Lehi the Parent

“And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father had written for he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams. And he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account...”

What is the primary obligation of a parent to their child? After unconditional love, and basic providence of food, shelter and clothing, what is the most important thing a father and mother can do for their offspring?

Is it helping them to get their “Duty to God” award? Achieve the Eagle Scout award? Encouraging them to serve a mission? Or perhaps helping them fulfill an inhumane schedule of endless activities and projects so that they can build a resume that will get them into BYU? Some would argue that it’s all these things, and that these pursuits are worthy goals to ultimately encourage your children to stay on the “covenant path”.

Maybe they are. But sometimes awards, diplomas and a constant preoccupation with improving our personal and family socioeconomic status (in the world and in the church) … sometimes all those things blend into a huge lifelong distraction. A distraction from a living relationship that is far more important and valuable than anything this world can offer.

“From this we can see that the whole human family, in the early age of their existence, in all their different branches, had this knowledge (a knowledge of the existence of God) disseminated among them; so that the existence of God became an object of faith, in the early age of the world. And the evidences which these men had of the existence of a God, was the testimony of their fathers in the first instance.
 The reason why we have been thus particular on this part of our subject, is, that this class may see by what means it was that God became an object of faith among men after the fall; and what it was that stirred up the faith of multitudes to feel after him; to search after a knowledge of his character, perfections and attributes, until they became extensively acquainted with him; and not only commune with him, and behold his glory, but be partakers of his power, and stand in his presence. 
Let this class mark particularly that the testimony which these men had of the existence of a God, was the testimony of man; for previous to the time that any of Adam's posterity had obtained a manifestation of God to themselves, Adam their common father had testified unto them of the existence of God, and of his eternal power and Godhead.” (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 2).

(The Lectures on Faith used to be included in our scriptures. They were partially written and fully edited by Joseph. They were voted into our canon by the membership of the church in the 1830’s. Why and when they were removed is a topic for another day.)

I am of the opinion that our primary focus and objective should be:
1. To know the Lord Jesus personally, face to face. (This is a giant idea, that encompasses many other ideas)
2. To teach our children to do the same, and once the path is known, to show them and testify of that path.
3. To compile and leave a record, documenting that path and journey. I’m not talking about a diary or a just a journal. I’m talking about your own book of scripture; the things which you have “seen and heard which the Lord hath shown you”. Your own map that documents your journey into the Lord’s presence. Initially it is for your immediate offspring. But because there is a high statistical probability that your own children just won’t “get it”, the record survives and becomes an immortal invitation to your echoing posterity to come unto Christ. This at least seems to be the pattern.

It’s just an opinion.

Lehi in Context Part 3

“Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. And I want you to know that God, in the last days, while certain individual are proclaiming His name, is not trifling with you or me.” (Joseph Smith April 7, 1844)

God is not trifling with you and me. He’s not messing around. This is for real. This life is NOT about becoming more “churchy” and climbing the church ranks. Lehi understood this. Nephi is not simply telling a story about his dad. He’s illustrating a map. The Book of Mormon is a map, showing the path to redemption. The path back into the presence of the Lord, in the flesh.

“Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.” Ether 3:13

The irony of the exalting path, is that it is not exalting at all. It is the opposite. Nephi spoke of the “path of the low valley” and the “plain road”. Likewise Christ taught “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Lehi makes a choice to be diminished. He elects a lower life station, a lower standard of living, a life of hardship, affliction and obscurity. Its no wonder his oldest sons thought he was crazy. His actions would have been so counter-culture that you and I both would have thought he was crazy.

Paul taught the Philippians:

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” 

Much could be discussed about the foregoing verse. At a minimum we should acknowledge that to the ancients who came to know God, first hand knowledge was purchased. Not with money but with sacrifice. In modern LDS culture, we often isolate the concept of “sacrifice” to mean spending time in church meetings, fulfilling our callings. This is a common misconception. They are not the same thing.

Returning to Lehi:

 “And the first came and stood before my father and gave unto him a book and bade him that he should read. And it came to pass that as he read he was filled with the spirit of the Lord, and he read saying, Wo, wo unto Jerusalem for I have seen thine abominations. Yea, many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem: that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof, many should perish by the sword and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.” 

