After three days’ journey away from Jerusalem under his father’s direction to leave behind their home, extended family, friends, and wealth, Nephi wanted to know if all of this was truly God’s will. He tells us that he didn’t just have a desire to know, but rather he had “great desires.” Also, he didn’t just pray to know what God wanted him to do, but he did “cry unto” Him. Because of the intensity of his desire and his prayer, Nephi tells us that, God “did visit” him by “His Holy Spirit” and did “soften” his heart. He now knew that he was obeying God by doing what his father asked of him. (1 Ne. 2:16-17).
After sharing what he learned from the Lord with his brothers, the Lord visited him again and promised him (v. 17-18) —
And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.” (v. 22)
Elder Russell M Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve pointed out that the scriptures reference a version of this promise “thirty-four times” (CR April 1985, Saturday Morning, “Reverence for Life”). Before the family left Jerusalem and Nephi received this promise, Lehi, probably hearing about the prophetic destructions that awaited Jerusalem, offered a simple prayer on behalf of his fellow brothers and sisters. (1 Ne 1:5). At this time, it doesn’t appear that Lehi was one of those prophesying. After praying to God and receiving a revelation about the Savior’s coming, he went out as a newly called prophet among the people preaching repentance.
After honoring his calling, Lehi received a warning to leave the city with his family. Upon obeying that admonition, the Lord tells Lehi to ask his sons to bring back the brass plates. Listening to their father’s request, Nephi and his brethren go back to Jerusalem. Through significant struggle and with spiritual help from the Lord, they return to their parents with the plates.
With the plates in hand, the Lord directs Lehi to have his sons bring back Ishmael and his family. They go and “the Lord did soften the heart of Ishmael, and also his household, insomuch that they took their journey with” them. (1 Ne. 7:5). Later, after Nephi marries one Ishmael’s daughters, he tells us that he felt “blessed of the Lord exceedingly.” (1 Ne. 16:8).
I find it interesting to ponder the sequence of obedience that led Lehi and his posterity to obtain the promised blessings of land and prosperity. They received them only after they followed a series of specific instructions that God sent them. Each time they did, He consistently and unfailingly blessed them. Each expression of faithfulness in fulfilling His will brought them one step closer to the happiness that He prepared for them.
If Lehi or his family were slow and slothful to heed His voice, they would have stayed in Jerusalem. They would have suffered with everyone else when the Babylonians destroyed the city and enslaved the people. He gave them specific directions to leave Jerusalem, to obtain the plates, and to recruit Ishmael and his family so that they could avoid this misery, have His Spirit, and obtain His happiness.
Nephi teaches us that we are that we “might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25). We learn from King Benjamin and the prophet Mormon that God wants us to live with Him in a “state of never-ending happiness” (Msh. 2:41; Al. 28:12). Alma tells us that God actually has a “great plan of happiness” for us (Al. 42:8, 16). His happiness comes from seeing us happy.
According to Wikipedia, a plan is a “list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective.” One name that Heavenly Father has for these steps is commandments. Others that He uses are “instructions” and “directions” (see D&C 6:14, D&C 33:16, D&C 51:1, D&C 57:16, D&C 82:8-10, D&C 132:3, D&C 135:3). He has a specific plan with specific steps that will bring us specific blessings. These blessings are designed to bring us joy.
Considering that an all-knowing and all loving Heavenly Father honored every promise of happiness He gave Lehi and Nephi, can we imagine having anyone other than Him preparing a plan for us? Can we imagine the blessings He has prepared for us if we do what He has asked us to do? Can we imagine how much He must love us for actually taking time to create and send us specific instructions, directions, or commandments?
Speaking of how God’s knowledge allows Him to wisely involve Himself in the details of our lives, Elder Neal A Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve said—
Recall the new star that announced the birth at Bethlehem? It was in its precise orbit long before it so shone…The Book of Mormon plates were not buried in Belgium, only to have Joseph Smith born centuries later in distant Bombay…God is in the details!
