Notes from 1 Nephi 4-6

On Friday we got to discuss the chapters where Nephi slays Laban and gets the brass plates, Lehi finds out he is a descendant of Joseph in Egypt, and where Nephi explains his purpose in writing on his own plates.

Chapter 4 started out with Nephi baring his testimony to his brothers after they had whined again about their task and Laban's strength (despite seeing and being spoken to by an angel!) Two points came up when we were reading his reply to his brothers. One was that it was pretty amazing for Nephi to answer his brothers with a testimony of God rather than defensiveness or anger.  Later on in chapter 5 we see the same thing when Lehi speaks to Sariah. She is worried about her sons and her faith seems to be shaken. Instead of chastening his wife, Lehi bares his testimony to her of the greatness of God and reassures her that their sons will be OK.

I thought both of these examples were a great lesson in communication, especially in marriage or family relationships when it is important not to burn bridges. We should try to follow the examples of Nephi and Lehi and remember our God when things seem hopeless. Which brings me to the second thing we talked about. When Nephi started talking to his brothers he said "Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even his tens of thousands?" This reminded me of a quote that I had read recently that said "Do not tell your God how big your storm is. Tell your storm how big your God is!" What a powerful sentiment. How often do we kneel in prayer to tell God how hard our lives and trials are, when we should instead, turn to our troubles and tell them that they can't bring us down because our God is more powerful than they are! And that is exactly what Nephi did when he spoke to his brothers.

During our conversation we also talked a lot about Sariah and the difficult situation she was put in when she had to leave her home and then send her sons into enemy territory, about the oaths between Nephi and Zoram, and a LOT about the state of mind Nephi must have been in when he realized he had to kill Laban to obtain the plates. There was so much emotion in these chapters that there was an endless stream of thoughts that we wanted to share with each other! :)

Anyway, we wrapped things up by talking about chapter 6 and how Nephi had wanted to use the plates to write the things of God and share them with people in our day. What a blessing to all of us that he was willing to take the time to write down and preserve these things so that we can all benefit from them today. I can't wait to keep reading more!

Next week on 10/07/11 we will be meeting in the gym at the church and will discuss 1 Nephi Chapters 7-9. Amy will be bringing the treat and we will have a great time! See you guys then!