Malachi 1

The first thing that struck me is that the Lord said he "hated Esau" in verse 3.  People always say, and I have agreed, that the Lord loves everyone.  I'll have to do some more studying and see if that is scriptural.

Back in those days they were supposed to sacrifice the lamb without blemish, the finest of birds, the best they had.  In verse 7 it says they "offer polluted bread upon mine altar".  They were surprised at the rebuke, "wherin have we polluted thee?".  Verse 8 talks of them sacrificing the blind and lame and sick.  Then in verse 13 the people had said, "what a weariness is it!"

Now we are to offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  Do I offer a lame and sickly offering and expect the Lord to be pleased?  Do I think it is a "weariness" to sacrifice for the Lord?  In verse 14 He says "for I am a great King".  I should be jumping at the opportunity to offer my best for Him.  It shouldn't be hard or a "weariness".

1 Nephi 3:1 -- Speaking with the Lord

Nephi doesn't just pray, he speaks with the Lord. If I leave a message on your answering machine, I don't tell people that I spoke with you. I have to say something to you and you have to say something back, live at the moment. When I pray, it seems like most of the time I am leaving a message to the Lord, not speaking with the Lord. I pray to tell the Lord things. Sometimes I pray just to get my "check mark" for the day. That's not what the true meaning of prayer is. We need to speak with the Lord.

When I pray, I need to treat it like I do when I talk with my earthly Father. Let him know what's going on. Ask for advice, or help. Listen to his council, and try to soak in his wisdom. Don't just leave a message telling Him stuff. Actually talk with Him.

1 Nephi 2:18-24 -- Blessed for Faithfulness, Cursed for Rebellion

Even though they are not very nice to him, Nephi loves his brothers. Nephi reminds me of Joseph. They both seemed to bring on their brothers tortures by thier own behaviour towards them sometimes. Yet, verse 18 we learn that Nephi was "grieved because of the hardness of their hearts." Grief is a very strong emotion. He wasn't just disappointed or upset. He loved his brothers and was deeply sorrowful that they were rebelling against God. So, and the end of verse 18 he prays for them.

You might think that Nephi, being a prophet and all, would get what he prays for. In verse 19 the Lord answers Nephi's prayer by blessing him. He was not praying for himself. He was praying for his brothers. The Lord says, "Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart. And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands" The Lords answer to a grieving prayer for his brothers goes on to say, "And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord." Nephi tried to pray blessings to his brothers, but the Lords law says that "when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (D&C 130:21) No matter how hard Nephi prays for his brothers, they cannot have their agency taken from them, so they must reap what they sow. They cannot have the presence of the Lord if they reject it. Verse 23 a prophecy is made. In 2 Nephi 5:20 this prophecy is fulfilled and the Lamanites were cursed with a loss of the Lord's presence.

The last concept that I find interesting is the Lord's use of "scourge" as a motivator. Verse 24 says, "And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance." It reminds me of Moses in Egypt. It's interesting how hard and stiff people can be even in the face of a scourge that is trying to soften them. When life gets tough, we need to remember the Lord and soften ourselves, to be molded by Him.

1 Nephi 2:10-18 -- Firm, Stiff, Soft, Hard

Soft and Firm are good. Stiff and Hard are bad.

In verse 10 Lehi pleads with Lemuel to be "firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!" We find out in the very next verse that Lemuel is actually "stiffnecked". So, stiff and firm seem very similar, but there is definitely a big difference. If you look up the definitions firm definitely has an overall positive connotation. Stiff, on the other hand, is pretty negative. See the following from Dictionary.com:

firm –adjective
1. not soft or yielding when pressed; comparatively solid, hard, stiff, or rigid: firm ground; firm texture.
2. securely fixed in place.
3. not shaking or trembling; steady: a firm voice.
4. not likely to change; fixed; settled; unalterable: a firm belief.
5. steadfast or unwavering, as persons or principles: firm friends.
6. indicating firmness or determination: a firm expression.
7. not fluctuating much or falling, as prices, values, etc.: The stock market was firm today.

stiff –adjective
1. rigid or firm; difficult or impossible to bend or flex: a stiff collar.
2. not moving or working easily: The motor was a little stiff from the cold weather.
3. (of a person or animal) not supple; moving with difficulty, as from cold, age, exhaustion, or injury.
4. strong; forceful; powerful: stiff winds; The fighter threw a stiff right to his opponent's jaw.
5. strong or potent to the taste or system, as a beverage or medicine: He was cold and wanted a good stiff drink.
6. resolute; firm in purpose; unyielding; stubborn.
7. stubbornly continued: a stiff battle.

I also think of my sculpting class in college. The clay needed to be firm, so that I could mold it into what I wanted it to be, and it would stay. If the clay was too stiff, I couldn't even get it in the position I wanted in the first place. The Lord is the sculptor and we are the clay.

