The Small Plates of Nephi

Why Read the Book Entitled ‘The Small Plates of Nephi’?

Who was Nephi and what are his small plates all about? In the year 600 BC, Nephi was the fourth son of Lehi, a prophet at the wicked city of Jerusalem. God had sent Jeremiah to preach repentance and to advise King Zedekiah. The city had already been sacked twice, once by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt and then by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who imposed a heavy tax and had already carried off tens of thousands of captives, including Ezekiel and Daniel.

As Jerusalem fell deeper into sin and idolatry, King Zedekiah refused to pay the tax to Babylon, and the advance on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar became eminent. God then commanded the family of Lehi to immediately leave the city.

After setting up camp in the wilderness, God directed the sons of Lehi to return twice to Jerusalem, once for the Holy Scriptures contained in the Brass Plates of Laban and later to recruit the family of Ishmael including his daughters. God then instructed them to build a ship in order to come to what is now America.

God also commanded Nephi to engrave their history and revelations onto golden plates for the benefit of future generations. The resulting work includes the details of their good and evil, peace and war, freedom and bondage, plus politics and population expansion. The key inclusion is the eyewitness account of the personal visit of Jesus Christ in the year 34 AD to this mighty civilization that flourished for more than 1,000 years and did not end until the year 421AD.

About half of this book stems from the Bible and about half from the well known book called the Book of Mormon. Clearly one can and should read both of these two root books. Why then this extra book? This ‘quick read’, with scores of grandmaster paintings, electrifies this obscure history in vivid feature film screenplay format as if one is viewing a blockbuster billion dollar movie.

‘The Small Plates of Nephi’ is the first 475 years of this astonishing panorama. Since this book is all about God, Christ and Salvation, I submit this is ample reason to read this book. It is both history and a guide to heaven.