Like Father Lehi 1 Nephi - 2 Nephi

Drawing by Chris White 

Everyday I see new evidence that the Lord loves us -Really loves us. He has promised that if we will ask, with sincerity, that he will never leave us alone and that he will protect us and guide us to our promised land -like he did Lehi. In my class tonight we discussed this very principle. We talked about prophets and how the Lord uses prophets to establish his Kingdom on the earth. We talked about Lehi and how we can be like Lehi. 

We learned that prophets teach us about spiritual truths, bear testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ and write the word of God into what we call Holy Scripture. Through prophets we have the power and authority given to men to act in God's name for the salvation of his children -  the priesthood. They teach us wonderful patterns of behavior and principles of truth: like prayer, revelation, forgiveness, patience, temperance, etc. Prophets help us understand our relationship to God as we seek to obtain eternal life. The relationship between God and his prophets is a good one to model after. 

So I asked the class to read the first few books of Nephi and to look for Lehi's relationship with the Lord.  I found a few clues that I thought were pretty good, but as is usually the case when the spirit of God takes over the lesson, together we all found some that surprised us. And tonight the teacher became the student. 

Not a Prophet?

As a Jewish merchant and citizen of Jerusalem
Lehi listened to the many prophets as they
testified of Jerusalem's destruction. 

As we listed many of Lehi's roles and characteristics on the board, one sister said, "and he wasn't a prophet." I asked her why she believed this and she described very accurately how he had been listening to the prophets prophesy, so how could he be a prophet? Okay... I didn't see that before. So we read on and discovered that indeed, in the beginning of his story, before he left Jerusalem, he was a merchant, a father, a Jew, a citizen of Jerusalem, a student of Hebrew but he probably was not always a prophet. Wow. 

Called to be a prophet  

But he believed the prophets! That set him apart. And because he believed, he gained a conviction to follow the pattern that prophets follow. He had to ask. So (if) he wasn't a prophet in verse 5 when he knelt by the rock and prayed "with all of his heart, in behalf of his people," certainly by verse 6 when he beheld a pillar of fire, he was on his way. I don't know about you, but I have never seen a pillar of fire "dwell" before me on a rock when I prayed. I believe this was his calling. God needed him to do what only Lehi could do. He would be called in his dispensation to lead a nation to a promised land. 

                  

We talked about the unlikeliness of being called as a prophet. Don't think so. But still there are things that we are called to do that only we can do. Things that the Lord knows. So no matter who we think we are, our wealth, our station, our place in life, God made it plain to Lehi that he knew who Lehi was and that there was a work meant solely for Lehi to do. Are we any different? Does God not have a job for each of us? A job that only we can do that will change the course of our family's life?

Prayerful 

Prayer - sincere heartfelt prayer - can open the heavens. Lehi was so filled with the spirit of God because of all he heard and saw, in answer to his prayer, that he trembled. Soon he had to go home. When he got home he fell on his bed and had a vision.  His spirit had been touched by the truth of testimony and he had to know. He had to pray and ask for himself. And when he prayed he found out that God had a lot more in store for him than he might have thought. But mostly he found out that God loved him and that he didn't have to perish with all of Jerusalem. But .. he would have to share his new knowledge. and that's where life began to change for him and his family. 

Filled with the Spirit of Revelation 

At home he was thus so “overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen, that he was carried away into a "vision.” (vs7-8) While caught up in his vision in which he sees God and his apostles, he is given a book that foretells of Jerusalem's destruction. He rejoices that he will not have to be destroyed. Why? Because he knows the truth. And now that he knows the truth he can obediently follow God's spiritual direction that will lead him to a promised land.  

He thus had his confirmation of prophesy concerning the people and place that he had called home his entire life.

Later the Liahona is given to Lehi to direct their travels. Like a compass it worked strictly by the power of revelation and the Holy Spirit. When Lehi fails to ask God, the Liahona fails to work. Lehi was the only one who could use it. Not even Nephi could usurp his father in this calling as a prophet to interpret the direction his people were to travel.

Goodly Parent

Lets back it up a bit. Lehi was also a goodly parent, (1 Nephi 1:1) who taught his sons and particularly Nephi knowledge and  the culture and learning of the Jews through Egyptian Hebrew(1 N 1:2). He cared about the welfare of his family. He cared about the welfare of his neighbors. He questioned. He asked. He listened. He received. He educated his family and he worried about what would become of them. He was a father filled with great love and dedication to his family. Else why would he have prayed? If his heart was not set on the things of an eternal nature, why would he have cared?

