Laban’s execution ranks among the most troubling stories in Mormonism.\u00a0 It’s often used as a story<\/a> to show that obeying God is more important than what we think is right.\u00a0 Alternatively, it’s used as\u00a0an example<\/a>\u00a0to show how we should question commandments.\u00a0 It’s been explained away as a justifiable action<\/a> under Jewish law.\u00a0 It\u2019s been entertained as a possible example<\/a> of Satan\u2019s power to deceive (Nephi in this instance).\u00a0 Nephi and Laban have been compared to Abraham and Isaac<\/a>, and David and Goliath<\/a>.\u00a0 Critics cite it<\/a> to discredit Mormonism, and apologists use it<\/a> to bolster Mormonism.\u00a0 What makes Laban\u2019s execution so interesting is not only what it tells us about Nephi, but what it tells us about God.<\/p>\n Laban\u2019s execution takes us through three stages in Nephi\u2019s mind.\u00a0 When Nephi discovers Laban stumbling through the dark Jerusalem streets, God prompts<\/a> him to kill the defenseless drunk.[1]\u00a0 Nephi refuses<\/a> to obey God because killing, ironically enough, is against God\u2019s commandments.\u00a0 God again commands<\/a> Nephi to kill Laban.\u00a0 The second time, Nephi pauses to come up with a reason to justify what God has asked him to do.\u00a0 Nephi contemplates Laban\u2019s offenses.\u00a0 Just earlier that night Laban took all of Nephi\u2019s family\u2019s possessions and tried to kill Nephi and his brothers; he had disobeyed God. \u00a0The rationalization may be compelling for some, but Nephi evidently couldn\u2019t convince himself.\u00a0 So God commands<\/a> Nephi a third time to take Laban\u2019s life.\u00a0 But this time, God explains\u00a0why Nephi should obey his commandment. \u00a0God points out <\/a>“It is better that [Laban] should perish than that [the future Nephite civilization] should dwindle and perish in unbelief.” \u00a0God has Nephi weigh the literal death of one man against the spiritual death of a whole nation.\u00a0 Put in modern parlance, God gives Nephi a utilitarian reason for executing Laban. \u00a0Nephi then obeys.<\/p>\n It would be easy to draw some harmful lessons from this story.\u00a0 Presumably, Nephi did the right thing by refusing to obey until God gave him a reason to obey.\u00a0 Should we adopt Nephi’s unwillingness when we face tough commandments?\u00a0 Probably not.\u00a0 The Book of Mormon itself contains other stories where people took the leap of faith before knowing fully what would happen.\u00a0 Nephi had just declared<\/a>, one chapter earlier, that he\u2019d obey whatever God told him to do.\u00a0 Laban\u2019s execution gives us the rare look at how a prophet, and how God, works through a situation where two commandments clearly contradict each other. \u00a0And while Nephi tries to obey the more newest one, he waits for God\u2019s approval before acting.\u00a0 There was simply no third way for Nephi, and I suspect that most people would rarely be put in Nephi\u2019s position.\u00a0 But at least one modern prophet faced a similar situation.<\/p>\n Wilford Woodruff had a dilemma.\u00a0 God commanded the Saints to practice plural marriage.\u00a0 But had they continued, the United States would imprison<\/a> church leaders, close the temples, and confiscate many of the Saints’ property; the church would, in effect, perish.\u00a0 Woodruff couldn\u2019t obey one commandment (plural marriage) without failing on the other \u00a0(preserving the church).<\/p>\n Woodruff\u2019s decision is sometimes taken as evidence that Mormonism is not what it claims.\u00a0 If God really was in charge, He would have found a way to allow plural marriage to continue and the church to go on as it had.\u00a0 Instead, he didn\u2019t intervene, and he made Woodruff and the Saints abandon an immensely important commandment.\u00a0 Clearly then, the argument goes, God doesn\u2019t lead the Church.<\/p>\n The story of Laban\u2019s execution offers an alternative conclusion.<\/p>\n
| \n Nephi<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n Wilford Woodruff<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Laban’s execution shows that God will sometimes entertain a utilitarian judgment over directly intervening in some way to avoid the utilitarian solution.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 The answer may be related to the answer to another, similar question: Why does God have imperfect people lead His church?\u00a0 Perhaps it’s because the greater good is served by having people work together to improve an imperfect church rather than by having God so directly involved. \u00a0Sometimes God drops a Liahona in the sand, sometimes he commands his prophet to make do with the best of two bad choices.[2]<\/p>\n _______<\/p>\n [1] As an aside, some people have other problems with Laban\u2019s execution.\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t Nephi have just knocked Laban out, or what about all of the blood on Laban\u2019s clothes that Nephi had adorned?\u00a0 These aren\u2019t criticisms of the story as it is told, but elements that Nephi didn\u2019t explain.\u00a0 I imagine that if Nephi anticipated these criticisms, he might have offered more detail on how the events unfolded.\u00a0 For all we know, Nephi stole Laban\u2019s clothes, Laban recognized him, and Nephi just recounted the order of events in reverse.\u00a0 Stranger things have happened.<\/p>\n [2] The same argument I\u2019ve offered here might also apply to Eve\u2019s choice in the Garden of Eden.\u00a0 However, it\u2019s not entirely clear that Eve was thinking in utilitarian terms about her decision to eat the forbidden fruit and have children. |