Nephi and his brothers have returned to their family in the wilderness. Sariah has been very afraid for their safety and questioned her husband for bringing them out into the wilderness.
7. And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted.
8. And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.
I don’t think it was just the return of her sons that softened Sariah’s heart. If she wanted to, she could have said that it was just a coincidence that the boys returned and that the Lord didn’t have a hand in it at all. I believe that the Lord had been whispering comfort to her during the latter part of the boys’ journey and she was able to recognize the spirit’s influence.
9. And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.
10. And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.
I found this very interesting that the first thing they did was to give thanks. Lehi must have wanted to get his hands on those plates pretty badly—it’s indicated that he only had a general idea of what was on them, and so he must not have seen them before. The curiosity must have been eating him up. But before he even looks at the plates, he gives thanks to God for giving him the means to get them and for preserving his sons’ lives.
11. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;
12. And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;
13. And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.
14. And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.
15. And they were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had preserved them.
As Lehi reads, he discovers writings that are similar to what we have in our scriptures today, with the creation of the world and the words of the prophets. He also reads about his genealogy and learns where he comes from. What a priceless bit of information to have!
I find it very interesting that he reads the story of how the people were led out of captivity by the hand of the Lord. That’s essentially what just happened to Lehi and his family – the hand of the Lord showed them the way to escape Lehi’s certain death, and they were being led across the wilderness to a place of safety.
From today’s reading: how important is our genealogy to us? Do we have copies of our family group sheets and pedigree charts? Are we seeking out our kindred dead, or leaving it to others? Nephi and his brothers nearly perished to obtain their genealogy—does that make it all seem more valuable?
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