THE LIFE OF NEPHI,
THE SON OF LEHI,
Who Emigrated from Jerusalem, in Judea, to the Land which is now known
as South America, about Six Centuries Before the Coming of our Savior.
BY GEORGE Q. CANNON.
PUBLISHED BY THE CONTRIBUTOR COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 1888.
FROM THE PRESS OF THE JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR.
PREFACE.
Some years since the desire took possession of me to write the life of
Nephi, the son of Lehi, and, as time and opportunity should permit,
the lives of other prominent men of his race of whom we have an
account in the Book of Mormon, so as to form a series of biographies
for the perusal of the young. My aim was to make the children of our
Church familiar with the events described in the Book of Mormon, and
with some of the prominent men of that mighty people of which Nephi
was one of the greatest progenitors. Various causes--the principal one
of which has been the pressure of other and more exacting labors--have
prevented me from carrying my design into execution until the present
time. I have felt that, as I owed so much of my own success in life to
the important and interesting lessons contained in that precious
record, it was a duty incumbent upon me to do all in my power to have
it read and appreciated as widely as possible by every member of our
Church, but especially by the rising generation.
The age in which we live is one of doubt and unbelief. Skepticism is
spreading. All faith in divine things, as taught by the ancient
servants of God, is being unsettled. Man's reason is being extolled as
a higher standard than God's revelations. The personality of God, the
origin of man and his fall, the atonement of the Savior the places of
reward and punishment, known as heaven and hell, and the existence of
a personal devil, are all questioned, and, by many members of
religious sects denied. The Bible is no longer accepted as a reliable
standard, only so far as its teachings may agree with the new and
fashionable views entertained respecting religion and science.
Fortunately for us, we are in a position to stem and turn this tide of
infidelity, so that it shall not overwhelm our young people. We are
not dependent upon the Bible alone for our knowledge concerning these
grand, cardinal truths over which the world is stumbling and debating.
We have other records--among the most important of which is the Book
of Mormon--which corroborate and furnish ample proofs of their
heavenly origin. We have the teachings and knowledge of men living in
lands far apart and of races widely separated; and they agree in their
testimonies, and sustain the divinity of the truths which are taught
by the Son of God Himself, and by His inspired servants.
The Prophet Nephi, whose life we here present, was one of the greatest
and most advanced of these teachers of heavenly truths. There have
been but few men, so far as we know, who comprehended, and spoke, and
wrote about them as plainly as did he. He had a personal knowledge of
the doctrines, principles and facts respecting which men now dispute.
He has written fully upon them. His testimony, therefore, is worth
more to the world than any number of men's opinions and theories. And,
best of all, it carries within itself the highest evidence of its
truth. This is characteristic of his writings, and of all the writings
in the Book of Mormon. To every humble, prayerful soul the perusal of
that book is a solace. It produces peace and joy, and brings the clear
conviction that it is God's word. No arguments are required to prove
this. Men have assailed and denounced it; but the indisputable truth
still remains that, when read with a meek spirit and a prayerful
heart, the testimony of its divine origin descends like refreshing dew
from heaven, upon the reader, and he knows, by the Spirit and power of
God, that it is His word.
That THE LIFE OF NEPHI may have the effect to increase faith, and
stimulate inquiry and the more careful perusal of the divine records
which the Lord has given to us, is the most earnest desire of THE
AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Nephi's Character—-He Gives God the Glory—-Born at Jerusalem—-Probable
Time of Birth—-His Education--Kings Known to Lehi--Ezekiel and
Jeremiah and other Prophets--Familiarity of Nephi with Writings of
Prophets
CHAPTER II.
True and False Prophets--Lehi's Vision--He Warns the People--They
Persecute and Try to Kill Him--Commanded in a Dream to Take His Family
into the Wilderness--Came to Red Sea--Camped near it--Built an Altar
and Made Offering to the Lord--Laman and Lemuel--Their
Unbelief--Shaken and Confounded Before their Father
CHAPTER III.
