The Life of Nephi

CHAPTER XV

Animals and Vegetables Valuable to Lehi and Company – The Potato – Abundance of Fruits – Jerusalem Destroyed – Lehi's Thankfulness for this Choice Land – A Land of Liberty to all who Should be Brought Here if they Would Serve God – Land to be Kept from Knowledge of Other Nations – Remarkably Fulfilled – Promises of the Lord to Lehi Concerning his Descendants and the Land – Present Condition of his Seed Predicted – Prophecies Concerning the Prophet Joseph Smith – Lehi a Great Prophet – Restrains his Children While Living – Rancorous Hatred After his Death Against Nephi – Enraged by his Admonitions – Propose to Kill Him

The animals of the country Lehi, and his company doubtless found of very great value to them in their labors and movements. Besides these, it is probable they obtained many valuable vegetable productions which were peculiar to the country. The potato is indigenous to that region; it seems to be its natural home, and was found growing there in abundance by the first Europeans that visited the country. It is not unlikely that Lehi and his people also had it for use. Wild fruits are now very abundant in places contiguous to the spot were we are told they landed. One writer, in describing a contiguous province, says:

"The wild Indians bring from the woods many delicious fruits, pine-apples, plantains, bananas, nisperos, mamays, guavas, etc., as well as sweet potatoes, camotes, cabbage palm, palmitos, and yucas."

If Lehi and his company found wild fruits so abundant, they had no difficulty in living in plentiful ease until the seed grains they brought with them matured. Everything contributed to make them feel that it was a choice land above all other lands; for with all the other advantages it possessed, the soil was exceedingly fertile and the climate was delicious in temperature and healthy. Shortly after their arrival, Lehi informed his people that he had learned through a vision from the Lord that Jerusalem had been destroyed, and he said had they remained there, they also would have perished. He drew the attention of his children to the goodness of the Lord in warning them to flee out of Jerusalem and in preserving them until they had reached this choice land, which the Lord had covenanted should be for the inheritance of his seed forever, and also for all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord. To those brought out of other countries this should be a land of liberty, so long as they should serve God according to the commandments which He has given; but if iniquity should abound the land should be cursed for their sakes. He told them that this land would be kept from the knowledge of other nations; for the reason that, if they discovered it, they would overrun it and there would be no place for an inheritance.

This explains why the world remained so long in ignorance of this continent. It was hidden from the world, and was almost a world by itself for centuries, its people having no communication with any other nation upon the earth. Generation succeeded generation, numerous and large cities were built, the whole land was covered with people, the arts of a high civilization were cultivated, revolutions, wars and great changes were effected and all the busy scenes of human life were enacted upon this continent, and yet the inhabitants of other lands were as ignorant of its existence as if it had belonged to another planet. This ignorance continued until the Lord moved upon Christopher Columbus to penetrate the great ocean which stretched between it and Europe. Men called it "the new world," and it was a new world to them; and though the evidences that highly-cultivated races had occupied the land for ages are abundant upon every hand, those who do not believe the Book of Mormon are still as ignorant of who they were, or where they came from and of all their history, excepting those facts which have been brought to light by the examination of the ruins of their cities, as they were when the continent was brought to the knowledge of the world.

Lehi gives the true explanation of the reason why this continent should be concealed from the knowledge of other nations. We see how it is to-day. This continent is so desirable that there is a steady stream of people flowing to it from all countries. They are filling up the land, and the Lamanites, who have occupied it under the promise of the Lord to their father Lehi, have been crowded back from both oceans until they have but small spots to live upon in the center of the land, and even these are coveted by the people of other nations who have come here. This would have been the result long, long ago had the world known of the existence of this continent; but the Lord concealed it, and guided those only to it whom He desired to occupy it, so that all His promises concerning it might be fulfilled. Lehi told his children, that if those whom the Lord should bring out of the land of Jerusalem should keep His commandments, they should not only prosper here, but they should be kept from all other nations and have the land to themselves; there should be none to molest them, nor to take the land away from them; but they should dwell safely for ever. It was the failure of the ancestors of the Indians, or Lamanites, to do this, that brought upon them and their children evils under which they at present suffer. Lehi, before his death, told them, by the spirit of prophecy, what their fate would be if they fell into unbelief and rejected the Lord. He said the Lord would bring other nations unto them, and He would give them power; they would take away from his descendants their lands, and they would be scattered and smitten. We have only to look around us to see how completely and exactly his predictions have been fulfilled. And as these predictions have come to pass, so will others also come to pass respecting the nations of the Gentiles that will occupy this land: they would not be permitted to utterly destroy the descendants of Nephi or the other children of Lehi; and if they, themselves, did not repent, and keep the commandments of the Lord, destruction would also fall upon them.

