1 Nephi 18:1-10
I feel much better today about moving forward with the scripture study blog project. I tend to go in cycles, probably like everyone else where I don't really want to spend so much time doing mentally challenging tasks, such as studying the scriptures, but I just want to watch a movie or listen to music or pin pretty pictures on Pinterest. I try to have a balance because I feel like doing mentally challenging tasks are very important to our progress as people, but we also need a chance to just relax and at least I need some time to just chill out, otherwise I will feel like I've been run ragged mentally and I just can't do that. That's why I listen to the Ensign on my way to work, but I listen to the radio on my way home. I read the scriptures and do my blog before I settle in to relaxing, though that's fickle because of my work schedule, but I try and when I'm done I can do other, less meaningful, stuff, or I can write a less important post for my other single mom blog. But tonight's reading was a little lesson that applied to my challenges last night, and we can get into that in a few minutes.
18:1-3 - L&L start building the ship with Nephi, and since Laman had so much influence over so many others in the camp, Ishmael's sons, Sam, etc. he probably was able to convince them to help as well, assuming that they weren't part of the whole "shocking" incident. He says that they "did work timbers of curious workmanship" and the footnote for "workmanship" says "art." I never had linked the idea of a ship with art, and another instance when I hear the word "workmanship" used was when describing the beauty, the ornate detail used when very skilled craftsmen decorated the Salt Lake City temple, so I guess since these are the only two instances when I've heard "curious workmanship" used, it would make sense that they are both similar in meaning that there were small details, intrique beauty used in making this ship. And I guess that makes sense because I never really imagined Nephi's ship as being some rinky dink little boat where everyone was holding on for dear life. I alway imagined it as a majestic vessel with fine wood and sturdy construction. Something everyone would have climbed aboard and felt empowered and safe in their journey. My other question is how long did it take to build this ship? I've heard it said that Noah's ark took several decades to build, I would imagine that Nephi's didn't take that long, but I couldn't imagine it being an overnight project, probably taking months or maybe even years? I will have to research a little bit about what the "ship(s) built after the manner of men" were like back in the ancient middle east, because Nephi says that he didn't build the ship that way, that the Lord had shown him a different way to build the ship.
18:4 - The ship is finished and L&L saw that it was amazing. They knew their brother, and although he had a natural strength in metallurgy he probably wasn't an expert ship builder, he probably didn't know anything about building a ship, so they knew at that point that the Lord had shown him how to build this ship. But think about what that means in the context of their whole journey. If God himself showed Nephi how to build a ship and it was impressive beyond compare, that means that God had always intended them to go across the sea. And that means God had been the one to tell Lehi to come out of Jerusalem, and God had been the one to tell Lehi to get the plates and Ishmael's family. If it was God's will for them to make this boat and to cross the ocean, then surely Lehi didn't randomly decide to take his family away from their homes and into the desert where they would suffer and God would decide "hey there's a family already wandering in the desert, I should show them how to make an amazing ship and have them cross the sea." No, it was planned from the beginning and that means all their complaining, all their rebellion had been directly against the will of God, they had personally and aggressively fought against God, and seeing this ship and knowing the plan had been intended all along was their proof of that. But "they did humbled themselves again before the Lord" without being compelled to, without having committed serious sin in which they were rebuked and convinced by their prophet father and brother. This was of their own accord, they could read in between the lines and understand the importance of this achievement without being forced. This is a major step forward for them, and interestingly enough I wonder if as they were righteous for longer, the Lord is slowly teaching them. I always imagined the Lord saying "I know that you guys are going to screw up again so I'm just going to protect Nephi until you split up." But that's not the case at all, the Lord wanted L&L to be righteous to return to him and he treated their righteousness the same way that he treats anyone else's. When they are righteous, they are rewarded and taught, when they are wicked they are punished and taught. This being humble without being compelled shows me that they were growing spiritually and that the Lord was facilitating that growth with the hopes that they would be righteous continually. They are the ones who left the Lord, the Lord didn't leave them. Hmmm... interesting insight right there.
