Well, let me just say that I have already gotten more out of this than I expected! For a start, I hadn't realized just how obedient Lehi was. For example in chapter 1 of 1st Nephi before he has the vision, he was going about doing something and as he went forth he had the vision, and he wasn't like "no, I'll be late for work if I stop now" he immediately obeyed and listened, then went home, received more and straight away went out to testify of Christ.
Another thing I've learned is that Nephi honored his parents by abridging Lehi's record before starting on his own. I think that's considerate, which seems to be a key characteristic of Nephi. A lot of the information and the way he phrases it is considerate to either someone in the situation or to the reader.
I like to look for parenting advice too when I read the scriptures, because anyone who is a parent knows that you can't do it to the best of your ability alone. We need to be teachable and take advice. Obviously we need the Lord, and we need to swallow our arrogance sometimes for the greater good and the sake of our children. In verse 1 of chapter 1, Nephi's context of being born of goodly parents follows that he was taught by his father and that he had a "great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God". The advice I take from that is to be a goodly parent and to teach my children that God is good. And to understand the Spirit so they can come to a great knowledge and recognize their gifts. I also took some other notes of historical interest, but I want to focus here on things of the Spirit.
One of those things is that Nephi (in chapter 1 verse 20) very much wants to show us the Lords character of mercy and love. I love the way he says "But behold I Nephi will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" The Lord always delivers us, sooner or later, it happens every time. Sometimes it's quick like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and sometimes it takes longer, like the children of Israel when Moses delivered them. The Book of Mormon itself is full of examples too but they were the first that came to mind.
Also Nephi mentions that his father saw "many great and marvelous things" (1 Nephi 1:14) but the only one he mentions at this stage is the warning that Jerusalem will be destroyed (cross reference 2nd Kings 24 & 25) I just thought that was interesting for our day with prophesies now of wars preceding the Second Coming. It came to pass as warned. That's another things I gained from this is that the Lord always gives so many warnings about everything. If He was just interested in fire and destruction as some believe then why would He go to the trouble of warning and exhorting repentance so many times? He gives us every possible opportunity to do what's best for us and to accept His love and Atonement. The way verse 4 is worded seems to me that the destruction was an inevitable consequence of the actions (wickedness) that the people were warned about, rather than anything nasty like some think. I think John 3:17 sums it up pretty well and of course the verse before it is one of my favorites!
These are my notes from just the first chapter of the Book of Mormon...wow! And I thought I was being brief. =)
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