1 Nephi 20:14 - 20:18
1 Nephi 20:14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.
The Lord wants Israel to remember for a minute. Who has told them all about the events that have happened all around them over the years. Have idols told them? No.
The Lord has loved Israel and has done all that He said He would do and will cause things to happen the way He wants to happen to the other nations around them.
1 Nephi 20:15 Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Israel has been called on to declare the gospel to all the nations around them. And in order to do that the Lord has brought prosperity to them in the form of land and crops. He has made it possible for them to think about proselytizing instead of worrying about where the next meal is coming from.
1 Nephi 20:16 Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
At no time has the Lord been secret about anything to do with Israel. He has spoken plainly as what He wants them to do and how they will accomplish His will. The knowledge of these things has come in the form of prophets and by His spirit to their souls.
1 Nephi 20:17 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.
God has sent the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel to them in the form of Jehovah. Jehovah has tried to teach them in such a way to maximize their growth potential in both physical and spiritual matters.
1 Nephi 20:18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
Oh how peaceful would be their lives if they would have allow the Lord lead them. The quality of their lives would have been like a river that peacefully flow along or like the waves of the sea which lap over the sands of the sea and covers them with its influence.