18:5-8 - Lehi is instructed to take his family and go into the ship and leave. An interesting fact to me is that the Lord commanded Nephi to build a ship, the Lord showed Nephi how to build it, the Lord gave Nephi the tools and the strength to do the work, but the Lord told Lehi to take the family into the ship. I think that this is another time in which the Lord is affirming Lehi's place as the head of the household. Nephi is a great man in his own right, but his time as ruler is not here yet, and to me it seems like he isn't anxious for it either. It would make sense to me that since Nephi was the main tool with the ship and that he was conversing with the Lord himself, then for the Lord to tell him to take the family would have seemed logical to me. But he didn't, he told Lehi. Lehi also has two sons while in the wilderness. Mentioning their births seems like kind of an after thought, even though I'm sure that they weren't treated that way. It reminds me of our own Family Home Evenings when I was growing up. They were always super crazy, 3 minutes into FHE, my dad would get mad and start screaming and leave, then my mom would start crying and run out, then me and the rest of the kids would just look at each other, then turn on the tv. But anyway, we had a family journal and it was really accurate until we moved to California in 1987, then it was super sporadic. But the entries went like this "June 30, 1988 - Jared was born." Then the next entry was something like "November 6, 1991 - Justin had his first birthday this week." It just reminds me of that, "oh yeah and Jacob and Joseph were born sometime in the last 10 years." What's interesting to me though is that Sariah is still of childbearing age after they leave Jerusalem. Let's assume she got married at 15 and had Laman at 17, and I think we decided that Nephi was around 15 when they left Jerusalem, but he was her 4th son, so assuming she didn't have any daughters, miscarriages and that all her children lived, let's say 4 sons in 6 years. So she was probably around 23 when she had Nephi. So if Nephi is 15 when they leave Jerusalem, that makes Sariah 38 years old when they go to the wilderness. So she's not all withered and old like the illustrations for the Book of Mormon show her, that's only a few years older than me. But still 38 is at the upper limits of childbearing age for a woman, and assuming they spent 10 years between their first stop, the 8 years in the wilderness, and Nephi building a ship, she was probably about 48 years old when they left on the ship for the promised land. Now I believe that to be the bear minimum estimate, because I think she was probably at least a few years older than that based on the idea that statistically, she probably had other children between Laman and Nephi, either daughters, miscarriages or children that didn't live, and the idea that even if she didn't, she probably took more than 6 years to have all 4 sons because breastfeeding was their only option at that time and breastfeeding "usually" acts as a sort of birth control making it more difficult to get pregnant and assuming that she nursed each boy for 2-4 years, it makes it likely that she is older than 48 when they get on the ship. Anyway, it's just interesting to me that she herself is able to have 2 more sons, while the wives of her sons are bearing her grandchildren, and they are complaining more even though they are younger and probably stronger.
18:9-10 - Here we go again with L&L's rebellion. They were doing so well, humbling themselves without being compelled, growing spiritually, moving forward, on their way to the promised land, and then here it goes. This has always been an interesting section for me because the way that verse 9 reads can make you think that dancing and singing are not good in the sight of the Lord. But then you have David "singing and dancing before the Lord" or the Lord saying that "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me (D&C 25:12.) So it can seem a little contradictory there, and it's hard to because I LOVE to dance, and me and the kids, we are a very musical family, we are singing all day everyday, which is why I felt so validated as a mother when Elder Enrique R. Falabella said in this last general conference "the child that sings is a happy child." Anyway, the Institute manual says that twice Nephi said that the problem started only when "their dancing and singing led them 'to speak with much rudeness.'" So that begs the question, well what exactly does "rude" mean? The manual says that "the word rude referes to being harsh, vulgar, or coarse." And this is where my lesson from last night comes in. I was watching music videos, it started as me trying to find songs for my kids to listen to that we can sing together, then it led to tv interviews, then it went to Rihanna, who I like, but watching the videos and listening to the words and the message, I could immediately feel the spirit leave and I was left floundering trying to write about the meaning of the scriptures to me, while watching Rihanna's S&M music video.
Music has a very special place in human existence. They say that singing time, not sharing time, is the gospel doctrine class for kids. People get songs stuck in their head, not literature. Subliminal messages are played on songs, with catchy beats, but all of a sudden you realize that you are singing about blood and murder, and sex, and drugs, and all types of crazy things that you really don't agree with, but the beat is catchy it "gets stuck in your head." Then there comes dancing, which is a pretty natural body response to a good song. I love to dance, it's so much fun, getting out there, moving, good music, sweating, the lights, it's all just so great. But there is a difference between youth church dances and going to the club. And this where the problem comes in, instead of singing songs about regular funny stuff, they were probably singing about the joys of different sins, and instead of dancing regularly and just moving they were probably grinding up on each other, shaking clothes around and stuff. And I would like to suggest that since all these people were married, that they probably weren't getting crazy touching their own spouses, they were probably getting close to other people they were married to, and that would have been a huge problem. I have always imagined this scene as everyone having a good time, just chillin out, and Nephi coming out and being a stuck in the mud and being like "hey guys, knock it off." So yeah I could see how that could be annoying. But now I can see that it was probably more like a whole bunch of people swearing, talking dirty, dancing crazy all up on each other, going nuts, and Nephi feeling in the pit of his stomach "we're all going to die."
