03 Book of Mormon Class Mike Stroud Podcast (transcribed by Carol Crisp) 1 Nephi 3: Brass plates episode and returning to Jerusalem is what we're

Transcription

1 03 Book of Mormon Class Mike Stroud Podcast (transcribed by Carol Crisp) 1 Nephi 3: Brass plates episode and returning to Jerusalem is what we're talking about today. Verse 1 is interesting: "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, to the tent of my father." Now, if you go back to chapter 2:16: "I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." I don't know if that's a face to face Second Comforter experience, I have a hunch that it is. However, he could have visited him with the Spirit, however, the Spirit can have the same effect, to soften his heart. He could speak with him through the Holy Spirit and when it says in Chapter 3:1 "I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, to the tent of my father", I have a hunch that it's probably more personal and intimate than that, but it still could be 'behind the veil'. Sis Stroud: When I hear, "returned from speaking with the Lord", that tells me he went there specifically to speak with the Lord, because he's coming back from speaking with the Lord, not, "oh, I was wandering around and all of a sudden, I had this thought". Yea, and it seems to me that at this early stage in the B of M, that Nephi is already having a Second Comforter experience. Student: Or, could it be that he went out and had a 'mighty prayer' like when we go out and speak to the Lord in the day? Mike: Could be, and know that by the time we get down to 2 Nephi 4, there is no question in your mind that it's 'face to face', because he says, "I have seen Him and my brother Jacob has seen Him..." so, it's left open. I have a tendency to believe that this is probably a 2nd Comforter experience, right here in the second chapter. I don't know for sure, it can be a question. Down in vs. 2, his father has a dream, and again, it's the emphasis on dreams, and how much is given to us in dreams? I hadn't noticed it before, until I started focusing in. We pray to the Lord for instruction from dreams, and all of a sudden, you start looking in the B of M and you see that some of the greatest instructions came in the way of dreams. In this dream, he has received instruction that they are to go back to Jerusalem and get the genealogy of their fathers, the Brass Plates, etc... (1 Nephi 3:2-5) It's a record of the Jews, and a genealogy of their forefathers. These people are descendents of Joseph, and Joseph's 2 sons are going to be represented in the Lehi colony. Lehi and his children are descendents of Manasseh. Ishmael and his family are descendents of Ephraim. So, Ephraim and Manasseh are the 2 sons of Joseph. So, in the Lehi colony you have a representation of both of the sons of Joseph. So, when he says, it has a genealogy of my fathers, then, you can say that that's talking about a record of Joseph. As a matter of fact, some scholars seem to think that Laban kept the record of the forefathers of these people, and Joseph's people, because he was a direct line descendent of Joseph. Even though Laban wasn't a righteous man, he did have possession of those records. It might be like some of the record keepers in the B of M, when we get to men like Kemosh and Omni and different things like that, these men who kept the records, but didn't write much, because they knew they themselves knew they were "a wicked man, but I kept the records because that was the way it went". I kind of wonder if Laban wasn't that same kind of record keeper. Going back up, the brothers aren't happy about it. Let's look at 2 famous scriptures, vs. 6-7: Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured. 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. The great principle of that thing is that, 'whatever the Lord commands, you can accomplish, because the Lord will help you do it'. So, don't worry about your qualifications. If you have a commandment to do, just go do it, and the Lord will open up a way for it to happen. It's like Millett being called as a RS president...overwhelmed, but you wouldn't be called to do that, if the Lord didn't prepare the way for her to accomplish it. Student: It's interesting, because the reverse of that is true, too. You don't have any afflictions or adversity that you are not able to overcome. He doesn't allow that, either. Mike: Very good, thank you. Let's go down to vs. 11 (They go back to Jerusalem, a 3 day journey back to where the land of their inheritance is. When they get back up there, look what they do.): And we cast lots who of us should go in unto the house of Laban. And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; and Laman went in unto the house of Laban, and he talked with him as he sat in his house. So, they go up and try to get the plates, through what process? What is their plan to receive the plates at this point? They drew lots to see who should go in, Laman was chosen, and what was his plan, as he went in? Student: His plan was to go in and be buddy-buddy with Laban and try and reason with him, ask if they can maybe 'borrow' the plates until my dad gets over this thing... Mike: Okay, and we can see in vs. 13 that Laban is angry and thrusts him out: And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry, and thrust him out from his presence; and he would not that he should have the records. Wherefore, he said unto him: Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee. So, let's skip on down here to vs. 14. They didn't want to go back, they wanted to go back into the wilderness: But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceedingly sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness. Now, look what Nephi says in 15: But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us. 16 Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; therefore let us go down to the land of our father s inheritance, for

