1 Nephi 9:6 - 10:4

1 Nephi 9:6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

Nephi is aware of the Lord’s knowledge of future events that these plates are made to fit in with them to accomplish some purpose at that time. The plates will have some purpose that it will help the work of the gospel to move alone as the Lord wants.

1 Nephi 10:1 And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry; wherefore, to proceed with mine account, I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren.

Now Nephi begins with his own account in which he will still refer to items from his father’s accounts. He will also refer activities of the other members of these two families who are now trying to coupe with their present situation which a large part of the group do not find to their liking.

1 Nephi 10:2 For behold, it came to pass after my father had made an end of speaking the words of his dream, and also of exhorting them to all diligence, he spake unto them concerning the Jews—

After revealing the details of his dream and what it meant to him and the interpretation. He continued by prophecy about the Jews. I’m sure that what he told them about the destruction of the Jews was not believed.

1 Nephi 10:3 That after they should be destroyed, even that great city Jerusalem, and many be carried away captive into Babylon, according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they should be brought back out of captivity they should possess again the land of their inheritance.

Lehi continues on with this topic to tell what would happened to them after Jerusalem was destroyed. Probably received this information from his reading the book as was shown him back in chapter one.

Anyway, the Jews, or many of them, that would survive the onslaught of the Babylonians would be made slaves and taken to Babylon. They would be there for a time and then be allowed to return to Jerusalem to possess the land again.

Wonder how Lehi felt about this himself. I’m sure he must have known that some of his family and friends would either be killed or become captives. And his upcoming journey to the land of promise must have seemed like his whole life would be turned upside down.

He would never see these folks again and probably die in a place totally unknown to him. Leaving the land you had always lived in and moving away from family and friends is not a easy thing, but I think knowing what was to happen to those who were close to him in Jerusalem was probably the hardest to take.

1 Nephi 10:4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.

In addition to the destruction of Jerusalem, Lehi speaks about the coming of the Messiah which would come in 600 years. He would be called the Redeemer of the world. I doubt that this knowledge had a calming effect, on some members of the group.