Among other plain and definite predictions which Lehi made unto his children was one respecting the birth and mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He quoted from a prophecy of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, to the effect that "a seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins." His name was foretold. He was to be called after the Patriarch Joseph and after his own father. The predictions of Lehi which he gave to his children before his death are very precious, because of their covering so many points and being so plain. He was a great prophet; the Lord had revealed to him a wonderful amount of knowledge concerning the future; and he was especially favored in having such a land as this given, by covenant of the Lord, as an inheritance to himself and his posterity. He did all in his power to teach his children and his people the ways of the Lord and to make them in some degree worthy of the favor which had been shown unto them; but with Laman and Lemuel and those who associated with them his tender entreaties, his solemn warnings, his severe rebukes, and his inspired and pointed predictions were all of no avail. They had gone from bad to worse until their hearts had become like flint, and no good impression could be made upon them. They were full of malice and the spirit of murder. While he lived, his presence had some restraining effect upon them. He was still the father and head of the people, whose authority and counsel, though often disregarded by his rebellious offspring, could not be altogether set aside. But he was scarcely buried before the rancorous hatred of Laman and Lemuel and their adherents broke out against Nephi. It was his admonitions concerning their iniquities that enraged them. His rebukes, they said, afflicted them; they viewed them as an attempt upon his part to dictate and rule over them. He was their younger brother, and they declared they would not have him as a ruler; for this right belonged to them, they said, as the seniors. They proposed to kill him. This brought affairs to a crisis.

CHAPTER XVI

Nephi's Efforts to Save His Brethren – Nephi, Commanded of the Lord, Flees into the Wilderness – His Company – His Sisters – Carries Plates of Brass and other Records – The Liahona and Sword of Laban with Him – Nephi called a Liar and a Robber – Searches the Scriptures – Two Sets of Plates – Character of Records on Each – Plates made for a Special Purpose – Found by Mormon – Wisdom of God Greater than Cunning of Devil – The Prophet Joseph Delivered from a Snare

For many years Nephi had done all in his power to sustain the influence of his father with his brothers. In company with his father he had labored steadily to induce them to live righteously and to obey the commandments of God. He had exhausted every means to induce them to dwell in union, peace and love. There was nothing more he could do, except to become a victim to their blind and cruel rage. But this, in the providence of the Lord, was not required of him. The Lord had another work for Nephi, so he warned him to flee into the wilderness, and leave his wicked brothers and associates to themselves. Those who accompanied Nephi in this flight were all who believed in the warnings and revelations of God. They accepted the word of the Lord as it came to him concerning this departure. The record informs us that they were his own family, Zoram and his family, Sam and his family, his brothers Jacob and Joseph and his sisters and others. The names of his sisters are not given, and we are not told how many there were, or who the others were who accompanied him. With their tents and everything which it was possible for them to carry, they took their journey into the wilderness. Nephi was careful to have all the records of his people with him. He had the plates of brass which were obtained from Laban, and his father, and his father Lehi's record, and the records he had kept himself, and also the ball or compass, which was prepared of the Lord for Lehi, and the sword of Laban.

We are not informed what the feelings of Laman and Lemuel were respecting Nephi's keeping possession of the brass plates, the record of Lehi and the ball or compass which the Lord had prepared for Lehi; but it is not too much to suppose that while they kept no records themselves upon plates, and therefore placed no value upon them, they were angry at Nephi for taking these with him. They probably accused him of robbing them; for, about five centuries after this, we find (Alma xx. 13) that the tradition among their descendants was that Nephi was not only a liar, but had robbed their fathers. Nephi, himself, was very particular about keeping records. He taught his people to value the written word. He doubtless devised means of giving them copies of that which had been written, for in the days of his brother Jacob the sudden and awful death of a teacher of false doctrine who had led many astray, caused the people, as we are told (Jacob vii. 23), to search the scriptures. We conclude from this that copies of the writings upon the brass plates must have been accessible to them.

