Nephi Breaks His Bow & Follows the Directions on the Ball
1 Nephi 16 Insights
Upon waking up one morning and proceeding to the door of his tent Lehi came across a ball of curious workmanship. This ball would serve to be the light which would guide Lehi and his family through the wilderness. Now, what is remarkable to note is that 1st Lehi was astonished upon finding the curious ball. There is no doubt that Lehi prayed to receive guidance and revelation as to the course they should take through the wilderness. However, based off of his reaction he was not expecting the Lord to prepare this marvelous director.
The Lord prepared what would be called the Liahona only after Lehi had fulfilled all the commandments which were given to him. What were those commandments? They were 1. That his sons should take wives into the promise land, 2. They should return back for the brass plates so that might have the word and law of the Lord. 3. That they should take that leap of faith and depart into the wilderness. These were the three commandments given by the Lord to Lehi and his family. The last commandment before the Lord would gave them further direction was that his sons find wives.
Only after these three commandments were fulfilled did the Lord prepare greater things for them. Those greater things would be the marvelous Liahona. The scriptures read as follows:And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. […] And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake unto my father by night, and commanded him that on the morrow he should take his journey into the wilderness. […] My father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a ball of curious workmanship.
There are great things to be learned from Lehi and his receiving of the Liahona. One of the many is that when we move forward in faith in fulfilling the Lords commandments he will prepare greater things which will guide, direct, and provide the light we need. Those blessings may come in the form of success in a new business, one’s career, becoming a parent, receiving a calling and accepting it.
Whatever it may be those who work hard to fulfill the commandments of the Lord will be blessed in all things and shall receive the greater light and truth as Lehi and Nephi did. As Lehi was astonished in receiving this new welcomed tool which would give them the constant direction they needed; we to will be astonished in not only the ways but, also the means the Lord prepares for you to progress forward.
Moreover, Nephi takes the time to make mention of a second spindle but, never once does he inform us what this second spindle did or the intended purposes it served. But, he does make note of it and for whatever reason and leaves it at that. There are however hints given throughout scripture that suggest perhaps the second spindle worked in congruence with the first. Alma denotes that the “spindles” should point the way which they should go. (Alma 37:40)
Thus, the second spindle in some form likewise worked as perhaps a check or 2nd witness that the first spindle was pointing the proper way in which they should go. The Lord confirms every word which he gives / delivers unto the children of men by means of not one witness but, two! The second spindle however it worked served as the second witness of the first spindle and in so doing verified the word of the Lord!
It matters not how the two spindles correlate or worked together, what matters most is that they did and did so effectively. The important thing to learn here is that the father showed Lehi and Nephi the way which they should go not by just one pointer but, by two! Not only was the word of the Lord verified but, it also gave the Lehi and his family the absolute assurance that that the direction in which they were travelling was correct. Regarding the Law of Witness, President Joseph Fielding Smith taught the following:
On one occasion when the Savior was talking to the Jews they accused Him of being a false teacher because, they said, He did not conform to the law which had been given to Israel-nobody spoke for Him; He testified of Himself, I wish to read those verses:
“The Pharisees therefore said unto Him: ‘Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. ‘Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I came, and whither I go, ‘ ‘Ye judge after the flesh ; I judge no man ‘ ‘And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. ‘ ‘It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.’ ‘I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bearth witness of me. ‘ ‘Then said they unto him, ‘Where is thy Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also “‘ (John 8:13 -19)
The law given to Israel was that nothing should be received on the testimony of one alone. There should be two witnesses before a man could be condemned. Likewise, there must be two witnesses to bear record of the truth whenever a dispensation of the Gospel is introduced.
We don’t know much about the case of Enoch, but there were many witnesses who testified with him without a doubt, because he alone could not have accomplished the great work of uniting an entire people without help. We think, many of us, that Noah stood alone in bearing witness of the coming flood, and in our preaching we speak of Noah and his testimony to the people and how they rejected it; but Noah was not alone. He had some faithful sons who likewise bore witness with him, He had a faithful father who bore witness, and he had a faithful grandfather who likewise bore witness and who did not die until the year of the flood. So, he was not alone.
