1 Nephi Chapter 1

1 Nephi 1

14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!

Are these things that I exclaim? I have read many great and marvelous things, and looking back on my life, I have seen many great and marvelous things. What are my exclamations to the Lord?

Things I have seen: I have always been able to find a job. I went to Washington D.C. without a lead or recommendation at all, and found an excellent job at Steptoe & Johnson. Before that I was looking for someone who shared my same passion for learning and beauty, and God showed me K. Indeed God is merciful, and despite my wickedness he has not suffered to let me perish.

Summary:

Nephi introduces himself, and attests to the veracity of his record. He gives a date, by referring to the current ruler of Judah, Zedekiah. He gives context, by describing the prophets crying repentence and foretelling destruction if their call goes unheeded. Lehi, it would seem, takes the prophets seriously, and decides to pray for the people. Much like his later great-great grandson Enos, Lehi is moved to pray for the redemption of his people, and with all his heart pleads for their “deliverance?” or is it that they would repent. In answer to his prayer Lehi is given a vision of “terror?” insomuch that he comes home and throws himself on his bed, exhausted and overcome by the spirit. In a seeming test for endurance, God gives Lehi another vision, but this vision was perhaps more redemptive than the last. In fact, there is no description of the first vision, only a description of the second vision. And, after the first vision Lehi is exhausted but after the second vision Lehi was quoted as exclaiming how great God was, and how merciful he is, and that no one will perish who comes unto the Lord. I assume he means, come unto the Lord in a state of humility and repentence. Lehi’s second vision is a little difficult to cast into a complete vision of redemption since, after being given a book by the twelve apostles to read, the book apparently describes the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet still, Lehi rejoices. Nephi does not write everything his father says, since as Nephi states he is only making an abridgment of a record that his father has already written, and Nephi would like to get to his story and account of his own life. So after the two great visions, and as Nephi alludes to, many more visions, Lehi begins to prophesy himself to the people of Jerusalem, and by so doing becomes one of the “many prophets” who were at that time predicting doom and destruction. Naturally, the Jews were angry with them, and mocked him. But Lehi continued all the same, and he spoke to them about a coming Messiah who would redeem the world. The Jews sought Lehi’s life, but as Nephi is going to show us, the Lord shows tender mercies to those whom he has chosen, because of their faith, and they are made mighty unto the power of deliverance.