18:1-3 - L&L start building the ship with Nephi, and since Laman had so much influence over so many others in the camp, Ishmael's sons, Sam, etc. he probably was able to convince them to help as well, assuming that they weren't part of the whole "shocking" incident. He says that they "did work timbers of curious workmanship" and the footnote for "workmanship" says "art." I never had linked the idea of a ship with art, and another instance when I hear the word "workmanship" used was when describing the beauty, the ornate detail used when very skilled craftsmen decorated the Salt Lake City temple, so I guess since these are the only two instances when I've heard "curious workmanship" used, it would make sense that they are both similar in meaning that there were small details, intrique beauty used in making this ship. And I guess that makes sense because I never really imagined Nephi's ship as being some rinky dink little boat where everyone was holding on for dear life. I alway imagined it as a majestic vessel with fine wood and sturdy construction. Something everyone would have climbed aboard and felt empowered and safe in their journey. My other question is how long did it take to build this ship? I've heard it said that Noah's ark took several decades to build, I would imagine that Nephi's didn't take that long, but I couldn't imagine it being an overnight project, probably taking months or maybe even years? I will have to research a little bit about what the "ship(s) built after the manner of men" were like back in the ancient middle east, because Nephi says that he didn't build the ship that way, that the Lord had shown him a different way to build the ship.
18:4 - The ship is finished and L&L saw that it was amazing. They knew their brother, and although he had a natural strength in metallurgy he probably wasn't an expert ship builder, he probably didn't know anything about building a ship, so they knew at that point that the Lord had shown him how to build this ship. But think about what that means in the context of their whole journey. If God himself showed Nephi how to build a ship and it was impressive beyond compare, that means that God had always intended them to go across the sea. And that means God had been the one to tell Lehi to come out of Jerusalem, and God had been the one to tell Lehi to get the plates and Ishmael's family. If it was God's will for them to make this boat and to cross the ocean, then surely Lehi didn't randomly decide to take his family away from their homes and into the desert where they would suffer and God would decide "hey there's a family already wandering in the desert, I should show them how to make an amazing ship and have them cross the sea." No, it was planned from the beginning and that means all their complaining, all their rebellion had been directly against the will of God, they had personally and aggressively fought against God, and seeing this ship and knowing the plan had been intended all along was their proof of that. But "they did humbled themselves again before the Lord" without being compelled to, without having committed serious sin in which they were rebuked and convinced by their prophet father and brother. This was of their own accord, they could read in between the lines and understand the importance of this achievement without being forced. This is a major step forward for them, and interestingly enough I wonder if as they were righteous for longer, the Lord is slowly teaching them. I always imagined the Lord saying "I know that you guys are going to screw up again so I'm just going to protect Nephi until you split up." But that's not the case at all, the Lord wanted L&L to be righteous to return to him and he treated their righteousness the same way that he treats anyone else's. When they are righteous, they are rewarded and taught, when they are wicked they are punished and taught. This being humble without being compelled shows me that they were growing spiritually and that the Lord was facilitating that growth with the hopes that they would be righteous continually. They are the ones who left the Lord, the Lord didn't leave them. Hmmm... interesting insight right there.