Dreamer and Visionary- A Prophet 

So in our class we talked about what makes a prophet a prophet. Lehi had asked to know. And when he asked God gave him: a pillar of fire, the spirit of God, a vision, revelation, understanding, a book that filled him with the Spirit, dreams, and knowledge about how our actions affect the paths that we are on. There are many of us who dream but this does not make us a prophet. Dreams need the power of revelation to be interpreted in truth. As a literal descendent of Joseph of Egypt, his propensity for vision and dreams came naturally. 

Lehi's dreams and his visions give him guidance and strength in truth. Through his dreams and visions we learn of the tree of life, the dark and dreary wastelands, the large and spacious buildings, the iron rod, the book of life, God and his twelve apostles, the tender mercies of the Lord, the need to depart and travel towards the promised land, and many other truths.

Lehi accepted his call to be a prophet when he courageously shared all that he had learned with anyone who would hear. Even though they had stoned and killed the prophets before him, he was not afraid. He understood that the "tender mercies" would give him "the power of deliverance." (vs 20) The revealed truth of God is powerful. It moved Lehi to change. It moves us all to change. It is the basis for the gospel of Jesus Christ.     

Grateful 

Lehi reverenced God. His reverence for God and his omnipotent power is expressed in verse 14 and 15 when upon the realization of his Father’s love for him he extols his gratitude and praise upon God. He realizes God's love, power, goodness and mercy for him. He understands that God will not "suffer those who come unto 'him' that they shall perish." (1N1:14) As long as he gives all of his faith and obedience to God, God will protect him from destruction - destruction from stoning or from the destruction of Jerusalem. Who wouldn't be grateful at the realization of this source of eternal life?

Optimistic

It was pointed out to me that Lehi, through all of his difficulties in Jerusalem, in prophesying, in leading his family always looked forward to where they were going. He didn't get bogged down with where they had been, where they were, or the problems they faced. (Okay he did murmur once when Nephi broke his bow. He was hungry(1N1:6)) Lehi's constant communication with the Lord kept him happy and optimistic about life. (My favorite prophet has always been President Gordan B. Hinckley because he exuded the epitome of optimism.) Even before his death Lehi could only bless his children with positive words of hope and prosperity. He is a man who gives full credence tot he promises that God has given him. His seed - though they will have difficulty - will not be utterly destroyed because God had made him a promise. 

Faithful and Obedient -

The first thing he does upon leaving Jerusalem and setting up camp is to build an altar to God and offer sacrifice and worship. (1 N 2:1) Religious rites keep our minds and bodies obedient to the laws of heaven. Lehi shows his obedience in many ways. I have to believe that he, like Nephi, was also of goodly parents who taught him the importance of strict obedience and respect for God's higher laws. 

Compassion and Sorrow

Is it possible to have Godly mercy extended to you and you yourself not want to do the same for others? Lehi knew that all he had heard was true and he wanted to help protect those with whom he lived and did business with, those with whom he had grown old with and raised his family with. But he was mocked and “cast out” (vs 20). In 2 N 1:17 we learn that his heart was sorrowful for the fear that his family would be cut off and destroyed forever. I imagine it was difficult for him to learn that his children did not share his deep understanding of God's love. 

Family Problems

Even Sariah murmured and two of his sons were disrespectful and rude. Were they not taught like Nephi? Sariah called him a visionary man and complained, but Lehi comforted her. He did not rebuke her. He did not become frustrated and distraught, he comforted her. He was a good husband and a strong family leader. Why? Because he drew his strength from his undeniable faith in God.  Consider what he has asked Sariah to do? 

• Leave the only home they had ever known. 
• Leave their family and friends,
• Leave their material possessions, wealth, clothing 
• Bear at least two more sons in the wilderness, away from the strength of community
• Travel to an unknown destination 
• Make your sons return at the peril of their lives to retrieve a book of history

Now consider how he can convince her and his sons that this is the right thing to do. He has no visual aid, no map, no travel guide, no plan. He only has his faith in God and this is what he must use to comfort and lead his family. 

Scribe

Lehi wrote. (1N1:16) The Lord commanded him to write and keep records of all that he had seen and heard and bear testimony of it. His record known as the plates of Lehi were first given to Joseph Smith and were part of the original small plates of Nephi.  The information on these plates were very similar to accounts given in the other sections of the small plates of Nephi so that when Martin Harris looses these plates of Lehi, the Lord does not have Joseph Smith re-translate them. 

