1 Nephi 4

1 Nephi 4
I’ve read this chapter twice now, before writing anything. It is a difficult chapter to respond to, and it leads me to several difficult questions, which depending on the morning, I am willing or unwilling to acknowledge. I find it interesting Nephi’s emphasis on keeping the commandments of the Lord because this was his greatest struggle. Not a struggle as you and I would perhaps see it, but one where Nephi killed so that he could say, he kept the commandments of God. Notice the abundance of scriptures, especially early on in the book of Nephi, even focusing around this event, where Nephi exhorts and exclaims how important it is to “diligently” keep the commandments of the Lord. 1 Nephi 3:7, 1 Nephi 3:16, 1 Nephi 4:1, 1 Neph 4:14-15, 1 Nephi 4:34, 1 Neph 16:4, 1 Nephi 17:15.

Vs 2-3 Nephi references Moses (liken all scriptures to yourself) as he explains to his brothers that if God is willing He is able to do his own work. However, Nephi adds something that I think makes his comparison to a Moses experience a little more apt. Nephi mentions that they should be “strong” like unto Moses, for somehow it was his strength that assisted in parting of the red sea. What kind of strength was it? Strength of faith, strength against adversity (Prov 24:10), or strength of moral will to watch as thousands of Egyptians died in the raging flood, a baptism of death. Regardless of the type of strength Nephi admired in Moses, Nephi arranged the story so that he and his brothers were the fleeing Israelites and Laban an evil Egyptian keeping them from arriving at the promised land. The Lord would “deliver us” (vs 3), meaning from his perspective, they were under attack and needed protection against Laban. How soon the tables would turn.

Nephi is led, “not knowing before hand what he should do” (vs 6), and travels towards Laban’s house. Who knows what thoughts are going through his head, waiting for a “sign” from the Lord, inspiration, guidance, a prayer in his heart. Just walking, inexorably towards the goal, slowly realizing, surely as Moses (and Ether) did, that the Lord waits for us to be in the midst of tribulation, fumbling for an answer, struggling to find solutions to our problems, and then the delicate dance of self-discovery and revelation occurs and God honors this to the best of His ability. Moses and God together came up with an idea to split the red sea and God obliged (D&C 8, especially vs 3). Ether came up with the idea to have clear stones glow in the dark, and God touched the stones and made them glow. However, only one other scriptural account has the same test that is thrust on Nephi.

Abraham was commanded to kill his son. A few years before his horrible test, Abraham himself had narrowly escaped death by the hand of his father. One can only imagine the horror it would be to hear God tell you to kill your own son when it was God who rescued you from the same fate. Why someone would even believe this to be inspiration from God requires a long history of trusted communication between you and God.
Now, I’ve heard two different possible explanations of Abraham’s state of mind and understanding of this commandment. One, he believed God would never allow him to actually kill Isaac, and two he was disgusted with God’s command, but believed and trusted God so fully that he was willing to kill his son to obey all of God’s commandments. The first explanation removes the most important part of faith from the situation. It is like saying ok, God told me to jump off this cliff but I’ll have a bungee cord. All you have to do is have faith in the bungee cord, or as in Abraham’s case, all you have to do is have faith that God will stop you from actually killing your son. The second scenario demands a higher degree of faith. The second scenario, Abraham trusting that God actually wanted him to kill his son, demands that Abraham be willing to go against everything that he had been taught about the nature of God, specifically that God is constant, loving, and compassionate.

For me, this is simply another example of ambiguity and the necessity for us to become comfortable with it. Abraham’s story has been well analyzed by many people, and several conclusions about the character of God have been derived from it. In fact, many modern day defense cases have cited Abraham’s story as reason why a father or mother killed their child. In almost all cases the defendant was ruled insane as I’m sure Abraham would have been had he actually been able to go through with his deed. However, as described in the Old Testament Abraham was far from insane; all along his actions were deliberate, he employed subterfuge along the sacrificial path (there is an interesting parallel between him leaving his servants and Christ leaving the apostles before entering the Garden).

And so Nephi was confronted with an equally morally ambiguous decision. I am impressed by the details which he provides surrounding the event, which I feel evidence Nephi’s unresolved concerns regarding that fateful night. So he is following the Spirit, probably walking towards Laban’s house, wondering what is going to happen – am I going to break into Laban’s house, am I going to have a private conversation with him and the Lord will change his mind – when Nephi sees a drunk man in the street. Upon closer inspection this drunk man is Laban, the man who has been the cause of much recent tribulation Nephi’s life (running away from murderous servants, being beaten by his brothers, and stopping him from obeying God’s commandments to have a copy of his word while in the wilderness).

So let’s just, for curiousity’s sake, recreate the scene as best we can. Laban has “fallen to the earth before [Nephi] for he was drunken with wine.” So either Laban is completely passed out or just mostly passed out, struggling to stand, all we know is that he has fallen to the earth. It is dark, no one is around. Nephi stumbles across Laban, realizes its Laban and the first thing he does is pull out Laban’s sword. Nephi describes, with detail, Laban’s sword. The spirit of God whispers to Nephi kill Laban. Nephi resists saying I have never killed anyone before why should I kill now? What’s interesting is that in the next verse (11) the spirit says “behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands.” Just a few verses before (vs 2-3, a few hours before?) Nephi was assuaging his brothers’ fears when he told them that the Lord was able to deliver them even as their fathers and “destroy Laban even as the Egyptians.” So the spirit says, “the Lord has delivered Laban into your hands,” Nephi then remembers how Laban sought to take his own life and would not listen to the commandments of the Lord, and had taken their property. The spirit steps in again and says, “kill Laban, because it is better that he dies than a whole nation should die not knowing God.” More thoughts rush through Nephi’s head, as he visualizes his descendants living without the law of Moses, and yet here he was about to defy one of the 10 commandments based on utilitarian ethics. There is to be no lamb in the thicket, no rope with which to tie Laban, no hammer to knock him out, no divine intervention, only a glittering sword and a soft neck. The moral enigma, the paradox of God, passes through Nephi and Nephi doesn’t blink. He is willing to do exactly what God commands even when God commands something contrary to Himself. When sword and neck meet, Laban is dead and Nephi has passed perhaps the most difficult test of faith in his life. All that follows are just details of an unwavering, near fanatical life devoted to the worship and service of God.