Have ye inquired of the Lord

Among the more tragic and instructive accounts in the Book of Mormon is Nephi’s experience with his brothers following his own revelatory experience learning the meaning of Lehi’s dream. As Nephi rejoins his family he finds his brothers “disputing one with another concerning the things which [their] father had spoken unto them” (1 Nephi 15:2). It seems this would have likely been quite a jolt to see his brothers behaving so. Having just enjoyed a magnificent spiritual experience, he is brought back to earth, so to speak, by the disputing of his brothers. Clearly, a behavior that is not inspired of God and foreign from what he had experienced with the Holy Ghost (see 3 Nephi 11:28-29).

Nephi acknowledges that Lehi’s words “were hard to be understood,” unless “a man should inquire of the Lord.” However, Nephi provides this inspired, yet tragic, explanation regarding his brothers’ behavior - “they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought” (1 Nephi 15:3). Notice, their is no exclusion of Sam in this explanation. Hard heartedness is Book of Mormon speak for pride. Hard hearts resist the promptings of the Spirit, while soft hearts receive the Spirit’s promptings. Therefore, a precept to be derived is that when we have prideful hard hearts we do not look to the Lord for understanding as we should for guidance and direction. As a result, we do not receive answers to the questions with which we are struggling.

At this point in the story we get a glimpse into Nephi’s character as it develops through the various refining experiences with which he is confronted. Instead of anger or frustration, Nephi explains he “was grieved.” To be grieved is to feel grief. Grief is defined as “deep sorrow, especially that caused by someone's death.” Assuming Nephi’s choice of the word “grieved” was deliberate, Nephi seems to have felt as though someone died. Why? First, “because of the hardness of [Laman and Lemuel’s] hearts.” How could you not feel deep sorrow over Laman’s and Lemuel’s hearts? While Nephi was seeing and hearing so much, Laman and Lemuel were seeing and hearing so little. Like Lehi, Nephi wanted Laman and Lemuel to partake, just like he had. Such feelings accompany the sincere disciple.

The second reason may have been a greater source of deep sorrow - “because of the things which I had seen, and knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men” (1 Nephi 15:4). Nephi had just witnessed for himself the future of humanity which included significant death and destruction because of pride. The revelation he had received was the same as that of John recorded in the book of Revelation in the Holy Bible (see 1 Nephi 14:18-30). Both saw the depth of humanity’s latter-day wickedness and the resulting destruction and suffering. Seeing such things regarding our own posterity, any of us would feel a profound grief.

Understandably, this was all overwhelming. Nephi explains, “I was overcome because of my afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all, because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall” (1 Nephi 15:5). This whole experience drained him physically and spiritually. Nevertheless, “it came to pass that after [Nephi] had received strength,” further evidence of the depth of his pain, Nephi “spake unto [his] brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations” (1 Nephi 15:6). Determined discipleship includes reaching out to others to see if they can help.

His brothers answered, “Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles” (1 Nephi 15:7). This suggests yet another precept to be derived - prideful lack of understanding a prophet’s words contributes to disputations, including disputations about the gospel and the Lord’s revelations. Furthermore, understanding the things of God does not come of disputation but of revelation - not just to the original receiver of revelation, but to all who seek to understand and apply it.

Given this situation and personal experience with coming to understand the word of the Lord, Nephi asks the question for the ages, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?” (1 Nephi 15:8). As is often the case, an inspired question brings everything into focus. This is a question we can and should ask of ourselves whenever we find ourselves struggling to understand the words of a prophet. It serves as a precept to which we can adhere and thereby draw closer to God.

As inspiring and instructive as Nephi’s question is, his brothers’ answer is equally depressing - “We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us” (1 Nephi 15:9). This is an error of judgment of such consequence the significance of their error cannot be overstated. The message of the Book of Mormon is just the opposite. The promise is that if we will ask God will reveal the “truth of all things” (Moroni 10:4-5).

In response to their uninspired conclusion, Nephi asks three fabulously instructive principles from which we can derive critical precepts:

• How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?
• How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?
• Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

Gospel understanding comes of obedience to God’s law, humility, and asking inspired and sincere questions. Why is this so? It is because understanding and knowing the things of God requires much more than cognition. It requires application to truly know. As Neal A. Maxwell taught:

Therefore, gaining knowledge and becoming more Christlike “are two aspects of a single process” (Warner, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 4, p. 1490). This process is part of being “valiant” in our testimony of Jesus. Thus, while we are saved no faster than we gain a certain type of knowledge, it is also the case, as Richard Bushman has observed, that we will gain knowledge no faster than we are saved (Teachings, p. 217). So we have a fundamentally different understanding of knowledge and truth—behaving and knowing are inseparably linked.

So defined, the gospel is inexhaustible because there is not only so much to know, but also so much to become! The vital truths are not merely accumulated in the mind but are expressed in life as well.

Intelligence is “the glory of God,” as we all know. It is defined as “light and truth” (D&C 93:36). The revelations also inform us that if we have “more knowledge and intelligence in this life,” we will have “so much the advantage in the world to come” (D&C 130:18–19). I do not pretend to be able to be definitive with regard to this last verse, but, clearly, what we carry forward, brothers and sisters, involves developing our capacity for cognition as well as application. This sets us apart from the world. I hope we understand some of the implications of all these things. Certainly, what we will carry forward is more than what we now term as IQ or databases. It is the entire being of the individual. Hence our approach to knowledge, truth, and wisdom is markedly different (https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/neal-a-maxwell_inexhaustible-gospel/).

Nephi’s questions to his brothers adds further light to an earlier precept regarding murmuring and not understanding the things of God (1 Nephi 2:12). Laman’s and Lemuel’s lack of knowing the things of God was the result of disobedience, pride, and not asking God. By not knowing the things of God, murmuring is the natural outgrowth. Left unchecked, these circumstances compound and a downward cycle toward destruction commences. As Alma explains later in the Book of Mormon,

And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell (Alma 12:11).

In summary, the precepts to be derived are that obedience, humility, and sincere seeking result in understanding the words of prophets. Without all three we simply will not come to understand the things of God. Instead of becoming more Christlike we become more Laman/Lemuellike -  murmuring, mocking, and abusing the faithful. This has been my experience. When I sincerely strive to obey, to be humble, and to sincerely seek to understand the word of God through his prophets he is generous in helping me understand and apply his word. Sometimes this requires sustained effort over an extended period of time. For me, at times, it has required decades of searching and learning to apply. Generally, these extended periods of learning and applying are the result of my disobedience, pride, and insincere seeking. But as my obedience, humility, and sincerity improve, unlike Laman’s and Lemuel’s belief, God does make such things known!