Nephi has been commanded to build a ship, trusting the Lord to show him what to do. He asked where to find the ore necessary to form the tools he would need, and the Lord led him to the right place. He’s now ready to undertake the next step of the task—making the tools.
16. And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.
17. And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters.
Are we surprised that Laman and Lemuel are murmuring? You’d think that by now, they’d figure out that they are being led by the hand of God and that He is sovereign over all, but they aren’t ready to admit any such thing. All they can think about is the fact that Nephi has never built a ship before, so therefore, he must be a fool to think he can do it now.
18. And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.
It’s also not surprising that they don’t want to help. They’ve done remarkably little work on this journey and the hard stuff has fallen to Nephi. This just goes to show that men (and women) of faith can accomplish much more with the Lord’s help than they could on their own.
We should also keep in mind that Lehi was a man of some wealth back in Jerusalem, and we really don’t know what kinds of labor Laman and Lemuel were used to doing. It’s possible that working with their hands was completely foreign to them, and their attitude isn’t helping the learning process here at all.
19. And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.
Does this sound like a little bit of a scriptural “nanny, nanny, nanny, you can’t do it!” to you? That’s the mental image I get.
20. And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflictions.
I have to say, I find this sort of funny. Up until now, the brothers have been more concerned about their own skin and their own stomachs than anyone else’s. I have no doubt that they cared about their wives and children, but the way they’re bringing it up here makes it sound to me like they’re pulling out all the stops on their pity party.
From today’s reading: when we’re asked to do something hard, do we take the Nephi approach and do our best, or do we take the Laman and Lemuel approach and whine our way through it?
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