The Inquisitive Christian

1 Nephi Chapter 6

Nephi writes of the things of God–Nephi’s purpose is to persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham and be saved. About 600-592 B.C.

1: “And now I, Nephi, do not give the genealogy of my fathers in this part of my record; neither at any time shall I give it after upon these plates which I am writing; for it is given in the record which has been kept by my father; wherefore, I do not write it in this work.

2: For it sufficeth me to say that we are descendants of Joseph.” 

It does not suffice. Listing the genealogy would give evidence to back this claim. The refusal to list it gives the impression that it’s a bogus claim that can’t be verified. 

3: “And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God.”

This is yet one more reason recording all of this on metal plates makes no sense. Engraving all of this would be labor-intensive, and there is a space limitation. This would be easily remedied by using leather as a writing material, which was common in the Old Testament.

4: “For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.”

This deviates significantly from the Old Testament in that the purpose of prophets was to speak God’s word to the Israelites specifically. We see this all throughout the Bible when God’s prophets chastise Israel, advise various kings in matters of war, and prophesy the destruction of Israel as well as the coming of the Messiah. In the Old Testament, they were God’s chosen people. Proselytizing to make converts was not done. This is not to say that foreigners did not reside with the Hebrew people and assimilate to their culture and worship of God. Rahab and her family are an example of this. Not only was she permitted to live with them, she was also in the lineage of Christ. See Joshua 2:1-6 and 6:17-25 for more details on her. We also know foreigners lived among them because there were laws governing them and how they were to be treated (Exodus 22:21, Exodus 12:48, Numbers 9:14, Leviticus 12:48, Leviticus 19:33-34, Leviticus 24:22). So, we see others were certainly permitted to follow God along with the Israelites, but nowhere do we see where anyone actively sought out non-Hebrews to come follow God.