The Sword of Laban: Part 2 - The Discerning of Spirits

Part 1: The Sword of Laban

Angels and Answers

I am the sort of person who, when an angel appears, asks to speak to their supervisor.

When I receive a spiritual prompting, I always triple-check the math and ask the Spirit to show its work.

It's not because I lack faith or have a doubting heart.  No, the reason I am a stickler is because I want to know whether something comes from God or not.

None of us wants to be deceived.  That is why, if an angel were to tell me my clothes were on fire, I would politely thank them and seek a second opinion.

For remember, we do not follow angels or spiritual impressions: we follow God.

The worst form of delusion is to believe we are led by God, when in fact we are being influenced by our own desires and/or false spirits.

Nephi's Wrestle

​Several years ago I wrote The Sword of Laban and said, "How can we make sense of Nephi killing Laban?"  Just because it's been two years, don't think I've forgotten!  I have continued to seek for an answer.

Perhaps things would have gone differently for Nephi if he had applied the teaching from 1st John when the voice of the Spirit prompted him to slay Laban:

   Beloved, believe not
   every spirit,
   but try the spirits
   whether they are of God.

(1 John 4:1)

I am aware that some people interpret the words "smote off his head" to mean Nephi didn't behead Laban.

But that's not really the issue.  The record states Nephi was instructed by the Spirit to "slay" Laban, and Nephi did so (1 Nephi 4:26).  So whether death occurred by decapitation or by blunt force trauma (or some other means), it doesn't matter.

Instead, let's focus on what's important: not the manner of Laban's death, but the lesson the Spirit taught Nephi ― which can be summarized, I think, as "the end justifies the means."

Is that a correct principle?

   And it came to pass
   that the Spirit said unto me
   again: Slay him . . .
   [for] it is better
   that one man
   should perish than that
   a nation should dwindle
   and perish in unbelief.

(1 Nephi 4:12-13)

Nephi was young; he had a lifetime before him to learn the doctrine of Christ.  At this formative stage, Nephi's spiritual worldview was still governed by the Law of Moses. 

So it shouldn't surprise us that the Spirit spoke to him in very Mosaic terms.  Nephi's brain was not wired to think in terms other than 'the Law.'

But you and me?  We do not take counsel from Moses, or from a law of carnal commandments.

So whenever the spirit speaks to us in terms of the lesser law ― the law God gave the Israelites, remember, as a consequence of their hard hearts, swearing they would NOT (!) enter into His rest (i.e., presence) (D&C 84:24) ― we should probably move on and get another opinion.

Anytime I feel myself channeling a spirit that resonates with the Law of Moses, I take a step back and ask myself if there isn't a better, more excellent way.

People who rely upon the Law of Moses to justify their worldviews are like those who rub their hands together trying to create heat from friction; I prefer to warm my hands by the light of the Lord's fire.

And so, since the time I wrote The Sword of Laban two years ago, I have continued to ponder this problem (yes, I know, I know; I am glad you have better things to do with your time!).

But for me, Nephi's killing of Laban presents a big doctrinal goose egg.  Today, members of the Church commit all kinds of mischief in the belief that "the Spirit told me to."

The Subjectivity of Spiritual Matters

While it is wise to trust our spiritual experiences, I do not believe we should cling too tightly to them.  Better to hold them loosely so we are prepared to let them go when something greater comes along.

I worry about people who are so committed to their versions of truth that they fail to realize that those truths were never final; they were merely stepping stones.

Our spiritual experiences are incremental and educative, never fully-fleshed.

Nobody talks about the fact that spiritual knowledge is subjective.  Revelation is contingent upon the capacity and beliefs of the person who receives it.

With our designed mortal limitations, most everything we receive from heaven is watered-down so our finite minds can grasp it.

That is why whenever God speaks, something is lost in translation.  Heaven bends to our capacity to understand.  Spiritual visions, visitations, and impressions are communicated only imperfectly due to our difficulties with spiritual comprehension.

And so whatever we think we have received from God, know that there is more.  All that we have been given will either be (1) refined or (2) replaced as we continue along the path.

Bit by bit, our minds can become expanded and enlightened to consider new dimensions and possibilities.  Then:

   Their wisdom shall be great,
   and their understanding
   reach to heaven;
   and before them
   the wisdom of the wise
   shall perish,
   and the understanding
   of the prudent shall come
   to naught.

