Do you ever wonder why Lehi's family had to return several times to Jerusalem after they had left? I'm thinking that there may have been multiple reasons (in addition to getting the plates from Laban). Some ideas:
1. Did the Lord want to give Laman and Lemuel an opportunity to step it up, stop murmuring, and be part of the family? Obviously they failed the test, but is it a reminder for us that the Lord will give us multiple opportunities to do the right thing?
2. Was it to help Nephi, who seems always to have been the good kid, recognize his own faith, obedience, and love for the Lord?
3. Was it a test for Lehi and Sariah to see how they would respond as the Lord asked ever more from them? First to leave their home and wealth, then to travel in the wilderness, then to send their boys back into hostile territory. . .
4. Were these trips back to Jerusalem necessary to cement family relationships and loyalties prior to their long journey to the promised land?
Also wondering what would have happened to the story if Laman and Lemuel had just returned to Jerusalem and stayed there? They would have been destroyed when the city was destroyed. Without the Lamanites, would the Nephites have had a different outcome?
I think the family needed to stay together because that's what families are supposed to do. We give each other the benefit of the doubt, we support and encourage each other, we help each other, we forgive each other. . . Everyone has their own agency and can choose their responses to any given situation. Maybe the sheer meanness of Laman and Lemuel help us see the things out of alignment in our own lives and encourage us to do better.
What do you think?
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