The Scattering of Nephi's People- 1 Nephi 12

When the vision Lehi had was also revealed to Nephi, by his own request from the Lord, he was shown everything from the “beginning to the end” and specifically what his part in this grand scheme was to be, or what he was elected to do.  In other words, he was shown that “his calling and election” was to “keep the record”.  This is very important for us to understand so that we can also see that this “calling” was faithfully fulfilled, making his calling and election sure.  

The vision itself was recorded over the course of four chapters beginning with Chapter 11 in the first book of Nephi.  In Chapter 11 we are shown the “Condescension of God” by viewing the life of the Savior, Jesus Christ.  We are taught of His ministry among the inhabitants of the “Old World” or Israel, and how they would reject Him, and by so doing, become a lost and scattered people.   I can only imagine the pain that this vision would cause Nephi, as he saw the future destruction of his ancestors, brought about because of their pride and worldly aspirations, as they fought against the Lamb and His twelve apostles.  I believe it was necessary to show Nephi the dismal state that they would be in so that he would recognize the importance of the work he was given to do, to make sure the record  he was called to keep actually would be kept. 

In chapter 12 Nephi is shown further destruction, only this time it was concerning his direct line, or “seed”, which would inhabit the “land of promise”, or the America’s.  His vision includes the rapid rise of his people, in both number and greatness, as well as the growth of the “seed of his brethren” too.  He sees conflict and contention between the two groups in the form of wars and great “slaughters with the sword”, culminating in a great “mist of darkness” with natural disasters occurring in the land.  This view, however, was only a precursor to the event that was most central for his posterity, that of the coming of the resurrected Christ to the America’s. 

Nephi is also given a view of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ during the time of the Savior’s visit to his posterity, and the calling of the twelve disciples who would lead that Church. Subtly, we are also reminded by the angels words the order of Christ’s kingdom and of the fact that Nephi is part of the remnant of the house of Israel.

1 Nephi 12:9And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel.

This reminder is ever present in the pages of The Book of Mormon so that we will be aware of the promises given to “the remnant” and the mission they will fulfill.  

Also contained in the verses of Chapter 12 are the definitions of some of the symbols that Lehi told his family about concerning the vision he saw. 

Mist of darkness:

1 Nephi 12:17And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost. 

Fountain of filthy water, or river of filthy water:

1 Nephi 12:16And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.

Large and spacious building:

1 Nephi 12:18And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

Finally Nephi sees the years following the appearance of the Savior, starting with four generations of love and peace, and the unfortunate evolutionary process of their downfall, resulting in a “dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people.”

In both Chapter 11, where Nephi sees his ancestry scattered, and Chapter 12, where he sees his posterity scattered as well, he is given a view of the awful state of his people and their need to be “gathered” and taught correct principles.   

Again, I believe it was important for him to be shown this dismal predicament, for him to understand the great importance of his calling he will be given to “keep the record”. His record would ultimately “show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations—“(as found in the title page of The Book of Mormon itself).

The Book of Mormon will be the great gathering tool needed to fulfill the promise of God to Adam.  It is part of the great plan of happiness, and Nephi has a very important role to play in that plan.

The Condescension of God- 1 Nephi 11

When Nephi asked the Lord to “behold the things which his father saw” he was given a panoramic view of the condescension of God.   

This is what he saw:

1. A virgin.
2. The Virgin carried away in the Spirit.
3. The Virgin bearing a child in her arms.
4. An Angel testifying that the child is the Son of the Eternal Father.
5. The Son of God going forth among the people, and many worshiping Him.
6. The Prophet who should prepare the way for the Redeemer of the World.
7. The Lamb of God baptized by that prophet.
8. The Heavens open after His baptism; the Holy Ghost come out of heaven and abide on Him in the form of a dove.
9. The Lamb of God going forth ministering to the people in power and great glory.
10. This group of people casting Him out from among them.
11. Twelve others start to follow Him.
12. The Heavens open once again and angels descend upon the people and minister unto them.
13. The Lamb of God healing the sick and casting out unclean spirits.
14. The Lamb of God being taken by the people and judged of the world.
15. He was then lifted up upon the cross, and slain for the sins of the world.
16. After his death, multitudes of the earth fighting against the apostles of the Lamb.
17. The house of Israel gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
18. Destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

