We have been following the progress of Lehi and his family in our previous posts. Lehi was a prophet who was instructed by God to flee Jerusalem. After he preached repentance to them, his life was in danger. He took his family and only the most essential items and went into the wilderness, eventually joined by another family chosen by God to provide spouses for his children.
After eight years of travel, the family reached the sea. The place they found was beautiful and filled with wonderful foods to eat. However, this was not the place God had chosen for them to settle, as much as the family loved it. Instead, God commanded Nephi, who was now a young adult and the future prophet, to go to a mountain top to speak with the Lord. He did so, and received some rather astonishing news: He was to build a boat.
Nephi’s mind must have gone to his ancestor, Noah, who was also commanded to build a boat. They were both products of the desert and unfamiliar with boats. In fact, it’s likely Nephi had never even seen an ocean. However, Nephi, as we’ve seen, was a young man with extraordinary faith. He certainly knew Noah had built a boat despite his lack of training, and he knew he could build a boat as well—as long as God helped him. And Nephi had said long ago, as a teenager, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” –1 Nephi 3:7 Over the next eight years, Nephi had been given many opportunities to see even more clearly this was true.
And so, Nephi set out to build a boat. Since he didn’t know how to proceed, he sought God’s help in the project. First he asked God where to find the ore to make the tools. Of course, before he could make the tools, he had to make the tools needed to make the tools.
Eventually all of that was accomplished, however, and then he faced a task that must have seemed even more impossible than making tools and a boat. He had to deal with his two oldest brothers, who, from the start, had been resentful at leaving their wealth and had been perfecting a bad attitude about everything. They lacked faith.
Nephi could build a boat, but he couldn’t build it alone. He was going to need the help of the other men in the party. This meant convincing Laman, who was developing his role as the leader of the opposition, to assist. Unfortunately, the moment the two oldest brothers figured out what Nephi was up to, they went into their usual routine:
17 And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters.
18 And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord.
19 And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work. (1 Nephi 17)
They went on to complain about their favorite gripe—leaving their wealth. They insisted the people in Jerusalem had been righteous and the city was not destroyed. They were certain that if they’d stayed home they would now be happy, not dead, and that Nephi was just like their judgmental father.
Nephi withstood their harassment and then delivered a powerful sermon on God’s power. The brothers responded, as they often did now, by trying to kill him. With God’s help, Nephi was able to withstand his brothers and secure their promise of help. The boat was built and proved seaworthy.
What might have seemed an impossible task was successfully accomplished, but only because Nephi entirely trusted and relied on God for help. Nephi teaches us that anything is possible when we let God in on the project.
And I said unto them: If 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. –1 Nephi 17:50
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