2 behold he left gold and silver, and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done because of the commandments of the Lord. So, after Nephi's speech, they come up with a second plan. What's the second plan? Student: Their 2nd plan is to go back to their own house and gather all their jewels, gold & silver and go to Laban to purchase the plates. Mike: So, the first step they took was to try and persuade Laban to give them. The second step is to try and purchase them. Let's go to vs. 24: And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.25 And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property. Now, did you pick up any differences between the first trip and the second trip there, other than the purpose of the trip? Did you see any differences that might fill in with flesh, the skeleton, a little bit? Who went in the first trip? Who went the first trip? (Laman) Who went the second trip? It says "we" went, so all of them went. Why would 4 of them go the second time and only one went the first? Student: For one, they had to carry all their treasures. Mike: Yea... So, you can look at this and see from vs. 25, that their property was "exceedingly great". So they had to really make a haul. That tells you a little more about Lehi and his property, they were prosperous. This also sets the stage for why Laman and Lemuel are so angry about this whole deal about leaving. Laman is the firstborn, and under the father's priesthood order, he has the right to receive an inheritance from all that his father has and see that it's equally divided out among the other sons. The firstborn son, under this system, has the right to manage all the property and affairs of the father. But, the father only has the right to do that if he's a righteous manager. Laman isn't, so he's ticked off, and now Nephi is not only becoming a spokesman, but he's now becoming a ruler over them. This really galls them. Plus, the fact that they leave all their wealth home and are living in a tent out in the middle of nowhere, with no prospect of any future wealth. You can see how that really galls them. Student: A few interesting things here. One is that Laban lusted after the things that they had and didn't covet the things that they had. So, I have to play with those 2 words and I think they might have a deeper meaning, or a deeper level. The other one, as I think about it, Laman had probably been growing up, looking at all these things saying someday this is all going to be mine, and it probably really bothered him that they were giving it all up for the Brass Plates, which he didn't really care about much about in the first place. Mike: Excellent insight. Sis Stroud: Well, giving it all up for a camping trip for the rest of his life isn't too appealing. Instead of living the rest of his life like a king--he's now going to live like a pauper! Mike: Well, as they flee this time, they hide down in the cavity of a rock, in vs. 27, (And it came to pass that we fled into the wilderness, and the servants of Laban did not overtake us, and we hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock.) so there's a cave somewhere between where Lehi's house and inheritance is, and where Lehi is in the wilderness, 3 days away. So, they go down into this cave, and it's an interesting thing that, recently, within the last few years, they've found a cave down in this area that they call Beit Lehi, which means "The House of Lehi". (You can find a youtube video on this: ) It's actually the old Bedouin Arabs who live in this area, and they have a tradition that a prophet of God, named Lehi, lived in this area, and that this was the ancient land. In the cave, it also shows some pictures of some figures scratched in the wall on a ship, interestingly enough. So, traditionally, it's known as "The House of Lehi". There are some very ancient old trees in this area that go back many hundreds of years. It's a fascinating little deal. Well, let's look and see what happens in vs. 28. This happens while they were in this cave. And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; and also was Lemuel, for he hearkened unto the words of Laman. Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod. Look what happens in vs. 29. An angel comes and stops them: And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands. Now, the interesting thing to me is, look at vs. 30: And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed. The minute the angel departs, Laman and Lemuel again begin to murmur saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us? So, what do you get out of that? Student: A few things. One is that these guys never get it! To have an angel stand in front of you, who would not say, "I need to repent right now! I'm way off track. I'm so sorry. " I would move in the right direction. These guys go on thinking that it's all up to them. They don't understand. And that might be why they ran in the first place. They weren't seeking help from God. They were trying to do it all themselves. Mike: Very good, excellent. Before we leave this, let's go back to vs and take a look at a couple of reasons why we have these plates. Why is it important for us to have these Brass Plates? 19 And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may (#1) preserve unto our children the language of our fathers;20 And also that we may (#2) preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by