(D&C 76:9)

In other words, if you saw Jesus today, and continued to grow in further light and truth, I should expect Him to look different to you tomorrow.

Look For a Third or Fourth or Fifth or Sixth Option (especially before smiting off someone's head)

​Nephi's adrenaline was through the roof.  He was under time constraints, wary of the guards.  He felt lots of pressure.  Clearly these were not ideal circumstances for him to calmly receive divine instruction.

I do not fault Nephi, but wish only to learn from his experience.

Nephi apparently believed he either had to kill Laban to get the plates, or leave Laban alone and fail in his mission.  But this was a false dichotomy.

Practice Pointer: Whenever we feel stuck between two options, take a step back.  Breathe.  There are always more possibilities, I promise.

Nephi mistook Laban as an obstacle; he was sore that Laban had stolen his father's treasure.  But other people are never the problem.  They serve as catalysts for us to exercise our agency.

Look carefully at what was going through Nephi's mind:

   1.  "I knew that [Laban] had sought to take away mine own life" (1 Ne. 4:11).

   2.  "He would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord" (1 Ne. 4:11).

   3.  "And he also had taken away our property" (1 Ne. 4:11).

Do you see what Nephi is doing?  He is listing charges.  He is making his case against Laban.  Why Laban deserved the death penalty.

By whose standard?  Christ's?  No, no no:

   4.  "I also knew that the law [of Moses] was engraven upon the plates of brass" (1 Ne. 4:16).

You see how Nephi was focused on "keep[ing] the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses" (1 Ne. 4:15).

But thanks to Christ, the Law of Moses has been fulfilled and has no power anymore over us (see, umm, anything written by Paul; see also, 3 Nephi 15:4-5, where Jesus says "the law in me is fulfilled; therefore it hath an end."

Laban was unconscious, so he posed no immediate threat.  Nephi's life was not imperiled at that moment.

If you'll forgive me taking some creative liberties, I'd like to present an alternate scenario of what could have happened.

I write the following to honor the man, Nephi, who would go on to become one of the great disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Nephi 4: Alternate Version
 
And it came to pass I did obey the voice of the Spirit, bowing myself to the earth, and placed my hand upon the hair of the head of Laban, and raising my right hand I cried, O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have mercy upon this son of Judah who has stumbled and lost his way, drunken upon the iniquity of his fathers!  For who is a God like unto you, even unto the pardoning of iniquity and passing over the transgression of thy people?  O God, turn aside thine anger; for thou art a God of justice, but thou delightest in mercy.

And having thus prayed, I, Nephi, arose and removed the garments from Laban as a mother would her child, leaving his underclothing to hide his shame; for naked had he entered the world, and I refrained from taking him out therefrom: for vengeance is mine, saith the Lord God.

And I took the garments and the sword of Laban, and put them upon mine own body; yea, every whit; and I did gird on his armor about my loins.  And this I did in recompense for the treasure he had taken of the possessions of my father.

And I went forth unto the treasury of Laban, being led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.  And as I went forth towards the treasury of Laban, behold, I saw the servant of Laban who had the keys of the treasury.

And I said unto him, Brother, the Lord God of Israel hath delivered your master into my hands this night.  Verily, I say unto you, that it is the commandment of God that I carry the engravings, which are upon the plates of brass, to my father beyond the walls of the city into the wilderness.

And the servant of Laban began to tremble, and was about to flee from before me.  But I called out, saying, Peace; I have spared the life of your master, who even now has fallen to the earth, drunken with wine.  Do you wish to serve such a man as he?  Rather serve God, who desireth that all men be free men.  Will you not come with me, my brother, and serve the God of our fathers?  For is it not better that one man should lose his servant, than for a nation to dwindle and perish in unbelief because of the traditions of their elders?

And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord, therefore I did place my trust in God, and did lower myself to the earth, even to the dust thereof, and did speak an oath unto him, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us.

And it came to pass that Zoram did take courage at the words which I spake.  Now Zoram was the name of the servant; and he promised he would help me carry the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass, down into the wilderness.​

   But I say unto you,
   Love your enemies,
   bless them that curse you,
   do good to them that hate you,
   and pray for them
   which despitefully use you,
   and persecute you;
   That ye may be the children
   of your Father
   which is in heaven.

(Matt. 5:44-45)