Laman and Lemuel have been chastened (again) and all is well in the little campsite. Food has been provided to the travelers and they are ready to resume their journey.
1. And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.
When I first read this, my thought was, “How terrible to give birth out in the wilderness.” But then I realized, it probably wasn’t too different from giving birth at home. The attendants to the birth would have been their mother and sisters, and they had those women with them. I’m also sure the women had foresight to bring whatever healing herbs they might need along with them. While I’m sure it wasn’t the most ideal setting, it’s not as though they were trying to do without medical care – they didn’t have it anyway.
2. And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.
I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I don’t exactly perceive raw meat to be a blessing, won’t you?
3. And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
This is where the blessing comes in. Because of the faithfulness of Lehi’s family and their willingness to be submissive to the will of the Lord, they were strengthened and all things went well for them, in having children, being healthy and strong, having enough to eat, and so forth. God can and will intercede with miracles on our behalf when we demonstrate our willingness to follow Him.
4. And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, *even eight years in the wilderness.
5. And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, , because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.
I can’t imagine traveling for eight years without seeing the end of my journey. I’ve driven cross-country nonstop from Virginia to Utah, and that was enough for me. This type of expedition took exceedingly great faith and diligence on the part of Lehi and his family. For great stretches of their trip, they had no idea where they were, and had to depend solely on the Liahona to guide them. How lost would we be today without our maps and our GPS systems – would we be willing to wander around in the desert without technology to tell us where to go?
6. And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.
Imagine for a minute – you’ve been wandering around in the desert for over eight years. I don’t know how much fruit was available to the travelers up until that point, but we’ve mainly seen them eat meat. Fruit in abundance must have been such a welcome change in their diets.
From today’s reading: what can we do to prepare ourselves to be led by the Lord without feeling as though we must rely on the arm of flesh instead?
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