3 the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto this present time. So, what are the 2 reasons you see there, why we should have these records? #1 is interesting, why? Why is it important to retain the "language of our fathers"? What's he saying there that these plates will preserve in writing the language of our fathers? What's he talking about there? Student: Despite the language, probably reformed Egyptian that they put on the Brass Plates, but we see later on, the Mulekites not having a record of their fathers, and they fell into total chaos. Their language got corrupted, they had no knowledge of their history. Mike: Let's go back and look at that in Omni pg 141, vs. 17: And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them. These are the people of Mulek, the people of Zarahemla. They had become exceedingly numerous, even more numerous than the Nephites, it says in another place. They had had wars and contentions, their language had become corrupted. They brought no records with them. They denied the being of their Creator, and Mosiah and his people couldn't understand them. There is a classic example. So, one of the things he does is to start teaching in the language of the Nephites, and then teaches them the gospel of Jesus Christ that is contained in the Brass Plates that they did not have. Sis Stroud: We can also see the same type of situation at the time of Christ. When Christ and his apostles are killed, they have a record, but, some of it is missing. And, with missing bits of a record, look how far off the Church got, needing a restoration a couple thousand years down the road? So, if they have zero record, look at the corruption when there is just partial records. Mike: Yea, look at the corruption of the Catholic Church for a thousand years, on keeping the Word of God from the people. It was written in Latin, a language that the people did not understand, and the only people that could ever read the scriptures were just the priests, and on purpose, they were kept from having that written record, and look what it did for almost 1700 years--called "the dark ages". You can see good examples. Well, let's go on to chapter 4 of 1 Nephi. So, they tried 2 ways of getting the plates: one, by persuasion, and one by purchase, and neither one worked. If we know something about numbers, we've got 2 steps out of the way, and we know there is about to be a third. So, whatever is coming, do we know that it will work? It will work, 3 is enough. Let's go on over here. Sis. Stroud: Maybe that's where we get the phrase, "third time's a charm", maybe it's scriptural! Verse 2: Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; (let's follow the example of our great leader) for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. I like the word in vs. 3: the Lord is able to deliver us, That's a word that's found all through Exodus. Moses was referred to as "The Great Deliverer". He's a type and a shadow of Christ. Christ is the ultimate deliverer. "Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians." I thought it was interesting in vs. 5, when Joseph was translating this. (And it was by night; and I caused that they should hide themselves without the walls. And after they had hid themselves, I, Nephi, crept into the city and went forth towards the house of Laban.) Apparently, when he was translating, he said, "It was night. I caused that they should hide themselves without the walls", and who was transcribing this at that time? Emma? Joseph turns to Emma and he says, "Emma, were there walls around Jerusalem?" Joseph didn't know there were any walls around the city. This is showing the pure mind of this boy Joseph with the Urim and Thummin. Let's go down to vs. 6. And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. 7 Nevertheless I went forth, and as I came near unto the house of Laban I beheld a man, and he had fallen to the earth before me, for he was drunken with wine. I think it's interesting that the first thing that Nephi sees on this drunk man is his sword! That is a mans' thing/point of view. A woman would look at him and say what?? Students: Oh, you poor guy! He's drunk, oh, I need to do something. Mike: A man looks and says, "Man, look at that weapon!" Here's an interesting thing in vs. 10 and see what happens. And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him. You know, it seems like before we receive the great blessings the Lord has in store, we have to pass "the trial of our faith". As I read Nephi here, and this is my feelings, I can't think of anything that Nephi has done prior to this, or that he really does after this, that is more difficult than to kill this man. Student: I was wondering. Is this the still small voice telling him to do this? Mike: Yea, what is this talking to him? Is it the Spirit of Christ, or the Holy Ghost? Student: I think it's the Holy Ghost. Mike: It's just a straight forward message: Kill him. Student: That's such a HUGE instruction. Mike: But he does receive instruction here, so there's some revelation that comes. Look what he says, "I was constrained