Faith of Nephi and its Effects--Sam's Belief—-Revelation with Promise
to Nephi--Land of Promise, Choice Above other Lands--Nephi to be a
Ruler and a Teacher to his Brethren--Required to Return to
Jerusalem--His Willingness--Lehi Gratified at His Faith--Laban and
Brass Plates--Angry and Refused to Give Them to Laman--Threatened His
Life--Laman and Lemuel Discouraged--Nephi's Proposition--His Brothers
Agree to it
CHAPTER IV.
Lehi's Riches--Laban Covets Them--Sent his Servants to Kill Laman and
his Brothers--They flee for their Lives--Nephi Whipped by Laman and
Lemuel--Visited by an Angel--Laman and Lemuel still Murmur--Nephi
Leads Them to the City Walls--Laban Lying Drunk--His Sword--Most
Famous Weapon in the World--Those who have Seen it--Nephi Constrained
to Kill Laban--Personates Him and Obtains Plates--His Brothers
Frightened--Laban's Servant, Zoram--Promises to go With Nephi into the
Wilderness
CHAPTER V.
The Status of Zoram--Law of Moses Respecting Bondmen--Character of
Laban--Advantages of Taking Zoram into the Wilderness
CHAPTER VI.
Return into Wilderness--Joy of Lehi and Sariah--Lehi a Visionary
Man--Sariah's Grief and Murmuring--Her Subsequent Testimony--Sacrifice
and Burnt Offerings--The Brass Plates--Their Contents--Lehi a
Descendant of Joseph--Value of These Records to his
Descendants--Another Colony of Jews--Lost Knowledge of Hebrew Language
and of God--Nephi a Great Benefactor--He and Brothers Again Required
to Visit Jerusalem--Ishmael and Family--Laman and Lemuel Stir up
Mutiny--Want to Return to Jerusalem--Bind Nephi--Intend to Leave him
to Perish--Nephi's Prayer--His Bands Burst--The Others Plead for
him--Revulsion of Feeling on Part of his Brothers--Beg his
Forgiveness--Rejoin Lehi and Sariah--Thanksgiving and Sacrifices and
Burnt Offerings
CHAPTER VII.
Lehi's Dream, or Vision--Rejoices Because of Nephi and Sam--Fears
Concerning Laman and Lemuel--His Entreaties to Them--Gathered Seeds
and Grain--Five Marriages--Lehi had Faithfully kept Commandments of
the Lord--Nephi's Development--Experience in Wilderness Necessary to
Prepare Colony for the Future--Lehi Commanded to Travel--Miraculous
Brass Ball, called Liahona--How it Operated--Travel in S. S. E.
Direction--Hunt for Game--Led Through most Fertile parts of the Desert
CHAPTER VIII.
Travel in Desert--Kill Game by the Way--Uncooked Meat their
Food--Nephi Breaks his Bow--Fails to Obtain Food--Laman and Others
Complain Bitterly--Lehi, also, Murmurs--Nephi Keeps his Patience and
Courage--Remonstrates with his Brothers--Makes a Wooden Bow--Lehi very
Sorrowful--Sees Writing on the Brass Ball--Nephi Goes for Game in
Direction Indicated--Company Filled with Joy through his Obtaining
Food--Resume Travel--Ishmael's Death--His Character--Outbreak and
Rebellion of Part of his Children against Lehi and Nephi--Laman
proposes to Kill the Two Latter--Attachment to Birthplace
CHAPTER IX.
Popular at Jerusalem to Reject Prophets--Laman and Lemuel did not
Believe Predictions Concerning that City--Confidence of Jews in
Jerusalem--Glory of the City--The Magnificent Temple--Capture of the
City--The Conspirators Chastened--Lehi and Nephi saved
CHAPTER X.
Travel in Easterly Direction--Land Bountiful--"Irreantum," or Many
Waters--Eight Years in Wilderness--Children Born--Diet of Raw
Meat--Women Healthy and Strong as Men--Learn to Bear Journeyings
Without Murmuring--"Araby the Blest"--Travelers' description of
Land--Company Rest for Many Days
CHAPTER XI.
How Did They Travel?--Had They Vehicles?--Children of Israel used
Covered Wagons--Did Lehi and Company use Camels?--Experience of
Battalion in California--Custom in Abyssinia--Laman and Companions
Never Forget Habits Acquired in the Desert--Transmitted Them to
Posterity in Their New Home--Nephi Cherished True Knowledge of
Civilization--Contrast Between the Two Brothers--Each Left his Impress
upon his Nation
CHAPTER XII.