Of course we cannot fully comprehend all this right now! Of course we cannot know the meaning of all things right now. But we can know, right now, that God knows us and loves us individually!
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that God, “before [the earth] rolled into existence, … contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth. … [God] knew … the depth of iniquity that would be connected with the human family, their weakness and strength, … the situation of all nations and … their destiny, … and [He] has made ample provision [for mankind’s] redemption” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 220) (CR October 2002, Saturday Morning, “Encircled in the Arms of His Love”).
The Lord told Abraham, “I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” (Abr. 2:8). He then promised this elderly, childless and obedient son—
I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;
And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father (v. 9-10).
After God provided him with Isaac in his old age, Abraham later wanted to ensure that his adult age son experience the happiness he had. To do this, he directed his servant to find Isaac a wife among the believing part of his people. He promised his servant that “The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way.” Abraham’s use of the word “prosper” here is the first time we see it in the scriptures.
Having arrived where Abraham had asked him to go and with a desire for God’s help in accomplishing this great task, the servant prayed for guidance with a plan he devised to do Abraham’s will. The scriptures tell us “And it came to pass, before he had done speaking” to the Lord, he saw Rebekah, Isaac’s future wife (Gen. 24:15). We learn that Isaac “loved her,” married her, and “was comforted” by her “after [Sarah] his mother’s death” (v. 67).
Probably having heard the stories of the Savior’s healings, when ten lepers saw Him walk into town, they “lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13). Understanding their pain and wanting to relieve it, He instructed them to “Go shew yourselves unto the priests” (v. 14). Luke then tells us that “it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed” (ibid.). Before they even had the opportunity to completely do what the Master asked them, they were healed.
One lesson about obedience that we learn from Abraham, Lehi, Nephi, and the lepers is that God knows what blessings we need and what we need to do to get them. The second is that we are guaranteed the blessings our Heavenly Father has prepared for us when we choose to do what He asks. Another is that through His grace He blesses us “immediately” in some way as we start to do His will, even though we may not always recognize the blessings when we receive them (see Msh. 2:24, Al. 34:31, 3 Ne. 9:20, D&C 6:14-15).
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve taught us about how God’s grace comes into play not just when we have completely obeyed—
Sometimes solutions to certain challenges come after months and months of continuous effort. The promise found in the Book of Mormon that “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do,” is applicable in these circumstances. Please remember that the Savior’s gift of grace “is not necessarily limited in time to ‘after’ all we can do. We may receive His grace before, during, and after the time when we expend our own efforts” (CR October 2019, Sunday Afternoon, “Take Up Our Cross”).
Sister Bonnie D Parkin, Relief Society General President once shared a personal experience how the Lord knows us and blesses us for the good that we do—
My mother and I received our patriarchal blessings together. I was 20, and Mother was 49. I will never forget that day—how the patriarch placed his hands on Mother’s head and told her how often her life had been spared through bouts of rheumatic fever, heart disease, and many other illnesses. He recounted her life, enumerating the times she had blessed others. He told her of things the Lord had in store for her and offered guidance as to what she needed to do. I knew my mother’s life, and I listened as this patriarch, who was not acquainted with her, described her life. This experience was a witness to me that God lives, that He loves us, and that He knows us individually. I felt the Lord’s love for my mother—and for me—on that memorable day. (CR October 2006, General Relief Society Meeting, “Eternally Encircled in His Love”).
With his life coming to a close, Nephi, very likely reflecting on how good a loving God had been in keeping His promises to him, taught us that “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world” (2 Ne. 26:27). As we think upon the directions, instructions, and commandments we receive from our Heavenly Father through the scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and His leaders, let us always remember that His whole purpose in providing them is so that we can have the happiness that He has prepared for us through His plan. Ultimately, His hope is that we, like Lehi, can one day say, “the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (2 Ne. 1:15).