1 Nephi 5:8 - 5:12

1 Nephi 5:8 And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.

With the safe arrival of her sons, she now receives a testimony of the mission of her husband. She is further convinced that the Lord was the one that protected her sons from Laban and that they received power to accomplish their mission from Him. It was obvious to her that this mission could not happen without the Lord’s help as she listens to Nephi’s account of getting the plates.

1 Nephi 5:9 And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

To show the thanks of the family for the Lord’s help they offer up a burnt sacrifice of an animal. Wonder if we can equate that we do something for someone else whenever we are shown a favor by the Lord? And should we be sure an thank the Lord every time we are shown a favor by Him? He does not seem to be happy if we do not acknowledge Him for the blessing we receive because that is just where they come from, not where else.

1 Nephi 5:10 And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.

After the sacrifice things settle down in the camp for awhile and Lehi starts to examine closely the writings on the brass plates. He must have read the whole book.

Now I’m guessing that he did not have any scriptures in his personal possession, but I could be wrong. I have wonder at times when the people only heard the scriptures maybe only the Sabbath or once year at Passover, how they could maintain any degree of spirituality?

It maybe all the little things they did everyday that were required by the Law of Moses that kept the Lord in their minds. What a great blessing that we all can have a set of scriptures in our personal possession and to be able to read them for ourselves at will. Many men have given their lives, such as William Tyndale, so we could do so.

1 Nephi 5:11 And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;

Lehi sees that the brass plates contain the five books that Moses in which Moses recorded the creation of the world and the account of Adam and Eve. I wonder how much did Lehi know about this couple or was he now being educated about them.

It is interesting to me that whenever one begins to learn of the Gospel that you always start at the creation or the world and Adam and Eve. They are the ground work for all that follows in history and in the Gospel. The Temple is a great example of this concept.

1 Nephi 5:12 And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;

The plates also contained records of the history of the Jews, Jerusalem and current events. The question begs to be asked, who was recording the current events? I can understand there being the records of the prophets and of the past, but if the people of Jerusalem were so corrupt that they were ripe for destruction, would it not also mean that they were not keeping track of what being said about their evil actions. Or were the records to show where the naysayers were wrong and why from experiences with the Lord in the past. So again who was keeping the records?

Was Laban as part of his duties as keeper of the brass plates, required to record what was happening in the government and what those who were recognized as trouble makers were saying or preaching? If recording on metal was difficult, were records kept on paper first and then the edited copy engraved on the plates? How were such detailed records of what people were saying acquired in the first place? Were there people walking around taking down speeches in some kind of short hand? Were the prophets recording what they were saying and submitting them to Laban to put into the plates? Were these words of the prophets taken down as part of what the officials of the Zedekiah would use against the prophets in order to accuse them of being subversives and trying to disrupt the government in its foreign policy.

Anyway I have always wonder who was taking down the words of the prophets as I feel sure that Laban was not doing it. Was tradition a large part of why records were kept in the first place? And did tradition require that both good and bad be recorded? All good questions.