By Maurine Proctor · January 4, 2011
Once when I was teaching an institute class on the Book of Mormon, I lined up two scriptures and asked a question that I thought would be easy. As it turned out, it wasn’t.
There is a point in Nephi’s record of the wilderness journey, he and his family take from Jerusalem , where he pauses in thanksgiving and exclaims:
“And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeying without murmurings.
“And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17: 2,3).
In these verses, Nephi is exultant, happy and grateful, in awe of the Lord’s hand in his life. Now, Laman and Lemuel had travelled the same miles he had. The heat had borne down on Nephi and Laman and Lemuel with the same driving force. The relentless desert wind had dried all their faces and parched their throats without partiality. They had all equally lived on raw meat and given up the honey and pomegranates of home. If ever there were the perfect scientific experiment where all were subjected to the same conditions to test to see their differing responses, this was it.
Here at the edge of the Negev wilderness, Nephi and his brothers would have passed five times.
So with Nephi’s happy response in hand, we now turn to Laman and Lemuel’s—which was a whining lament, an acid complaint. One can imagine their journeying all day, quietly seething, because to talk was to lose too much moisture, and then erupting in anger in the cool of the desert evening, with this:
“Behold these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy” (1 Nephi 17: 21).
The same journey; two such radically different responses. I asked my class, “What was Laman and Lemuel’s most basic problem?”
Though I considered this an obvious question, it was an important one because it applies to all of us. We know that Nephi, Laman and Lemuel literally took a journey through the wilderness, an eight-year-marathon that took them from Jerusalem to the shores of the Arabian Sea —and then beyond. This journey, however, was also a metaphor of everyone’s life experience. It applies to all of us.
Here in mortality, we are cast into the wilderness, taking a wilderness journey, where, like Nephi’s family, we experience the tremendous heat of trial, the tedium of the way, the wandering through a sometimes trackless desert, the hardship, the thirst. Sometimes we are deluded into thinking that this life should be a Sunday school picnic or a ride on a cruise ship instead of a wilderness journey, and we become miffed that it is all harder than our expectations, but neither the picnic, nor the cruise ship, show up in scripture—just the wilderness journey repeated by Nephi, by Moses, by the Mormon pioneers, a theme in every book of scripture.
We are placed on a wilderness journey because the Lord is doing his work on us, because always the purpose of such a journey is to transform the travellers, burn out their impurities, strip them of the world, clarify their thinking, and sharpen their devotion that they may be candidates to dwell in the promised land. The wilderness journey is the Lord’s kindness to us, to make us fit for His kingdom.
Thus it really matters to understand why Nephi’s experience on the journey was so different than Laman and Lemuel’s, and thus I waited for the answers from the class with great interest.
They responded, in nodding agreement, that Laman and Lemuel just had a bad attitude. This sounded like an answer born of too many self-help books and do-it-yourself programs. “Chin up. Cheer up,” Laman and Lemuel. “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.”
“Hey, team. You can do it. So Nephi broke his bow and you are about to starve? Don’t worry. Be happy.”
Calling Laman and Lemuel’s problem just one of having a bad attitude assumes that all they really needed to do was have a better attitude and things would go swimmingly for them. It is an answer in the spirit of a secular age that contends that man is in complete control and that maybe a few positive affirmations every morning was all that they needed to feel better—no matter how hot the wind blew.
It comes with the sense: why use the Liahona when you’ve got a GPS?
It is an answer that says man is the measure of all things and fails to look not only at the core of the issue, but the core of a person. If the core is not addressed, all the other advice falls flat.
On the journey their hungry camels would have been attracted to every lone Acacia Tree.
I asked this question about why Laman and Lemuel had such a miserable time on the wilderness journey, because the answer had already been given in the Book of Mormon—and not just anywhere, but right at the beginning of the journey: “And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them” (1 Nephi 2:12).
Nephi’s journey, which is a type of our journey in life, was joyously transformed because he did know the dealings of that God who had created him. This core understanding changed the nature of his journey through the desert and later across the whirling, boiling sea because it changed his core, the very essence of who he was.
