One of the messages that Nephi seemed to want us to
understand in his first book was that he and his father did everything they
could to keep the commandments of the Lord.
For example, near the beginning of their story he recorded, “The Lord
commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart
into the wilderness. And it came to pass
that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord
commanded him” (1 Nephi 2:2-3). Lehi
received a commandment, and then he obeyed.
In the next chapter Nephi showed how Lehi again received a commandment
and how he and his father were obedient to it.
Lehi told his sons, “The Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy
brethren shall return to Jerusalem,” and Nephi responded with his famous words,
“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” (1 Nephi 3:2,
7). After he did just that, Nephi
summarized their actions this way, “And it came to pass that thus far I and my
father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us” (1 Nephi
5:20). He wanted his readers to see how
important it was for he and his father to keep the commandments of the Lord in
their journey to the promised land.
Nephi’s
focus on keeping the commandments of the Lord continued throughout the rest of his
first book. He recorded how “the Lord
commanded [Lehi] that I, Nephi, and my brethren, should again return unto the
land of Jerusalem, and bring down Ishmael and his family unto the
wilderness.” He also told us of their
attempt to keep that commandment, including his powerful testimony to his
brothers to “be faithful unto [the Lord]” in keeping His commandments (1 Nephi
7:2, 12). Nephi recorded, “I, Nephi, did
exhort my brethren, with all diligence, to keep the commandments of the
Lord.” After they were married as the
Lord had commanded, he summarized as he had before, “And thus my father had
fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him” (1
Nephi 16:4, 8). Keeping the commandments
of the Lord with exactness throughout their journey was key in being able to
make it successfully to the promised land.
After their eight years in the wilderness Nephi summed up why we should
keep the commandments this way: “And if it so be that the children of men keep
the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide
means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them.” Nephi recorded how the Lord commanded him,
“Thou shalt construct a ship,” but also gave him this promise, “I will prepare
the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments.” Nephi once again sought to obey: “Wherefore,
I, Nephi did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord” (1 Nephi 17:3, 8, 13,
15). The Lord did provide the way, Nephi
built the ship as commanded, and they sailed it to the promised land. Once there the commandments and obedience
didn’t stop. He told us, “And it came to
pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore that I
might engraven upon them the record of my people.” Nephi did just that and received another
commandment to follow: “And after I had made these plates by way of
commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the
prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon
these plates” (1 Nephi 19:1-3). He
obeyed that commandment, of course, because that is the record that we now
have. Nephi’s account in the book of 1
Nephi shows time and time again how he and his father received commandments
from the Lord, followed them, and then received more commandments from the
Lord. It is fitting that the final words
he would leave us with in that first book were these: “If ye shall be obedient
to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day”
(1 Nephi 22:31). Nephi and Lehi were
powerful examples of enduring in obedience to all of God’s commands.
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