Lehi and the Sons of Ishmael

I was struck this morning by these words of Lehi at the end of his final exhortation to Laman and Lemuel: “And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing” (2 Nephi 1:28).  Though it appears he was directing most of his remarks to Laman and Lemuel, he also included the sons of Ishmael and encouraged them to listen to Nephi and keep the commandments.  What is impressive to me is the fact that he called these two “my sons” in what I believe was a great expression of love for them.  Their father had died early on in the journey at Nahom, and this verse seems to suggest that Lehi considered it thereafter his responsibility to watch over them and encourage them on the gospel path.  He loved all those in his group and earnestly sought to help them to keep the commandments of the Lord.   

Though we don’t know a lot about them, it appears that the sons of Ishmael were generally on the same spiritual path as Laman and Lemuel, and so they would have likely caused Lehi much pain over the course of their journeys.  On their first journey back from Jerusalem they rebelled against Nephi along with Laman and Lemuel (1 Nephi 7:6).  Nephi recorded that they joined Laman and Lemuel and did “murmur exceedingly” when they had trials (1 Nephi 16:20).  Laman did “stir up their hearts to anger” after their father died and they were apparently on board with the plan to slay Lehi.  On the boat they joined the revelry with Laman and Lemuel and began to “dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness, yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.”  At that time Nephi recorded that “Lehi, had said many things unto [Laman and Lemuel], and also unto the sons of Ishmael” as he tried to get them to release Nephi, but to no avail (1 Nephi 18:9).  And yet despite all of that, despite the fact that they had joined Laman and Lemuel in planning to some degree to kill him and nearly killing Nephi on the boat, despite the fact that they weren’t even his posterity, he still called them his sons and showed great love and concern for them in his final days.  Nephi recorded that after Lehi gave his final words to his grandchildren, “He spake unto the sons of Ishmael, yea, and even all his household” (2 Nephi 4:10).  Nephi didn’t record what he said, but surely it was a similar message of encouragement that he gave to the others to keep the commandments of the Lord.  Ultimately these two sons of Ishmael rebelled with Laman and Lemuel and did not follow Nephi when the people split in two groups, but they certainly had been given every chance to repent and follow the Lord by Lehi.  The prophet Lehi was an incredible example of forgiveness and love.