The next great moment in Nephi’s life was not only when the Lord spoke to him, but was also when the Lord came to bless him forever for his service by granting him the sealing power. He had labored unwearyingly until the seventy-first year of the judges. In Helaman 10:7, Nephi was given the power, “that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
This blessing of the sealing power has to be the most sublime, personal blessing in all of scripture. “Behold, thou art Nephi and I am God,” said the Lord. This was apparently a formal situation, in which angels were present to bear witness (Helaman 10:6). This power granted Nephi the ability to command virtually anything. Nephi withheld that power for a while, but finally decided that he was going to need to use it to institute a famine. which has some good effects. What a wonderful blessing he is given. He eventually calls the famine off, but not until three years later, which was another great moment in his life.
In verse 4, we learn why Nephi received this blessing. He received this gift:
Well, that is quite a formula, and the take-home message that you might get out of this is at the end of verse 5 when the Lord says, “Because of this I will bless you.” Why? “Because I know that you will not ask that which is contrary to my will.” Nephi’s will had become so aligned with the Lord’s that the Lord knew that he could trust him completely and implicitly. He never asked for or used his power in a way that would not have been consistent with the will of the Lord. While that is an incredible state of spiritual achievement to have reached, it did not happen overnight. As you study the work of Nephi in the preceding chapters, you will understand the wonderful things that he did which brought him to a point where he would not ask anything contrary to the will of the Lord.