In verse 13 we learn of Laman and Lemuels lack of belief. Contrast that with Nephi who we find in verse 16 wanting to "know" but is blessed with belief. In the next verse, Sam believes too. Nephi's "desire to know" led him to cry unto the Lord. The Lord blesses him with a softened heart, to believe. Finally in verse 18, we read of Laman and Lemuels hard heart. Again, from Dictionary.com:

soft -adjective
1. yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff: a soft pillow.

hard -adjective
1. not soft; solid and firm to the touch; unyielding to pressure and impenetrable or almost impenetrable.

Can the whispering of the spirit penetrate your heart, or is it impenetrable? The sculpting clay shouldn't be hard! It needs to be soft.

Let the Spirit into your life. Pray for a soft heart, that the Lord may bless you. Laman and Lemuel did actually follow the prophet (their father) to the promised land. How many of us are like Laman and Lemuel following, but not being soft, yet firm. Are we following with a hard heart and a stiff neck, murmuring about what the Lord is asking us to do? We need to allow the Lord to write into our heart the things that need to be there. Like belief. Be a Nephi and Sam, not a Laman and Lemuel.

1 Nephi 2:8-10 -- The Fountain of all Righteousness

In verse 8 Lehi names the river that the family is camping near. By naming it "Laman", we see that Lehi has a definite affection for his oldest son. Lemuel also gets special consideration by having the valley named after him. Nephi and Sam receive no such special treatment. I could see a father in that culture truly desiring his oldest son to become the primary heir of the family. Lehi must have been pained by the murmuring sons and wanted to do everything he could to help them.

Lehi uses the symbolism of the river running into the Red Sea when he tells Laman, "O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!" Laman had a desire to run back to the destruction that awaited a wicked Jerusalem. Lehi was trying to change his attitude.

I think it is interesting how Lehi compares the Red Sea to the source of all righteousness. Where does all righteousness come from? My first thoughts are Jesus Christ and his atonement. The "Red" Sea brings to my mind the blood that Christ shed from every pore to provide the atonement for all humanity. Their family was running from the wicked world they lived in, towards the Red Sea. What direction are we headed in? Are we "continually running" to Christ? We see not only the direction we should be headed, but that we should be "running" in that direction. Hurry. Not only do we see the direction we should be headed and the urgency which we should have, but we also see how we are to run: "continually". Non-stop. Always. Do we have to casual an attitude in life about these things? If so, we must repent. I feel repentance is exactly what Lehi is encouraging us to do continually. The Red Sea that Christ shed for us is truly the source of our righteousness. Without the atonement we would be trapped in an existence of bondage to unrighteousness. Don't head in the wrong direction. When you're headed in the right direction, don't just casually make your way, RUN! When running in the right direction, don't ever stop or even relax to take a break. Follow Lehi's wish for his sons.

We see a similar analogy in Moses leading the children of Israel from Egypt. Read Exodus chapter 14. They were in bondage (like we are to sin and wickedness). They ran away and headed to the "promised land" (as we should be headed toward the Celestial Kingdom of God). They were overcome by the armies of Pharaoh (as we would be without the atonement). They cried out to the Lord (as we must). They were afraid that they could never escape the destruction of Egypt, but Moses said to them in verses 13 and 14, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord... The Lord shall fight for you" What a powerful message to all of us who are in bondage to sin. The children of Israel were commanded to go forward. They went on the path provided through waters of the Red Sea. In verse 28 we read, "And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them." The blood of Jesus Christ can cover our sins that "not so much as one of them" will remain. How desperately we need the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Red Sea did not change it's position to go wipe out the Egyptian armies. The children of Israel had to change their position, get into, and pass through the Red Sea to allow the washing away of their captors. Likewise, the river Laman did not just run to the edge of the Red Sea. As Lehi urged his son, may we also follow his council to "be like this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!"

1 Nephi 2:6-7 -- Tents and Alters in the Valley of Lemuel

In chapter 2 verse 6 we learn that they traveled 3 days from Jerusalem and stopped for a while. We don't know exactly how long they were there, but they don't travel again until chapter 16. The tent he pitched there seems to be in the same place when the Liahona appears outside that tent in chapter 16 and they are directed to move. Several of the chapters that take place while they are in the valley of Lemuel are devoted to Lehi's vision of the tree and the iron rod (and Nephi's subsequent revelations about it). 2 trips back to Jerusalem for the Brass Plates and Wives are from there. Nephi and his brothers get married there. Hmm. It is interesting that there was an alter built in chapter 2 verse 7, right after there was a tent pitched in the previous verse.

When Moses led the children of Israel in the wilderness, the tabernacle (their "temple") was a tent. I wonder if Lehi's tent was more than just a portable home? I wonder if the marriages of his sons were performed at that alter or in a tent or neither. I really don't know if those marriages were performed in a similar way to a modern temple marriage. The facilities could have certainly been there.

I guess one of the really powerful lessons that Lehi teaches us, is to be grateful. Just 3 days prior, he left all of his friends, extended family, business matters, usual comforts and wealth behind. He is now in for many years of tribulation and what does he do? He builds an alter to give an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord. He thanks the Lord. He is sacrificing so much already, yet he makes a sacrifice at the alter to say thanks. With the right perspective in mind, Lehi really does have a lot to be grateful for. His family would have been destroyed if they had not been guided by the Lord to leave. His family has a chance that they wouldn't have had without leaving. Lehi sees that blessing and appropriately thanks the Lord for it. Those who don't see that blessing murmur because of all they have left behind.