18:5-8 - Lehi is instructed to take his family and go into the ship and leave. An interesting fact to me is that the Lord commanded Nephi to build a ship, the Lord showed Nephi how to build it, the Lord gave Nephi the tools and the strength to do the work, but the Lord told Lehi to take the family into the ship. I think that this is another time in which the Lord is affirming Lehi's place as the head of the household. Nephi is a great man in his own right, but his time as ruler is not here yet, and to me it seems like he isn't anxious for it either. It would make sense to me that since Nephi was the main tool with the ship and that he was conversing with the Lord himself, then for the Lord to tell him to take the family would have seemed logical to me. But he didn't, he told Lehi. Lehi also has two sons while in the wilderness. Mentioning their births seems like kind of an after thought, even though I'm sure that they weren't treated that way. It reminds me of our own Family Home Evenings when I was growing up. They were always super crazy, 3 minutes into FHE, my dad would get mad and start screaming and leave, then my mom would start crying and run out, then me and the rest of the kids would just look at each other, then turn on the tv. But anyway, we had a family journal and it was really accurate until we moved to California in 1987, then it was super sporadic. But the entries went like this "June 30, 1988 - Jared was born." Then the next entry was something like "November 6, 1991 - Justin had his first birthday this week." It just reminds me of that, "oh yeah and Jacob and Joseph were born sometime in the last 10 years." What's interesting to me though is that Sariah is still of childbearing age after they leave Jerusalem. Let's assume she got married at 15 and had Laman at 17, and I think we decided that Nephi was around 15 when they left Jerusalem, but he was her 4th son, so assuming she didn't have any daughters, miscarriages and that all her children lived, let's say 4 sons in 6 years. So she was probably around 23 when she had Nephi. So if Nephi is 15 when they leave Jerusalem, that makes Sariah 38 years old when they go to the wilderness. So she's not all withered and old like the illustrations for the Book of Mormon show her, that's only a few years older than me. But still 38 is at the upper limits of childbearing age for a woman, and assuming they spent 10 years between their first stop, the 8 years in the wilderness, and Nephi building a ship, she was probably about 48 years old when they left on the ship for the promised land. Now I believe that to be the bear minimum estimate, because I think she was probably at least a few years older than that based on the idea that statistically, she probably had other children between Laman and Nephi, either daughters, miscarriages or children that didn't live, and the idea that even if she didn't, she probably took more than 6 years to have all 4 sons because breastfeeding was their only option at that time and breastfeeding "usually" acts as a sort of birth control making it more difficult to get pregnant and assuming that she nursed each boy for 2-4 years, it makes it likely that she is older than 48 when they get on the ship. Anyway, it's just interesting to me that she herself is able to have 2 more sons, while the wives of her sons are bearing her grandchildren, and they are complaining more even though they are younger and probably stronger.
18:9-10 - Here we go again with L&L's rebellion. They were doing so well, humbling themselves without being compelled, growing spiritually, moving forward, on their way to the promised land, and then here it goes. This has always been an interesting section for me because the way that verse 9 reads can make you think that dancing and singing are not good in the sight of the Lord. But then you have David "singing and dancing before the Lord" or the Lord saying that "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me (D&C 25:12.) So it can seem a little contradictory there, and it's hard to because I LOVE to dance, and me and the kids, we are a very musical family, we are singing all day everyday, which is why I felt so validated as a mother when Elder Enrique R. Falabella said in this last general conference "the child that sings is a happy child." Anyway, the Institute manual says that twice Nephi said that the problem started only when "their dancing and singing led them 'to speak with much rudeness.'" So that begs the question, well what exactly does "rude" mean? The manual says that "the word rude referes to being harsh, vulgar, or coarse." And this is where my lesson from last night comes in. I was watching music videos, it started as me trying to find songs for my kids to listen to that we can sing together, then it led to tv interviews, then it went to Rihanna, who I like, but watching the videos and listening to the words and the message, I could immediately feel the spirit leave and I was left floundering trying to write about the meaning of the scriptures to me, while watching Rihanna's S&M music video.
Music has a very special place in human existence. They say that singing time, not sharing time, is the gospel doctrine class for kids. People get songs stuck in their head, not literature. Subliminal messages are played on songs, with catchy beats, but all of a sudden you realize that you are singing about blood and murder, and sex, and drugs, and all types of crazy things that you really don't agree with, but the beat is catchy it "gets stuck in your head." Then there comes dancing, which is a pretty natural body response to a good song. I love to dance, it's so much fun, getting out there, moving, good music, sweating, the lights, it's all just so great. But there is a difference between youth church dances and going to the club. And this where the problem comes in, instead of singing songs about regular funny stuff, they were probably singing about the joys of different sins, and instead of dancing regularly and just moving they were probably grinding up on each other, shaking clothes around and stuff. And I would like to suggest that since all these people were married, that they probably weren't getting crazy touching their own spouses, they were probably getting close to other people they were married to, and that would have been a huge problem. I have always imagined this scene as everyone having a good time, just chillin out, and Nephi coming out and being a stuck in the mud and being like "hey guys, knock it off." So yeah I could see how that could be annoying. But now I can see that it was probably more like a whole bunch of people swearing, talking dirty, dancing crazy all up on each other, going nuts, and Nephi feeling in the pit of his stomach "we're all going to die."
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