More bad news for Lehi. He has a lot of friends and family in Jerusalem. He is “awakening to an awful situation” .

“And it came to pass that when my father had read and saw many great and marvelous things he did exclaim many things unto the Lord…thou art merciful thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish. And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God for his soul did rejoice and his whole heart was filled because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shewn unto him.”

It’s important to consider that Lehi does not believe in a “trickle-down-from-the-top” religion. There seem to be a great many today who practice such a religion. They believe it is the duty of a certain small group of men at the top to receive orders from the Lord, and that the only remaining duty required of the common man is to “follow your priesthood leader”. It is not frequently taught this way, but it is frequently practiced this way. (But sometimes it’s even taught that way).

Lehi isn’t doing that. He’s been listening to Jeremiah and perhaps others preach. He believes there’s truth to their words. But he’s not satisfied with hearsay. He goes unto the Lord himself, and gets his own experiences. He’s not “trifling” with the Lord.

Lehi in Context Part 2

"Wherefore, it came to pass that my father Lehi, as he went forth, prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart in behalf of his people."

Lehi is praying. Not saying prayers. We might ask ourselves, how often do I actually pray? Or am I just saying prayers?

What is the difference between saying prayers and praying? Or in Lehi's case, praying "with all his heart"?

"and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly".

It may be an oversimplification when we say things like "You can know God is speaking to you when you experience feelings of love, joy, and peace". Certainly God can and does communicate comfort and consolation to our souls. But He can also communicate things that are dreadful to us, that would make us "quake and tremble". Just because a message or a spiritual impression is negative, doesn't mean it is not from God. Sometimes God has bad news for you. For example, you may believe you are pretty righteous, but in reality you're not. Consider how Christ interacted with the pharisees, calling them names (generation of vipers) and telling them that they were wicked people because they loved their culture/traditions more than God. It's possible that there were some rabbis of the day saying things like: "It's obvious that this Jesus character is from the devil, because he is not sharing a message of peace. I didn't have good feelings when he called us a ‘generation of vipers’ and said that we were ‘whited sepulchers full of bones’, so therefore I know he is of the devil".

Back to Lehi...

"he returned to his own house at Jerusalem, and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen"...

"he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God. And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that at noon­day. And he saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament."

Consider how Christ's brightness is as the noon­day sun (celestial). The 12 followers posses a brightness of the stars (telestial).

Much could be discussed about this comparison. Most troubling to me is "Why are the 12 apostles 'only' as bright as the stars? And if they are only at the 'star level', then at what level am I? " I always remember being taught in Sunday School that the celestial kingdom was for the good people, the terrestrial was for the okay people, the telestial was for the bad people, and outer­-darkness was for the apostate mormons. Oversimplified perhaps, but for the most part, that was the drift.

In some of Joseph Smith’s sermons, he speaks of "attaining to the resurrection". It would seem that he taught that resurrection was a power to be attainted to by our faith in Christ, and is not a gift given to all by default, immediately. It becomes a discussion about time, and how long one would have to wait until they could develop sufficient faith/power to call back their body, and I suppose, command it to be perfected. In earlier years, I believed as I had been taught, that resurrection was an inevitable and already paid for gift that all who come to this earth would receive. That may be true in one sense, but the waiting can apparently be quite difficult to deal with.

"For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage." DC 138:50 

Lehi in Context part 1

"For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, my father Lehi having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days, and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed."

What were the days of Lehi like? What was going on in Jerusalem? What was the culture like? And what were the people doing (or not doing) that was so offensive to God that He would send "many prophets" to warn the people? What was going on that would warrant the threat of destruction?

The content of a story is easily misunderstood until the context within which the content occurs is understood.

For example, from the foregoing account of Nephi, we might easily conclude that the culture of Jerusalem (assumed to be very wicked because the people are called upon to repent) is a lot like our culture today. It may be wise however to consider other clues contained in the record, to construct proper context before arriving at concrete conclusions.

