1 Nephi 4

Gem in verse 1: “…Let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?”

This chapter is a fascinating one, and possibly one of the most controversial in the Book of Mormon. Nephi slips into the city at night and stumbles across Laban who is alone and passed-out drunk on the streets. Nephi is commanded by the Spirit of the Lord to slay Laban who has been delivered into his hands. Nephi has never killed a man and is terrified at the thought—it’s against the commandments to kill! But the spirit gives this reason to Nephi:

Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.

Nephi then reflects on how important it will be for his family to take the scriptures with them in order for their posterity to remain faithful to the Lord.

I’m going to let you read the chapter to find out if Nephi kills Laban or not, and if he gets the brass plates or not.

So what do you think? Would the Lord ever command someone to kill someone else? Would he sacrifice one man in order to preserve a nation?

--Megan