All right, brothers, Nephi said in effect, it is time for some history lessons. You are already aware of these facts of our forefathers’ history and their miraculous deliverance in these same wilderness areas centuries ago.
Again, we are struck by the parallel between Lehi’s family and the Exodus of the children of Israel:
• Murmuring over their hardship (1 Nephi 16:20)
• Journeying toward the promised land (17:13)
• Deliverance from destruction by the Lord (17:14)
• The prophet-leader receiving direction on a mountain (17:7)
• Nephi’s use of the Exodus story to teach and inspire (17:23–43)
The last parallel is much like the practice of Jews today in recounting the Exodus story on the eve of Passover. Lehi and Nephi were following the Mosaic injunction to teach the children of the family the Passover miracles and God’s goodness to the house of Israel (Exodus 12:26–27; 13:8, 14). Nephi used the phrase “ye know” eight times in five verses. Laman and Lemuel “knew” the Exodus story and its lessons because they had been taught before. Out of Nephi’s discussion of the Exodus experience come profound doctrines: the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one, but the righteous receive his favor; the Lord speaks in a still small voice, but continual rebellion can put individuals in a condition “past feeling,” where the Spirit of the Lord can no longer be recognized; and thus God raises up righteous peoples, but he “destroyeth the nations of the wicked.”
God is just and fair. Those who want to disobey and be wicked bring destruction upon themselves. Those who are righteous are favored of God; he will love them and bless them.