to the family while they are in the valley of
Lemuel. It is their base for returning back to Jerusalem and the site where
Nephi and Lehi see the vision of the tree of Life. It seems as if they are more
in a hurry to get out of Jerusalem than they are to get to the promised land.
They travel for the next 8 years on the Arabian Peninsula before they finally
build a ship and head for the promised land. Verse 9 explains that they are
about to begin their journey again.
Hugh
Nibley
“Nephi…refers constantly to his
father's tent as the center of his universe. To an Arab, ‘My father dwelt in a tent’ says everything….
“So with the announcement that his
father dwelt in a tent, Nephi serves notice that he had assumed the desert way
of life, as perforce he must for his journey: any easterner would appreciate
the significance and importance of the statement, which to us seems almost
trivial. If Nephi seems to think of his father’s tent as the hub of everything,
he is simply expressing the view of any normal Bedouin (Arabian tent dweller).”
(Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaredites, pp. 57-8)
1
Ne 16:7 took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife
“Marriages
in the Valley of Lemuel. Ishmael and his family were brought down from Jerusalem
by Nephi and his brothers, according to a divine command. (1 Ne. 7:2) Marriage
for the purpose of raising up posterity ‘unto the Lord’ was enjoined upon them
as a sacred duty.
“Ishmael
had five daughters and two sons. During the journey from Jerusalem to the
Valley of Lemuel, Laman and Lemuel opposed Nephi. They even bound him and
plotted his death. Two of the daughters of Ishmael sided with Laman and his
supporters. One daughter of Ishmael stood up valiantly for Nephi, and plead so
sincerely for his righteous cause that he was set free. (1 Nephi 7:19) Thus a
line of cleavage was already drawn. In all probability, the two girls who had
sided with Laman and Lemuel became their wives, while the valiant little girl,
possibly the youngest of them, joined her hero in the sacred relationship
contemplated. There were two girls left. Zoram, the servant of Laban, married
the oldest daughter, and Sam presumably the remaining girl.” (Reynolds and
Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 165)
1
Ne 16:10 he beheld upon the ground a round ball of
curious workmanship
The
term “Liahona” is not used until Alma 37:38 where is says, our fathers called
it Liahona. This Liahona was an amazing intervention by the Lord. Rarely does
the Lord create an inanimate, “manufactured” object for the use of man. Usually
the Lord shows the pattern of how things should be made but He doesn’t make
them. Consider the ark, the tools and ship that Nephi built, the temple
patterns, the ark of the covenant. The Lord didn’t make any of these things. He
commanded them to be made and then showed the pattern. In this respect, the
Liahona sets an unusual precedent.
1
Ne 16:10 What does the word “Liahona” mean?
Hugh
Nibley
“Yah is, of course, God Jehovah.
Liyah means the possessive, ‘To God is the guidance,’ hona (Liyahhona).
That's just a guess; don't put it down. But it's a pretty good guess anyway.” (Teachings
of the Book of Mormon, lecture 14, p. 216)
1
Ne 16:10 What did the Liahona do?
All
are familiar with the use of the Liahona as a compass and director that worked
upon faith. However, we sometimes forget that there were writings on the
Liahona which changed from time to time. Nephi doesn’t share the meaning of
these writings which came directly from the Lord. He does not include them
because of their spiritual and sacred nature. They were not directions to go in
the wilderness, that was what the spindles were for. These writings were holy
and sacred words which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the
Lord (v. 29).
1
Ne 16:10 Why don’t we get a Liahona—to guide us through our spiritual
wilderness?
Thomas
S. Monson
“If man can invent sonar to warn
against disaster, and if he can invent whiskers to put on automobile fenders
for the protection of white sidewall tires, doesn't it sound reasonable that
the Lord would place a warning device within His children, to warn us when we
are on a detour, away from His pathway? I bear you my testimony today that we
have a guiding light. It is foolproof if we will but use it. It is known, as
you know and as I know, as the Holy Ghost-the still small voice.” (BYU
Speeches of the Year, Nov. 5, 1963, p.4)
Thomas S. Monson
“The
same Lord who provided a Liahona for Lehi provides for you and for me today a
rare and valuable gift to give direction to our lives, to mark the hazards to
our safety, and to chart the way, even safe passage—not to a promised land, but
to our heavenly home. The gift to which I refer is known as a patriarchal
blessing. Every worthy member of the Church is entitled to receive such a
precious and priceless personal treasure.” (Live the Good Life, p.
36 - 37.)
1
Ne 16:13 We traveled for the space of four days,
nearly a south-southeast direction
The
Book of Mormon is quite clear as to the course they took before building the
ship. First they traveled almost due south from Jerusalem to the valley of
Lemuel by the borders of the Red Sea (probably near the Gulf of Aqaba). Next,
they traveled in a south-southeast direction.
