1 Ne 7:11-15

Questions

Was this a permanent deliverance, meaning they did not have to worry about returning to Jerusalem and being apprehended?

Faith. At the this verse, Nephi uses “exercise faith in him” and “be faithful to him” to mean the same thing. How does the second of these help us understand better what it means to have faith? How is the concept of "being faithful to" related the concept of "having faith in"?
- The scriptures often use the metaphor of betrothal or marriage to describe the relation of the faithful to Christ. Does that help us understand what it means to have faith in him?
- A husband and wife should be faithful to each other but what is meant by that isn't that one is obedient to the other. What is the relationship between obedience and faithfulness? Do these verses suggest a different way of thinking about obedience, a different way of thinking about faithfulness, or both?

Nephi tells his brothers that the Lord can do all things for the children of men under two conditions. First what would be done must be according to the Lord's will. Second the children of men for whom he would do all things must exercise faith in the Lord. This is a common theme of the scriptures: the Lord can do anything for us if it is good and we have faith. We typically think of faith in this context as believing that the Lord can do what he really can do. For Nephi's brothers, given the miracles they have already seen, they need simply to remember in order to believe (see verses 10 & 11). But Nephi also shows us here that having faith is not simply about holding a certain set of beliefs it is about being faithful--being obedient to the Lord's commands.