All attempts to get the brass plates from Laban have failed, and Laman is out of patience. Taking up a rod, he begins to smite Nephi and Sam, Lemuel joining him.
29. And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.
30. And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed.
It must have been terrifying to see an angel of the Lord descending upon them, especially when Laman and Lemuel were in such a state of removal from the Spirit that such a visitation was new to them. Equally hard to take must have been the pronouncement that Nephi would someday rule over them. They are already jealous of Nephi and his place of favor in the family, and now to hear that he will someday be their ruler must have just rubbed them raw. But the angel had told them to stop beating Nephi, and so they did, but that doesn’t mean they understood everything else that was said.
31. And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?
They have just seen an angel, and yet they don’t believe the Lord has enough power to subdue Laban, who is just a man.
The more I read about Laman and Lemuel, the more I think Satan must have gotten ahold on their hearts early. Perhaps the opposition was trying to foil Lehi and Nephi in any way he could, knowing what a tremendous force for good the stories as later recorded and translated would be to millions of people. Laman and Lemuel have seen countless miracles in their lives, and yet their hearts are so hardened. How could they have gotten that way? These are young men, probably in their early twenties, with their whole lives ahead of them. Surely the opposition was working overtime on this family to bring about so much contention.
From today’s reading: How often do we have a tendency to think that our problems are bigger and more powerful than God? Do we hesitate to give God our problems, thinking that He’s not capable of taking care of them? Or do we recognize that He is the source of all power and there can be no power without Him? What can we do to strengthen our testimony of His strength?
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