Hugh
Nibley
“As to the direction taken by Lehi's
party the Book of Mormon is clear and specific. He took what we now know to
have been the only possible way out, what with immediate danger threatening
from the north, and the eastern and western lands held by opposing powers on
the verge of war. Only the south desert, the one land where Israel's traders
and merchants had felt at home through the centuries, remained open--even after
Jerusalem fell this was so. And the one route into that desert was the great
trade-road down the burning trough of the Arabah. For a long time the party
traveled south-southeast and then struck out almost due east over a
particularly terrible desert and reached the sea at a point to be considered
later. Nephi is careful to keep us informed of the main bearing of every stage
of the journey, and never once does he mention a westerly or a northerly trend.
The party traveled for eight years in but two main directions, without
retracing their steps or doubling back, and many of their marches were long forced
marches.”
“All this entirely excludes the
Sinaitic Peninsula as the scene of their wanderings, and fits perfectly with a
journey through the Arabian Peninsula. The slowest possible march "in a
south-southeasterly direction" in Sinai would reach the sea and have to
turn north within ten days; yet Lehi's people traveled "for many
days," nay, months, in a south-southeasterly direction, keeping near the
coast of the Red Sea all the while. Ten days take a foot traveler the entire
length of that coast of Sinai which runs in a south-southeasterly
direction--and what of the rest of the eight years?” (Lehi in the Desert and
The World of the Jaredites, pp. 54-5)
1
Ne 16:18 I did break my bow, which was made of fine
steel
Here
is the classic scenario: life is tough—you’re in the middle of a difficult
trial, then something terrible happens. The one solution to your problem, the
thing you most rely on fails you. Now you are completely destitute. The Lord
seems to have left you in a situation in which there is no way out. Here is
where the real trial of faith begins. You didn’t think the Lord would allow
something that terrible to happen to you because your already having a hard
time of things. These thoughts come to mind, “maybe He doesn’t love me,” or
“maybe He is not even paying attention to my problem,” or “what am I supposed
to do now?” This is murmur time.
The
Lord will bring all of us to our knees at some point. He will push us to our
limit to see how far we will go and still be faithful. He allowed Lucifer to all
but destroy Job, but Job was remarkably strong. He would not blame the Lord, Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine
integrity? Curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of
the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and
shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips (Job
2:9-10, italics added). Job understood that the Lord was testing him and wanted
to remain faithful, Let me be weighed in an even
balance, that God may know mine integrity (Job 31:6).
Like
the testing of Job, the broken bow-incident becomes a crucial test for Lehi’s
family. They are on a journey through an unforgiving desert wilderness; they
have been traveling and are hungry and tired. Just when they expect to see the
sons return with the usual dinner, they find out that the bow had broken. They
will go to bed hungry, with no prospects for food in the near future. Laman and
Lemuel’s response is predictable. However, even Lehi has a moment of weakness.
Nephi records that he began to murmur against the
Lord (v. 20). Before we judge Lehi too harshly we should walk a day in
his shoes—and do it in the Arabian Desert. Nonetheless, he was truly chastened because of his murmuring (v. 25). Nephi
was similarly challenged; he admits that for him, it
began to be exceedingly difficult (v. 21).
Nephi
passes the test. He understands that when everything has gone completely wrong,
he must turn to the Lord. Those of us who like to be in charge of everything
have a difficult time with these kinds of tests. They are designed to force us
to rely completely on the Lord. They require us to humble ourselves before our
Maker and ask for His help. It represents the ultimate surrender of individual
will to the will of the Father. It is a lot easier said than done.
Neal
A. Maxwell
“There
was murmuring, too, because Nephi broke his steel bow and also because he
couldn't possibly build a ship (see "1 Ne.
16:18"1 Ne. 16:19"1 Ne. 16:201 Nephi 16:18-20;"1 Ne. 17:17 17:17).
Those same murmurers, insensitive to their inconsistency, quickly surfeited
themselves on the meat brought back by Nephi's new bow. They also sailed
successfully over vast oceans to a new hemisphere in the ship that Nephi
couldn't build. Strange, isn't it, how those with the longest lists of new
demands also have the shortest memories of past blessings?” (If Thou Endure
It Well, p. 125.)
Hugh
Nibley
“Through the years critics of the Book of
Mormon have constantly called attention to the mention of steel in that book as
a gross anachronism. But now we are being reminded that one cannot be dogmatic
in dating the appearance of steel since there is more than one kind of steel
with ‘a whole series of variants in the combination of iron and steel
components’ in ancient times; and when a particularly fine combination was hit
upon it would be kept secret in ‘individual workshops’ and ‘passed on from
father to son for many generations.’ Hence it is not too surprising to learn
that ‘even in early European times’ there is evidence for the production of
steel ‘of very high quality’ and extreme hardness. Further east steel is
attested even earlier.” (Since Cumorah, p. 254)
1
Ne 16:23 I Nephi, did make out of wood a bow…And I
said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?