He did not face anything alone or without purpose. God walked by his side, led him to the more fertile parts of the wilderness. He knew who stood by him when he climbed into the crags of the mountain tops looking for just the right wood to make a bow. He had protective arms around him when the way was hard. Even when he became depressed later in the promised land, and Laman and Lemuel sought his life, he was lifted up again by remembering, “I know in whom I have trusted.”
He had been given strength because he could say with confidence: “My God hath been my support…He hath filled me with his love…He hath confounded my enemies…He hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the nighttime” (2 Nephi 4: 20-24).
Even if Laman and Lemuel had not been given to whining and had wanted to assume a good attitude about the journey, all the best self-talk in the world pales pathetically to what Nephi had.
Their problem is clear. They “knew not the dealings of that God who had created them” and therefore their wilderness journey was going to be merely a miserable, futile experience that not only did not transform them to make them fit candidates for the kingdom, it ground them into empty whiners with murderous resentments.
They became people ripe for discouragement, despair, and anguish.
Somewhere near this area Nephi saw his great vision in answer to his prayers.
When Nephi has this transformative vision of the future which helps him understand the meaning of Lehi’s dream, and is caught up “into an exceedingly high mountain, which I had never before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot,” Laman and Lemuel are doing something entirely different with those hours (1 Nephi 11:1).
From his glorious vision, Nephi comes back to their tent and finds that Laman and Lemuel have spent that same time, “disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them” (1 Nephi 15:2). What? They are just fighting with each other, complaining about their father, and fueling their negativity? Give me a break. Surely they can do better than this.
Nephi, too, is incredulous. “Have ye inquired of the Lord?” They, too, could have had answers. The Lord had stood with his arms outstretched to them, willing, but they would have nothing of it. Instead, they bickered, “the Lord maketh no such thing known to us (1 Nephi 15:9). What a sad trade.
Surely, as sons of Lehi, Laman and Lemuel had been taught about God, just as Nephi had—but, nonetheless, and obviously, they did not know Him. They had not learned what they had been taught, because to come to know the dealings of that God who has created us, it is not enough to have someone else tell you about him. You learn about who he is, in those hours in your room on your knees. He reveals himself to you when you seek him with all your heart and when your whole mind and soul is inclined toward him.
Laman and Lemuel did not want to pay that price, and so they paid other, agonizing prices instead, throughout the entire journey. They suffered, not because the Lord imposed suffering upon them, but given the nature of the journey, it was the natural consequence of attempting to go it alone.
Because at their core, they knew not God, at their core they could only respond to the reality of the journey with the outlook of the natural man.
We are often told by the world that real freedom and growth comes from abandoning God and his standards, and exercising our will, walking in our own way. What God wants is to make us sheep, to restrict us, to trample our individuality, we hear. Yet, who not only has all the fun, but also all the growth on this journey—Nephi, or his brothers, Laman and Lemuel? Who develops leadership, ingenuity and integrity? Who gets to make a bow and build a ship? Who has visions and talks to the very Creator, himself?
Who, on the other hand, spends all their time plotting and complaining, withering away with every passing year?
We know those answers, and it is easy to sit here at our seeming distance from the desert and call Laman and Lemuel foolish, but the more telling thing is to use their story to look back at ourselves.
In actuality, we are not so far from the desert. We are on our own wilderness journey, specially designed and customized to purge us of our weaknesses and bring us home ready to inherit the promised land.
If we would weather our lives with joy, feel shored up and loved even on the loneliest stretches, strengthened for the battle that rages all around us, made courageous against the fiery darts of the economy or the family disappointments or the illness which plagues us, then it is not enough just to decide to have a good attitude.
Such resolutions will ultimately fail us, because they do not come from the place of real power. Instead, we must “know the dealings of that God who created us.” When we are willing to pay the price to know him, more than a good attitude follows. What follows is strength and joy and the deep affirmation, “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever.”
