Post by Sam –
I thought Nephi had said about all he could say to convince my brothers to stop murmuring and believe it possible to build a ship and sail to a promised land. But they didn’t take it well at all. When he finished speaking, Laman and Lemuel were so angry they wanted to take Nephi and throw him into the sea. When they tried to take hold of him, he stood a little taller and even to my amazement, said, “In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.”
He told them that God had commanded him to build a ship and they should stop murmuring and they should labor to help build the ship. He told us that if God had commanded us to do any thing, we could do it – whatever it was.
Nephi said that if God told him to tell the water to become dry earth and if he said so, it would be done. He said that the Lord has such great power and He has done so many miracles for His children here on earth, and who were Laman and Lemuel to say God couldn’t instruct us to build a ship?
Nephi didn’t let up there. He said so many profound things that my brothers couldn’t contend any longer. Needless to say, they didn’t dare lay a finger on Nephi. In fact it was days they were afraid to touch Nephi because the power of the Spirit of God that had wrought upon them.
Then Nephi did an interesting thing – at the direction of the Lord of course – he reached out his hand and touched them. The Lord gave them quite a shock. They didn’t wither because it was the Lord having Nephi demonstrate the power of the Lord our God, not them trying to destroy Nephi.
Finally, they knew of a surety the Lord was in charge. They recognized it was the Lord that shook them. They fell down to worship Nephi. Nephi wasn’t having any of that, he reminded them he was only the little brother but they should worship the Lord their God and they should honor their father and mother and if they did, their days would be long in the land which the Lord would give them.
(Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 17:48 – 55)
