(January 14, 2014)
As I was reading this chapter today, I was struck by something I hadn’t really considered before. Why was it that the Lord needed to provide the Liahona? Why couldn’t He have worked through inspiration?
As I thought about it, I came up with two reasons for it. First, it seems apparent that the Liahona was the least-intrusive manner for providing the guidance that they needed. He could have provided visions and inspiration throughout, but by instead providing the Liahona, He served to give them “small and simple” means for them to follow His plan for them.
The second was that the Liahona became a perpetual reminder that the Lord was in charge. In order to condemn Lehi and Nephi, Laman and Lemuel would have to either ignore or explain away the Liahona – it was a physical item that had to be considered. I wonder how Laman and Lemuel managed to ignore it, or how they explained it away as the cunning craftiness of Nephi, but that was an additional hurdle that Laman and Lemuel had to cross in order to apostatize. In that sense, this was once again a mercy provided to Laman and Lemuel.
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