COMMENTS
I also really appreciated the insights from some of the resulting comments (select portions included):
The older brothers had also reversed the first and second commandments - only when they loved God first, kept His commandments first, prayed, had humility (and they had those times) did they have inner peace. --Cindy Huffaker - March 13, 2017
I came across a scripture recently that has really struck out to me and I ponder on it often. "Thou hast loved righteousness . . . therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness: Heb. 1:9
It causes me to question all I do. Do I really love "_________" (serving, being modest, etc.) . . . If I didn't, what would I do to grow love for that area? --MB - March 13, 2017
But WHY did they grumble? I feel it was because they were not focused on, understanding of and committed to the end goal, the purpose of their father's journey. They did not make the spiritual investment to make it their journey also. That would require faith and being humble to know the Lord's purpose for asking / commanding Lehi to find safety away from Jerusalem. It was a blessing that the entire family was to be preserved. When I don't understand the reason or the desired outcome of a set of instructions, it's easy for it to seem like useless busy work. Thus the constant resistance and grumbling. I have been through and continue to go through difficult challenges in my life. I suppose what sustains me is knowing that the Lord will have a tried and true people and that when my focus is on doing what He would have me do, I feel strong enough to work through any situation, one step at a time. I have room to work on being happy along the journey, but I do not feel like complaining. --Ann - March 13, 2017
I also would like to note that Nephi is described as being very positive through the journey, and while he was at times, he also had times that he felt the weight of the journey but instead of feeling the weight of the journey on his own, he had Heavenly Father and Christ all along the way to lift him. --Mother of 5 with anxiety - March 12, 2017
As previously indicated in another post, Nephi wasn't intrinsically immune to Laman and Lemuel's problems. "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, ... having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." --David H. - March 9, 2017
This comment from this article "...but the more telling thing is to use their story to look back at ourselves" is very insightful. I've always thought of Lamen and Lemuel as the antagonists in the story - bad to the bone, rebellious, and so forth. And obviously that's the way it turned out in the end. But, I pose this rhetorical question of myself and others - "Were Lamen and Lemuel 'active?' " Meaning if they were in our day, would we find them "active" in the church? (At least in their earlier years while in Jerusalem and prior to leaving for the Promised Land? Would they be found at their meetings? Going through the motions of home teaching? Fulfilling assignments (regardless of attitude) etc etc.? They did after all agree to leave Jerusalem, and even went back a couple times under the direction of their father, and each time choose to leave again and stay with their family. They did acknowledge that their father was a "visionary man" - having visions and we assume knew him to be a prophet. They did ask Nephi for forgiveness (regardless of the reasons) a couple times at least. They did bow and submit when the storm finally humbled them. They did reverence and respect Nephi (and we presume Lehi) a few notable times, even asking for forgiveness. We assume they took an active part in preparing and provisioning the ship for their impending journey. They successfully completed their mission to get scriptures, and Lamen even tried as the main hero during that process at least once - plus they escaped with their lives! They saw angles (never mind the reason). And they did get on the boat! When I draw the parallels to today and think of how well I know the "dealings of the Lord" and measure my place in the kingdom, I am humbled - and I wonder if Lamen and Lemuel were or considered themselves "active in the Church". I wonder if we are really "active" in the church! Thank you - this was a great article. --Lee - February 13, 2016
In my office I have a saying that instructive on the Laman and Lemuel journey. "Beware of grumbling it can lead to other sins." They are a clear example to us that when we allow a grumbling attitude to enter into our hearts we open the door for greater and greater wickedness. These sons probably considered themselves obedient as they too left Jerusalem, leaving behind their wealth, they returned twice as their father commanded to get the plates and to invite Ishmael to join them. They too had a wilderness experience. However their grumbling went from dissatisfaction and complaints to actually having their hearts filled with murderous desires. Grumbling, murmuring and finding fault are gateway problems to more serious problems that impact jobs, families and our testimonies. --carol lawson - February 8, 2016
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