Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome. Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4). This priority was not only reflecte
"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do" (1 Nephi 4:6).
After Nephi and his brothers return to Jerusalem to seek the plates from Laban, Nephi demonstrates a powerful example of following the promptings of the Spirit. It's important to note that when Nephi expressed his trust in the Spirit, he and his brothers had already failed twice to obtain the plates. They had been threatened with death (1 Nephi 3:13), lost all of their wealth and property (1 Nephi 3:25), and been chased by Laban's guards. They had also experienced intense conflict among each other (1 Nephi 3:28).
In recounting he and his brothers' first two attempts to obtain the plates, Nephi does not mention the role of the Spirit. Instead, he says "when we had gone up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another. And we cast lots—who of us should go in unto the house of Laban (1 Nephi 3:10-11). That is not to imply that the Spirit was not involved in directing them in these two attempts, but it is significant to me that in the course of keeping a commandment from God Nephi had to exercise his own judgment in council with his brothers, and experienced multiple failures.
I'm reminded of the experience of a dear friend of mine whose marriage ended in divorce after a few years. Even though she received a specific and powerful confirmation from the Spirit that she should marry her then husband, he was unfaithful and ultimately left her. It would be easy to question the validity of her initial prompting, but from Nephi's experience we can see that following God's commandments often requires us to walk difficult paths, and the "Land of Promise" may be farther away than we thought.
Ultimately, Nephi is given opportunity and commandment to kill Laban in order to obtain the plates. At first blush, this instruction seems troubling and counterintuitive to the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." A dialogue ensues between Nephi and the Holy Ghost, and only after the Holy Ghost has "constrained" Nephi and explained this commandment three times does Nephi heed the Spirit's instruction. I think the justification the Spirit provides is important; similarly it's instructive to note which reasons were NOT persuasive to Nephi, and what finally convinced him to listen to the Spirit and kill Laban.
"And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him" (1 Nephi 4:10).
At first, the Spirit commands without explanation. Nephi balks, not because killing contradicts the ten commandments. He states, "never at any time have I shed the blood of man," as if he were questioning his own resolve or ability. Nephi does not seem to struggle with whether or not this new instruction from the Spirit is in conflict with the commandments of God that he previously knew. He is familiar with the voice of the Spirit and accepts the instruction at face value despite his hesitation.
"And the Spirit said unto me again: Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands. Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life; yea, and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord; and he also had taken away our property" (1 Nephi 4:11).
When the Spirit commands again, explaining that Laban is delivered into Nephi's hands, Nephi reflects on a number of his own reasons to kill Laban: he tried to kill Nephi and his brothers, Laban was a wicked person, and he had stolen their property. The fact that these reasons did not compel Nephi to act reinforces Christ's commandment to "turn the other cheek." Nephi killing Laban was not an act of revenge. Laban's wickedness did not provide a sufficient reason to kill him. Only after the Spirit puts this commandment in the context of achieving the Lord's righteous purposes is Nephi convinced.
"And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands; Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief" (1 Nephi 4:12-13).
Nephi knew that the only way for his posterity to be happy and prosper was by keeping the commandments of God, and that they could not effectively keep the commandments without access to the scriptures contained in the brass plates (1 Nephi 4:114-17). Like Nephi, our cause for action, whether it is to discipline a child, raise and issue with a coworker, or share a countering opinion with a ward member should be "to bring forth [the Lord's] righteous purposes" and not to satisfy our own need for vindication.
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