Forgiveness

1 Nephi 7

The Lord instructed Lehi to send his sons back to Jerusalem, this time to persuade Ishmael to bring his family with them into the wilderness. There doesn't seem to be any arguments from Laman and Lemuel this time, as Ishmael had five daughters of marriageable age. It is thought that there was already a connection between the two families - that Lehi's daughters may have married Ishmael's two sons.

Ishmael's family agreed to go into the wilderness with Lehi's sons. On their journey to Lehi's camp, Laman, Lemuel, two of Ishmael's daughters, and his two sons rebelled against Nephi, Sam, Ishmael and his wife, and Ishmael's three other daughters. It says:

8 "And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore I spake unto them saying, yea, even unto Laman and Lemuel: Behold ye are mine elder brethren, and how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in your minds, that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set an example for you?

9 "How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?

10 "How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?"

Nephi reminded them of the help they had received from the Lord in delivering them from the hands of Laban and in obtaining the Brass Plates, and he reminded them that "the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him." He pleaded, "Wherefore, let us be faithful to him."

He talked to them of other blessings they had received from the Lord, but they wouldn't soften. Finally, Nephi seems to have had enough, and he told them to go on back to Jerusalem if they wanted, but that they would die with the other inhabitants of Jerusalem when it was destroyed (in the near future). The brothers were even more angry at Nephi's words, and they bound him with cords and were going to leave him in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts. Nephi cried out to the Lord for deliverance, and the cords were loosed from off his hands and feet.

That infuriated Laman and Lemuel even more, and they were determined to get rid of him. Some of Ishmael's family came to his assistance and pleaded with them to let him go. Their hearts were finally softened - even so much that they sorrowed for their wickedness and pleaded with Nephi that he would forgive them.

I've written all the above to get to this one scripture that really impresses me. What a big soul Nephi had!

21 "And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness. And it came to pass that they did so. And after they had done praying unto the Lord we did again travel on our journey towards the tent of our father."

All the way through this account of Lehi's family, Nephi does all he can to have peace with everyone. Even though Lehi and his wife are righteous, loving parents, their family is what we call today "disfunctional." Laman and Lemuel had several temporary periods of repentance, but evil lived in their hearts.