Lessons from 1 Nephi 2:12-13

1 Nephi 2:12-13
12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.
13 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.

In these verses, a few things stand out to me. First, I feel like Nephi is trying to illustrate the level of infidelity involved in Laman and Lemuel's behavior by reminding us that they are the eldest and that Lehi is their father.

In our society today, perhaps we read about Laman and Lemuel and just picture a couple of smart-mouthed teenagers talking back to their parents, but Nephi is trying to tell us that this is bigger than that. We're talking about birthright here, and a cultural/religious respect for parents that is not just an expectation but a way of life. And they are disregarding those things completely. Nephi is truly SHOCKED at what it reveals about them but is able to explain it a little bit to us.

He recognizes that THIS kind of murmuring is not just superficial whining about the temporary discomforts of being in the wilderness. It stems from a deep, deep, DEEP lack of spiritual knowledge.

For starters, he says that they "knew not the dealings of that God who had created them." If you look at the cross reference for this verse, it takes you to Moses 4:6 where Satan is beguiling Eve because he, Satan, "knows not the mind of God." Now THAT is an interesting comparison.

He continues in the next verse by telling us that "neither did they believe" that the great city of Jerusalem could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets.

So.

They don't believe the prophets. They DO believe their friends. They trust the strength of a CITY over the strength of their CREATOR. Can you see how Nephi is shaking his head in bewilderment as he tells us that these guys just DON'T GET IT. I repeat what he said in verse 12 -- they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.

So what do we learn from that as parents?
* FIRST, just because we teach something does NOT mean that they know it. Obviously, they will be more LIKELY to know it if we teach it, but somewhere, somehow, Laman and Lemuel did NOT learn "the dealings of God." (i.e., Don't blame yourself!)
* That said, do your best to provide opportunities for the SPIRIT to teach them "the dealings of God." This is not one of those things that we can fake-teach using our own wisdom. They will just NOT learn it unless they learn it by the Spirit.
* Teach them that no city or worldly invention of man can compete with "that God who created them."
* Teach them to listen to the prophets. Always.... Now, I don't mean that they have to put Pres. Monson on their iPod and listen to him 24-7. But if the prophets (including the Q of 12) give them instruction, they should unfailingly try to follow their counsel.
* And especially for our day, in our politically charged environment, teach them how to appropriately respond when they feel like they disagree with something that is said by one of those men. "Killing the prophet" or even just "murmuring" until we've drowned out their words is NOT the answer. (In fact, what if we think of "murdering" as killing the prophets, and "murmuring" as killing the chance for people to obey them. Pretty serious, eh?)
* (As a continuation of the last point) teach them that murmuring PREVENTS us from knowing the dealings of God. I love Isaiah 29:24, (repeated in 2 Nephi 27:35), where he tells us that "... they that murmured shall learn doctrine." To me, this says that if you want to "know the dealings of God" one of the prerequisites is that we control the tendency to murmur.