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Without the Mormon Lens: 11 - The First Return to Jerusalem

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By Mason

    We have now reached possibly one of the most significant stories in the Book of Mormon. The turning point of the entire book. Nephi and his brothers are going to be tasked with returning to Jerusalem to retrieve the brass plates from Laban. 

     Keep in mind, that Lehi and his family are a retelling of the Israelites. Lehi is Moses, Nephi is Joshua, Laman, Lemuel and Sam are the composite of the rest of the Israelites.

    I believe that this story is one of the most critical to understand, as it is one of the most memorable, and controversial events in the Book of Mormon. It also serves as a major turning point in our story as it sets us up to be able to step away from the Old Testament and toward the parallels in New World.

     Lets pick up where we left off, with Nephi returning from his vision. He was just told that he will be guiding his people to the promised land. His father Lehi, will send him and his brothers into Jerusalem, to retrieve the brass plates and the genealogy of their family.

     Let's first share our biblical parallel  to set the stage.

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~

     1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

     2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. (Numbers 13:1-2)

~~~~~~~~~~

   For reference, Canaan is huge. Moses is sending out multiple groups to explore the land and to see the strength of their enemies. The plan is to eventually conquer the land of Canaan as the land of their inheritance. 

    The reenactment of this effort will be performed by Nephi and his brothers. Their account is a themetic summary of various events that we are going to see in the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. There are some instances where Joseph Smith's parallels could have been pulled from multiple events, I'll do my best to pick the most likely one. 

The Book of Mormon, pg 9

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~

     "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, to the tent of my father. And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: Behold I have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem. For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews, and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon the plates of brass. Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness. (pg 9)

~~~~~~~~~~

    The mission of the Isrealites is similar, but with a few key differences. While Lehi's sons are going to retrieve the word of God and their family's genealogy from Laban, the Isrealites are seeking to identify the lay of the land and the strength of their enemies. We'll see how these two themes tie into each other a bit better as we continue reading.

    Over and over, the Israelites are describes murmuring against Moses. I shared this in by previous post, but we can see that Laman and Lemuel really are the embodiment of this murmuring people. 

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~

     2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2)

   2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron... (Numbers 14:2)

    5 ...and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against [Moses]. (Numbers 17:5)

     3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses... (Numbers 17:3)

     41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron... (Numbers 16:41)

~~~~~~~~~~

    The list goes on. 

    You get the idea. Moving forward, I'll share less biblical references to the murming since it's source material has been pretty well-established .

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~

    "And now, behold, thy brothers murmur, saying: It is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is commanded of the Lord. Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured. (pg 9)

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~

     7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. 

     8 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:7-8)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~

     "And it came to pass, that I, Nephi, said unto my father, I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (pgs 9-10)

The Book of Mormon, pg 10

     "And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words, he was exceeding glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord. And I, Nephi, and my brethren, took our journey in the wilderness with our tents, to go up to the land of Jerusalem.

     "And it came to pass that when we had come up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another; and we cast lots, which of us should go in unto the house of Laban. (pg 10)
~~~~~~~~~~
 
  Note that casting lots is referenced several times in the Bible. Here are a few examples, though the list is not comprehensive.

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     1 And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. (Nehemiah 11:1) 

     8 And they cast lots, ward against ward, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar (1 Chronicles 25:8)

  13  And they cast lots, as well the small as the great, according to the house of their fathers, for every gate. (1 Chronicles 26:13)

     7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. (Jonah 1:7)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     "And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; and Laman went in unto the house of Laban and he talked with him as he sat in his house. And he desired of Laban the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, which contained the genealogy of my father." (pg 10)

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 

     2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

     3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. (Joshua 2:1-3)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     "And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry, and thrust him out of his presence; and he would not that he should have records. Wherefore he said unto him, behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee." (pg 10)

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate... (Joshua 2:7)

     23  ...So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them... (Joshua 2:23)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     "But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceeding sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness. (pg 10)
~~~~~~~~~~

    This appears to be yet another reference to the Isrealite complaints against Moses.

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. 

     6  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:  (Numbers 14:4,6)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~
     "But behold I said unto them, that as the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness, until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us. (pg 10)

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 

     8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.(Numbers 14:7-8)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
  "Wherefore let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; (pg 10)

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. (Numbers 14:9)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     "therefore let us go down to the land of our father's inheritance, for behold he left gold and silver, and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done, because of the commandments of the Lord: for he knowing that Jerusalem must be destroyed, because of the wickedness of the people.
~~~~~~~~~~
     Smith then gives us a recap of the events that led the family out of Jerusalem in the first place. I'm not going to share any Bible verses here, is it's pretty much everything we already covered when comparing Lehi to Jeremiah what this does tell us is that the brass plates are record of the prophets to their time. In other words, the brass plates would be the teachings of every prophet from Moses to Jeremiah.

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets -- Wherefore if my father should dwell in the land after that he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold he would also perish. Wherefore it must needs be that he flee out of the land. And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we might preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; and also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto the present time. (pg 10)

 ~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God. 

    10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.(Joshua 3:9-10)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     "And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God." (pg 11)

~~~~~The Old Testament~~~~~
     14 On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. (Joshua 3:14)

~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~
     "And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things. And after that we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban." (pg 11)

~~~~~~~~~

     This seems like a good place to stop. My next post I will be covering the 2nd return to Jerusalem, where Nephi and his brothers attempt to buy the records from Laban.



- Next Post -

12 - Attempt to Buy the Brass Plates

Nephi and his brothers offer gold and silver and precious things in exchange for the plates

Events are similar to interactions with the people of Ai as well as more murmurings from the Israelites


Check Your Understanding:

Test what you picked up from this post.

1. Why does Lehi send his sons back to Jerusalem?




2. The post argues that this episode primarily mirrors which biblical narrative?




3. Casting lots in this story emphasizes:




4. Laman’s failed attempt to obtain the plates reinforces:




5. Nephi’s statement “I will go and do” parallels which repeated biblical instruction to Joshua?




6. According to the post, the brass plates are significant because they:




New here? Consider starting at the first post.




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