References to the Lord in 1 Nephi 3
One may speak with the Lord. The Lord gives instructions to prophets. The Lord sometimes requires hard things. He gives commandments. He favors those who do not murmur. ". . .the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." The Lord blesses. He allows the wicked to be destroyed. It is important to the Lord that sacred records be available to the faithful. God delivers His word to holy prophets through His Spirit and power. The Lord sends angels to deliver messages. The Lord helps bring about His purposes.
Lehi had taken his family into the wilderness, at the Lord's command, to flee from those who wanted to kill him for calling them to repentance. Laman and Lemuel (the two eldest sons) were rebellious and didn't want to leave their riches and friends, but the rest of the family was cooperative. They were quite some distance from Jerusalem when the Lord told Lehi that he needed to obtain the Brass Plates and take them with them (sacred records that Laban had charge of). So, Lehi told his sons they were to go back to Jerusalem and get the plates from Laban. Laman and Lemuel didn't want to obey Lehi, but Nephi understood that it was the Lord who had given commandment, not Lehi, and he was willing to do whatever was necessary. He knew the Lord would help them accomplish it. His response to Lehi is one of the key scriptures in the Book of Mormon.
1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
So the four brothers wemt back to Jerusalem, not knowing how they were going to obtain the plates. Laban was not going to be easily persuaded to give them up. They discussed it and cast lots to see who would approach him. The lot fell to Laman, the oldest (whose responsibility it probably should have been, anyway). It would be interesting to know how Laman approached Laban, what the conversation consisted of. I think Laman would have probably gone in apologizing for his "crazy" father's request, letting Laban know it wasn't his idea. The request didn't set well with Laban, and he told Laman to get out, accusing him of being a robber and threatening to slay him.
With Laman's failure, Nephi's brothers wanted to give up. But Nephi made an oath that they would not go back to their father in the wilderness until they had the plates, so they devised another plan. They would return to their home and gather up their father's inheritance - gold, silver, and all manner of riches - which he had left behind, and offer it to Laban in exchange for the plates. When Laban saw their wealth he lusted after it. But instead of trading the plates for it, he thrust the brothers out of his presence and called his servants to slay them. They fled out of Jerusalem, leaving their wealth behind and again failing to obtain the sacred records.
Laman and Lemuel were so angry by this time that they beat Nephi and Sam with a rod and spoke "many hard words" to them. An angel appeared to them, chastizing Laman and Lemuel and telling them that the Lord had chosen Nephi to be a ruler over them because of their iniquities. He instructed them to return to Jerusalem again and said that the Lord would deliver Laban into their hands.
I'm sure at least Nephi had been praying fervently for the Lord to help them accomplish what He had commanded, but so far He hadn't helped. I've thought about how they had tried to get the plates and have wondered why their plans hadn't worked. Maybe the first one failed because Laman was a rebellious, mean spirited man, and the Lord wouldn't help him. And maybe the second one failed because they couldn't "buy" the Lord's help with their wealth. In applying those thoughts to life, the Lord wants worthy servants and blesses the efforts of those who serve Him. The records on the Brass Plates were sacred, and they were not to be obtained by rebellious Laman. Also, we cannot buy the sacred things of the Lord with wordly wealth. Maybe the Lord showed the brothers that they could not buy His word or His assistance. They could only receive His help by exercising faith in Him, not by depending upon their own plans.
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