Nephi Practically the Leader--Commanded to Build a Ship--Directed to
the Ore out of Which to make Tools--Makes a Bellows--Obtains
Fire--Fault-finding and Ridicule of his Brethren--His Sadness and
their Elation--They Grumble at and Reproach their Father and Him--He
Reasons with Them--Enraged, They Attempt to Throw Him in the
Sea--Nephi full of Power of God--They dare not Touch Him--They are
Shaken Before Him--Fall down to Worship Him--Told by Nephi to Worship
God--Nephi Shown by the Lord how he should work Timbers, etc.--Not
Worked after the Manner taught by Men--Helped by his Brothers--Ship
Finished--Laman and Others Acknowledge Nephi's Ability to Build a
Ship--Mountains as Places of Worship
CHAPTER XIII.
Lehi Commanded to Embark upon the Ship--Food Prepared for the
Voyage--Jacob and Joseph--Did the Ship have Sails?--Voyages and Ships
of Egyptians--Dancing and Rudeness of Laman and Others at Sea--Nephi
Remonstrates--Is Treated Harshly and Bound Hand and Foot by his
Brothers--Lehi and Sariah very Sick--Four Days of Terrible
Tempest--Compass Would not Work--Driven Back Before the Wind--Terror
of Laman and Lemuel--Nephi's Patience and Self-Control--The Lord Shows
Forth His Power--Nephi Released--The Ship Steered in Right Course--His
Prayer Answered and Tempest Quelled--Reach the Promised Land
CHAPTER XIV.
Land and Pitch their Tents--Place of Landing--Cultivate the
Ground--Good Crops--Find Animals of Every Kind--Also Ores--Raise Large
Flocks and Herds--"Carneros de la Tierra"--Find the Horse--Was the
Horse Extinct When the Whites Discovered America?--Reasons for
Thinking it was not--Wild Horses Seen by Sir Francis Drake in
1579--Opinion of Professor Marsh--Horses Seen by Drake, not Spanish
CHAPTER XV.
Animals and Vegetables Valuable to Lehi and Company--The
Potato--Abundance of Fruits--Jerusalem Destroyed--Lehi's Thankfulness
for this Choice Land--A Land of Liberty to all who Should be Brought
Here if they Would Serve God--Land to be Kept from Knowledge of Other
Nations--Remarkably Fulfilled--Promises of the Lord to Lehi Concerning
his Descendants and the Land--Present Condition of his Seed
Predicted--Prophecies Concerning the Prophet Joseph Smith--Lehi a
Great Prophet--Restrains his Children While Living--Rancorous Hatred
After his Death Against Nephi--Enraged by his Admonitions--Propose to
Kill Him
CHAPTER XVI.
Nephi's Efforts to Save His Brethren--Nephi, Commanded of the Lord,
Flees into the Wilderness--His Company--His Sisters--Carries Plates of
Brass and other Records--The Liahona and Sword of Laban with
Him--Nephi called a Liar and a Robber--Searches the Scriptures--Two
Sets of Plates--Character of Records on Each--Plates made for a
Special Purpose--Found by Mormon--Wisdom of God Greater than Cunning
of Devil--The Prophet Joseph Delivered from a Snare
CHAPTER XVII.
Travel Many Days in the Wilderness--Call the Land Nephi--Did They
Journey Northward?--Location of Land Nephi--River Sidon and
Magdalena--Land of Zarahemla--Twenty-two Days' Travel from Nephi--Did
not Land of Nephi Extend Considerably South?--Zeniff's Return to the
Land of Nephi--Was that the Land Settled by Nephi, the First?--Mosiah,
King of Zarahemla--Reasons for Thinking Nephi to be Distinguishing
Name of an Extensive Region--Nephites Would Spread Over the Country in
Four Hundred Years--Did Nephi and Company Travel as far North as
Ecuador?--Followed by Lamanites--Jacob and Enos Respecting
Lamanites--Nephi's Description of the Land--Bolivia and Peru--Cities
and Settlements Called After Founders--Additional Reasons for Thinking
Nephi and Company did not Settle so far North--Boundaries of Lands
Occupied by Nephites and Lamanites--South America Called Lehi, North
America Called Mulek
CHAPTER XVIII.