By the command of the Lord, Nephi made two sets of plates, on which to keep the records of his people. The first set of these plates contained in great fullness and detail the history of the people of Nephi. Upon them Nephi engraved the record of his father Lehi, and the genealogy of Lehi, his prophecies and many of his own prophecies and the most part of all their proceedings in the wilderness. Upon them were engraved by him with more detail and particularity the things which transpired before he made the second set of plates. Upon these first plates also an account was given of the wars, contentions and destructions of the people, during Nephi's lifetime, and he commanded his people that they should continue to do this after he was gone, including an account of the reign of the kings, and that the plates should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until the Lord should command otherwise.

It was from these plates, called the plates of Nephi, that the Prophet Mormon made his abridgment which the Prophet Joseph first translated. It will be remembered that while the Prophet was translating the Book of Mormon he was teased by Martin Harris to let him have some of the manuscript. Joseph did so. The Lord was so displeased with him for letting these writings go out of his hands, that he deprived him of his gift, and the work of translating was suspended for a number of months. While in Martin Harris' possession, the manuscripts were stolen and were not recovered. Those who obtained them had a deep design in view. But the Lord thwarted them. He gave Joseph a commandment not to attempt to translate a second time that which he had lost, but to translate the record which he would find upon the second set of plates, called also the plates of Nephi. The revelation respecting this is to be found in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, Section x.

Nephi informs us that he had been commanded of the Lord to make these second plates for a special and wise purpose; but he did not know what that purpose was, farther than there should be an account engraved thereon of the ministry of his people and the more plain and precious parts of the prophecies, so that they might be kept for the instruction of his people. These plates were handed down from Nephi to Amaleki, covering a period of about four hundred years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem. When Amaleki finished his writing, the plates, which were small, were full; and as he had no children, he gave them to the king, whose name was Benjamin. This king kept them with the other, and larger plates of Nephi, which contained the record of kings, and which had been handed down from generation to generation. They were kept from that time forth with the other records upon plates, which in the lapse of centuries became very numerous, until they came into the hands of the Prophet Mormon. Mormon made his abridgment sometime after the year 384 of the Christian era, which was upwards of five centuries after the death of this King Benjamin. After he had made his abridgment from the large plates of Nephi, down to the days of King Benjamin, he found, in searching among the records, these small plates of Nephi. Their contents pleased him. They were full of revelations, and prophecies concerning the coming of Christ and many other great events. He knew that many events therein predicted had been fulfilled, and also that those predictions which went beyond his day would most assuredly come to pass; therefore, they were precious to him, and he knew they would be also to posterity. But, in addition to these reasons for selecting them, he was moved upon by the Spirit of the Lord to embody them with his record. The promptings of the Spirit to him were that there was a wise purpose in this, though it does not appear that he fully knew what that purpose was. But the purpose became plain when the Lord gave again to the Prophet Joseph the gift and privilege of translating. He was commanded to translate the record engraved upon these plates, to supply the place of that translation which had been stolen. Thus Joseph was told not to translate over again that which he had translated, and Satan's plan to entrap him was defeated. For the Lord, foreseeing what would take place, had inspired Nephi and Mormon to do as they did: the one to prepare the plates and engrave upon them and to command those who followed him to do so also; and the other to embody them with his record to afterwards come into the hands of the Prophet Joseph; and the results are that we have in the Book of Mormon a body of revelations and prophecies that are exceedingly precious and which throw a flood of light upon the doctrines of Christ and those mighty events which are to take place in the last days.