All of the above information was important for Nephi to be shown because it had not happened yet.  He was viewing it in the perspective of a future event that would take place; a future event that would be central to the salvation of not only his posterity but the whole human family. It was information given to help his people understand who Jesus Christ is and how he would Atone for the world.  It provided a way for his posterity to recognize Him when he did come the first time.

For us, the perspective is different.  We look backward to the events that took place in the past.  We see this information as a fulfillment of divine prophecy.  We view it as another testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and his life and ministry.  It is given for us to recognize that He did come and Atone for us.

Both perspectives are given to enhance our faith.  Nephi had faith that it would happen, and we have faith that it did happen.  That faith, when nourished, moves us to action.  It gives us the power to apply whatever necessary means in our life to press forward with hope of an Eternal place with our Father.  It sustains us through trials, and motivates us to change when change is needed.  It allows us to repent and come closer to our Father, thorough the merits of Jesus Christ, and our own efforts.  

I am grateful for the perspective that Nephi shared with me, the latter-day reader of his record.  I love him for the faith he had, and that he expressed continually.  But most of all, I love Nephi because he knew how important his record would be for me. 

He knows this because he was shown it in this vision….as it continues....

The Baptism of Jesus- 1 Nephi 11

I picture the vision the Lord showed to Nephi as literally a Technicolor view of the importance of the Atonement, and the central part it plays in the salvation of literally all mankind, and how we must apply it in our lives.  

First Nephi was shown how Christ came to earth, as the Son of the Eternal Father, through the process of the virgin birth.  (Sidebar: It is interesting to note that the term “virgin” was also a term used to describe the wife of a prophet.) The birth however is just the beginning of what Nephi is shown regarding Christ.  The vision continues to reveal the life that the Savior would lead in an effort to help him, and us, better understand the role Christ played in the redemption of the world.

The next event in the life of Christ that Nephi is taught about through this glorious vision was the important step Christ would take to show us the way to gain entrance into the kingdom of His Father.  This step was that of baptism, and most importantly the correct process of entering into a covenant  with the Father by way of baptism.   He was shown that Christ was baptized by immersion, by one who had authority to do so.  He was also shown that the baptism was incomplete without the ratifying effect of the Holy Ghost. 

Both Lehi and Nephi were very specific in recording that the baptism of Christ was an event which was testified of by many of the prophets of old, and that one having authority would perform the task,  for me, Isaiah is one that comes to mind.  Isaiah recorded the exact wording used by John the Baptist as he preached about the coming of the Savior.

Isaiah 40: 3¶The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

I also find it interesting that Lehi was very specific in noticing that the prophet John would be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy because of the exactness in the wording he used.

1 Nephi 10: 7 And he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord—

 8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing.

In the record of John in the New Testament this exact scene is played out one more time as the priests and Levites pressed John to know who he actually was.

John1: 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

 24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

The Joseph Smith Translation of this verse even adds more clarity to John’s words.

John 1: 27 John answered them, saying; I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

 28 He it is of whom I bear record. He is that prophet, even Elias, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, or whose place I am not able to fill; for he shall baptize, not only with water, but with fire, and with the Holy Ghost.

 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and said; Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world!

 30 And John bare record of him unto the people, saying, This is he of whom I said; After me cometh a man who is preferred before me; for he was before me, and I knew him, and that he should be made manifest to Israel; therefore am I come baptizing with water.

Finally Nephi bears record of this event in his own words.

1 Nephi 11: 26 And the angel said unto me again: Look and behold the condescension of God!

 27 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove.