4 by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him." He had never done this. 11 And the Spirit said unto me again: Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands. Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life; yea, and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord; and he also had taken away our property. 2 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands; This is 3 times he was told the same thing: "Slay him, for the Lord has delivered him into thy hands". So, there is 3 times that Nephi is told. Look at the rationale that he uses. He uses 3 rationales. Everything comes in threes here. Go to vs. 11. After the Spirit says the second time, and the Lord has delivered Laban to him: #1: I knew that he had sought to take away my life; #2: I knew that he would not harken unto the commandments and #3: He stole our property. See those 3 reasons? So, the 2nd time the Lord tells him to kill Laban, Nephi reasons three times. Nephi isn't saying he WON'T do it. He says, "But, I've never done this." I look at this, and I look at the Brass Plates, and I look at Nephi who is familiar with the writings of Moses, and in Exodus 20, the Lord says, "Thou shalt not kill". Now, this man who is familiar with the voice of the Spirit, and speaking to the Lord, and maybe has seen him 'face to face' at this point, that same spirit that has led him to all these great blessings, is saying, "Kill this man." Sis. Stroud: I see Nephi reasoning with the Lord, saying, "now wait a minute, okay, but what about this, this and this...?" So, I see him actually stepping into a reasoning with Him. Student: Yea, I have to go back and say, I think he has received the Second Comforter at this point. To receive this kind of instruction through the Spirit, you have to really be in tune with Him. Mike: See, those are the things you think about. I don't know. In vs. 12, the Spirit says for the third time to "slay him", but look at the reasoning in vs. 13. Here's the great reason that the Lord puts in there to 'seal the deal'. 13 Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief. Let's talk about that for just a minute. What's he saying there? What's the reasoning? Here's the reasoning that the Lord gives for why he needs to take this man's life. Student: Yea, as you look at this, there's 2 kinds of 'perishes' here. They can perish in the flesh, and he's only there for a couple of God's hours, anyway, rather than all the people who will go to the Americas, Lehi's and Nephi's people, won't become like the Mulekites. I was thinking about it, and thought how Jerusalem would be sacked anyway and go into captivity, so they won't need the plates the way the Nephites will. Let's look at some words here. I'm going to have you circle some words here. Go to vs. 11, and Nephi says, "I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life;" Circle the word 'knew'. Let me show you an interesting chain here, how Nephi reasons with the Lord, and how his own mind opens up to the truth of what needs to be done. Go to vs. 14: "I remembered". Circle that word 'remembered'. Now to vs. 16: "I also knew". Circle the word 'knew'. Now, down to vs. 18: "I did obey". Circle that word 'obey'. Look at the sequence there. There's knowledge in 2 places, and that knowledge comes through revelation direct from the Spirit. There is also 'thinking back' of a promise that was made earlier: "I remembered" the words spoken by the Lord in the wilderness saying, 'Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise. I also thought that we could not keep the commandments of the Lord, according to the Law of Moses, if we didn't have the law.' So, see his thinking here? How can you keep the commandments if you don't have them? The Brass Plates contained the written record of all the commandments of God. If you don't have a written record, and you're simply trying to remember, that can become difficult in time. You may remember, but each generation that comes without it in writing, is going to lose something. By the time you get down 3 generations, it's going to be lost. Student: So, that's a principle, vs. a doctrine. Mike: It is. Student: It's also a covenant, actually. So, he remembered his covenant. So, if you look at the sequence here, and you see how Nephi wrestles with this, I really believe this is probably the most important thing he'll ever do. I think this seals Nephi's...remember when he said, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded..."? Let's see if you'll put your money where your mouth is here. You've said that. Now you're going to get a chance to do it. And, what we're seeing here in vs. 4 is the actual application of Nephi's faith shown in 1 Nephi 3:7. Sis. Stroud: Also, it costs blood to obtain the plates. Salvation always comes through blood. Mike: So, the third time is it. No salvation with persuasion. No salvation with purchase. Salvation only by blood, which becomes symbolic of Christ's blood. It's also interesting, if you switch this now, in vs. 13 is says, "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." That also becomes a symbol of Christ. If Christ didn't perish, the whole nation, or everybody, would dwindle and perish in unbelief. So, there are 2 sides to that. There's the negative side of having to kill a wicked man, but there's also the positive side, of a righteous, perfect man dying, so that the whole world doesn't perish. Well, Nephi kills Laban. He cuts off the head. Did you ever stop to think about that? Why cut off the head? Why didn't he just thrust him through with the sword? Student: I was kind of wondering about that. Mike: Because, anciently, cutting off the head of an enemy was the total annihilation of that person. You just did the job. The ancient enemies of Israel put the fear into the Israelites by beheading them and putting their heads on stakes. So, cutting off the head of an enemy is the ultimate way of executing a person. You