CHAPTER XVII

Travel Many Days in the Wilderness – Call the Land Nephi – Did They Journey Northward? – Location of Land Nephi – River Sidon and Magdalena – Land of Zarahemla – Twenty-two Days' Travel from Nephi – Did not Land of Nephi Extend Considerably South? – Zeniff's Return to the Land of Nephi – Was that the Land Settled by Nephi, the First? – Mosiah, King of Zarahemla – Reasons for Thinking Nephi to be Distinguishing Name of an Extensive Region – Nephites Would Spread Over the Country in Four Hundred Years – Did Nephi and Company Travel as far North as Ecuador? – Followed by Lamanites – Jacob and Enos Respecting Lamanites – Nephi's Description of the Land – Bolivia and Peru – Cities and Settlements Called After Founders – Additional Reasons for Thinking Nephi and Company did not Settle so far North – Boundaries of Lands Occupied by Nephites and Lamanites – South America Called Lehi, North America Called Mulek

After they separated from Laman and Lemuel, Nephi and his company traveled for many days in the wilderness and reached a land where they determined to settle. They selected for it the name of their leader, and it was called Nephi.

Nephi does not state in what direction he and his company traveled after separating from his brethren; but it is plain, from the allusions which are subsequently made to this land of Nephi by other writers, that they took their journey northward. It appears plain also that they traveled some distance in that direction. As Nephi was always careful to seek the guidance of the Lord in his movements, he was undoubtedly led by Him to the land where they settled. It is stated by Elder Orson Pratt, in a footnote to the new edition of the Book of Mormon, that the land of Nephi is supposed to have been in or near the country now called Ecuador. This supposition is based upon the general understanding that the river called the Sidon in the Book of Mormon is that now known as the Magdalena in our geographies. If this is correct, we can locate the land of Zarahemla with tolerable accuracy from the references which are made to it in the Book of Mormon; and as journeys were made between those two lands – Nephi and Zarahemla – and in one instance the time occupied in the journey is given – about twenty-two days – (Mosiah xxiii. 3, xxiv, 20-25,) some idea can be obtained of the distance between these two places.

But there are reasons for thinking that the land called Nephi was an extensive region, and that it reached much farther south than the country now known as Ecuador. Nearly four centuries after Nephi and his company separated from Laman and Lemuel and their companions, a prophet by the name of Mosiah was warned by the Lord to flee out of the land of Nephi, and to take with him all the Nephites who would "hearken unto the voice of the Lord." They were led by the power of God, through the wilderness, to the land of Zarahemla. Afterwards, some of the children of those who thus fled had a desire to return to the old home of their fathers, and expeditions were fitted out for that purpose. One of them under Zeniff was successful in securing a foothold in that land, though it had by that time been taken possession of by the Lamanites. By treaty with the king of the Lamanites, Zeniff and his people were permitted to occupy the cities of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom and the contiguous lands. They erected buildings and repaired the walls of those cities and cultivated the ground. Zeniff became their king. His son Noah succeeded him. In his days, Alma, a descendant of Nephi, baptized a number of people and organized them into a church. Being persecuted by King Noah, they left that country, and after meeting various adventures, reached Zarahemla. They numbered, when they started, four hundred and fifty souls, and we learn that the journey occupied about twenty-two days. This leads to the conclusion that the city of Lehi-Nephi, from which they started, could not have been farther south than the country now called Ecuador.

But the inquiry arises, was this the place to which Nephi led his company when they separated from Laman and Lemuel and their adherents? The record informs us that when they fled from their wicked brethren they journeyed for many days, and they pitched their tents, "and," Nephi says, "my people would that we should call the name of the place Nephi; wherefore we did call it Nephi." Nearly four hundred years after this we find in the book of Omni (i. 12):

"Behold, I will speak unto you somewhat concerning Mosiah, who was made king over the land of Zarahemla: for behold, he being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the land of Nephi, and as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord, should also depart out of the land with him, into the wilderness."

It appears clear that this name of Nephi was a general name for a large region of country, which comprised within its borders many smaller divisions known by various names. We infer this from the record; for Zeniff, upon his return to that which he calls, "the land of our fathers," had the liberty given him to occupy two places, or divisions, which he calls, "the land of Lehi-Nephi and the land of Shilom." Adjoining these was a portion of country known as "the land of Shemlon," which the Lamanites retained in their possession. In the borders of the country occupied by Zeniff and his Nephite people, was a place called Mormon. It was after this place that the great prophet and general of the Nephite nation, who led the hosts in the last, great conflict, was called. He himself speaks of it (III. Nephi v. 12) as "the land of Mormon." So it appears plain that there were many local divisions in the region which the Nephites had occupied.

