And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.
Nephi often drew parallels between the forty-year journey of his ancestors in the Sinai desert and the journey of his family on their way to a new promised land. Here he reminded his family that Jehovah had allowed poisonous serpents to attack the ancient Israelites as a way to get them to stop complaining and start obeying. The commandment the Lord wanted them to follow was the simplest possible thing: just look up at a brass object prepared by Moses. If the afflicted people would only exercise enough faith to just look at the object, God would heal them. It was so simple, yet many refused to obey even that almost insignificant instruction from their prophet; and as a result, they died. The prophet today does not ask us to do some monumental thing. He asks only that we pray daily, read the scriptures, attend church, hold family home evenings, pay tithing, get a temple recommend. If we can just do these simple things, we will learn to come unto the Savior, who will save us from all the sin with which we have been bitten. We can be healed, but only if we obey.
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