Here
Nephi acknowledges his father’s role as prophet and patriarch. He asks his
father to ask the Lord for help.
1
Ne 16:27 What writing was it that made everyone fear
and tremble exceedingly?
Nephi
never tells us the meaning of the writings on the Liahona. He does explain that
his father and just about everyone in the group ‘did
fear and tremble exceedingly’ when they read what was written on the
ball. This suggests that it was a warning or punishment from the Lord. It is
possible that the reason they wandered in the wilderness for 8 years instead of
traveling directly to the promised land was because of their murmuring at this
time. Alma hints that this was the case:
‘They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and
diligence and then those marvelous works cease, and they did not progress in
their journey;
Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted
with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions…our fathers were
slothful to give heed to this compass’ (Alma 37:41-43).
1
Ne 16:29 a new writing….which did give us
understanding concerning the ways of the Lord
The
Liahona was not just a compass. It taught them sacred and holy truths, things
which were so sacred that Nephi did not tell us what they were.
1
Ne 16:29 by small means the Lord can bring about
great things.
Alma
repeated the story of the Liahona to his son, Helaman:
‘And it did work for them according to their faith in God….
Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small
means it did show unto them marvelous works. …
And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these
things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed
to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so
it is with things which are spiritual.
For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ,
which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our
fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight
course to the promised land.
And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as
surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the
promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us
beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.
O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of
the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that
if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared,
and if we will look we may live forever.’ (Alma 37:40-46, italics added)
“’A
series of seemingly small but incorrect choices,’ Elder M. Russell Ballard
pointed out, ‘can become those little soul-destroying termites that eat away at
the foundations of our testimony until, before we are aware, we may be brought
near to spiritual and moral destruction.’ In a similar way, the small acts of
kindness, the tiny deeds of Christian service, the silent but significant
efforts to control our own thoughts and feelings—these are the simple things
that build character and shape human destiny everlastingly. The world takes
notice of the public accomplishments, the spectacular victories. But who knows
of the private battles of the soul, thousands of them, waged and won by Abraham
long before he passed his greatest test on Mount Moriah to become the friend of
God? Who knows of the infinite struggles, the buffetings, the adversarial
onslaughts faced and overcome by the sinless Son of Man in the Garden of the
Oilpress, finished before his public victory over the grave on Golgotha? Truly,
the ‘little things’ form and shape the disciple of Christ.” (Robert L. Millet, An
Eye Single to the Glory of God: Reflections on the Cost of Discipleship,
p.77.)
M.
Russell Ballard
“Great and marvelous events seem to
motivate us, but small things often do not hold our attention. Noting that the
Liahona worked by faith, Alma stated, ‘Nevertheless,
because those miracles were worked by small means . . . the people of Lehi were
slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those
marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey.’
(Alma 37:41.)
“Is our journey sometimes impeded when
we forget the importance of small things? (See Alma 37:46.) Do we realize that
small events and choices determine the direction of our lives just as small helms
determine the direction of great ships? (See James 3:4; D&C 123:16.)
“May the Lord bless each one of us to
follow the counsel of our prophets. We need to have family and personal
prayers; study the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon; hold family
home evenings; follow the admonition of the Savior to love one another; and be
thoughtful, kind, and gentle within the family. Through these and other similar
small and simple things, we have the promise that our lives will be filled with
peace and joy.” (Church News, Jul 6, 1996)
1 Ne 16:34 Ishmael…was buried in the place which was called Nahom
“A group of Latter-day Saint
researchers recently found evidence linking a site in Yemen, on the south-west corner
of the Arabian peninsula, to a name associated with Lehi’s journey as recorded
in the Book of Mormon. Warren Aston, Lynn Hilton, and Gregory Witt located a
stone altar that professional archaeologists dated to at least 700 B.C. This
altar contains an inscription confirming ‘Nahom’ as an actual place that
existed in the peninsula before the time of Lehi. The Book of Mormon mentions
that ‘Ishmael died, and was buried in the place
which was called Nahom’ (1 Ne. 16:34).
“This is the first archaeological find
that supports a Book of Mormon place-name other than Jerusalem or the Red Sea…”
(Ensign, Feb. 2001, p. 79)
1
Ne 16:39 Laman and Lemuel hear the voice of the Lord
The
Lord will not allow this mission to fail. He will not allow Laman and Lemuel to
kill Lehi and Nephi. He intervenes with Laman and Lemuel as little as possible
but enough to suit His purposes. In this particular instance, they actually
heard the voice of the Lord which did chasten them exceedingly. Of this event, 1 Ne 17:46 says, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder,
which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. It took the
voice of God to control these rebels. Again, we are amazed that they see
so many miracles, even hear the voice of the Lord, and yet they still will not
hearken to the words of the Lord.