1 Nephi: Headnote, Part VII
“They take their families and depart into the wilderness.”
So let’s think about this for a minute. We’ve already established that Nephi and his brothers are married. Those of us who have read the book previously realize that this happened as a result of their second return to the land of Jerusalem, so it would seem that none of them were married before they left. On the other hand, it would seem that at least some of them also had children by that time, else why the use of the word “families”?
Everything between chapter 7 (the second journey) and chapter 16 (when they “[take] of the daughters of Ishmael to wife”) seems to have preceded the weddings, which is not tremendously surprising since those chapters consist almost exclusively of Lehi’s vision and Nephi’s reprise thereof, with only chapter 16 relating a different series of events. Thus, they probably spent much of their “sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17:4) as married men and fathers. (This becomes even more apparent in chapter 18, when Nephi’s “wife… and also my children” are pleading on his behalf ((1 Nephi 18:19)).)
But this brings up an interesting question: if Lehi’s family was already in the wilderness by chapter 2 (see 1 Nephi 2:4), how, then, did Nephi and his brothers “take their families and depart into the wilderness” if they were already there? I submit that there are two fulfillments of this statement: the first, when they retrieved their future father-in-law’s family in chapter 7. I often refer to Anna as “my wife,” even when I’m talking about events that happened years before we were married. I suspect that Nephi is here doing the same thing. The second, then, becomes the later departure when, after an unknown duration in the initial wilderness, they departed—with the Liahona to guide them (see chapter 16)—into the more severe wilderness of the desert.
Likening the scriptures unto myself:
Our family’s current home is not where we lived when either of our first two children came home from the hospital. In fact, given its location, it’s kind of “in the wilderness”: outside of city limits, next to a cornfield, in the middle of a relatively empty state. Furthermore, it’s an area where there are very few (if any) jobs in my area of expertise, which is part of the reason I’m still running my own business and serving my clients from home.
So why the heck are we here? The short answer is that Anna’s family was (and, on some level, continues to be) here. We “took our family and departed into the wilderness” because we felt that our family needed us, and that we needed them. While we still miss our old home and the metropolitan area it adjoined, we know we’re here for the most important thing on earth—family—just as Nephi followed his family into the wilderness, in part to be with his parents.
So is that what the Lord wants for us?
Everything between chapter 7 (the second journey) and chapter 16 (when they “[take] of the daughters of Ishmael to wife”) seems to have preceded the weddings, which is not tremendously surprising since those chapters consist almost exclusively of Lehi’s vision and Nephi’s reprise thereof, with only chapter 16 relating a different series of events. Thus, they probably spent much of their “sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17:4) as married men and fathers. (This becomes even more apparent in chapter 18, when Nephi’s “wife… and also my children” are pleading on his behalf ((1 Nephi 18:19)).)
But this brings up an interesting question: if Lehi’s family was already in the wilderness by chapter 2 (see 1 Nephi 2:4), how, then, did Nephi and his brothers “take their families and depart into the wilderness” if they were already there? I submit that there are two fulfillments of this statement: the first, when they retrieved their future father-in-law’s family in chapter 7. I often refer to Anna as “my wife,” even when I’m talking about events that happened years before we were married. I suspect that Nephi is here doing the same thing. The second, then, becomes the later departure when, after an unknown duration in the initial wilderness, they departed—with the Liahona to guide them (see chapter 16)—into the more severe wilderness of the desert.
Likening the scriptures unto myself:
Our family’s current home is not where we lived when either of our first two children came home from the hospital. In fact, given its location, it’s kind of “in the wilderness”: outside of city limits, next to a cornfield, in the middle of a relatively empty state. Furthermore, it’s an area where there are very few (if any) jobs in my area of expertise, which is part of the reason I’m still running my own business and serving my clients from home.
So why the heck are we here? The short answer is that Anna’s family was (and, on some level, continues to be) here. We “took our family and departed into the wilderness” because we felt that our family needed us, and that we needed them. While we still miss our old home and the metropolitan area it adjoined, we know we’re here for the most important thing on earth—family—just as Nephi followed his family into the wilderness, in part to be with his parents.
So is that what the Lord wants for us?
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