I have been avoiding doing the write up on this chapter. The main reason for this is that I think the content of this chapter is somewhat difficult to explain why Nephi had to kill Laban, kidnap Zoram, and steal the plates. The explanation given in Chapter 4 is good enough for me but I can sympathize with people who don't accept it.
Nephi is told the kill Laban and Nephi immediately says No! He says that he has never before killed anyone and won't do it. I imagine a scene in front of a large stone building where Laban has just staggered out, he has been celebrating the new acquisition of the tremendous wealth he got by stealing it from Lemuel. He is so drunk that he has passed out like a vagrant in front of the building. Nephi comes walking up and basically starts talking to himself. He is told by the spirit to kill Laban. I have been through this before. I know what it means to have a thought come into my mind that is not mine. Nephi must have been pretty familiar with this happening because he doesn't question its source. He immediately wrestles with himself, at least that is what it looks like to the outside observer.
The reason he is given is that it is better that one man should die than a whole nation going forward without a knowledge of their history. At this point we are given a glimpse of what is going to happen and that God indeed has a large plan for Nephi and his family. Very soon we learn of the genealogical reason for having these plates. Later in the scriptures we also learn what happens when a nation does not have a record like this.
Later in the chapter we also get some information that I never learned until I heard it from a teacher somewhere along the line. The power of an oath. In the movies we have heard about "in the old days" how men could make contracts just by giving their word, or by shaking on it. In those days, as in Nephi's time, if you said "I promise..." then it was for sure going to happen. Today, it means virtually nothing. Finding someone who is a good as their word is like finding a treasured and rare antique. Now you have to have a contract and a notary and a witness and a lawyer and eventually a judge, and even then it seems justice is rarely had.
1 Nephi Chapter 4
I have been avoiding doing the write up on this chapter. The main reason for this is that I think the content of this chapter is somewhat difficult to explain why Nephi had to kill Laban, kidnap Zoram, and steal the plates. The explanation given in Chapter 4 is good enough for me but I can sympathize with people who don't accept it.
Nephi is told the kill Laban and Nephi immediately says No! He says that he has never before killed anyone and won't do it. I imagine a scene in front of a large stone building where Laban has just staggered out, he has been celebrating the new acquisition of the tremendous wealth he got by stealing it from Lemuel. He is so drunk that he has passed out like a vagrant in front of the building. Nephi comes walking up and basically starts talking to himself. He is told by the spirit to kill Laban. I have been through this before. I know what it means to have a thought come into my mind that is not mine. Nephi must have been pretty familiar with this happening because he doesn't question its source. He immediately wrestles with himself, at least that is what it looks like to the outside observer.
The reason he is given is that it is better that one man should die than a whole nation going forward without a knowledge of their history. At this point we are given a glimpse of what is going to happen and that God indeed has a large plan for Nephi and his family. Very soon we learn of the genealogical reason for having these plates. Later in the scriptures we also learn what happens when a nation does not have a record like this.
Later in the chapter we also get some information that I never learned until I heard it from a teacher somewhere along the line. The power of an oath. In the movies we have heard about "in the old days" how men could make contracts just by giving their word, or by shaking on it. In those days, as in Nephi's time, if you said "I promise..." then it was for sure going to happen. Today, it means virtually nothing. Finding someone who is a good as their word is like finding a treasured and rare antique. Now you have to have a contract and a notary and a witness and a lawyer and eventually a judge, and even then it seems justice is rarely had.