Br. Martins' Lecture Notes for Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 6-10

Questions for Review:

1. Who did Nephi want to please with his words? (1 Nephi 6:5)

2. What was father Lehi's first desire after partaking of the fruit? (1 Nephi 8:12)

3. In Lehi's dream, why did the great and spacious building fall? (1 Nephi 8:26)

4. The House of Israel was compared unto what? (1 Nephi 10:12)

1 Nephi 6

. Nephi's purpose in writing--and also the purpose of all record-keepers in the Book of Mormon (4-6)

. His intention was not to become famous and get a literary prize, but to give glory to God (remember Moses 1:39)
. He didn't write to please the world, but to please God

1 Nephi 7

. Why didn't the Lord instruct Lehi to take Ishmael's family along from the beginning? Why another trip back to Jerusalem? (2-3)

. In addition of disciplining Nephi and his brethren, it was also a test of faith to all of them and to Ishmael and his family (see verse 4-5)

. They also got a fresh look at what was going on in Jerusalem, since there were no newspaper deliveries in those days (see verse 14)

. Ishmael's family (6)

. Two married sons and five daughters

. "Can't you guys remember that you saw an angel?" (10)

. Read President Joseph Fielding Smith's quotation on the effect of visions and other miracles on unbelievers--see the notes for 1 Nephi 3:31

1 Nephi 8
Lehi's Prophetic Dream

Note: We will discuss the elements of the dream in detail in connection with 1 Nephi chapter 11

. This is not a full account of the dream or vision, but a summary of the same made by Nephi (36)

. In addition, the amount of information contained in the vision was so large that Lehi didn't notice many details that were later explained by Nephi (see 15:27)

. Laman and Lemuel's decision not partake of the fruit was not a failure on Lehi's part. Rather, they misused their free agency on their own (36-37)

1 Nephi 9

. Lehi saw many visions and taught many things that are not contained in the Book of Mormon (1; see also 1:16; 10:2,12,15)

. There were two sets of plates: (1) the Larger Plates of Nephi; and (2) the Smaller Plates of Nephi (4)

. Do you know what was contained in each one? See Words of Mormon 1:3-6

. This was done for "... a wise purpose in him ..." (5-6)

1 Nephi 10

. The coming of the Messiah: 600 years after Lehi's departure from Jerusalem (4)

. The need for a Savior of the World (6)

. Nephi's preparation to receive his great vision (17-19; see also 2:16; 2 Nephi 4:15-16)

. First, he believed without seeing anything

. Then, after crying unto the Lord, he received a testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost

. Next, he sought diligently (11:1)
. The result of his search: he received according to his righteous desires and will of the Lord (D&C 63:9-12)

. But receiving visions requires more than just a righteous desire and the will of the Lord; it also requires preparation on our part (see Moroni 7:29-32; D&C 67:13) Consider the following account given by a former member of the first School of the Prophets, in Kirtland, Ohio:

"About the time the school was first organized some wished to see an angel, and a number joined in the circle and prayed. When the vision came, two of the brethren shrank and called for the vision to close or they would perish; they were Brothers Hancock and Humphries. When the Prophet came in they told him what they had done and he said the angel was no further off than the roof of the house, and a moment more he would have been in their midst." (Brother Zebedee Coltrin, Minutes of the School of Prophets, Salt Lake City, 3 & 11 Oct 1883)

. Key to understand how people will fare in the judgment day: "... sought to do wickedly ..." (21)

. To "seek" implies a conscious effort, a desire, premeditated and carefully planned sinful acts. Contrast that with "did wickedness," which implies wrong actions without a desire