How is it possible?

How is it possible?

One of the great blessings provided by the Book of Mormon is the contrast between the faithless and the faith-filled. There is a particularly poignant moment early in the book between Nephi and his brothers.

After two failed attempts to retrieve the plates from Laban, that included losing property in a failed attempt to purchase the plates, Laman and Lemuel became violent toward Nephi and Sam. During the violence “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” (1 Nephi 3:29.) With the message delivered, the angel departs.

I have learned to love the questions of the scriptures, particularly those spoken by the Lord and his servants. Imagine being Laman and Lemuel. You are doing something which is anything but inspired of God and suddenly an angel is asking you a question “Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?” There is no mention of the angel physically restraining Laman and Lemuel. The angel simply asks a question, why are you doing what you are doing? In response, Laman and Lemuel stopped their violence. What a marvelous question to ask ourselves, or one another, at any time - but particularly when we are not doing good.

The angel’s questioning why Laman and Lemuel were beating Nephi is followed immediately by an another question. Actually, it is more an announcement than a statement, “Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?” (See 1 Nephi 2:22).There is no mention of Nephi having shared the Lord’s choosing him to be a ruler over his brothers with anyone prior to this angelic announcement. Nephi may have been wondering if it was his place to make such an announcement. Or, maybe he did not understood what was meant by his ruling over his brothers. Maybe he was concerned about how Laman and Lemuel would react. Regardless Nephi’s reasoning for withholding his promised role as ruler, the heavenly decree was now out in the open.

With the two questions asked, the angel finishes his intervention with an instruction, “Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.” He then departs, leaving the four brothers alone. It seems the two questions and the announcement about Nephi being their ruler had already been forgotten once the angel told them to return to Jerusalem. In fact, all they seem to focus on was the instruction, not the announcement about Nephi's divinely appointed role.

Laman’s and Lemuel’s lack of spiritual maturity is made abundantly clear by their two questions after the angel departs, “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? (1 Nephi 3:31) Really? How could God deliver Laban into their hands? How could the creator of the universe, the God who defeated the armies of Egypt, how could this God deliver one lowly man? Even if they did not believe accounts of God being the creator of the universe or the conqueror of Egypt, they themselves had been shaken physically just days before (see 1 Nephi 2:11-14). They knew first hand a small part of God's power. And, they had just seen an angel that had dealt with them by simply asking a question. Now they were asking how God could possibly deal with a Laban and however many he commanded?

As easy as it is to scratch my head over Laman and Lemuel, I have to wonder how many times I have been Laman and Lemuel and wondered how God could ever do something he promised, or something in which I have been involved. For example, when I was a young man President Kimball shared his vision for how the gospel would be preached to the entire world. I remember him speaking of teaching souls currently behind the Iron Curtain and wondering “how is it possible?” Little did I know that just a few years later, in a rather miraculous way, the people overwhelmed the wall for all the world to see and I ended up in Russia witnessing the miraculous change first hand.

In contrast, faithful Nephi responds to Laman’s and Lemuel’s faithless questions with a rallying cry and a question of his own. Having heard the same angel’s command and promise, Nephi exhorts, “Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?” (1 Nephi 4:1.) Nephi's understanding of God's nature and capacity was fundamentally different from Laman's and Lemuel's. With this understanding, Nephi continues, “Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; 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” (1 Nephi 4:2.) The story of the Lord saving the people of Israel from Pharaoh's armies was as common knowledge as sunshine to ancient Israel. Nephi leveraged this knowledge in his rallying cry. With that said, Nephi calls for action, “Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 4:3.) Indeed, how is it that Laman and Lemuel could doubt having had the experiences they had had with God shaking them and now with an angel? This is a question that is answered over and over again throughout the Book of Mormon (see https://www.themostcorrectbook.org/2021/02/question-why-is-it-that-ye-can-be-so.html for a summary of why people doubt in the Book of Mormon).

In response, Laman and Lemuel, “were yet wroth, and did still continue to murmur; nevertheless they did follow” Nephi to “the walls of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 4:4.) We should not always expect followers to be happy, despite our most sincere efforts to help them make good choices.

What are the precepts to be derived from this account? First, it seems there is a slippery slope by which our murmuring, mocking, anger, and violence can quickly lead to our questioning God’s power to accomplish his purposes. Therefore, we should avoid murmuring, mocking, anger, and violence. Second, the faithless can be stirred to at least go along with those seeking to do God’s will, even while not being happy about it. Therefore, we should give no heed to the murmuring, mocking, anger, and violence and instead encourage faithfulness to God to help achieve his purposes. Third, our questions reveal a great deal about our faith. Therefore, we should learn to ask inspired questions. For me, these precepts have proven incredibly helpful in my desire to draw closer to God, when I abide by them.

CB