Moses was not alone. The Lord sent Aaron to be his spokesman, to bear witness with him that he, Moses, had been called to lead Israel out of bondage. And all through the history we find that there will be and has been at least two witnesses and, at times, more than two witnesses to bear testimony of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, coming to our own day. When Joseph Smith received his first vision, he was alone. That was of necessity The Lord had to reveal himself to one man alone. When Moroni came to him in the beginning, the Prophet was alone; but when the way was opened for three men to behold an angel and bear witness of the Book of Mormon, the prophet returned home and said that a great load had been lifted from his shoulders. Now he was not carrying the load alone. Three other men were called to be witnesses with the Prophet Joseph Smith of the restoration of the Gospel.
The Lord works by establishing his truth and word by two witnesses and in all things, do we see the truth of this principle. The Lord established his word with Nephi and Lehi by means of this second spindle. Nephi records it as follows:
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them. And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.
When Nephi’s broke his bow hunting his entire family went into panic and frustration. It is remarkable that it appears that Nephi’s family relied on him to provide meat for sustenance. Not Lamen, Lemuel, or any of the Sons of Ishmael apparently could go forth and hunt and provide their daily food they needed for nourishment. Thus, Nephi in a sense became the sole provider for a large moving caravan of upwards of 20 people. This on top of the many other things Nephi cared for was one of the heavier responsibilities he oversaw.
This type of move when looking at from a pragmatic viewpoint would be seen as highly dangerous. There is no safety fallbacks or secondary sources of obtaining food in the event the first fails. Now, this was not the fault of Nephi as the reader who understands Nephi knows that in everything he did he strived for his best first with the Lord, and second to his family.
Nevertheless, despite this huge problem which existed in their party Nephi as their true leader never allowed it to thwart their progression towards the promise land even when his bow did break. Yes, his bow did break and when it did panic ensued throughout the entire party. Why? Because there were no safety checks or fallbacks enacted to help mitigate such a crisis. What types of decisions are we making today which when viewed from rationally would cause panic to ensue in the event one miner thing collapses in our kingdom…
For instance, a family max’s out their debt load payments in correlation to that which they are actually earning each month. Yes, they can handle the payments now… But, what happens if either spouse gets sick, fired, or hurt and thereby so doing they lose a key source of income that otherwise has enabled them to stay afloat. Furthermore, a mother and father consistently harbor differences with each other but, yet they never come together to reconcile those feelings, emotions, and needs. What happens when a life altering event strikes them and neither one is equipped to meet the needs of other? They both suffer and so does their relationship and it thereby moves down rocky paths.
There are many other similar scenarios where balance, logic, and rational thinking are omitted only because of human nature and weaknesses. Yes, even Nephi’s tragedy and the other two examples of tragic loses can be avoided by implanting simple safety checks and fallbacks.
In purely understanding the decision to invest the responsibilities of one man the sole duty to bear hunting for his family / party would be illogical. What happens in the event Nephi gets sick, passes away, or breaks his bow and can’t replace it? Well we know what happened and panic and mummer set in. Such questions are logical to for one to ask and to consider.
However, more times than not we fail to take the time to implement checks and fallbacks in the event misfortune happens. Luckily, for Lehi and his family Nephi acted quickly to replace his bow with that of a wood bow. The safety check for this moving party in the wilderness was Nephi yet again. He resolved their issue not through a calculated beforehand implemented plan. But, rather through his own trust and faith in the Lord. What does our life look like today and what checks and measures are we implementing in the event tragedy strikes? Most of us will not be travelling in our lives with a Nephi… and as such we better set in motion corrective action that will still support us in the event of tragedy, misfortune, and disaster.