Post by Nephi –
I mentioned earlier that my father Lehi was warned in a dream to take his family and flee into the wilderness. I need to mention again that my father is a man of great faith and his obedience to God is top priority with him, regardless of cost. And as you read, we left behind quite a treasure of worldly goods. All we have taken with us into the wilderness are some provisions and a few tents.
We headed south toward the Red Sea and are traveling in the wilderness in the boarders which are nearer the Red Sea. You need to keep in mind that the Red Sea is no small journey away from Jerusalem. None of us finds the journey pleasant or easy. We have traveled in our lives but we are fleeing for our lives this time and for our own protection, our course is not the main thoroughfare. This is rough country.
When we finally got to this valley which actually has a river of water, our father let us pitch our tents. In keeping with my father’s great love and respect for the Lord, he built an alter of stones to make an offering and to give thanks to the Lord our God.
As we got settled he gave the river the name of Laman. The river empties into the Red Sea. This valley is located in the borders near the mouth of the river.
Since the river empties into what my father said was the fountain of the Red Sea, he spoke to Laman longing for Laman to be like the river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness. My father talks like that.
Then he talked to Lemuel in the same way telling him that he wished that Lemuel would be firm and steadfast like the valley – immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord.
This kind of talk would really chap Laman and Lemuel, but he talked like this because he was a very caring father who yearned for his children to love and follow God. Laman and Lemuel were really stiffnecked, they murmured against my father in many things. They complained that because he was a visionary man and he had taken them from Jerusalem, that they had to leave behind the family riches and the land of our inheritance only to die in the wilderness.
Since they do not believe in revelation, they said he had done all this because of the foolish imaginations of his heart. The real reason they murmur so much is because they don’t understand the dealings of our Father in Heaven who created us.
And if you read what Laman wrote you see that Laman and Lemuel don’t believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. In essence, my two oldest brothers were no different than the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.