Travelers' Descriptions of Land Once Occupied by Nephites--Cradle of
an Imperial Race--The Productions of the Land in Modern Times Agree
with Description of Same in Book of Mormon--Rapid Recovery from
Effects of Disastrous Commotions and Wars Accounted for--Healthy
Climate--Remarkable Longevity--Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni--Longevity
of Indians in Ecuador and Peru
CHAPTER XIX.
Two Distinct Nations--Intermingled--Mixed Blood in Lamanites--Nephi
and Company Settled in an Earthly Paradise--Greatly Prospered--Law of
Moses Observed--A Live Religion--Nephi Conversed with the Spirit of
the Lord--Heard Voices of the Father and the Son--Understood the
Gospel of Jesus--Simplicity and Plainness of His Teachings, Prophecies
and Revelations Wonderful Extent and Variety of His Knowledge--Writes
of the Days of the Savior as a Contemporary Might--Exactness of the
Description of the Great and Abominable Church--Also the Events which
Should Take Place in Connection with Zion--Only Two Churches--The
Whore of all the Earth should Gather Multitudes among all the Nations
of Gentiles to Fight Against the Church of the Lamb--Power of God
Poured Out Upon the Latter, His Wrath Upon the Former--They who Fight
Against the House of Israel shall War among Themselves and Fall into
the Pit they shall Dig to Ensnare the People of the Lord--The
Righteous Should Not Perish--Great Value of These Promises to the
Latter-day Saints--Secret Combinations--Many Churches to be Built
Up--Their Character--The Book of Mormon, How it should be
Received--Churches Put Down the Power and Miracles of God--Preach up
their own Wisdom and Learning--Contend One with Another--Grind the
Poor--Literal Fulfillment as Latter-day Saints can Testify
CHAPTER XX.
Nephi's Commandment to Jacob Concerning Small Plates--Nephi Anoints a
Man to be King--His Successors in Kingly Dignity Called by his
Name--Patriarchal Government--Jacob Presided Over the Church--King
Mosiah's Mode of Life--Seers as Well as Kings--Was There a Change of
Dynasty?--Kingly and Priestly Authority United in Mosiah
CHAPTER XXI.
Nephi Died--Example of his Life--Internal Evidence of Divinity of his
Writings in the Spirit of God which Accompanies Them--An Eventful
Career--Admirable in Every Relation--A Born Leader, Successful as a
Mechanic, Miner, Seaman, Chemist, Metallurgist, Stockraiser,
Agriculturist, Manufacturer and Statesman--Expanded Views of the
Rights and Equality of Man--Religious Liberty--The End
THE LIFE OF NEPHI.
CHAPTER I.
Nephi's Character—-He Gives God the Glory—-Born at Jerusalem—-Probable
Time of Birth—-His Education--Kings Known to Lehi--Ezekiel and
Jeremiah and other Prophets--Familiarity of Nephi with Writings of
Prophets.
Of all the lives which have come down to us in the ancient records,
there is, probably, not one, excepting our Savior's, which can be
studied with more profit than that of Nephi, the son of Lehi. The
influence which he exerted over his associates was most wonderful; but
it did not end there. We think we do not overrate it when we say that
no man of the nation of which he was the founder did so much as he
towards giving shape to the methods of government, to the forms of
worship and to the mode of life which prevailed for about a thousand
years among that people. He was to them what Moses was to the children
of Israel, and though the Nephite nation was prolific in great men,
there was not one, it seems to us, who exceeded, if indeed he came up
in every particular to, the full measure of his greatness. So far as
the record of his life has come down to us, it presents the picture of
a man of such perfections as has rarely been seen on earth. He does
not leave us in doubt as to why this was the case. The success which
attended all his undertakings he claimed no credit for. At no time
does he indulge in self-glorification; but in all that he says the
disposition to give God the glory is very apparent. He gives Him the
glory for it all. To this, more than any other cause, do we attribute
the prosperity which attended him through life, and which made him the
truly great man that he was. Speaking of himself, he says that he had
been highly favored of the Lord in all his days.
