Lehi's family is living in the wilderness. They now have the Brass Plates. They have gathered together seeds of every kind to take with them on their journey to make sure that they would have food to survive.
1 Nephi 6:4-6
What was Nephi's intent for the words that he recorded on his plates?
Besides the fact that he was commanded to keep a record his intent was to "persuade all men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved."
2 Nephi 33:10-11
Whose words are we reading?
Nephi mentions that these words are the words of Christ.
President Ezra Taft Benson teaches about teachings in the Books of Mormon (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 203).
"The Book of Mormon is the great standard we are to use in our missionary work. It shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It contains the words of Christ, and its great mission is to bring men to Christ. All other things are secondary....It does not contain things which are not interested in it. It is a great sieve."The purpose of a sieve is to filter the contaminates from a sample material. In this instance the Book of Mormon is a sieve becuase if someone does not have a testimony of it then everything that came from it or lead up to it would not be true in their eyes. The Lord would never give a false prophet a book of scripture to translate. Neither would he give a true prophet a false book of scripture to translate. It is an all or nothing situation.
Divide the group into two groups and play the Scripture mastery "memory" game.
In games that involve the development of teams, what are common ways in which people choose sides?
Many times sides are chosen by some common element, boys vs girls, adults vs youth, one school or group against another and so forth. Another common method is to have "captains" to pick teams. In some situations the whole tries to group people together by skill sets to try to come up with even teams. The last option that I can think of is where there are two sides and everyone gets an option to select which side they want to be on.
How do some of the potential players feel if they do not get selected, do not fit into any of the selection groups or are chosen last?
To be picked last or left out is never a good feeling. It leaves the person(s) with the feeling of inadequacies.
In the case of Good vs Evil we are in a situation where we get to choose which side we want to be on. The Savior wants us to choose his side. It is not the easy path but it is the most rewarding.
Now back to Lehi's familiy's situation the only thing that they needed now for them to survive was to find spouses for their children. They was no way to know whether the place that the Lord was taking them would have other peoples or not plus if they were to raise up their children in their beliefs and culture they would need to have spouses of the same culture and faith. Now the Lord knows all and knew where they were going. He also had a desire that they would be able to raise their children in the Gospel (otherwise he would not have commanded them to retrieve the Brass Plates). In order for them to be successful in that they also needed to have spouses who had the same beliefs and culture. For this reason the Lord commanded them to go back to Jerusalem to invite Ishmael and his family to join them. I am not sure how familiar they were with Lehi's family though I can only guess that since they were able to get access to his home without being killed (many people in the city wanted to kill Lehi) probably means that they were familiar with eachother. Also because they believed Nephi and came with them is a good indicator that they had a trust and faith in Lehi and his words though I could be reading too much into this.
While on the trip from Jerusalem to where Lehi was living in the wilderness, Laman, Lemuel and some of the children of Ishmael "rebelled" against Nephi and wanted to go back to Jerusalem. Here was a situation where the members of this party had to pick sides regarding this confrontation. Some chose the side to return and others chose to try to convince them to release Nephi and to continue on.
Nephi spoke to remind them of all they have seen and questioned how they could have forgotten these things and hardened their hearts against the commandments of the Lord (1 Nephi 7:15). As with most people who are not following the commandments of the Lord and are called to task on it they were not happy with Nephi for reminding them of it. As a result they tied him up with the purpose of leaving him to be eaten by the wild beats in the area. Nephi petitioned the Lord for help and was able to break the ropes that they bound him with.
The Book of Mormon institute manual has the following to say regading this verse (page 20):
Laman and those influenced by him were not captived on the journey toward the land of promise. Nephi ansered their desire to return to Jerusalem by declaring a fundamental doctrine, "Ye have choice". As President Thomas S. Monson stated, "Each of us has the responsibility to choose. You may ask, Are decisions really that important? I say to you, decisions determine destiny. You can't make eternal decisions without eternal consequences." ("Pathways to Perfection," Ensign, May 2002, 100).How can you tell which side people are on today?
Nephi warned his brothers and those who wanted to go with them that they would parish if they returned to Jerusalem. Blinded by hardheartedness and disobedience, those rebelling against Lehi and Nephi failed to perceive the truth of Lehi's prophecies concerning the destruction that awaited Jarusalem. According to the Bible, soon after Lehi's colony left, the city was surrounded by the babylonians, "there was no bread for the people of the land," the "city was broken up," and Zedekiah's army scattered (see 2 Kings 25:1-7). If Laman and Lemuel had returned to Jerusalem, they would have suffered captivity or death. Because they chose to follow Lehi and Nephi, they enjoyed the fruit and honey of theland of Bountiful while preparing for an inheritance in the land of promise ( see 1 Nephi 17:3-6).
A person's actions show who their master is. A person does not do the works of one master while service the other. So if a person's actions are not in line with the Lord then they are not service the Lord.
1 Nephi 7:17-20
How did the Lord deliver Nephi from his predicament?
He gave Nephi the power to break his bonds.
Elder Gene R. Cook taught:
"...like Nephi, we can be delivered from our own bonds by the prayer of faith: 'note that they [Nephi, Alma, and Amulek] did not have faith in their own strength; they trusted inthe Lord and relied on his strength. It is faith in Christ that will deliver us from our own bonds; it is increasing our faith in Christ that will give us added power in prayer'" (Receiving Answers to Our Prayers [1996], 18).What are some of the advantages of being on the Lord's side?
The benefits are limitless. Since he can do anything, which means that if he wills and we are faithfully serving him then we can as well. The imporant thing is if he wills.
Additional Quotes about these chapters that were not included in the lesson plan:
Book of Mormon Insitute Manual (pg 19)
"Book of Mormon brings men to Christ....It tells in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessary for a Redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteaousness and live the moral life of a Saint" ("We Add Our Witness," Ensign, Mar 1989, 5).
2 Nephi 26:11
"...when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh a speedy destruction..."
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