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God in 1 Nephi 17

Almighty God  • God  • Lord

Lord their God  • Lord thy God  • Lord your God

Redeemer  • Spirit of God  • The True and Living God

1 Nephi 17:47

My soul is rent with anguish because of you

The Book of Mormon shows

the anguish family members may experience in behalf of their rebellious kin

Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained;

I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever.

Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God, insomuch that my frame has no strength.

We are familiar with the idea that the Spirit of God brings comfort, peace, and assurance.  Nephi presents a Spirit which accompanies anguish, pain, and fear.  We suffer these things on our own behalf as part of the humbling and repentance process that brings us to Christ (see Alma 36).  But Nephi is suffering on behalf of his brothers.  God does not want us to be cavalier about the sins of others, and the direction they are taking.  It is right and proper to feel this anguish.

Jesus, the example in all things, was also the example in priesthood leadership:

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. . . .

For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;

Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way [straying, wandering]; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

(Hebrews 4:14,15, 5:1,2)

In Jesus’s atonement He suffered for the sins and pains of all mankind.  This was an act of Jesus as God, and we do not do any such thing.  But Paul is speaking of understanding the Lord gained as a mortal man before that culminating process, understanding and compassion that each of us can accrue, if we will.  

At the same time, we also know that our concern can be placed in God’s hands, because He is the One with all power to save and all love.

Robert Browning wrote an intense poem entitled “Saul.”  Written in the first person from the perspective of young David, Browning explores the incident when Saul called for David’s musical talent to help him with his emotional problems:

“And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God [which was not of God – JST] was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand, so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” (1 Samuel 16:23)

In Browning’s 300-line telling, David loved and cared for Saul. David suffered when Saul suffered, and poured his whole heart into his music in an attempt to relieve his king. The climax of the poem occurs as David, thinking of his own love and hopes for Saul, as well has his helpless frustration, experiences an epiphany of God’s love:

There’s a faculty pleasant to exercise, hard to hoodwink.

I am fain to keep still in abeyance (I laugh as I think),

Lest, insisting to claim and parade in it, wot ye, I worst

E’en the Giver in one gift. – Behold, I could love if I durst!

But I sink the pretension as fearing a man may o’ertake

God’s own speed in the one way of love: I abstain for love’s sake.

-- What, my soul? See thus far and no farther? When doors great and small,

Nine-and-ninety flew ope at our touch, should the hundredth appall?

In the least things have faith, yet distrust in the greatest of all?

Do I find love so full in my nature, God’s ultimate gift,

That I doubt his own love can compete with it? Here the parts shift?

Here, the creature surpass the creator, - the end, what began?

Would I fain in my impotent yearning do all for this man,

And dare doubt he alone shall not help him, who yet alone can?

. . .

‘Tis not what man Does which exalts him, but what man Would do!

See the King – I would help him, but cannot, the wishes fall through.

Could I wrestle to raise him from sorrow, grow poor to enrich,

To fill up his life, starve my own out, I would – knowing which

I know that my service is perfect.  Oh, speak through me now!

Would I suffer for him that I love? So wouldst thou – so wilt thou!

So shall crown thee the topmost, ineffablest, uttermost crown –

And thy love fill infinitude wholly, nor leave up nor down. . .

1 Nephi 17:48

In the name of Almighty God

The Book of Mormon shows

the great power that God can give to a man when needed

And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words,

they were angry with me,

and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea;

and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying:

In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not,

for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh;

and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed;

and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.

Emotions.  When young people feel them strongly, they think that the fact of their feeling them and their expressing them will somehow impart them to their listeners.  Sometimes this happens, but not always.  Nephi feels deeply his anguish and concern for his brothers, and expresses it to them in his most powerful and convincing language.  They do indeed react with equally charged emotion, but in their case it is anger.

We see this in the world today.  Christians, with the message of redemption through Christ and living a godly life, based on the Bible’s moral standard, are accused of hate, of hurting others.

Once again, Nephi’s brothers have raised specific objections which he doesn’t bother to record.  His response, and the Lord’s response to them is typical of other interactions of unbelievers challenging believers for a sign.  The sign is to be smitten.  All the signs so far, as Nephi listed in verse 45 were communications of ideas.  But when that fails, God is willing to smite, either to show His power or to put a stop to the problems caused by that particular unbeliever.

