1 Nephi 19:4

In verse 4, Nephi talks a little more about the Large Plates. He says that that account contains a greater account of the wars, contentions, and destructions of his people. This is quite a jump from our story. Up to this point, pretty much all we know about the family is that they have arrived to the promised land and have tilled the ground. He lets us in on the fact that there was/will be many wars, contentions, and destructions to be had. For me it is kind of sad that Laman and Lemuel did not repent and work to destroy Nephi. In 1 Nephi 2:24, we read, "24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a ^ascourge unto thy seed, to ^bstir them up in the ways of remembrance." So, it seems that they will rebel and scourge the seed of Nephi. Let us continue with the story and find out how that takes place.

In the rest of the verse, Nephi states that he has instructed his people what they should do with the records that he is making and that they should hand them down from generation to generation, from one prophet to another, until there are further commandments from the Lord. It is amazing that the Lord protects the plates and this happens from generation to generation for just over a thousand years. Until Mormon abridges the records, gives them to his son Moroni, who buries them in the earth in New York. When in 1823, Moroni appears to a young man named Joseph Smith and tells him of the plates (see Joseph Smith--History 1:29).