42 And they did harden their hearts from time to time, and they did arevile against bMoses, and also against God; nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by his matchless power into the land of promise.
43 And now, after all these things, the time has come that they have become wicked, yea, nearly unto ripeness; and I know not but they are at this day about to be adestroyed; for I know that the day must surely come that they must be destroyed, save a few only, who shall be led away into captivity.
45 Ye are aswift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an bangel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were cpast feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.
46 And ye also know that by the apower of his almighty word he can cause the earth that it shall pass away; yea, and ye know that by his word he can cause the rough places to be made smooth, and smooth places shall be broken up. O, then, why is it, that ye can be so hard in your hearts?
48 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 atouch me not, for I am filled with the bpower of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall cwither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.
49 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 abuild a ship.
50 And I said unto them: aIf 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.
51 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 ainstruct me, that I should build a ship?
52 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren, insomuch that they were aconfounded 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 bSpirit of God; and thus it had wrought upon them.
53 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 ashock them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God.
54 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.
55 And now, they said: We know of a surety that the Lord is awith 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 bworship 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 cdays may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
CHAPTER 18
The ship is finished—The births of Jacob and Joseph are mentioned—The company embarks for the promised land—The sons of Ishmael and their wives join in revelry and rebellion—Nephi is bound, and the ship is driven back by a terrible tempest—Nephi is freed, and by his prayer the storm ceases—They arrive in the promised land. About 590—589 B.C.
1 And it came to pass that they did aworship the Lord, and did go forth with me; and we did work timbers of curious bworkmanship. And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the cship.
2 Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.
4 And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship, according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine; wherefore, they did ahumble themselves again before the Lord.
5 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship.
6 And it came to pass that on the morrow, after we had prepared all things, much fruits and ameat from the wilderness, and honey in abundance, and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us, we did go down into the ship, with all our loading and our bseeds, and whatsoever thing we had brought with us, every one according to his age; wherefore, we did all go down into the cship, with our wives and our children.
I read a commentary on this section that draws some comparisons to our journey on earth and Nephi's journey on the ship. The crossing of the water to get to the promised land is said to symbolize baptism and the ship symbolizes the help of God to get us to heaven. The ship is not "after the manner of men" (verse 2) which symbolizes that we can't get to heaven by living the lifestyle of the world. Nephi "praying oft" (verse 3) symbolizes our constant need for communication with God throughout our lives. The author (David Ridges) didn't mention Laman and Lemuel but I think they could symbolize the constant pull from Satan in our lives. Time and time again Laman and Lemuel let go of their faith and of course evil influences are right there to pull them away from the Spirit of the Lord. It is easy when reading about them to wonder how they could waiver so many times but I think all of us have been like Laman and Lemuel at some time in our lives and let go of our faith. The challenge to all of us is to maintain faith like Nephi, not waiver like Laman and Lemuel, while we are on our own "ships" to the "promised land." (My Mom's institute teacher called them Lemon and Lime-an...which gave me a laugh!)
I read a commentary on this section that draws some comparisons to our journey on earth and Nephi's journey on the ship. The crossing of the water to get to the promised land is said to symbolize baptism and the ship symbolizes the help of God to get us to heaven. The ship is not "after the manner of men" (verse 2) which symbolizes that we can't get to heaven by living the lifestyle of the world. Nephi "praying oft" (verse 3) symbolizes our constant need for communication with God throughout our lives. The author (David Ridges) didn't mention Laman and Lemuel but I think they could symbolize the constant pull from Satan in our lives. Time and time again Laman and Lemuel let go of their faith and of course evil influences are right there to pull them away from the Spirit of the Lord. It is easy when reading about them to wonder how they could waiver so many times but I think all of us have been like Laman and Lemuel at some time in our lives and let go of our faith. The challenge to all of us is to maintain faith like Nephi, not waiver like Laman and Lemuel, while we are on our own "ships" to the "promised land." (My Mom's institute teacher called them Lemon and Lime-an...which gave me a laugh!)
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