In the end, Laman and Lemuel prove themselves very much like the children of Israel. They were capable of at least temporary repentance, only after significant manifestation of the power of the Lord. Also like the children of Israel, their understanding of the nature of the power of the Lord was not accurate, and Laman and Lemuel were willing to see Nephi as the source of the power, not the Lord (just as the children of Israel could attempt to see the power in an idol).
Nephi is forced to set them straight, and attempt to remind them that their spiritual devotion was to their Lord, and their familiar respects belonged to their father, not Nephi.