1 Nephi 7:20 - 8:2
1 Nephi 7:20 And it came to pass that they were sorrowful, because of their wickedness, insomuch that they did bow down before me, and did plead with me that I would forgive them of the thing that they had done against me.
Whatever Nephi said to the rebels cause them to become very sorry for their attitude and actions. However, it maybe the pleadings of the mother and other of Ishmael’s children that woke them up to their wickedness. To show their sorrow, they plead for Nephi’s forgiveness and bowed down to him.
1 Nephi 7:21 And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness. And it came to pass that they did so. And after they had done praying unto the Lord we did again travel on our journey towards the tent of our father.
Nephi forgave them quickly and with sincerity. What he told them to do was to pray to God for forgiveness. In reality, it was God whom they offended because it was His commandments that the rebels were rebelling against. The commandments came from Nephi’s or Lehi’s mouth, but they were not the ones who came up with the missions.
The rebels did not scoff at praying and they may have come to the realization that God was truly behind what was going on. I sounds like to me that they did not continue the journey to Lehi’s camp until they all felt they were unified in purpose. I guess they also felt that the Lord had forgiven them too.
1 Nephi 7:22 And it came to pass that we did come down unto the tent of our father. And after I and my brethren and all the house of Ishmael had come down unto the tent of my father, they did give thanks unto the Lord their God; and they did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto him.
They continue in the journey and arrive at Lehi’s camp. The two families are now together and begin the process of uniting as a cohesive group. They would have to be to continue the journey to the promise land. One can only imagine the emotional difficulty it would be to start on such a difficult trip with a large minority fighting you all the way. And I sure the Lord knowing just how difficult the journey would be needed everyone working together.
Lehi again shows his thanks for the safe arrival of his boys and Ishmael’s family by offering sacrifice. Again I’m impressed that an effort is made to show thanks by some effort other than just saying thank you either out loud or in prayer. Makes me wonder if I should do more than just say thank you in my prayers. But then again that is better than not even recognizing where the blessing come from.
1 Nephi 8:1 And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind.
The entire group now prepares for their journey to the promise land. They gather seeds grain and fruit to take with them. Wonder if anyone has tried to find out if the plants in center American had any “roots” in the plants of the mid east? Would be an interesting DNA project.
Anyway I guess everyone is on board as the upcoming journey and by now everyone has been assigned or volunteered to be responsible for various needs of the moving camp. The boys probably for hunting and heavy lifting and the women for food preparation and some sort of domestic house keeping, whatever is possible in the desert in tents.
1 Nephi 8:2 And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision.
During this preparation for the trip, Lehi has a dream or as he says he has had a vision which was in his sleep. I’m guessing that he has had a few of these in the pass and that is why he was accused of being a “visionary man.” I rather equate him to Joseph Smith Sr. who had such dreams himself as told by his wife, Lucy Mack Smith, in her book on the life of her son.
