Nephi has earnestly preached to Laman and Lemuel, trying to help them understand the importance of repentance. He has explained to them that if they do not repent, they will end up in endless torment. Even though his words aren’t pleasant, an undertone of pleading surrounds his words, and we can sense how badly Nephi just wants his brothers to listen and to change their ways.
1. And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.
2. And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
3. And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.
4. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren, with all diligence, to keep the commandments of the Lord.
Nephi isn’t going to let his brothers off the hook. They murmur, feeling sorry for themselves that Nephi has been so hard on them, but he points out in plain language that he has only been hard on them because of the depth of their iniquity. He’s not letting their pity party sway him from the importance of his message. He’s speaking to them kindly, but firmly, and he is speaking the truth as directed by the Spirit.
5. And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness.
6. Now, all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.
As we read verse five, we hear Nephi saying that he had joy and great hopes for his brethren. They finally listened. They finally humbled themselves. After years of preaching and praying and exhorting and watching them stumble all over themselves sinning and trying to justify their sin, the brothers are changing their ways. The joy and relief the entire family must have felt at this! I can’t help but wonder, though, if Nephi doesn’t know that they’ll eventually return to their old ways. He has seen their destruction in vision, but people change and so does their future. I wonder if he knows this righteousness is short-lived, or if he believed it to be permanent.
As we take the scriptures into our own lives and apply today’s reading, what resolves have we made, only to turn around and break them? I’m reminded of the “lose weight” goals we all set on January 1st, only to abandon by the middle of February. How much more devastating is it to turn our back on spiritual goals?
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