Thursday, August 4, 2016

Families and Hardship 1 Nephi 18:7

1 Nephi 18:7
Theme- families and Harship

What
7 And now, my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; the elder was called  Jacob and the younger son Joseph .

Even though Lehi and Sariah were traveling and in the wilderness and suffering great hardship, the Lord blessed them with two more sons. That made the journey even harder for them and especially for Sariah. It also gives an idea that they were maybe still in their forties or at least still in their childbearing years, when they began this journey. They four sons who were perhaps in their teens or early 20's and and now two more little ones.

Revelation from Joseph Smith tells us that the two oldest sons of Ishmael were married to Lehi and Sariah's daughters. So that makes two daughters and six sons.

2 Nephi 5:6
 6 Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also aZoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the bwarnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.

Ishmael and his wife probably had two sons and seven daughters. One daughter may have been older than the two boys as she is the one who married Zoram.

That would make 10 in Lehi's family and 11 in Ishmael's family plus Zoram. A total of 22 people plus many grandchildren who were also born in the wilderness under hard circumstances. We only know that they did have children during their sojourn. Perhaps Ishmael was a little older than Lehi, we don't know, but his oldest daughter married Zoram. Ishmael died on the journey

1 Nephi 16:7

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.

1 Nephi 16:34

34 And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.

1 Nephi 17:1

1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.

1 Nephi 17:1

1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.

1 Nephi 17:4
.  4 And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.

If Ishmael's wife didn't bear children in the wilderness that would leave 12 couples who were of childbearing age. If they each had two children like Sariah then there would have been 24 children born Since it was an 8 year journey they may have had many more children than 2 per couple during that time. in the wilderness That would be a total of 46 people and it could have been more or less than that. We can be sure that there was a large family there to board that ship.

600 B.C. Probable Lehi trail
Ensign 1976- September- In Search of Lehi's Trail Part 1
So, after a great deal of study, we felt almost ready to construct a hypothetical passenger list and itinerary for Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem. We began with his party. We know that Lehi took his wife Sariah and four sons. The party may have included daughters as well, since Nephi casually mentions “my sisters” many years later when they were in the promised land (2 Ne. 5:6); but they could have been born in the wilderness. Later the group was joined by Ishmael and his wife, at least two married sons and their families (1 Ne. 7:6), five unmarried daughters, and Zoram, Laban’s former bondsman. It seems safe to estimate, then, that Lehi’s party faced the desert with at least twenty people. (See Illustration 4.)
Elder Erastus Snow noted that the Prophet Joseph Smith said Lehi’s daughters married Ishmael’s two sons. (JD, 23:184.)

Part 1 and part 2 of In Search of Lehi's Trail are valuable resources giving a lot of history and background to help understand Lehi's journey.

Why
They journeyed for 8 years. During that time, the Lord sent them marriages and children to continue on the posterity. They were a chosen people who would be led to the promised land. It would not end with just the original family of Lehi. They were commanded to “multiply and replenish the earth”

Genesis 1:28

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Pattern

Genesis 9:1

    1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenishthe earth.
    2 And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters, and they began to multiplyand to replenish the earth.
    28 And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will cause them to be fruitful andmultiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Christ
Multiplying and replenishing the earth is a part of the plan of salvation. So this verse does point to Christ and the plan which He and the Father are the authors of.

Conference
4/15 Boyd K. Packer
The Plan of Happiness

The commandment to multiply and replenish the earth has never been rescinded. It is essential to the plan of redemption and is the source of human happiness. Through the righteous exercise of this power, we may come close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy, even godhood. The power of procreation is not an incidental part of the plan; it is the plan of happiness; it is the key to happiness.
The desire to mate in humankind is constant and very strong. Our happiness in mortal life, our joy and exaltation are dependent upon how we respond to these persistent, compelling physical desires. As the procreative power matures in early manhood and womanhood, very personal feelings occur, in a natural way, unlike any other physical experience.
10/11 Neil L. Andersen
The family is ordained of God. Families are central to our Heavenly Father’s plan here on earth and through the eternities. After Adam and Eve were joined in marriage, the scripture reads, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”2 In our day prophets and apostles have declared, “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”3
This commandment has not been forgotten or set aside in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.4 We express deep gratitude for the enormous faith shown by husbands and wives (especially our wives) in their willingness to have children. When to have a child and how many children to have are private decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord. These are sacred decisions—decisions that should be made with sincere prayer and acted on with great faith.
...It was not in the Garden of Eden that Adam and Eve bore their first child. Leaving the garden, “Adam [and Eve] began to till the earth. … Adam knew his wife, and she [bore] … sons and daughters, and [acting in faith] they began to multiply and to replenish the earth.”11
It was not in their Jerusalem home, with gold, silver, and precious things, that Lehi and Sariah, acting in faith, bore their sons Jacob and Joseph. It was in the wilderness. Lehi spoke of his son Jacob as “my first-born in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness.”12 Lehi said of Joseph, “Thou wast born in the wilderness of [our] afflictions; yea, in the days of [our] greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee.”13
In the book of Exodus, a man and woman married and, acting in faith, had a baby boy. There was no welcoming sign on the front door to announce his birth. They hid him because Pharaoh had instructed that every newborn male Israelite should be “cast into the river.”14 You know the rest of the story: the baby lovingly laid in a little ark made of 
Apply
Families and hardship are well acquainted..Married couples should have children if it is possible. It doesn't have to be easy or convenient. We are expected to go through hardships in this life. In doing so we learn to rely on the Lord. The family proclamation has been given to us today. It is to live by and cherish. Families are eternal. If we seek the Lord, he will bless us to find joy even in hard times. Lehi and Sariah and their family were great examples of this.

Hymns
300- Families Can Be Together Forever
 48 Foreshadowing the great work to be done in the temples of the Lord in the  dipensation of the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the  sealingof the children to their parents, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse and utterly wasted at his coming.

Children
198- A Happy Family


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