1 Nephi 15:23 - 15:27
1 Nephi 15:23 And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?
They next ask about the rod of iron which led to the tree. The boys do notice that it does lead in a direction and that direction is to the tree. So they must have been wanting to know not only what the rod meant but why it led to the tree.
1 Nephi 15:24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.
Nephi explains that it is the scriptures and if a man would study them and live by them, they would not succumb to the temptations of the devil. They would have power to see a temptation for what it is and turn the other way. They would not become blind to the devils efforts to lead men astray and learn to see his temptations as they occur.
1 Nephi 15:25 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things.
With this opening, Nephi encourages his brothers to study and adhere to what they suggest we do to be happy in this life. He pleads with them to give strict heed to what they encourage us to do. And Nephi does this with all the energy of his soul. Which I include to mean with all his love and concern for their welfare that he speaks to them to about keeping the commandments and being obedient to them.
1 Nephi 15:26 And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?
Next they ask about the river of water. I notice that it says ‘river of water’ and not just river. It probably means not just a river dry river bed that one sees in the desert but a river that is flowing with water. The same description to the river in the place where they were camping.
1 Nephi 15:27 And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.
Nephi adds some detail concerning the river, that Lehi did not notice, namely it was flowing with polluted water. Nephi explains that because of the other parts of the dream which Lehi was more concerned about, he failed to notice the condition of the water.
This is interesting to me for it shows that even in dreams that we see them in the light of our concerns and content of our experiences in life. We might have dreams but no even get the point they are trying to communicate to us because we are so concerned about other matters. Lehi did not seem to be concerned about the river or its meaning at the time. He was more concerned about the behavior of his two older sons than what the river looked liked.
