Do you think it's entirely possible that the secret combinations that Nephi used to obtain the plates from Laban were ultimately the very inspiration and model that the Gadianton robbers ran with and used to justify their actions and plunder ~550 years later?! 💕 keep up the excellent work
No, I can't see how anyone would think that at all. I do not think there is an analogy there in trying to compare a one time mission of Nephi to secure a very important and significant item away from a man who held the sword but turned evil in the sight of the Lord. Gadianton Robbers are inspired by enlisting the evil traditions of Satan, which predate Nephi by thousands of years of practice and refinement by evil men on the earth. That in no way compares to a one time action by Nephi which was never duplicated after he obtained the sword. The dark works of Satan are very sophisticated and have been crafted to meet the times after thousands of years of practice.
Rather than that, look at the arguments of Laman and Lemuel. ; Nephi stole our birth right. Therefore let us kill him and take it back. In looking at their arguments, L&L wanted to kill Nephi over the right to rule, but they didn't covet the scriptures or the plates, which is kind of ironic and shows how flawed they are. L&L don't even have interest in the plates, ONLY in the right to rule. Also whats' very interesting is when you hear the arguments and literature of the marxists, they kind of quote the same thing; take back what's ours by force and by blood. (We're warned against winning property and lands by force and by blood.) The arguments of the robbers are,; so and so robbed us, so we'll rob them and therefore we're justified in this. This is their thinking. Later when you read the robbers letter in 3rd Nephi, and about them, they covet the right to rule. They didn't even want the records. They mostly wanted Laconius to hand over the right to govern to them. Not their records. The robbers taught this based on some corruptive adaptation of Nehor's teaching and other things also. Marxism harnesses hate this way and some middle east groups also recruit this way. There's a lot of similarity between marxism and the robbers; take back what's yours by force. (But in the end its a lie and only an elite group at the top get anything while others are held captive by them.) This is the same secret combination of Cain's murder of Abel, how a lot of evil was and has been done throughout the world since the beginning of time; also including Nimrod. Laman & Lemuel, they taught their children to hate Nephi, and Nephites. But there was no justification for them to do so. Nephi was blameless. They hated that he was appointed to be their ruler and teacher. Nephi was innocent. He can't be blamed for what others did. And it bothers me to acknowledge the source of the robbers to be Nephi as that would legitimize them. It doesn't legitimize them and Nephi was innocent and pure. Also the robbers didn't show up until much much later without anything in between. So its not valid to create similarities between the robbers and Nephi & the plates. Its a false argument, you can't win this way because it is against the Lord's way of doing things. Also; the plates... people don't understand how sacred they are. They did not belong to Laban. And he didn't get them legitimately. They were to be passed on to the most righteous people, the most righteous patriarchs in a family. Why do you think they are said to go get the plates? They weren't told bring Laban with them, who has the plates. Laban would not have been allowed to have the plates as (I would argue) he was living somewhat like King Noah. It would be better that 1 man should perish than that a whole nation (and hundreds of nations after) should die in unbelief. (Completely opposite of the robbers, who would murder whole nations for the right of 1 man to rule). Also people miss a very interesting argument. in 1st Nephi they quote, Laban has 50 soldiers, even he can command 50. So he can also slay 50, so he will slay us. Thus they feared him. If you think about it... if Laban had 50 soldiers... that's a lot of payroll. He could not have supported that many soldiers of a private army without having already been a predator before then. Laban was a murderer. So when he decides to plunder their gold when they went to trade for the plates, I believe he'd already had practice with that many times before; it doesn't say that, but he had no moral stumbling in making a fast decision on it, and look how many people he was employing. He was a predator. So when the Lord tells Nephi to slay him its reflective of Laban's actions, and history. And his judgment reflects what he deserves. You see the same pattern in Exodus; Pharaoh receives a judgment (the 1st born) The curse of the fallen firstborn of Egypt, reflects that the Egyptians already had tried to slay the hebrew male children once. And they were about to do so again. But the bottom line is The plates weren't Labans. He stole them. And many people think the plates originally came from Joseph of Egypt himself (reformed Egyptian...)(This last part I can't prove, but it seems to be the case.) I also hope this supports what 'thelatterdayteacher' said and believe it supports his answer. I also have found the videos of this channel very insightful and good. I hope he will share more of his thoughts and videos, and his gift to help others understand the gospel better.