1 Nephi 17:49

God had commanded me

The Book of Mormon teaches us not to withhold our labor from a good cause

And it came to pass that I, Nephi,

said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father;

neither should they withhold their labor from me,

for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.

Nephi has come back around to the original reason for giving his exposition – to convince his brothers to help build the ship.  All his reasoning didn’t do it, so God stepped in and tipped the scales.

And, to no one’s surprise, Nephi is also able to repeat his theme – God has commanded it, so we should do it.

1 Nephi 17:50

If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them.

The Book of Mormon gives an example of faith that we can strive for

And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth,

it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.

Nephi has total, absolute, 100% faith in God, and therefore 100% faith in himself, when he is working under God’s direction.  Now that’s a great example!  

He knows that he could command water to become earth, and, by extension, he could command those trees and ore to become a boat.  But God’s way is to let his people work and learn and achieve, so that command will not be given.

Nephi could, in the name of God if so directed, command the water to become earth, and it would obey, because God knows all things, and operates according to law.  But he cannot command his brothers to work, because people have agency, and choose which laws to obey, and which authority to respect.

1 Nephi 17:51

If the Lord has such great power

The Book of Mormon teaches us

to look to God’s power and not our own weaknesses

And now, if the Lord has such great power,

and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men,

how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?

Nephi is a master at likening the scriptures unto himself.  Nephi has people telling him that he can’t achieve something.  Instead of taking it personally, he recognizes that the achievement is by God’s grace, and because of his faith in God, he knows he can accomplish whatever God instructs.

In our lives we sometimes have people telling us we can’t achieve something.  More often than not, however, the person telling us this is our own minds.  In our culture we tend to suffer from low self-esteem, inferiority complexes, self-limiting beliefs.  We could well emulate Nephi, and turn the issue away from ourselves and to the Lord.  If it’s His work, we can do it, with His help and instructions.  It’s not about believing in ourselves, but about believing in Him, and that we are a part of humanity, included in His great umbrella of love.

1 Nephi 17:52

So powerful was the Spirit of God

The Book of Mormon shows

that God can protect His servants by a display of power

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren,

insomuch that they were confounded and could not contend against me;

neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their fingers,

even for the space of many days.

Now they durst not do this lest they should wither before me,

so powerful was the Spirit of God; and thus it had wrought upon them.

It seems that so much of God’s interaction with men is based on knowing and recognizing His power, which is often manifested in destructive ways.

We generally teach that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, forebearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22,23)  Nephi is describing a different sort of working of the Spirit, one which brings caution and perhaps fear.

I believe that, just as our individual lives are a school for us to learn, the whole history of mankind is a school.  That’s why the books will be opened, and everyone will know from the housetops what happened and why.  (Doctrine & Covenants 1:3, Matthew 10:26)  Paul speaks of the Law (of Moses) as being a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.  (Galatians 3:24)  King Benjamin’s list of items to believe places “He has all . . . power” near the beginning.  (Mosiah 4:30)

I knew people who had been adopted as older children.  Because of the social deprivation of being raised in orphanages by other equally-backward children, they could not comprehend how to relate to caring and guiding adults.  One of them taunted the other children: “You’re afraid of Mom!  If you weren’t afraid of her, you wouldn’t obey her!”  And, indeed, the poor girl, not being afraid of Mom, didn’t obey, and thus was stymied in any social or educational progress.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  (Proverbs 9:10) It is not the whole of it, nor the ultimate purpose of it, but in many cases – individually and historically – it must be the starting point.

1 Nephi 17:53

I am the Lord their God

And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me:

Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren,

and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord,

and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God.

This event is initiated by the Lord.  Nephi has been satisfied that his brothers keep their hands to themselves.  The Lord knows that he can’t keep Nephi off-limits forever, and with time the brothers will begin to doubt their feelings, and again accuse Nephi of cunning arts (1 Nephi 16:38).  So He takes this step to settle the question of power.

1 Nephi 17:54

The Lord did shake them

The Book of Mormon shows that when God puts us out on a limb,

He comes through with His promises

And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren,

and they did not wither before me; but the Lord did shake them,

even according to the word which he had spoken.

