He Spake Concerning the Elders

Nephi, dressed in the clothes of Laban, found Zoram as he went towards the treasury of Laban. Zoram thought that Nephi was Laban, and as they went together to the treasury, “[Zoram] spake unto [Nephi] concerning the elders of the Jews, he knowing that his master, Laban, had been out by night among them.” They obtained the plates, and then Nephi asked Zoram to go with him outside the walls of Jerusalem to his elder brethren with the plates. As they made this second journey together, Zoram spoke about the same thing to Nephi (whom he still thought was Laban): “And he spake unto me many times concerning the elders of the Jews, as I went forth unto my brethren, who were without the walls.” I wondered this morning, as I thought about this brief account, why Nephi would include this detail two times about the conversation he had with Zoram. It seems there must be some importance to the fact that Zoram mentioned the “elders of Jews” multiple times as he talked with the person he thought was his master. I would guess that the “elders” referred to were not people with the office of Elder as we have it today, but rather the leaders of the Jews and perhaps those who were the more wise, older generation among them. Just as we talk about the “brethren” to mean the general authorities of the Church, perhaps he was referring to a group comprising some of the spiritual leadership of the people. If that’s the case, then I think it was this detail that helped Nephi to see that Zoram was a righteous man who wanted to do right in the sight of God. Though it is probable that those “elders” were in fact wicked given their association with Laban and the general wickedness of the people at that time, Zoram in his youth likely did not understand that and sought only to learn the things of God from them. He seemed eager to know something about them from Laban (Nephi) who had been among them, possibly underscoring his desire to find spirituality and do what is right. As they walked from the treasury to Nephi’s brethren, this conversation must have been a reassurance to Nephi that he had with him a young man who loved God and was ready to obey him. Their discussion likely went deeper than mere small talk as they discussed the “elders of the Jews” and perhaps the Lord as well, making what Nephi would subsequently say to Zoram understandable: “And I also spake unto him, saying: Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord? Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us” (1 Nephi 4:22, 27, 34). I think their conversation was such that this remark was not totally out of the blue, but rather Zoram, sensitive to spiritual things, was prepared to see the Lord’s hand in it and be willing to do as Nephi asked. Zoram was a young man of strong, simple faith whose life was changed because of his willingness to follow the Lord’s chosen.

               Unfortunately, after this introduction to him we don’t have any of Zoram’s own words or feelings recorded in the Book of Mormon. We know only what he did: he went with Nephi, he married, he traveled to the promised land, and he went with Nephi when the family split. That means he was one who “who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God” (2 Nephi 5:6). We also have this comment to Zoram from Lehi before Lehi died: “And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the servant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever. Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thy seed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land” (2 Nephi 1:30-31). Zoram chose not to be bitter but instead chose to become a “friend” to the prophet who Ammoron claimed “pressed and brought out of Jerusalem” (Alma 54:23). And yet because of his choice he received an inheritance in the promised land instead of being destroyed in Jerusalem. Zoram is an example to us of what it means to follow and reverence the Lord’s leaders, even at great personal sacrifice, and the blessings that come from it.