His words were lost to the world.  2430 years after he leaves Jerusalem, the Lord restores them as the Book of Mormon and they act as a second witness to Jeremiah, the prophet of his time. Though we do not have the actual words, Joseph Smith was told that the essence of their teachings were contained in the other books of Nephi. 

 Leader

He understood what would be needed for their trek in the wilderness to the promised land. He was not leaving for fear for his life. He was leaving because the Lord commanded him to so that the Lord might preserve him and his family.  As a leader of a family he knew that they would need more than food and water and shelter to survive. They would need hope of a better tomorrow. This would come from the brass plates that contained the record of the Jews ( or the 1^st five books of the books of Moses  .ie. the Torah).

Leaders are not inherently strong, they receive strength from somewhere. Lehi's strength in leadership came from his deep understanding of scripture. Upon receiving the Brass plates, the first thing he does is to search them. (1 Neph 5:10.) Upon seeing the book in his vision, he reads it and is filled with the spirit of God.  As a leader he understood the power of positive reinforcement and he rehearses to his family the many things the Lord has done. (2N 1:1). He understood the need of physical provisions so he had his family pack seed of every kind. (1 N 8:1) He was humble and did not take credit for that which was God's. His humble submission to God's will gave him problem solving skills, insight, the ability to know the future, and how to comfort those whose faith was not like unto his own. 

Patriarch/Historian

As a patriarch he gave all of his children blessings, much like the tradition of Israel. As a historian and genealogist he recounted his family history to his children often. He understood the need for a people to have and share a common story. The rich culture of the plates of brass gave him a rich heritage from which to teach his children as well as the lineage of his family. I was surprised to realize that Lehi had most likely never read the fullness of the brass plates before. Even though Laban was his cousin, he had kept the plates but had not shared their significance nor their faith value. 

Lehi understood the need for the power of revelation. He understood that revelation begets revelation and that his ability to follow the Lord's guidance through the wilderness would require him to have the power of scripture. His life changed when he took that first step to listen, to learn, to live and to lead others to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We too can be like Lehi. We too can search the scriptures and harvest from them not just the stories but the power of revelation that lives within them. We too can accept the tender mercies of the Lord and receive the protection that comes to them that follow him.(1N1:20) We too can be like Lehi and find our own promises of the Lord. We can find our own promised land of truth and peace and prosperity. We can look for the patterns of the prophets, the peace that exudes from their words and their actions, and we can use the conviction of truth to change what needs to be changed in our own lives. 

Lehi has many notable characteristics. I am sure that others will find many more in the few verses that describe his relationship with God and his family. I am sure that as they do they will discover the power and wonder revelation brings into our lives. What a wonder it is that God loves us enough to call prophets who can see what we cannot. What a blessing it is to behold the Kingdom of God here on earth, to witness in the lives of those who testify. What a wonder God's love is to behold. 

Today I am thankful, like Lehi, for God's merciful love for me. And I too want to share. I want to try to be like the prophets that first inspired Lehi. I want to try to be like Father Lehi.

After These Things (Genesis14- 15:1)

After These Things: Believe, Hope and Endure

Abram refuses Bera's rewards and accepts blessings of Melchizadek

We all have trials. It is not that we have them but rather how we choose to deal with them. Abram chose to believe not in the arm of man but rather in God, to hope not for riches but for the blessings of heaven, and to endure his time of challenge with a strength and fortitude that promised him sacred opportunity, wisdom, perspective and promise.

Ancient Irrigation Techniques 

I have had many trials in my life. I imagine that many of my trials have not been too different from what Abram endured. The scenes and props may change but personal trials tend to be the same. We know from history that his time in history was one of where man attempted to gain control over mother- nature and create a sense of stability in his life.  As man gained a sense of understanding over crops, water and weather, he still had to deal with himself.  Through all of the innovations, inventions and discoveries and after all of this time, I have to wonder how much the true nature of man with relation to one another has changed?    Has the human condition improved? I believe Abram understood that the ability to truly change the human condition began with a faith in a power greater than his own.

Abram’s story of faith began in Genesis 14. As I was reading Genesis 15 my mind caught the words, “after these things.” What things? I went back to Genesis 14 and discovered a few important things that Abram had done. (because the chapter deals mostly with the wars between the 9 kings, it is easy to miss Abram’s important role) These things were prerequisite to his vision where “the word of the Lord came unto him.”