If anyone else were writing this as a narrative, he would say “I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren, and they did not wither before me, but the Lord did shake them period.”  That’s what happened and didn’t happen.  But Nephi is never writing just narrative.  Knowing what happened is not important to Nephi, but building faith in God’s faithfulness is his intent.

This is one of the reasons Nephi will encourage us to “liken all scriptures unto us.”  He is telling us how God has worked with him, and wants us to apply those principles so God can work with us.

Here is the message for us:  if God commands us to do something, and we do our part, He will surely do His.  We can trust His word.

1 Nephi 17:55

Worship the Lord thy God

The Book of Mormon shows

that people sometimes prefer to worship other humans rather than God Himself

And now, they said: We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee,

for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us.

And they fell down before me, and were about to worship me,

but I would not suffer them, saying: I am thy brother,

yea, even thy younger brother; wherefore, worship the Lord thy God,

and honor thy father and thy mother,

that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

It is hard to understand this flipping of opinion toward Nephi – first they’re ready to throw him into the sea, but after an undeniable miracle they want to worship him.  

The Apostle Paul had a similar, more dramatic experience:  He arrived at Lystra a refugee from anti-Christian mob violence in Iconium.  In Lystra he healed a man who had been lame from birth.  When the people saw it, they immediately began to worship Paul as the God Mercury (the chief speaker), but Paul did not become aware of it for some time, since he did not understand the local language. The people had bulls ready to sacrifice, and it was with difficulty that Paul restrained them.  He taught them, “We also are men of like passions with you.”  So the people desisted in their worship.  The next thing he knew, some persuasive anti-Christians had come to town, inducing the people to stone Paul and leave him for dead.

We may look condescendingly on such fickle, superstitious people.  We would more profitably look at ourselves and ask if we, too, are worshipping men.  There is a tendency among Latter-day Saints to bestow an aura of holiness on the leaders of the Church.  We do not impute to them “like passions with ourselves.”  We want to believe that they have a special conduit to heaven.  We whisper that they “know more than they say.”  We do not allow them to have the same agency in their callings that we have in ours, where we struggle and pray and move ahead with what seems to be the best plan, but don’t always have clear, revelatory directions. The maxim is true: “Catholic doctrine teaches that the pope is infallible, but no one believes it.  Mormon doctrine teaches that the prophet is not infallible, but no one believes it.”  We cling to this superstition in spite of Joseph Smith’s repeated protestations of his own weakness, even as noted in the Doctrine & Covenants.

This view is in no way meant to excuse or encourage criticism of the Church or its leaders.  Karl G. Maeser’s lucid explanation can guide our attitude:

 “Karl G. Maeser, on one occasion . . . was leading a party of young missionaries across the Alps. As they slowly ascended the steep slope, he looked back and saw a row of sticks thrust into the glacial snow to mark the one safe path across the otherwise treacherous mountains.

“Something about those sticks impressed him, and halting the company of missionaries he gestured toward them and said, “Brethren, there stands the priesthood. They are just common sticks like the rest of us—some of them may even seem to be a little crooked, but the position they hold makes them what they are. If we step aside from the path they mark, we are lost.”  (“Follow the Brethren,” by Boyd K. Packer, September 1979 Liahona)  

Unfortunately, our worship (or sugar-coating or white-washing) of our Church leaders’ lives has ricocheted badly when people later learn more human facts about them.  While we may have presented a history which respectfully left out negative events or attitudes (as we hope others will not speak evil of us, and overlook our weaknesses), this reticence has been interpreted as somehow a sinister conspiracy of silence.  In our quest to tell faith-promoting stories, we need to remind ourselves that it is “faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” that we espouse, not faith in man.  (4th Article of Faith, 2 Nephi 4:34)

God in 1 Nephi 17 by the Numbers

55 verses

God is mentioned by name:  32 verses = 58%

God is mention by pronoun:  8 verses = 15%

God speaks:  6 verses = 11%

Verses about God:  40 verses = 73%

Almighty God: 1

God: 14

Lord: 28

Lord their God: 2

Lord thy God:  2

Lord your God:  1

Redeemer: 1

Spirit of God: 2

The True and Living God: 1