What a great blessing it is that we are given these testimonies of the baptism of Jesus Christ. We are taught the manner in which we should be baptized, after the example set by our Savior, including the need of the proper authority required to administer the ordinance.  In a time when the ordinance of baptism is under question in every way, these visions shared with us from Nephi  and Lehi solidify the process so clearly, and fulfills the law of witnesses in testifying of the necessity of it.

Later Mormon will add his testimony as well.

Mormon 7:10 And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.

Christ condescended to be baptized because of obedience to the commands of His Father, how on earth is it possible that we can progress without doing the same?

Fountain of Living Water- 1 Nephi 11

We must continue on with the “tree of life” vision that Nephi saw because there is a lot more symbolism that needs to be addressed.  

If we were to jump ahead in our reading of the Book of Mormon we would see many times where Nephi teaches principles that he learned because of this vision he was shown.   A significant detail is revealed about Jesus Christ in 2 Nephi 25, as Nephi gives commentary on the words of Isaiah from the previous Isaiah chapters contained in that book. I believe he learned this particular detail from what he was shown in this earlier vision.

Look for what Nephi specifically draws our attention to about Christ in the following verse:

2 Nephi 25:12 But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of the Father, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks.

An important thing Nephi specifically wants us to know is that Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father.   I repeat, Christ was begotten of The Father. The definition for the word begat, or begotten, is typically that of bringing a child into existence by the process of reproduction; to procreate as the father or sire.  I believe it is literally that. 

In a talk given by President Ezra Taft Benson titled “Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ”, the same idea is discussed. 

President Benson states:

There are those who would seek to convince you that the divine birth of Christ as proclaimed in the New Testament was not a divine birth at all—nor was Mary, the Virgin girl, a virgin at the time of Jesus’ conception. They would have you believe that Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, was His physical father, and that Jesus was, therefore, human in all His attributes and characteristics. They appear generous in their praise of Him when they say that He was a great moral philosopher, perhaps even the greatest. But the intent of their effort is to repudiate the divine sonship of Jesus; for on that doctrine rest all other claims of Christianity.

I am bold to say to you young people tonight: Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. He was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the Son of the Eternal Father!

It seems very clear to me… but how did Nephi know?  Again, just as Nephi knew the symbolism of the divine feminine was the tree, I believe he also understood the symbolism for “living water”.  

There is something very particular about Nephi’s vision that was lacking in the retelling of Lehi’s vision. In Lehi’s vision we are told that Nephi remembered his father speaking of a fountain of water that flowed into a river.  This fountain was located in the opposite direction of the tree. What either Lehi or Nephi neglected to mention is that this fountain and river were filthy, and that there was another fountain in the vision too.

Look for where the other fountain is.

1 Nephi 11:25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.

It is interesting to notice that the water, specifically the fountain or head of the waters, and the tree are in the same place, or are referred to as one thing.  Both become a representation of “the love of God”.   The fountain of living waters and the tree together produce the fruit, which is desirable above all other fruit.  

According to specific Kabbalistic traditions and early oral traditional rabbinical teachings, the “living waters”, and light for that matter, can be equated with “male sexual energy, specifically as semen”.  It is a life force that flows among and animates the world.  (Source: A Guide to the Zohar by Arthur Green) I believe Nephi would have understood very clearly what “living waters” would have represented. 

Conversely, let us consider the other water referred to in the vision, that of the fountain of filthy water.  It did not have a tree connected with it.  It produced nothing.  It became a representation of the depths of hell, or damnation.

1 Nephi 12:16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.

The location of this fountain of filthy water is in the polar opposite direction of the fountain of living waters, and the tree. It has no life giving energy to it at all; in fact it took life as “many were drowned in the depths of the fountain”.

When we look at the symbolism of what living water represents it is no wonder that, according to Jewish tradition, the “font” was a feminine entity, or a receptacle for the living waters.  Guess what…. the tabernacle, or temple itself was also considered a feminine entity.

There is simply so much to ponder…