Laman and Lemuel's Most Righteous Days

In one section of my book "Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way," I discuss an extended period of righteous living for Laman and Lemuel which I call "Laman and Lemuel's Most Righteous Days." 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.

Laman and Lemuel’s Most Righteous Days

I used to assume that Laman and Lemuel never had an extended period of righteous living, but this does not appear to be the case. While sojourning in the wilderness, Lehi received a marvelous vison known as the vision of the tree of life. Lehi shared this vision with Laman and Lemuel and exhorted them to obey God's commandments.

Laman and Lemuel reacted positively to Lehi's exhortations. “They did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that [Nephi] had joy and great hopes of them” (1 Nephi 16:5). This was the beginning of a positive time of spirituality for Laman and Lemuel. From the time that they had repented of their rebellion while recruiting Ishmael’s family to the time that Nephi broke his bow in the wilderness, we read nothing about them rebelling or disobeying. Lehi’s words and warnings sunk deep into their hearts and gave them the courage to journey through the wilderness without complaining.

For many months, Laman and Lemuel became obedient and humble. They worked hard on their righteousness and sought to improve upon their weaknesses. They sought to understand the words of the prophets and obey the counsels of their parents. They hunted for food and made meaningful contributions to the group’s journey. Unfortunately, all this changed when their next trial hit.

Reverting Back to Their Old Ways

Later, while traveling through the wilderness, the group struggled to find food. In deep frustration, Laman and Lemuel murmured. They had been obediently following the Lord, and then this trial hit—a trial that they played no part in creating.

Laman and Lemuel could have easily thought: “We were doing everything we were supposed to, and now we have to go through hard things anyway? If we are going to suffer whether we obey or not, why obey at all?”

This trial was a turning point for Laman and Lemuel. Before, they had been doing so well at following the Lord. Now, Nephi tells us: “My brethren … hardened their hearts again, even unto complaining against the Lord their God” (1 Nephi 16:22, italics added). Laman and Lemuel stopped humbling themselves; they stopped believing in good things to come. Their journey became nothing but one miserable experience after another.

How many of us have faced a similar point in our lives, where we must decide, both during and after a trying experience, how we will react, and the type of person we will become?

Unfortunately, Laman and Lemuel began to turn their backs on the path of the Lord. They reverted back to their old ways—and worse. How tragic, for in many ways, this was the worst of it. After this, their difficulties were going to be greatly eased (see 1 Nephi 17:2–3). One can only wonder what would have happened if they had decided to stay true and complete their journey without murmuring.

Laman and Lemuel lacked spiritual consistency, and spiritual inconsistency usually comes from a lack of total conversion. How many times do we read of Laman and Lemuel humbling themselves before the Lord? Yet how often do we read of them murmuring and rebelling? [i]

Never Fully Converted

Laman and Lemuel were never fully converted to the vision of the promised land. As a result, they were almost always prone to complaining.

Person

Vision

Means

Level of Murmuring

Nephi

Gained the vision early

Through prayer

Never murmured

Sam

Gained the vision early

Through Nephi’s words and example

Never murmured

Lehi

Gained the vision fairly early

Through scripture study

(the brass plates)

Murmured once after gaining the vision

Sariah

Gained the vision fairly early

Through trial

Murmured once before gaining the vision

Laman and Lemuel

Never fully gained the vision

Despite abundant prayer, study, example, and trial

Only had one period of life where they did not murmur


Just because one person murmured and another did not is not sufficient reason to assume that one was more righteous than another. Rather, Nephi uses these things to powerfully illustrate why we murmur, and how we can avoid murmuring through trusting in the Lord’s vision for our lives.

For more thoughts on these things, pick up a copy of my book "Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way," available in both printed and eBook editions from Amazon. Thanks for reading.



[i] See Bruce C. Hafen, Spiritually Anchored in Unsettled Times, 71–96.





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