1 Nephi 3

The Lord commands Nephi and his brothers, through Lehi, to obtain plates of brass from Laban. On the plates are "the record of the Jews" and "a genealogy of my forefathers" (verse 3).

One thing this chapter makes abundantly clear is that obtaining the plates is a commandment from the Lord. This is mentioned at least a half-dozen times, in verses 2,3,5,7,15 and 16, where I stopped counting. I don't remember the upcoming text well enough to know how important the plates are within the text. (Of course, the argument clearly can (and perhaps ought to) be made that the plates have more of an eternal significance.)

Nephi, Laman, Lemeul, and (presumably--v28) Sam try two tactics to get the plates from Laban. First, Laman asked for them (verse 11). This fails. Laman & Lemuel want to return to the wilderness, but Nephi convinces them to try again (verse 21) with two arguments:

1. The preservation of the language of their fathers. (v19)
2. The preservation the words spoken by the holy prophets. (v20)

Given how Laman and Lemuel are portrayed throughout the Book of Mormon, including at the end of this chapter, it's remarkable that (a) they can be convinced at all; and (b) that these arguments in particular work. I don't want to speculate why.

So, they try again, attempting to buy the plates with the gold, silver, and precious things they left behind in their trip to the wilderness (verse 22-26). This doesn't work either and Laban tries to kill them, but they successfully hide.

Laman and Lemuel are now quite upset and start beating Nephi and Sam with a rod. An angel intervenes and tells them to try again--and the Lord will deliver them into their hands.

The angel leaves and Laman and Lemuel murmur again: "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man..." (v31)

Perhaps the sin of Laman and Lemuel is allowing the supernatural to become so commonplace that they no longer treat it with the respect it deserves. I imagine my first thought if an angel visited me would be more along the lines of: "Holy crap, an angel visited me!" Not: "hmm...I think he's wrong about that."

It's one of the things I've been thinking about: because I don't go to church often, I enjoy it when I do. But I know of so many people who are burned out on it because, after years and years it has become commonplace. I go, and I see wonder. If I went every week, would I still see the wonder or would it become tedium?

How do you maintain that sense of awe?

[[Complete 1 Nephi 3]]