What have Church leaders said about 1 Nephi 6-10?

This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers 1 Nephi 6-10, which incorporates Lehi’s vision of the tree of life.

Church News searched the archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to learn what leaders have said about these chapters.

1 Nephi 6

“The Book of Mormon is the good standard we’re to make use of. It shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It comprises the words of Christ, and its great mission is to bring men to Christ and all other things are secondary. The golden query of the Book of Mormon is, ‘Do you should learn more of Christ?’ The Book of Mormon is the good finder of the golden contact. It doesn’t contain things that are ‘pleasing unto the world’ (1 Nephi 6:5), and so the worldly will not be all in favour of it. It is a fantastic sieve.”

— President Ezra Taft Benson, April 1975 general conference, “The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God”

1 Nephi 7

“Nephi is an example of 1 who knew, understood and relied upon the enabling power of the Savior. Recall that the sons of Lehi had returned to Jerusalem to enlist Ishmael and his household of their cause. Laman and others within the party traveling with Nephi from Jerusalem back to the wilderness rebelled, and Nephi exhorted his brethren to think about the Lord. It was at this point of their journey that Nephi’s brothers certain him with cords and planned his destruction. Please note Nephi’s prayer: ‘O Lord, in keeping with my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I’ll burst these bands with which I’m certain’ (1 Nephi 7:17).

“Do what I likely would have prayed for if I had been tied up by my brothers? ‘Please get me out of this mess NOW!’ It is very interesting to me that Nephi didn’t pray to have his circumstances modified. Rather, he prayed for the strength to vary his circumstances. And I feel he prayed in this fashion precisely because he knew, understood and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement.”

— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles within the March 2015 Liahona article “Strength Beyond Our Own”

“If you and I are to succeed in the summit of our divine potential, we must work each step of the way in which. The path could also be rugged, difficult, unheralded; but it could possibly be successfully climbed if we’re willing to work with all our strength and commitment. …

“When our lives are consistent with His gospel, we receive confidence through His Spirit to satisfy the challenges of every day. We can say with Nephi: ‘The Lord is capable of do all things in keeping with his will, for the kids of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him. … Wherefore, allow us to be faithful to him’ (1 Nephi 7:12).”

— Elder Rex D. Pinegar, then a General Authority Seventy, October 1980 general conference, “Decide To Decide”

1 Nephi 8

“In the scriptures we study one other key piece of safety equipment — a ‘rod of iron.’ Disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ, are invited to carry on to this rod with the intention to safely find their strategy to everlasting life. I’m speaking of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life present in the Book of Mormon.

“Through divine personal revelation, the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi and his son Nephi were each shown a vision of our mortal probationary state and its accompanying dangers. Lehi says, ‘And it got here to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the trail did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost’ (1 Nephi 8:23). Yet ‘he [also] saw other multitudes pressing forward; and so they got here and caught hold of the tip of the rod of iron; and so they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to [that] rod of iron, until they got here forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree,’ meaning the tree of life (1 Nephi 8:30).

“From Lehi’s vision we learn that we must clutch this safety railing — this iron rod, found alongside our individual straight and narrow path — and hold tight until we reach our ultimate goal of everlasting life with our Heavenly Father. Nephi guarantees that those that hold fast to the iron rod ‘would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to guide them away to destruction’ (1 Nephi 15:24).

“I invite you to read again the total accounts of this inspired vision. Study them, ponder them and apply them to your each day life. In modern terms we would say we’re invited to ‘get a grip.’ We must hold on tight to the iron rod and never let go.”

— Sister Ann M. Dibb, then the second counselor within the Young Women general presidency, October 2009 general conference, “Hold On”

“In that very well-known vision present in 1 Nephi 8, we’re reminded of the problem of staying on the strait and narrow path that results in everlasting life. Father Lehi described to his sons the challenges facing different groups of individuals in search of the tree of life, ‘whose fruit was desirable to make one glad’ (1 Nephi 8:10). This tree represented the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-22).

“The first group began along the strait and narrow path, but they didn’t clutch the iron rod that might keep them on the trail, and so they got lost within the mists of darkness (see 1 Nephi 8:21-23). …

“To navigate through these mists of darkness we’d like the iron rod, which represents the word of God (see 1 Nephi 15:23-24). We must study and understand the truths and commandments present in the scriptures. We must listen fastidiously to the words of our latter-day prophets, whose teachings will give us guidance, direction and protection. And we must hold to the standards present in ‘For the Strength of Youth.’

“Those within the second group of individuals Lehi saw were clinging to the iron rod. They continued in the proper direction, and so they were capable of partake of the fruit of the tree. They tasted true happiness, but unfortunately their happiness didn’t last long because as they looked around, they saw those that were making fun of them (see 1 Nephi 8:24-27). They were ashamed and caved in to see pressure. …

“You could also be mocked, you’ll have fingers pointed at you, you’ll have to face alone, but please have the courage to resist these temptations.

“What will assist you to to press forward and continually hold fast to the iron rod? Center your life on the Savior and develop each day habits of righteous living.

