Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 5
"after ye have arrived to the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God" (80). They
would not be deserted once they reached the land of America.
OPPOSITION BY NEPHI'S BROTHERS, VER. 84-102
1 Ne 5:86 Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship;
5: 86 Nephi proceeded in faith, and he records simply, "I did make tools of the ore which I did
molten out of the rock" (84).
It is quite likely that at this point Nephi showed the tools to the group and announced the plan as
given to him by the Lord. With their characteristic faithless and negative attitudes, his brethren
ridiculed Nephi and perverted his words. They had no confidence in his ability to make a
seaworthy ship and did not accept his report that the design would be the Lord's, nor that He
would show Nephi how to construct the vessel (89, 92).
1 Ne 5:91 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,
5:91 A traditional hymn for the opening of our World Conferences has this line: "Our foes have
rejoiced when our sorrows they've seen." Building a ship to cross the ocean was not a petty matter,
and Laman and his followers had a right to voice honest convictions. They were wrong in
doubting Nephi and God, since never had either deceived them or led them astray. Men who listen
to the lying spirit of the devil will be led away and become his servants. (See also II N. 1:101-103,
120, 121.)
Robert Burns lamented that "man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn." Christ's
gospel is based on an entirely different spirit: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt.
22:38).
1 Ne 5:95 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;
5:95 The skepticism and resistance of Laman and Lemuel is understandable. Family life as they
conceived it was impossible for those who were not fixed to the land. They wanted to enjoy this
Garden of Eden and make homes for their wives and children. It was hard to believe that God
would require them to risk further hardships in launching out on the uncharted ocean in a
"homemade" ship. In spite of their chronic negativism, it is to the credit of Laman and Lemuel that
they had a deep concern for their women and children. They marshaled the best arguments they
could muster to avoid the labor, hardships, and hazards of a further venture into the unknown.
They remembered the life in Jerusalem and contrasted it with their years of travel in the
wilderness, "which time we might have enjoyed our possessions, and the land of our inheritance"
(97)
1 Ne 5:99 For they kept the statutes and the judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments
according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people;