Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way

In one section of my book " Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way ," I ask this simple question: Why was Laban drunk and unguarded? For simplicity, I will dive right into the message of this post, but for more background on these events, feel free to visit the  About Page. Why Was Laban Drunk and Unguarded? To me, the answer to this question seems quite simple: Laban was drunk because he was celebrating his newly stolen possessions. He had just robbed Nephi and Lehi of all their earthly possessions, and was therefore quite delighted to revel in his evil acquisitions. Why was Laban unguarded? Where were his servants? Those fifty guards that Laman and Lemuel were so concerned about? They were probably still out searching for Nephi and his brothers. No wonder Nephi had been commanded to return to Jerusalem right away. Could there have been any other time when Laban was both drunk and unguarded, rendering him completely defenseless? Were there other times when Laban was pa...

In my book " Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way ," I outline how the entire book of 1 Nephi contains three well-structured chiasmus.  For simplicity, I will dive right into the message of this post, but for more background on these events, feel free to visit the  About Page. The three conceptual chiasmus I will discuss from 1 Nephi are labeled as Chiasmus 1, Chiasmus 2A, and Chiasmus 2B. Chiasmus 1: The Entire Book of 1 Nephi (1 Nephi 1–22) The First Half of 1 Nephi (ch. 1–13) The Second Half of 1 Nephi (ch. 13–22) A) Lehi preaches and prophesies before leaving Jerusalem (ch. 1). A') Nephi preaches and prophesies after arriving in the promised land (ch. 19-22). B) The Lord commands Lehi to depart Jerusalem (ch. 2). B') The Lord commands Lehi to sail for the promised land (ch. 18). C) The Valley of Lemuel: The group stops at their first resting place, the valley of L...

In one section of my book " Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way ," I ask this question: Was Nephi's group aimlessly wandering or being led by the Lord? For simplicity, I will dive right into the message of this post, but for more background on these events, feel free to visit the  About Page. Wandering or Direction? At one point while Nephi's group was journeying towards the promised land, the daughters of Ishmael complained: "We have wandered much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness" (1 Nephi 16:35, italics added). There was no evidence to suggest that the group was aimlessly wandering. Quite the opposite. All the evidence pointed to the fact that the Lord was guiding them towards the promised land. The two strongest points of evidence were these: (1) they had been consistently following a specific direction, and (2) they had experienc...

In one section of my book " Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way ," I discuss one of Sariah's greatest trials. She had to let her young sons return to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates. For simplicity, I will dive right into the message of this post, but for more background on these events, feel free to visit the  About Page. Assumptions and Anxiety Nephi records: “[Sariah] supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also … complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 5:2). Sariah had waited and prayed for her sons’ safe return. But as days turned into weeks, she assumed her sons had died in the wilderness and she deeply mourned their loss.  This was an easy assumption to make. Anxiety is a funny thing. It causes us to worry about things that might never be. Our minds torment us wit...