1 Nephi 17:49-51
49 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.
50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?
Once again, Nephi finds occasion to reiterate his central theme. This time it is by telling us how his brothers tried to prevent him from building a ship. He writes that he said many things to them, but the only thing he tells us he said is that, “God had commanded me that I should build a ship. And…If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them.”
In Nephi’s narrative, this is high adventure. However, in the pattern of the cosmic sacred narrative and Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, this is the final struggle before ultimate success. There is always a final struggle, but the sure promise of triumph alleviates neither the difficulty nor the dangers of that final struggle.
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