Why did the Spirit command Nephi to kill Laban?

 

Why did the Spirit command Nephi 

to kill Laban?

According to the account, one of the first things Nephi noticed after he found Laban passed out in the street was his sword. He pulled it out of its sheath, noticing as he did so that the hilt--the handle--was of pure gold, and that the blade was of precious and likely very durable steel. It was night time, but there must have been some light, because Nephi could see it was Laban, and also the details of his sword.

Then the voice of the Holy Ghost spoke to him with a startling command: kill Laban. Despite the fact that Laban had tried to kill him and his brothers and stolen his family's substantial wealth, he didn't want to kill Laban. Being the good young man that he was, he recoiled. He had never killed anyone. Then the Spirit spoke to him again: "Slay him, for the Lord has delivered him into your hands. The Lord slays the wicked to bring about His righteous purposes. It is better for one man to die than for an entire nation to dwindle and perish in unbelief."

Nephi thought about what the Holy Ghost had just said. His family needed the Brass Plates to have the Law--God's commandments--so they could know and obey the Law. If they didn't have them written down in a lasting record, they would forget them, and their descendents would eventually lose the true knowledge of God and the blessings that come from doing His will. 

After contemplating this, Nephi obeyed. He grabbed Laban by the hair and cut off his head. This must have been very hard for Nephi to do. But he also realized that if the Lord commanded it, it was necessary. Once Laban was dead, Nephi took Laban's clothes and put them on, including his beautiful sword. Still following the impressions of the Spirit, he headed for Laban's treasury to get the Brass Plates.

Why didn't Laman and Lemuel's faith increase after they saw an angel?

 Q: Why didn't Laman and Lemuel's faith increase after they saw an angel?


A: After loosing all their wealth to Laban, Laman and Lemuel became very angry with Nephi and Sam. And why shouldn't they be angry? After all, their entire fortune was gone, and with nothing to show for it. They were now poor. After hiding in a cave, they started hitting their younger brothers with a long stick, beating on them for having lost their all. At this critical moment, something amazing happened: the Lord intervened.

An angel appeared in front of them. He told them to stop hitting their younger sibling--meaning Nephi--because the Lord had chosen him over them because of his willingness to obey and do God's will. Then he said, "Go back to Jerusalem. The Lord is going to deliver Laban into your hands." The angel then disappeared.

Unbelievably, as soon as the angel left, Laman and Lemuel started saying things like, "How is God going to help us get the plates from Laban? He's a very powerful man, and can kill lots of people when he wants to. So why won't he just kill us?" We may think it astounding that, after seeing an angel with their own eyes and hearing him speak directly to them, they should doubt in the least the ability of the Lord to help them overcome Laban. But the experience they had just had didn't come because of their faith; they apparently had little, if any. For them, seeing an angel was just like seeing a man on the street; it had no impact on their faith, because there was none there.

With his two oldest brothers still voicing their doubts, Nephi crept back into the city. His brothers waited for him outside the walls. It was now dark, and he didn't know what he was going to do. He was relying on the Holy Ghost to guide him. Before long, he came upon a man lying in the street--drunk and out cold. It was Laban. Indeed, the Lord had delivered the mighty Laban into his hands by simply letting Laban indulge in one of his bad habits.