According to Laman and Lemuel: "And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people, for they kept the statutes and the judgments of the Lord and all his commandments according to the Law of Moses. Wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; " .

If their description was even somewhat accurate, Jerusalem did not suffer from a lack of religious attachment like some may view our modern day culture. I am of the opinion that their society was not openly hedonistic, like a Sodom or Gomorrah culture. On the contrary, these people were very religious, and they were good at rule keeping. These people had a sacred law, they had a sacred temple, they had sacred ordinances, and they had sacred covenants. What could they possibly need to repent of?

Is it possible to be a good rule keeper, and yet be in dire need of repentance? 

Consider Jeremiah

Nephi speaking to brothers : "For behold, the Spirit of the Lord ceaseth soon to strive with them, for behold they have rejected the prophets and Jeremiah have they cast into prison. And they have sought to take away the life of my father insomuch that they have driven him out of the land."(1 Nephi 7)

The fact that Lehi was on the same "team" as Jeremiah tells us a lot. Primarily, while Nephi is using the label "prophets", it's important to consider that in the eyes of the established "True Church" of the day, they were "apostates" and not "prophets". No right minded believer rejects a prophet. They first have to misidentify the messenger as an apostate, which then justifies their rejection of the impostor. So while Lehi is listening to Jeremiah preach, he is touched by the message, even though he knows that his with his new persuasions he will likely stir up persecution toward himself and his family. Persecution that will come not from the religionless, but from the members of his own church. Why? Because that's who Jeremiah was. Jeremiah spoke out against the leaders of the church. He condemns them as false priests and contends against false prophets. He becomes an enemy to their institution and to their priestcraft, and therefore he becomes an enemy to the state.

How many friends did Lehi lose because he accepted the message of Jeremiah?

How did his reputation suffer?

How did his business suffer? (He was apparently quite wealthy. He at least had enough gold, silver and precious things to make Laban envious.)

It is within this entire context that the Lehi's first actions in the record weigh in.

"Wherefore, it came to pass that my father Lehi, as he went forth, prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart in behalf of his people."

A people that want him to shut up or die. Why is he praying for them? What is he asking the Lord to help them do? 

Who Was Zedekiah? And What Does it Tell Us About Lehi?

"For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah..."

After Nephi's initial introduction, the first line of the record gives us a clue from which we can begin to construct a historical context.

Zedekiah is a young king (only 21 years old), and he is set to rule over Judah by the King of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar II). Judah was not a sovereign nation but was under Babylonian governance. Just a few years prior to being a tributary to Babylon, Judah was under Egyptian control under the Pharaoh Necho (around 608 bce). After King Josiah is killed in the battle of Megiddo, Jehoahaz is chosen to be king, and he is quickly replace by his older brother Jehoiakim.

In 605 BCE, the Egyptians are defeated in the battle of Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar II then besieges Jerusalem. Jehoiakim changed allegiances to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem. He paid tribute from the treasury, some temple artifacts, and some of the royal family and nobility as hostages. The subsequent failure of the Babylonian invasion into Egypt undermined Babylonian control of the area, and after three years, Jehoiakim switched allegiance back to the Egyptians and ceased paying the tribute to Babylon. In 599 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and again laid siege to Jerusalem. In 598 BCE, Jehoiakim died during the siege and was succeeded by his son Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin). Jerusalem fell within three months. Jeconiah was deposed by Nebuchadnezzar, who installed Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, in his place.

Needless to say, Lehi's upbringing would have been tumultuous, full of political and economic instability. How he was able to amass any wealth is an interesting fact to consider. Did he inherit his wealth? Was he politically or militarily connected ? Was he a war hero? What influence did he have among his peers?

Nephi records that he was "taught somewhat in all the learning of my father...I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians." Why was Lehi so familiar with the language of the Egyptians? Did he favor Egyptian culture and politics over that of the Babylonians? Did he trade with and have business relationships with the Egyptians? What did he learn and adopt from them?

It is important to consider Lehi's life and standing before he heeds the invitation of the "true messengers". It places his actions into context, and enables us to better liken the scriptures to our own lives.