Before I delineate Abram’s role I want to set the stage.

There were 4 kings  that  “made war” with 5 kings. The four kings I will call Team A (for Amraphel king of Shinar).  The 5 kings I will call Team B for Bera king of Sodom

Team A: Shinar, Ellasar, Elam and Nations (Geneses 1)

Team B: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, Zoar (Geneses 2)

Who: Team A make war with Team B in the vale of Siddim near the salt sea.

Why: They had served Chedorlaomer (king of Elam) 12 years, but in the 13^th year they rebel.

What: 14^th year Chedorlaomer  comes with his 3 other kings and plumaged and smote the REphaims, Zuzims, Emims, Horites, the Amalekites, and the Amorites. In other words they were on rampage as a rebellion.

The five kings joined together to stop the slaughter. (Genesis 14:9) They came together at the vale of Siddim where there were slimepits. A slimepit is a plot of earth that is soft and mucky, usually of clay or very moist mud. The point of this reference is to help us understand that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah could not take a stand because the ground would not allow for it. It was a very precarious place to stand a fight against the confederate forces. They fled.

The confederates come and take the spoils of war: all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, all the food, and all the people for slaves.  And a ally of Abram comes to tell him of Lot’s capture.

What did Abram who dwelled in the plain of Mamre the Amorite  do:

• ·      He armed his trained servants (318 of them)
• ·      He pursued Chedorlaomer and his 4 kings to the land of Dan
• ·      He divides himself with his servants and attacks them at night and pursues them to Hobah
• ·      He slaughters Team A (all 4 kings) at the valley of Shaveh (the kings dale)
• ·      He then brings back all of the spoils that had been taken, “all the goods, his brother Lot, the women, and the people.” (Gen 14: 16)
• ·      He receives a blessing from Melchizedek
• ·      He pays his tithes
• ·      He gives credit to his  “most high God”.  (Genesis 14:22-24)
• ·      He meets out his reward with justice and in such a way to give recognizes the true source of his strength and virtue.

In Abram’s time the kingdoms vied for security through power struggle’s and war. Abram chose to follow a different path that allowed him to discover the power that faith in a true and living God brings.  When I considered what he had done and why he had done it, I was moved to understand the true nature of his faith.

Abram rescues Lot

Abram’s only heir was Lot, so that when he heard what had happened to him he took strength to defend him, but in defending his family the Lord gave him opportunity to testify and declare his allegiance to his God.  When Bera, the king of Sodom, wants to glorify Abram and give him the spoils of war, Abram refuses him, “lest thou should say, I have made Abram rich.” 

Abram who had left his father’s land and dwelled in the land of the Amorite, who at this point was childless, who had refused the traditions of his family and had returned to the God of Adam and Enoch and Noah, felt very much alone in the world. But yet he knew from whence his strength and power came.

And it was “After these things”, or after the trial of his faith that the Lord will bless him with a vision for his future.  After these things… after he stood strong for what was right, after he fought with strength born of virtue and faith, after he defeats all of the rebels using the tactics of division and nighttime warfare, after he uses the power of the Holy Ghost to help him outsmart the rebels in the valley of Shaveh, and after he refuses his “victors glory” and chooses to humbly give credit to the Lord, he is able to sit and contemplate just exactly what his faith has brought him.

While he is resting from his conquest and considering what he has in life, he is given a vision that brings him hope and a promise. 

The Gates of Heaven (Helaman 3:22-37)

Helaman 3: 22-37

The Gates of Heaven

Our family gathered together tonight and knelt in prayer. Together we asked God to be with our newly wed daughter as she and her husband traveled across the country. We thanked God for all of our prosperity and blessings and for helping us find our way in our difficulties. We asked God to bless our Texas daughter and her family that they might find peace and happiness. as well as our daughter and son who reside in Utah. We asked God to be with those members of our clan who have not been feeling well. When we were finished I felt like we had a bit of heaven on earth. I felt that maybe we had touched the Gates of Heaven.

Heaven, with all of its individualistic interpretations manages to bring a consistent connotation of all that is good. For those who seek riches, heaven might mean prosperity. For those who seek to know the heart of God, heaven might carry a more humble interpretation of what it means to obtain sanctification. When we choose to seek heaven, we learn that the pathway to heaven's gates includes the following of certain rules, which then leads to the reaping of heaven's rewards.

