ZORAM THE INSIGNIFICANT

 

 

 

Have you ever felt insignificant? Or on the outside? Or like an appendage to someone? Well, there is one person who in the scriptures might appear to have felt like that. His name was Zoram. As we know Zoram was Laban’s servant and he played a part in Nephi and his brothers obtaining the brass plates. 

 

We don’t know much about this man but I am always amazed that he could be persuaded on the spur of the moment to abandon his life in Jerusalem and step on a ship to cross oceans to a whole new continent. Had he known Lehi and his family previously? His persuasion seemed to have been aided mostly by an oath that Nephi swore to him regarding his safety (1 Nephi 4:33). An oath was a very serious promise in ancient world that people would not break even at the point of death. So Zoram trusted and probably appreciated the twist of fate that took him out of Laban’s service to across the ocean to a foreign land. However, one might think that Zoram became an appendage out of necessity and therefore was not all that significant to Lehi’s adventurous journey. He was after all just a servant. One thing we do know though: he was not insignificant to God.

 

This is the point in Zoram’s story that proves to me this truth. When Ishmael joined the party, he provided wives for Nephi and his brothers but the interesting thing is that Ishmael had enough daughters for Lehi’s sons, plus one. The plus one was the oldest daughter who, you guessed it,  married Zoram (1 Nephi 16:7). Is it a coincidence that there was an extra daughter so that Zoram could also have a wife?  I think not. It is obvious the Lord knew way ahead that Zoram would join the party and that He did not expect him to travel to another continent with no provision for his future. In other words, the Lord knew Zoram, he loved Zoram, and He was invested in Zoram's well-being.  When he sent daughters to be born into Ishmael's family, he assigned one of them for Zoram.  Before Lehi died he gave a blessing to all his posterity, including Zoram because he was ‘a true friend to Nephi forever’ (2 Nephi 1:30-32) . Zoram’s posterity became one of the seven tribes of ancient America, called Zoramites.

 

You migh feel that you are like Zoram, not that important. But you are Christ's work and His glory. Not a hair of your head falls to the ground that He does not notice. No matter how insignificant you might feel, you are not forgotten. God has a plan for you. You might feel 'as a sparrow alone upon the housetop' (Psalm 102:7) but Christ's remembrance of you will endure forever (Psalm 102:12). Your turn on earth has more significance than you can presently understand. Each one of us is destined for greatness in the eternal scheme of things. Christ will ensure this is so and He will lift us to eternal realms of godhood to live with Him forever.

 

Do you see me God,

Despite heaven’s vast expanse?

Do You hear the burning beat of my heart

Amidst the numberless host of heaven?

Do You cherish me as much as the stars

That encircle Thy throne?

Thy greatness is endless,

Thy power sublime,

In my appointed hour, carry me home,

In the strength of Thy loving arms.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Jon McNaughton)