The Extra Details

Nephi 7

9 And it came to pass that they rejoiced exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

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.

First off, how blessed we are to have such easy access to the scriptures. We don’t have to take two weeks to go get our scriptures to study the word of God. The word of God fits in our pockets on our devices. We have constant access to what our modern prophet is telling us today, and we have the technology to see the apostles and prophets live when they speak to us. Also, this showed how much Lehi valued knowing their heritage.

However… consider this—where, in this chapter, did Nephi talk about what he went through to get those plates? This is something that I had never considered before. His brothers an extreme detriment to their cause, and they beat him with and Sam with sticks. What is the story behind that? There aren’t minute details in the Book of Mormon.  What were they probably saying the entire way there? What were they yelling at him? I wonder how many times they threatened him. We don’t know. But we know it must have happened.

Not only that, but we don’t know how Nephi told his dad that he had to kill Laban to get the plates. Nor do we know how Lehi must have responded. What a conversation that must have been. As Mr. Griffin showed in class:

“Hey… dad? I need to talk to you.”

“Sure son! What’s on your mind?”

“Well. Dad... You see. To get those plates?”

“…yes?”

“Dad… I was commanded to kill Laban. This… this is his sword.”

“You…” *Long silence as they both look at the plates.* “What… why is God asking us to do this?”

“I don’t know, Dad.”

That’s the other thing—Nephi was commanded to write these smaller plates. He didn’t know why, he just knew that he was supposed to. Sometimes we are asked to do things, and we just don’t know why. It’s a very funny thing, learning to put all of your trust in your Father in Heaven. Somehow we can learn to do it though. Nephi learned how to get personal revelation, and act on what he knew he was commanded to do. There is a quote by Julie B. Beck: "The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." This is a difficult ability to acquire! But isn't it incredible that we can get revelation from our Father in Heaven that knows all things? We can trust Him, and we will be an instrument in his hands.