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| "Nephi Bound" by Jeremy Windborg |
There were many Sundays growing up when my family would gather on the couch to watch Charlton Heston play the part of Moses in The Ten Commandments. We watched a lot of westerns, so we knew Yul Brynner, who played the part of Ramses, was a formidable opponent. Though the movie doesn’t follow the scriptural account perfectly, we were always impressed by Joshua’s courage, disgusted with Dathan’s lack of values, disappointed in the hardness of the Pharoah’s heart, and amazed by the miracles the Lord used to deliver his people from Egypt.
Because we knew the story of Moses well, it became a
standard for the faith we should have in our family. When difficult challenges
came along, a parent or a sibling might say something like, “If the Lord could
deliver the Israelites, don’t you think He can help you with the challenge you
have now?”
Nephi gave the same encouragement to his murmuring brothers.
They had left their home and all their precious things behind. Now, near the
same Red Sea that the Lord parted to deliver the Israelites, they were
commanded to return for the brass plates. Laman and Lemuel did not believe they
could succeed, but Nephi urged them to have faith in the Lord. “Therefore let
us go up;” he said, “let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto
the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers
came through, out of captivity, on dry ground… Now behold ye know that this is
true… wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us,
even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians” (1 Nephi
4:2-3).
As readers of Nephi’s ancient record, we are promised in the
introductory first chapter that Nephi would show us “that the tender mercies of
the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to
make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Nephi 1:20). We then
learn that not only did the Lord deliver Nephi and his brothers from Laban through
Nephi’s faithful action, but Nephi’s family was delivered from Jerusalem before
it was destroyed because of the faith of his father, Zoram was delivered from
servitude because of his faith in what Nephi taught him, Nephi was faithfully
delivered from his brothers’ frequent persecutions, and future Gentiles,
including many of our ancestors, would act on the promptings of the spirit to
be delivered from captivity and cross the sea from Europe to the Americas.
In one of my favorite stories, Nephi, who says he was large
in stature, is bound with cords. With his physical strength neutralized,
Nephi’s strong faith won’t allow him to lose hope. He simply knows the
Lord will deliver him, though he doesn’t seem to know exactly how, so he prays,
“O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the
hands of my brethren; yea, even give me the strength that I may burst these
bands with which I am bound” (1 Nephi 7:17).
Like Nephi, and maybe a lot of other guys, there are times
when the only way I can see out of a dilemma is if I were to turn into some
kind of superhero with the incredible strength of Superman or the Hulk. Nephi
knew the Lord could do it; and undoubtedly the Lord could have answered Nephi’s
prayer in this way. Instead, the Lord, whose ways are higher and often more
subtle than our ways, answered Nephi’s prayer for deliverance by loosening the
cords that held him captive.
Through Nephi’s life, the Israelites’ deliverance from
Egypt, other stories in the Book of Mormon, and often in our own lives, we can
observe at least seven
different ways the Lord delivers us. We are delivered when our own hearts
are softened, as Nephi’s heart was softened to believe the words of his father
(1 Nephi 2:16). Sometimes others’ hearts are softened, like the Pharoah’s
daughter who retrieved Moses from the river and was moved to raise him as her
own (Exodus 2:1-10).
The Lord can deliver us with strength to bear our physical,
mental and emotional burdens, like the women in Nephi’s family who were able to
bear, nurse and raise their children in the wilderness. The Lord can also give
us a way to escape, especially when we pray to escape temptation, even if it
means parting a metaphorical Red Sea to help us keep His commandments.
We can be delivered through inspiration to find a solution,
as Nephi’s family was delivered from hunger when he learned how to craft a new
bow. Or we may be delivered by someone else’s inspiration to help us, as Jethro
was inspired to help Moses learn to delegate authority or Laman and Lemuel were
inspired to help Nephi build a ship.
Finally, the Lord can deliver us from uncertainty, worry and
fear through His miraculous power. The Lord blessed the Israelites with manna
from heaven and water from the rock. He sent an angel to deliver Nephi from his
abusive brothers. President Nelson has promised that “as [we] choose to let God
prevail in [our] lives, [we] will experience for [ourselves] that our God is ‘a
God of miracles’ (Mormon 9:11).”
Nephi also wrote so that we could find another kind of
deliverance: “For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come
unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be
saved” (1 Nephi 6). In this purpose, Nephi is joined by all of the prophets who
wrote upon the pages that became the Book of Mormon.
Mormon himself testified that the Book of Mormon was written
to persuade those in our day “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God,” that the biblical record of Christ’s ministry and Atonement are true, and
that we should “repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon
the gospel of Christ” (Mormon 5:14-15, 7:7-9). If we do this, we can be
delivered from death and hell and “it shall be well with [us] in the day of
judgment” (Moroni 7:10).
Nephi had experience with this kind of deliverance. He
lamented that, “Notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me
his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am!
Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine
iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins
which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth
because of my sins” (2 Nephi 4:17-19).
“Nevertheless,” he continues, “I know in whom I have
trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions
in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath
confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me. Behold,
he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the
night-time” (2 Nephi 4:19-23).
Perhaps Nephi is the first author in the Book of Mormon so that we will know his story well and his faith can become a standard for the faith we should have in our lives. Like Nephi, our hearts have groaned because of our sins and we have struggled with some of the challenges that come into our lives. Nevertheless, as we let God prevail in our lives, He will deliver us as He delivered the children of Israel and as He delivered Nephi. He will deliver us from our own hard hearts and from others’ harmful intentions. He will calm our anxieties and help us escape temptation. He will deliver us from our unbelief and ignorance, our sin, and our regret. He will help us to have the courage of Joshua and to overcome even the most formidable of the opponents to our salvation.