Why Did Laman Deny Seeing an Angel?

In one section of my book "Nephi's Journey: The Lord Prepares a Way," I ask this question: Why did Laman deny seeing an angel? 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.

It’s Not Too Late to Go Back

At one point while Lehi's group was traveling through the wilderness, Laman rebelled and tried to convince the group to return to Jerusalem. He declared: "Let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi," and return to Jerusalem (1 Nephi 16:37).

Why did Laman want to kill Nephi as part of this rebellion? Was Nephi’s death really necessary for the group to be able to return to Jerusalem? Perhaps Laman was already anticipating that Nephi would speak the words of the Lord to convince the group to stay, as he had done so many times before.

Laman was assuming the worst about the wilderness, and the best about Jerusalem. He was still envisioning life in Jerusalem to be the exact same as when they had left it at its decadent high. But that was impossible. Life never stands still.

Laman Denies Seeing an Angel

After threatening Nephi with death, Laman claimed that he had never seen an angel. He claimed that Nephi had worked this miracle “by his cunning arts” (1 Nephi 16:38). Laman also tried to claim that Nephi had worked many of the other miracles they had experienced by his cunning arts. He was trying to discredit the evidence of the Divine. This was the crux of his rebellion. If he could prove that the Lord was not guiding them, then they would have an excuse to return to Jerusalem.

Laman claimed: Nephi is trying to “lead us away into some strange wilderness; and after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure” (1 Nephi 16:38). Laman was assigning evil motives to Nephi, the same evil motives which Laman himself would later prove to possess (see 2 Nephi 5:3–4). Nephi had no such desires. Nothing was further from his heart. In this regard, Nephi and Laman were completely different people. They spoke two entirely different languages. Laman cared about power and arbitrary dominion over people. Nephi only cared about obedience to the Lord.

Why Did Laman Deny the Angelic Visit?

Of all the things that Laman could have denied, why did he choose to deny the angelic visit? It is because he knew that the angel had declared that “the Lord hath chosen [Nephi] to be a ruler over you” (1 Nephi 3:29). If Laman was going to claim that Nephi was an evil leader, he would also have to claim that the angelic visit had been fraudulent. How else could Laman say that Nephi’s leadership was malicious and self-appointed? How else could he discredit the evidence of the Divine? Had an angel of the Lord given Nephi a divine mandate to lead the group to the promised land, or had Nephi worked these things “by his cunning arts, … that he may lead [them] away into some strange wilderness?” (1 Nephi 16:38).

Note how much Laman’s narrative has changed over time. Earlier, in 1 Nephi 7, Laman did not try to deny that he had seen an angel. It had happened too recently. However, a number of months later, when enough time had passed and his memory had faded, he started to claim that the angelic visit was some kind of trick Nephi had perpetrated on them. This was a ridiculous claim he never would have made just one month after the visit. To me, these subtle but true-to-life changes to Laman’s murmurings are strong evidence that a significant amount of time actually had passed in his life; and this is because he was a real person; and this is because the Book of Mormon is exactly what it purports to be.

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.