Helaman taught the people to love God, to keep his commandments, and to look to heavenly standards. He taught them to love all that was good and practice peace through obedience. My guess is that after the years of secret combinations with the Gadianton Robbers who plundered, murdered and destroyed their government, the people were ready for a better way.

So ready were they that those who followed Helaman began to live the laws of heaven in their fullest. As a result they began to prosper. Then the church began to prosper and all who lived by God's standards began to prosper. This prosperity drew in those who wanted to share in the peace that prosperity brings. Many were converted. Many began to practice what Helaman taught, and as they practiced these laws of heaven, they reaped all that the "gates of heaven" would offer. The church grew.

The church is here to help us understand heaven. It is both a physical body of members and a doctrine of God. When we learn to love God more than the blessings that he gives us, we learn to truly understand what it means to be sanctified. There were many who sought the blessings that came from the "gates of heaven"but when they received their prosperity, they forgot why they were baptized unto repentance and began to persecute those that were not as fortunate.

Our family is not perfect at remembering our prayers. We try to remember to say them together nightly, but sometimes we forget. On the nights we remember, I can tell the difference by the way we treat one another. We strive to help one another, we practice greater patience and tolerance. We give to one another. We complement one another. We begin to see the gates of heaven and we enjoy the peace that these beautiful gates bring.

Words and Phrases

vs. 23 continual peace - What a blessing it would be to have continual peace. To have a family where we could continually enjoy the emotional prosperity that looking to God brings.

I believe we can obtain this peace. I believe that if we all (like Helaman's people) choose to remember the times when the Gadianton robbers ruled the land and choose to live the "lesson of opposites", we too can find continual peace.
vs24 exceedingly great prosperity in the church - Initially I read this as financial prosperity, but when you look at the phrase "in the church" you realize that it refers to the prosperity of the church as an organization to help and teach others. Many were convinced of the worth of God's truth on earth and chose to live their lives so that they could touch "the gates of heaven."

vs 25 so many the blessings- I think sometimes we believe that blessings from God are reserved solely for the saints. God loves all of his children so that he will pour his blessings of understanding, of spiritual awareness, of gifts of the spirit, etc. upon anyone who will accept him as their Lord and practice His laws of heaven.

26 the work of the Lord did prosper - God's work is not man's work. God's work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. God's work is to teach us of his love, how to use his love, and how to share his love with others. When we learn to understand that we need only to "call upon his holy name", we hold in our hearts the key to the "gates of heaven."
vs 28 gate of heaven is open unto all- we need only call on his name. God will not discriminate by race, birthright, or status. He loves all of his children.
29 word of God - The word of God will

1. divide the snares of Satan

2. lead us on a straight path

3. lead us across the gulf of misery

4. will land our immortal souls at the right hand of God (along with the prophets of old)
5. lead to rejoicing, peace prosperity, and great joy

vs 33 not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God I believe this is an important distinction between the "church of God" (teachings and doctrine) and the people (the members). I have always been taught to distinguish between what is taught and what is practiced. Members are imperfect. The gospel of the church of God leads us to a pathway of perfection.
vs 34 the more humble part- Without pride there is no need to distinguish between the humble and the prideful. Isn't is strange that you never hear a description of the humble causing problems? Prideful hearts causes hurtful comments that leads to persecution.
vs 34 - wade through much affliction- I would like to know what kind of affliction the more humble had to wade through. Were they not allowed at social functions, or at places of worship? Did they get excluded?

Wax stronger in their humility - Here's how we know they are humble before God. Instead of boasting of their strength or reveling in their accomplishments or possessions, they choose to

1. pray often

2. fast often

3. console one another

4. purify their hearts

5. sanctify their hearts

6. fill their hearts with joy

How did they do this? They yielded their hearts to God. to his service, to his work, to his word.

vs 37 exceedingly great pride - I find it interesting that these words are used in much the same context as exceedingly great prosperity. It seems to connote a parallel movement. When we have great prosperity, can we expect to find great pride?

The gates of heaven are found by those who practice humility before God. Many of us believe that the gates are of fine material (I'm not saying they are not). I am saying that the worshipping of what the gates of heaven are made does not give us the key to the gates. The key to heaven's gate lies within the heart that will pray fervently, fast, console, seek joy, purify and sanctify itself so that it may be able to carry the key that unlocks not only the prosperity that heaven promises, but rather the meekness that it requires.