How does one measure the worth of an object? Perhaps one way might be the effort that one would extend to take care of it or the joy one might feel in receiving it. In 1 Nephi 5 we read of Lehi’s joy in receiving the Brass Plates. He finds them to be of “great worth.” What brought Lehi such great joy? Through the Brass Plates they could preserve the commandments of the Lord to their children. His thoughts were on his descendants. They had left the main body of the Jewish people and were on their own. They needed an anchor–their spiritual heritage.

Personal application: I, too, like Lehi want to leave my children a spiritual heritage, a love for the scriptures. What would my life be without the scriptures? They anchor me to Jesus Christ.

To me, reading about the contents of the Brass Plates is another testimony that Joseph Smith couldn’t have simply made up the story. He had about 2 years of formal schooling. His family read the Bible, but didn’t have the Bible study tools that we had. Did he know about the construction of the Bible? The Brass Plates contained the first 5 books of Moses plus a record of Jews own to the reign of Zedekiah. Jeremiah was a contemporary of Lehi. How would Joseph have known of a Biblical timeline. We later learn of other prophets mentioned in the Book of Mormon that are not included in the Bible, such as Zenock, Zenock and Neum. These prophets give a powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. We will meet them later and talk about them.