He dashed home long enough to round up his family and a few supplies, then headed into the wilderness. They walked for three days until they reached the valley at the point of the river meeting the Red Sea, where they set up a tent and an altar for an appropriate "offering".
He told his eldest son that he should be more like the river, "continually running into the fountain of all righteousness" and his next eldest that he should be more like the valley "firm, steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord."
Basically he was pissed because his eldest two sons were complaining about being hoiked away from their home and having to leave all their nice things to avoid a lynching because their dad wouldn't stop upsetting the people of Jerusalem.
Nephi, the youngest, was upset that his brothers were unhappy about having to flee their home because of "the foolish imaginations of [their father's] heart" and decided that his brothers just didn't understand God, or the prophets, despite the fact that they all swore Jerusalem would be destroyed.
In fairness, I'm inclined to agree with the brothers. I'd be pretty cheesed off if I had to run away from my home and stuff because my father didn't stop upsetting the neighbours. Plus, you know, Jerusalem IS still there, to this day.
Anyway, Lehi, the dad, got so annoyed when his sons expressed their disapproval of the situation that he shouted at them so horribly that it made the poor lads tremble. And then he went to sulk in the tent for a bit.
Nephi suddenly decided he wanted to understand the "mysteries of God", and of course God visited him. He instantly believed all the things his father said and didn't "rebel against him like unto my brothers"! Personally, I think he's sucking up a bit. I can hear it in the undertones, between the lines - "see what a good son I am, love me daddy! I'm a GOOD boy."
He then went to speak to his slightly older brother, the second youngest of the four, telling him all the things God had told him - but, not surprisingly, his two older brothers (the ones hacked off about the whole circumstance) didn't particularly believe him.
God told him "Don't worry, you believe, so you'll be sucessful - prosper and be led to the land of promise (Hang on, wasn't that Moses?), a land prepared specially for you and is seriously good.
And if your brothers continue to be dicks, don't sweat it. You keep telling people this stuff and you'll be a ruler and teacher over them and I'll curse them so that they won't have any power over you, your kids, your kids kids. Plus, their doucheyness will remind everyone how awesome I am."
No comments:
Post a Comment