Do you think it's entirely possible that the secret combinations that Nephi used to obtain the plates from Laban were ultimately the very inspiration and model that the Gadianton robbers ran with and used to justify their actions and plunder ~550 years later?!
💕 keep up the excellent work
No, I can't see how anyone would think that at all. I do not think there is an analogy there in trying to compare a one time mission of Nephi to secure a very important and significant item away from a man who held the sword but turned evil in the sight of the Lord. Gadianton Robbers are inspired by enlisting the evil traditions of Satan, which predate Nephi by thousands of years of practice and refinement by evil men on the earth. That in no way compares to a one time action by Nephi which was never duplicated after he obtained the sword. The dark works of Satan are very sophisticated and have been crafted to meet the times after thousands of years of practice.
Rather than that, look at the arguments of Laman and Lemuel. ; Nephi stole our birth right. Therefore let us kill him and take it back. In looking at their arguments, L&L wanted to kill Nephi over the right to rule, but they didn't covet the scriptures or the plates, which is kind of ironic and shows how flawed they are. L&L don't even have interest in the plates, ONLY in the right to rule.
Also whats' very interesting is when you hear the arguments and literature of the marxists, they kind of quote the same thing; take back what's ours by force and by blood. (We're warned against winning property and lands by force and by blood.) The arguments of the robbers are,; so and so robbed us, so we'll rob them and therefore we're justified in this. This is their thinking. Later when you read the robbers letter in 3rd Nephi, and about them, they covet the right to rule. They didn't even want the records. They mostly wanted Laconius to hand over the right to govern to them. Not their records.
The robbers taught this based on some corruptive adaptation of Nehor's teaching and other things also. Marxism harnesses hate this way and some middle east groups also recruit this way. There's a lot of similarity between marxism and the robbers; take back what's yours by force. (But in the end its a lie and only an elite group at the top get anything while others are held captive by them.) This is the same secret combination of Cain's murder of Abel, how a lot of evil was and has been done throughout the world since the beginning of time; also including Nimrod.
Laman & Lemuel, they taught their children to hate Nephi, and Nephites. But there was no justification for them to do so. Nephi was blameless. They hated that he was appointed to be their ruler and teacher. Nephi was innocent. He can't be blamed for what others did. And it bothers me to acknowledge the source of the robbers to be Nephi as that would legitimize them. It doesn't legitimize them and Nephi was innocent and pure. Also the robbers didn't show up until much much later without anything in between. So its not valid to create similarities between the robbers and Nephi & the plates. Its a false argument, you can't win this way because it is against the Lord's way of doing things.
Also; the plates... people don't understand how sacred they are. They did not belong to Laban. And he didn't get them legitimately. They were to be passed on to the most righteous people, the most righteous patriarchs in a family. Why do you think they are said to go get the plates? They weren't told bring Laban with them, who has the plates. Laban would not have been allowed to have the plates as (I would argue) he was living somewhat like King Noah.
It would be better that 1 man should perish than that a whole nation (and hundreds of nations after) should die in unbelief. (Completely opposite of the robbers, who would murder whole nations for the right of 1 man to rule).
Also people miss a very interesting argument. in 1st Nephi they quote, Laban has 50 soldiers, even he can command 50. So he can also slay 50, so he will slay us. Thus they feared him. If you think about it... if Laban had 50 soldiers... that's a lot of payroll. He could not have supported that many soldiers of a private army without having already been a predator before then. Laban was a murderer. So when he decides to plunder their gold when they went to trade for the plates, I believe he'd already had practice with that many times before; it doesn't say that, but he had no moral stumbling in making a fast decision on it, and look how many people he was employing. He was a predator. So when the Lord tells Nephi to slay him its reflective of Laban's actions, and history. And his judgment reflects what he deserves. You see the same pattern in Exodus; Pharaoh receives a judgment (the 1st born) The curse of the fallen firstborn of Egypt, reflects that the Egyptians already had tried to slay the hebrew male children once. And they were about to do so again. But the bottom line is The plates weren't Labans. He stole them. And many people think the plates originally came from Joseph of Egypt himself (reformed Egyptian...)(This last part I can't prove, but it seems to be the case.)
I also hope this supports what 'thelatterdayteacher' said and believe it supports his answer. I also have found the videos of this channel very insightful and good. I hope he will share more of his thoughts and videos, and his gift to help others understand the gospel better.