We see that those whom Nephi led away from his wicked brethren, called the first place where they settled Nephi and themselves Nephites. Would not the same reasons prompt the nation as it increased and spread over the land, to call the whole region which it occupied, embracing all its local divisions, Nephi, or the land of Nephi, as its great distinguishing name? From the point where Nephi first settled, it is quite likely his people extended to the northward; for in that direction they had room to spread, without coming in contact with the Lamanites. In this way the limits of "the land of Nephi" would be enlarged. Our own history in these mountains shows how this would be done. The Latter-day Saints came to the land we now call Utah thirty-four years ago. Salt Lake City was then settled. Since 1847 we have spread over a large extent of country. But this is a brief space, compared with the centuries which elapsed from the time that Nephi and his company fled from his brethren, to the departure of Mosiah and his company into the wilderness, when they found Zarahemla. Though in the beginning the Nephites were but few in number, it is easy to understand that, in the space of nearly four hundred years, they would become quite numerous. We are told, that when two hundred years had elapsed they "had waxed strong in the land," as were also the Lamanites. Were not the cities of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom, and the lands bearing those names, some of the most northern of the Nephite settlements? There was a country, stretching to the south of those cities and lands, known by the general name of Nephi, which they had occupied, and from which they, doubtless, receded, through the pressure of the Lamanites upon them from the south, during the long period of time concerning which we have such brief mention. We know that the place where Lehi and his people landed on the continent was in the 30° of south latitude. Between this point and the southern boundary of Ecuador is a space of 26° of latitude, and includes the choice and desirable countries now known as the northern part of Chili, and Bolivia, and Peru – countries admirably adapted for the settlement and defense of a people like the Nephites. The question arises: Did Nephi and his people traverse this great distance when he separated himself from his brethren?

When Nephi and his people fled, they were followed, before long, by the Lamanites; for it appears that it was but a short period until Nephi manufactured swords, after the fashion of the sword of Laban, for his people to use in defending themselves against the attacks of the Lamanites. When forty years had elapsed, Nephi informs us there had been wars and contentions between the two peoples; and Jacob, in speaking of his brother Nephi, and that which he had done for his people and their love for him, says that he had "wielded the sword of Laban in their defense." Jacob, and Enos, his son, speak of the Lamanites in such a manner as to leave no doubt that they and the whole Nephite people were familiar with them and their modes of life, and that they tried to teach them (Jacob ii. 35; iii. 5-9; Enos i. 13, 14, 20). Whatever the distance, therefore, may have been that Nephi and his company fled, the Lamanites must have made the same journey not long after. Nephi informs us that they journeyed in the wilderness "for the space of many days" before they reached the place they called after his own name. His description of it leaves no doubt as to its fertility, its advantage for grazing, its abundance of timber, and its great mineral wealth. Besides the common metals, he speaks of gold and silver, and other precious ores, as being in great abundance. Traveling as they did, a company of men, women and children, with tents and other baggage, it would have required a journey of very "many days" from their place of landing to get beyond the confines of what is now called Chili and into Bolivia. In the lands now known as Bolivia and Peru, places can be found, which correspond exactly with the description of the place of settlement given in the record, particularly in the abundance of the precious metals. Those countries have not been excelled, even in our day, in the yield of these ores by any country in the world. Some of their mines are world-renowned; and within their borders places of great natural strength, which could be easily fortified against the incursions of a savage foe, are very numerous. Commencing their settlements here, and calling the land Nephi and themselves Nephites, they whom Nephi led could spread to the northward as they increased and necessity required still applying the general name of Nephi to the whole country, but distinguishing their cities and settlements and sub-divisions by the names of their founders, as was their custom (Alma viii. 7), or by other names that circumstances might suggest, until they reached, in the days of Mosiah, as far north as what is now known as Ecuador, and had cities there, near the wilderness on the north, known as Nephi or Lehi-Nephi, Shilom, Shemlon, etc.