Nephi, the son of Lehi, was born at Jerusalem. The exact year of his
birth is not given; but we can form a very good idea of the time from
what he says respecting himself. His father, Lehi, and family left
Jerusalem six hundred years before the coming of the Savior. Nephi,
alluding to himself soon after this, while they were in the
wilderness, describes himself as "exceeding young, nevertheless large
in stature." The record leads us to the conclusion that he was a man
in size, though a boy in years--probably not more than fifteen years
old. From the language of his brother Jacob in the beginning of his
book we infer that Nephi did not live long after the year fifty-five
of their exodus from Jerusalem. Jacob says, "he began to be old." He
was doubtless at least seventy years old at that time. We judge,
therefore, that he was born not far from the year 615 B.C. This would
be in the reign of Josiah, the father of Zedekiah, and whose reign
closed between eleven and twelve years before the latter was put upon
the throne of Judah by the conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
We are not told as to how his childhood was spent. It is evident,
however, that his father was in affluent circumstances; for besides
his house and land, he had gold, silver and other precious things in
abundance; in fact, so much of this kind of personal property did he
have, that upon one occasion, it was coveted, as we shall see as we
proceed with his history, and was the cause of an attempt to kill
Nephi and his three older brothers. Nephi, himself, says he was "born
of goodly parents," and he doubtless received an education suitable to
his station; he "was taught somewhat in all the learning" of his
father.
Lehi had always lived at Jerusalem. He was a descendant of Manasseh,
the oldest son of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers. He must have
witnessed stirring times in his native city; for though he doubtless
shared in the peace and prosperity which prevailed during the long and
successful reign of the faithful king, Josiah, he saw no less than
four kings on the throne of Judah in the brief space of eleven or
twelve years. King Josiah was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, whose
reign of three months was brought to a close by the king of Egypt
carrying him to Egypt and laying the land of Judah under tribute and
making Jehoiakim, his brother, king in his stead. Jehoiakim reigned
eleven years, and in the first part of his reign was a tributary to
the king of Egypt, who had put him on the throne. Afterwards he fell
into the power of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and for three
years he acknowledged him as his superior; then he rebelled. But there
was a curse upon him and his family, because of his wickedness; the
Lord had taken their strength from them; they could not break the yoke
of the foe which was raised up against them. Josephus informs us that:
"The king of Babylon made an expedition against Jerusalem and was
received by the king Jehoiakim into the city. But he slew such as were
of the flower of their age and such as were of the greatest dignity,
together with their king Jehoiakim, whom he commanded to be thrown
before the wall without any burial."
Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, whose inglorious reign
of a little over three months, was terminated by the siege of
Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and his marching out of the city and
surrendering himself, his wives, his mother, his princes and officers
to that king. He and they were all carried prisoners to Babylon. The
king of Babylon also took as prisoners upwards of ten thousand of the
nobility and leading men of the land, among whom was the prophet
Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar then made Zedekiah, the uncle of the last
king, and brother of his father, king of Judah.
It was in the midst of scenes like these that Nephi's childhood was
spent. His father must have been familiar with the predictions of the
Prophet Jeremiah, who for upwards of thirty years before Lehi and
family left Jerusalem, had been declaring the word of the Lord unto
the people. It is more than likely that he knew him personally. At the
time of Nephi's last visit to Jerusalem the Prophet Jeremiah was in
prison. There were other prophets also, whom Lehi either knew
personally, or, at least, was acquainted with their predictions.
Nephi, as a child, was trained in the knowledge of the prophecies.
This is apparent in his teachings. He quotes the words of three
prophets, of whose predictions we have no record--Zenock, Neum and
Zenos--except the quotations from them which appear in the Book of
Mormon. Their predictions and the predictions of another prophet--of
which none have yet come to us--Ezais by name, as well as those of
Moses, Joseph, Isaiah, and all the prophets from the beginning down to
his own day, they brought with them upon plates of brass to this land.
Nephi, in speaking of the prophecies of Isaiah, from which he quoted
largely, says that the Jews understood the things of the prophets
spoken unto them as no other people not taught after their manner
could. That he was trained in these things at Jerusalem is easily
perceived from what he says; for he understood their style, and their
predictions were plain to him. This was an advantage to him afterwards
in teaching his people.