Things had gone wrong. To relieve their frustrations, Laman and Lemuel became angry. An angel appeared to rebuke them for smiting their brothers with a rod. This is another example of faith as a principle of power. While the text makes no specific mention of faith at this time, Nephi had continually expressed his own faith and urged his brothers to be faithful. When a person has done all that he can, his faith is rewarded.
Part of an angel’s ministry “is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and do the work of the covenants of the Father” (Moroni 7:31). The angel appearing to Laman and Lemuel fit both of these purposes. The angel also informs them that they forfeited their right to family leadership because of iniquities (v. 29). Under the law of primogeniture the eldest son was heir to governmental authority in the family. The matter of family leadership remained a point of contention for the Lamanites in spite of the angel’s message (see Mosiah 10:15).
Laman and Lemuel now had a spiritual witness of the mission they were on. To one with faith it seems incredible that Laman and Lemuel could still doubt, but they immediately began to rationalize. They were more impressed with the power of men, Laban and his fifty, than they were with the assurance from an angel that their mission would be a success.