5 remove the intellect and anything that can think. You remove it right away from the rest of the body. Sis. Stroud: And there's no recovery from that. Mike: So, it is a total execution. The Indians also believe that. When the Americans were killed by the Indians, the bodies were just mutilated. They mutilated the genital area totally. They would take that away because then the person, in the next world, wouldn't be able to reproduce. They took away the persons ability to have children. They cut off the feet, and hands, and did all kinds of things like that, believing that when that body went to the next life, it went in with no hands, no feet, it couldn't move, it couldn't do anything. The Americans thought that was brutal, but the Indians were doing it for a purpose. The Indians wanted to make sure they wouldn't have to deal with them in the next world. "We've dealt with you here, but we don't want to deal with you again." That was the purpose of mutilation. Let's go on now. What Nephi does, is, he takes Laban's clothes and puts them on to disguise himself. He disguises his voice, takes Laban's keys, and finds the servant of Laban, whose name is Zoram. With these keys, they go to Laban's treasury. Let's skip down here. There's a whole bunch of different things we could talk about. After they have gotten the plates, and Zoram is following Nephi out, they come out to where the rest of Nephi's brothers are hiding, and let's go to vs. 28. And it came to pass that when Laman saw me he was exceedingly frightened, and also Lemuel and Sam. And they fled from before my presence; for they supposed it was Laban, and that he had slain me and had sought to take away their lives also. His brothers thought Nephi was Laban, and that Laban had killed their brother. 29 And it came to pass that I called after them, and they did hear me; wherefore they did cease to flee from my presence. There is an atonement symbol there. Until we hear the voice of the Spirit, in reality, we are enemies and we flee from the presence of God. As soon as we hear the voice of the Spirit and stop fleeing from His presence, then he can bless us. Continuing on down the scripture in vs. 31: And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord, therefore I did seize upon the servant of Laban, and held him, that he should not flee. Nephi was young, but he must have been a pretty good size. Nephi holds him until the servant makes an oath. Let's go to vs. 33. And I spake unto him, even with an oath, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.34 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. Now, an interesting thing, if you want to look at symbols, every time it says "go down", you can think symbolically of entering into mortality, have a place with my Father, that might be being adopted into the family of Christ. There could be lots of different answers to the symbols. The point is, in vs. 35, he makes an oath. It's interesting that as soon as he made this oath, go to vs. 37: And it came to pass that when Zoram had made an oath unto us, our fears did cease concerning him. All he had to do was say, "I promise". There was no legal agreements. Oaths, in this time, were very binding. A person would die before they would break their oath. Student: You see that later on in the B of M when the Lamanites came in and were losing the battle, and the Nephites told them if they made an oath not to come at them again, they would let them go home in peace. Mike: Yea, compare it with us now. You need attorneys and other attorneys and drawing up documents and notarizing, etc... Sis. Stroud: And then you still break the promise... Mike: But in those days, even non-christian, violent enemies of the Nephites, if you could get them to make oaths, they would cease fighting and go. We never had to fight those people again. Student: Elder Stroud, when you went to Jerusalem, did you ever wonder which direction Lehi went? Mike: I had an interesting experience there. The city of Jerusalem today is not the ancient city. The ancient city of Jerusalem is called the City of David. It was actually quite small, compared with what it is. You can see the ruins of the City of David. You can see where the walls were and you can see where Solomon's Temple was, etc... So, one night I went down there. I read this whole thing, and it was about dusk. I stood on one of the ancient ruins next to one of the old walls that has been excavated. I wondered then, if this wall was the one he came up to. When I stood, I looked down to the SW from Jerusalem, which was heading toward the Red Sea and off into the wilderness, which they went into. They went South-SW. I tried to picture in my mind these guys coming up and wondering just where Laban's house was, 'am I close to it'? I had the feeling that I was close to where all this had happened. So, yes, it was an interesting experience. Let's go to chapter 5. They return to the family, and apparently, Sariah had given Lehi a hard time. Look what she says in vs. 2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. Now let's look at vs. 4. And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren. Well, they come back. Go to vs. 7: And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted. Then she says, interesting testimony: 8 Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; Whenever I hear the word 'surety', I always pay close attention to that, because that word has special meaning in the gospel: things happened... "More sure word of prophecy", "making your calling and election sure". In the temple you'll use the word 'sure', so I pay