“Come to know the Savior and all He has done for you. I find it interesting that when [the] last group arrived on the tree of life, they fell down. They were humble. They realized that they may not have arrived without the Savior’s help.”

— Sister Mary N. Cook, then the primary counselor within the Young Women general presidency, April 2009 general conference, “A Virtuous Life — Step by Step”

“Recently a gaggle of vibrant, faithful young Latter-day Saints wrote down among the most pressing questions on their minds. One sister asked, ‘Why doesn’t the Church defend itself more actively when accusations are made against it?’

“To her inquiry I’d say that one in every of mortality’s great tests comes when our beliefs are questioned or criticized. In such moments, we will probably want to respond aggressively — to ‘put up our dukes.’ But these are vital opportunities to step back, pray and follow the Savior’s example. Remember that Jesus Himself was despised and rejected by the world. And in Lehi’s dream, those coming to the Savior also endured ‘mocking and pointing … fingers’ (1 Nephi 8:27). ‘The world hath hated [my disciples],’ Jesus said, ‘because they will not be of the world, whilst I’m not of the world’ (John 17:14). But once we reply to our accusers because the Savior did, we not only develop into more Christlike, we invite others to feel His love and follow Him as well.”

— Elder Robert D. Hales, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2008 general conference, “Christian Courage: The Price of Discipleship”

“Laman and Lemuel’s rejection of the prophets and the scriptures meant there could possibly be no useful likening or rehearsals of remembrance and no freshening of non-public revelation to them for his or her time. … They enjoyed mental ‘slumming’ of their portable equivalent of the prideful ‘great and spacious constructing’ (see 1 Nephi 8:26, 31).

“Hence Laman and Lemuel became rebels as an alternative of leaders, resentful as an alternative of righteous — all due to their failure to know either the character or the needs of God and His dealings with His children.

“As to their spiritual significance, Laman and Lemuel were sad ciphers. True, we could know more facts about them, however it wouldn’t change the ‘bottom line.’ If, in some respects, they appear to be undeveloped characters, it’s because theirs was a haunting emptiness, which might have been filled by the ‘love of God.’ In vision, there was the forlorn scene when Lehi solid his eyes anxiously about, looking for Laman and Lemuel that ‘perhaps [he] might see them.’ Finally, Lehi saw them, ‘but they’d not … partake of the fruit’ (1 Nephi 8:17-18). Of all self-inflicted punishments, this eight-word epitaph describes essentially the most awful and consequential!”

— Elder Neal A. Maxwell, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 1999 general conference, “Lessons From Laman and Lemuel”

“In his dream of the tree of life, Lehi found himself in a dark and dreary wasteland and saw others surrounded by a fantastic mist of darkness. The pathway home from this darkness was the strategy to the tree of life — the identical tree, I suppose, because the one from which Adam and Eve were barred until they, too, had walked the trail Lehi took. The path was marked by the iron rod, the word of God. (See 1 Nephi 8:7-30.) Holding fast to this rod within the mists of darkness, we, as did Lehi, grope and move our way homeward. As we do, we’re likely to search out that the cold rod of iron will begin to feel in our hands as the nice and cozy, firm, loving hand of Him who literally pulls us along the way in which. We find that hand strong enough to rescue us, warm enough to inform us that home just isn’t distant; and we summon our deepest resources to reciprocate, until we’re again ‘at one’ within the arms of the Lord.

“It is so vital for us to be on the Lord’s side. But we must always always remember that the Lord can also be on our side.”

— Elder Bruce C. Hafen, then a General Authority Seventy, within the April 1990 Ensign article, “Beauty for Ashes: The Atonement of Jesus Christ”

1 Nephi 9

“Sometimes once we are asked to be obedient, we have no idea why, except the Lord has commanded. From 1 Nephi 9:5 we read, ‘Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a smart purpose in him, which purpose I do know not.’ Nephi followed instructions despite the fact that he didn’t fully understand the smart purpose. His obedience resulted in blessings to mankind everywhere in the world. By not obeying our present-day leaders, we plant our seeds in stony places and should forfeit the harvest.”

— Elder Marvin J. Ashton, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 1978 general conference, “Who Will Forfeit the Harvest?”

1 Nephi 10

“[The] temptation to delay comes from our enemy, Lucifer. He knows that we will never be truly glad unless we’ve hope on this life after which realization, in the following, of everlasting life. It is the best of all of the gifts of God. It is to live in families endlessly with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ and to have everlasting increase. Satan wants us to be miserable as he’s. And he knows that we will only have that true happiness if we’re washed clean through faith within the Lord Jesus Christ, by deep and continuing repentance, and the making and keeping of sacred covenants offered only through God’s authorized servants. The scriptures confirm the hazard:

“‘Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the times of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye should be solid off endlessly’ (1 Nephi 10:21).

“And so Satan tempts with procrastination throughout our days of probation. Any selection to delay repentance gives him the possibility to steal happiness from one in every of the spirit children of our Heavenly Father.”

— Then-Elder Henry B. Eyring, now a counselor within the First Presidency, October 1999 general conference, “Do Not Delay”