On a couple levels it reminds me of Lot and Abraham and the direction they pitched their tents. Lot's wife looked back in a similar way that Laman and Lemuel longed to be back in Jerusalem. Do you face yourself towards the temple/alter/Liahona, or do you long for the worldly rewards? Think about where your focus is. Be thankful for the opportunities we have to move away from worldly things and toward the "promised land". It truly is a blessing to be grateful for.

1 Nephi 2:5 Lehi's Family (how many and how old?)

In this verse we learn that Lehi's family consisted of Sariah (Lehi's wife) and 4 sons (Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi). That is not anything new or earth shattering. What I find interesting is how the family grows after leaving Jerusalem. Nephi must be at least in his teens right? He is large enough in stature to fool Laban's guards into thinking he actually is Laban (1 Nephi 4:21). I know some big 12 and 13 year old boys that could maybe pull that off, but I'm guessing Nephi is at least a couple years older than that. We know from Jacob 1:1 that Nephi lives at least 55 years after leaving Jerusalem. If he was 15 when they left, that would put him at 70 when he gives his brother Jacob charge over the plates. Jacob would be just under 55 years old at that time because he was the first-born of Lehi and Sariah in the wilderness (2 Nephi 2:1).



That is an interesting gap in ages. Lehi and Sariah had 4 boys and then stopped having children for over 10 years (approximately 15 years if my presumptions are correct). I wonder why they had such a long span between children. Why did they begin having children again once they left Jerusalem? If Sariah had her first 4 sons over the space of 5 years, that would make Laman about 20 years old when the family left Jerusalem. If Sariah was 15-20 years old when she gave birth to Laman, that would make her 35-40 years old when they left Jerusalem. I would guess that she was closer to 15 than to 20 when she started having children (based on what I presume about their culture). So Lehi was probably in his late 30s or early 40s when the family set out for the promised land. The white haired Lehi that we see in the paintings seems older than that. I bet he looked younger than the paintings portray.



Now, the growth of the family after leaving Jerusalem includes at least 4 more children. We know that Jacob and Joseph are born in the wilderness. We also learn in 2 Nephi 5:6 that he had sisters. That's plural. It could have been more than 2, but Nephi had at least 2 sisters. When were they born? Well, Nephi clearly states that the family consisted of Mom, Dad, and 4 boys in 1 Nephi 2:5 (600 B.C.). In 1 Nephi 18:7 we find out that Jacob and Joseph were born in the wilderness (about 590 B.C. when they first get mentioned). In 2 Nephi 3:1 Joseph is called the last-born. Does that mean last born boy? When were Nephi's sisters born. I'm guessing they were born in the wilderness between 600-590 B.C. That would make Sariah in her late 30s and early 40s when she had these kids. Unless "sisters" is a more general term that included Nephi's nieces? Then Sariah would have only had boys. Maybe the sisters were there all along, and Nephi only reported the boys in 1 Nephi 2:5.

I'm pretty sure the sisters weren't there yet, because of Ishmael's family. Lehi's 4 sons are sent back to Jerusalem to get wives. Ishmael's family fits the bill. On the way back into the wilderness we learn from 1 Nephi 7:6 that Ishmael had 2 sons and 5 daughters. So, Ishmael's 2 sons would maybe match up with possible daughters of Lehi and Sariah, but 1 Nephi 7:6 also informs us that those sons already had their own families. It would seem that Nephi had no sisters at that point. The sisters were born later.

We know that Lehi died between 588 and 570 B.C. If he was 40 when they left Jerusalem that would have him dying between the ages of 52 and 70. He tells Joseph "thou art little... remember the words of thy dying father" in 2 Nephi 3:25. I'm thinking Joseph had to be old enough for a conversation like that, yet young enough to be called little. Maybe he was 10? He was born sometime before 590 B.C. and I think it was about 593 B.C. Lehi says in 2 Nephi 3:1 that Joseph was "born in the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee." Going back to 1 Nephi 17:1 we learn that they "did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness." Then a few verses later in verse 5 they came to the land of Bountiful around 592 B.C. The land of Bountiful surely wasn't where Lehi had the days of his greatest sorrow. So, based on all of these facts, I would guess that Joseph was born around 593 B.C. That was 7 years after leaving Jerusalem. About 10 years later Lehi died, maybe around 60 years old. Sariah would have been somewhere between 42 to 47 years old when Joseph was born. No surprise that he was the last-born. It seems as though the sisters must have been born between Jacob and Joseph during those 7 years.

So that is what I can surmise about Lehi's family, based on the writings of Nephi and Jacob. I know it's not really eternally significant. There are many more doctrinal studies that will strengthen my testimony, but it really gives me more of a feel for what the situation was. These were real people, going through real experiences. I am grateful for the obedience of Lehi's family and their dedication in following the Lord.