1 Nephi 4:11 - 4:15

1 Nephi 4:11 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.

Nephi’s reluctance is noted by the Spirit, but again Nephi is commanded to kill Laban. The Spirit now gives an indictment against Laban.

First Laban has tried to kill the boys for no good reason. Second, Laban stole their possessions which makes Laban a thief. All these offences are against the Ten Commandments and Laban now is subject to the punishments as dictated in the Law. Since I assume that he will be brought to answer any of these charges by the people, the Spirit has held a trial and passed judgment. Laban is to die.

1 Nephi 4:12 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands;

Again Laban has been sentenced to death and Nephi is to carry out the sentence. As one of the offended parties of the indictment, the Law says the punishment is to be administered by the plaintiff. The Spirit is serious about this and wants Nephi to do it now!

1 Nephi 4:13 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.

The Lord will take out the wicked to accomplish what He wants done among his children. It may sound like a cruel God, but I have confidence that he knows what’s best for me and what is best of the wicked man. And that may mean his mortal life is to be terminated. We sometimes fail to think that a better situation is in store for the wicked man in the next world. And maybe the help he needs is better there than here.

Nephi is told that it is better that Laban should die than be allowed to live because he would block the efforts to get the brass plates. That would result in the descendants of Lehi not having the scriptures. In turn that would result in the nation not becoming a righteous people. The Lord in His mercy is looking out for his children and sees ahead what is needed and will cause events to carry out his desires for the future.

1 Nephi 4:14 And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise.

Nephi now is beginning to realize that the Spirit is serious about the command to kill Laban. Not sure why the angel could not do it, but Nephi is to carry out the death sentence.

Anyway Nephi now begins trying reconcile his not wanting to kill anyone with this commandment. So now he begins to put together what he knows thus far. First he remembers that if he does what he is told by the Lord he will receive blessing that he can’t conceive of at present. One being that he and his descendents will prosper in the land of promise. I think that applies to us today as well.

1 Nephi 4:15 Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.

In order to keep the commandments his descendants would need a copy of the commandments in their possession. It is easy to make up laws and regulations as dictators usually do, if there is nothing written and in force.