"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?
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