6 attention to that. So, right now, Sariah has received some information that she didn't have before. Go down a little: yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. Sis. Stroud: Did an angel or the Lord come and appear to her, because she seems to know more now? She goes from "Oh, we're going to die", to, 8 verses later, now she knows... Mike: Something has happened. If we had Lehi's books, we would probably have some information on this. But you're right. The change from vs. 2 to vs. 8 is dramatic. There's a big change there. When they get the plates, look what they do. The bottom of vs. 10, Lehi takes them and searches them: 10 And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning. Let's see what he learns from the plates. Vs. 11: And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents; Sis. Stroud: Usually, when you "search" something, you're looking for something specific. He didn't read, he didn't ponder, he didn't study, he searched them... I wonder what he was looking for? Mike: I think vs. 14 will tell us one of the things maybe you'll get really excited about. And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine. But, back to vs. 11, Lehi also finds "an account of the creation of the world". Didn't they have scriptures while they were living in Jerusalem? Is this the first time they've seen the scriptures? Here's another question. Is this the only set of records that contains the Books of Moses? See, the temple is built there, too. And the temple is functioning, even though it's in a semi-apostate state. So, Laban has this set of records in his treasure. Is this the only set of scriptures in all of Jerusalem, available? That's another thing you need to think of. Student: It might be that there's other scriptures around, but maybe it's not complete regarding genealogy that pertains to them alone. And also, maybe, like you said they were in a state of apostasy, maybe these Brass Plates were sitting in the treasury, dusted over, and not picked up, or searched by anyone. Mike: You would think so, but it also comes up and says it contains many of the prophecies of Jeremiah, who's alive right then. He's contemporary. So, they are updating the plates. They is stuff being added to those. Interesting thing is, that you don't hear about records on metal plates for this period of time. You do hear about records on parchment. You do hear about metal records kept in Babylon and some of the other nations. But, it's interesting that they have other records, but they're written on parchment, and some of them written on papyrus. Remember that they had free access to the Egyptians. That seems to be an interesting set of records that are kept separate. But, if Lehi was going to read the scriptures to his family for FHE, would he have access to other written records, besides the Brass Plates? I'd have to say, "yes". There has to be other records there. But, this one is kind of unique. This is one that appears to be handed down, and kept by Joseph. In fact, the Brass Plates have the records of some prophets that we don't find anywhere else in any written place, except the Brass Plates. Zenos, Zenock, Nahom, or Neum are all prophets on the Brass Plates that you don't find anywhere else. Not in the Bible or anywhere, they don't exist. But, there are prophecies on the Brass Plates from these great prophets. Some scholars thing that Zenos and Zenock were the sons or grandsons of Joseph and were prophet record-keepers that predate this period. So, is this a particular record that was started by Joseph, when he was in Egypt, and has now been carried on down to this point? We don't know, but it's a unique thing. Look at vs. 13: And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; (who is the king right now) and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah (who was contemporary). Student: Someone is keeping it up to date. Mike: Someone is. It's an ongoing record. Student: Where did you get those other names from? Mike: They came off the Brass Plates. They were in this record. It talks about them later in the B of M. In vs. 14 Lehi finds out that he was a descendant of Joseph: And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine. Skip on down to vs. 16: And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records. So, apparently, Lehi is related to Laban. They're both descendants of Joseph. Now, an interesting thing is, the majority of the population of Jerusalem at this time are NOT the descendants of Joseph. Most of them are descendants of Judah. As a matter of fact, Lehi goes out and says, "I prophesied to the Jews". Lehi is not a Jew. He's a Josephite. How does a Josephite end up down here in Judah, because Joseph is one of the "Lost 10 Tribes" that was carried away into a Syrian captivity several hundred years earlier? So, what is a descendant of Joseph doing down in the territory of Judah?

7 What happened was, the descendants of Joseph up in the northern kingdom were apostate, and they worshipped at a temple built up there, but it was an apostate temple. It was not authorized. The true worship of Jehovah was found at the temple of Solomon down in Jerusalem, so, some of the lost tribes who wanted to worship the true and living God, left their northern land of inheritance and moved down south. So, even though this is the territory of Judah, you do have some mixture of Joseph there, and Lehi and his colony is one of them. Vs. 17: And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed 18 That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed. 19 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed. Okay, so where are the original Brass Plates today? Student: They're probably with the original Gold Plates with Angel Moroni. Mike: Or, maybe in that Nephite library that's hidden somewhere. But, he says, "neither should they be dimmed any more by time". How is that prophecy right there fulfilled? We don't have the Brass Plates, but we have a modern record of them. The fact that we can read large portions of the Brass Plates containing this record fulfills that prophecy. They are not dimmed or hidden. Even in our time they're still available. Let's take 1 Nephi Chapter 6 real quick. It's a shortie. Nephi writes of the things of God Nephi s purpose is to persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham (Isaac and Jacob) and be saved. About B.C. I think that's good enough! We'll start next time in Chapter 7. We're not going to take everything and go over every word or we would be hung up forever here!