Nephi and his family have been camped a short distance from Jerusalem while they took care of the remainder of their business with the city. Now with the brass plates and with new brides, they are ready to head out into the wilderness, never to look back. The first morning of their new lives, a discovery is made.
10. And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.
This ball, which would become known as the liahona, was a direct gift to Lehi from God. It just appeared in the night, not brought by human hands, but by the power of God. What an incredible thing to ponder. God can and will see to it that we have exactly what we need, even if we’re out in the middle of the desert and have no means of attaining it.
11. And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness, and all the remainder of our provisions which the Lord had given unto us; and we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness.
I find this completely incomprehensible. How do you take everything you’ll need for the rest of your life and form it into a bundle? This is a showing of strong faith. They are heading out into the unknown, taking what they can and trusting that God will provide the rest.
12. And it came to pass that we did take our tents and depart into the wilderness, across the river Laman.
13. And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days, nearly a south-southeast direction, and we did pitch our tents again; and we did call the name of the place Shazer.
14. And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our arrows, and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families; and after we had slain food for our families we did return again to our families in the wilderness, to the place of Shazer. And we did go forth again in the wilderness, following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, which were in the borders near the Red Sea.
15. And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, slaying food by the way, with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings.
16. And we did follow the directions of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.
This is even more incredible to me. The liahona didn’t just point the direction through the wilderness, but it changed purpose and showed them where to find food. It wasn’t just a compass, with a fixed goal to point north, but it led them in a circuitous route through the most fertile areas. I challenge any earthly engineer to come up with something like that!
17. And after we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families.
18. And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow, which was made of fine steel; and after I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.
Here we have a little indication that Nephi was the best hunter in the lot. Sure, they can give his bow all the credit, but a bow is only as good as the person who uses it.
19. And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.
I can’t even imagine walking through the wilderness in such a manner, slogging through sand, the women often carrying children in their arms or on their backs. They must have been truly hungry, and it’s easy to see why they would be disheartened and some even angry.
From today’s reading: do we find that we blame God more when our physical needs haven’t been met? How do our physical needs and our spiritual needs tie in together?
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