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.

Motives For Obedience 1 Nephi 2

I believe that Chapter 2 of 1^st Nephi is a pivotal chapter in understanding the rest of the Book of Mormon. For me, it is actually more like the “preface” of everything else that will follow.

The first thing that I noticed about Chapter 2 is that it is a great illustration of the principle of obedience. It primarily shows the different levels of obedience, or motivating factors there are to prompt one to be obedient. Each of the family members shows a different level of obedience.

Why did Lehi obey the Lord?

Look for the reason Lehi left Jerusalem:

1 Nephi 2:1 For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy life.

2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.

3 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him.

Perhaps it may seem like he left to preserve his life, but in actuality we are told that he left because he was “obedient unto the word of the Lord.” In this case, the blessing for being obedient was the preservation of his life, literally and figuratively.

Taking only his family and the provisions needed to sustain their lives, (which is another lesson in itself) Lehi left his home behind and ventured out into the “wilderness.” It is interesting to note that after traveling three days, the required time from an authorized sanctuary before one could offer sacrifices, his first acts were to “pitch his tent” and “build an altar of stones.”

(Another interesting side note here might be to notice that the tabernacle was also considered the “tent” of the congregation. I always think of this when I read “and my father dwelt in a tent” from the account of Nephi. In any case, it is evident that Lehi was a very righteous man who knew the importance of sacrificial offerings.)

Lehi was showing his obedience to a command to offer sacrifices to the Lord, but look for the reason we are told he offers them:

1 Nephi 2:7 And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.

When we are grateful our thoughts are turned to the giver of our gifts. I believe that Lehi’s obedience was motivated by his great gratitude and love for his Savior. This level of obedience is the greatest level one can attain.

In my mind, I can picture this event as a “Sacrament Meeting” of sorts, wherein after the Sacramental offering was given, Lehi, the Priesthood leader, gave a talk.

Look for the subject of his talk:

1 Nephi 2:9 And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!

10 And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!

His focus on obedience, admonishing them to not only be “steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandment” but also “continually running into the fountain of all righteousness” required commitment on the part of the hearers. It taught them through their visual surroundings the example of the principle of obedience. (I love how the Savior used His surroundings to teach his followers too!)

After this great sermon, we are shown two other examples of levels of obedience by the course of Laman and Lemuel, and that of Nephi.

With further reading we learn some interesting things about the character of Laman and Lemuel:

1 Nephi 2:11 Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.

12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.

13 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.

Although these two are described as being stiffnecked, murmuring, valuing temporal things, unbelieving, not believing the prophets, prideful like the Jews who were at Jerusalem, and knowing not the dealings of God, nevertheless, we are also told that they were obedient.

Look for the REASON that they obeyed:

1 Nephi 2:14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.

Contrary to the obedience that Lehi showed out of love, these two obeyed out of fear. I love the word that Nephi uses when he describes that they did “shake” before their father, it allows me to totally see their fear and confusion.

Elder Oaks illustrated the concept of motivation levels which lead to action in a talk he gave called, “Why Do We Serve.” Although he uses service as the principle, I believe we can substitute the word obey in the same spot.

He stated, "People serve one another (are obedient) for different reasons, and some reasons are better than others. Perhaps none of us serves (is obedient) in every capacity all the time for only a single reason. Since we are imperfect beings, most of us probably serve (show obedience) for a combination of reasons, and the combinations may be different from time to time as we grow spiritually. But we should all strive to serve (be obedient) for the reasons that are highest and best.”

Nephi had a desire to be obedient like his father.

My next post will discuss the process that Nephi followed because he chose to become like his father.

What motivates us to obey certain commandments? By recognizing what is motivating us, can we then, if necessary, elevate our level of obedience to the Lord? By learning to love the Lord more fully, can we become more obedient to His commands?

Since obedience and sacrifice were the first laws given to Adam and Eve, isn’t it interesting they are some of the first principles taught in the Book of Mormon as well?

So much to think about... and it is just chapter 2!

Lehi and Ezekiel 1 Nephi 1

An interesting discovery can be seen in studying the similarity of visions that Lehi and Ezekiel both received from the Lord. It may also be interesting to note that these visions were received during relatively the same period of time.

Look for the similarities in the following comparisons:

Both record seeing the throne of God.

1 Nephi 1:8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, 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.

Ezekiel 1:24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.

25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.

26 ¶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

Not only do both see God sitting upon His throne, but they also see angels singing and praising surrounding that throne.

Both Ezekiel and Lehi are given something to look at, look for what it is:

1 Nephi 1:9 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 of the sun at noon-day.

10 And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament.

11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.

12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

Ezekiel 1: 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Ezekiel 2:1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.

2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.

8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

9 ¶ And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

Both receive instruction from the Son and are given a book to read.

Look what is contained in both of the books:

1 Nephi 1:13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and 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.

Ezekiel 2:10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Upon receiving this vision, both begin their prophetic role in warning the people.

1 Nephi 1:18 Therefore, I would that ye should know, that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father, Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard.

19 And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world.

Ezekiel 2:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.

4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.

5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

In both the accounts of Nephi and Ezekiel we learn that the Lord will deliver, in power, those whom He has chosen:

1 Nephi 1:20 And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

Ezekiel 1:6 ¶ And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Ezekiel and Lehi were two different prophets, given the same instructions, in the same way, at the same time. The people were slow to listen.

Are we listening?

Pillar of Fire 1 Nephi 1

I believe that by studying the different scriptural accounts that we have been given of the different prophets of all ages we can discover a pattern of receiving direction from the Lord.

In 1 Nephi, chapter 1, an account is given of an experience Lehi had that is similar to the first vision account given by Joseph Smith.

Nephi 1:5 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.

6 And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly.

7 And it came to pass that 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.

Although Lehi summarizes his experience by saying he “saw and heard much”, the wording he uses to describe his experience is similar to that of Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith History 1:14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

Like Lehi, Joseph describes the fatigue he felt after the experience by stating, “When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home.”

At about the same time that Lehi had his vision, the prophet Ezekiel had a similar experience with the Lord. Instead of using the terminology of “pillar of fire” to describe what he saws, he explained the phenomenon as “the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.” I believe that this is simply another description of a “pillar” like light formation.

Moses describes his experience with the description of a “burning bush” and states that the experience left him weak by stating that it was “the space of many hours before he received his natural strength” again.

In all these experiences the person who received the gift of the Lord by vision were forever changed. Anyone who receives the greater light is forever changed.

Do we seek for that great change?

Journey of Faith DVD

Understanding the history of Jerusalem is important for us today because we can liken it to our own circumstances. I highly recommend the DVD called Journey of Faith which talks about the scholarly view of the exodus made by Lehi and his family from Jerusalem.



Here is a great preview of the movie:




There is also a follow up DVD called Journey of Faith: The New World which is worth seeing too.



I think that the information contained in these DVD’s can help the viewer become familiar with the land area, customs, and traditions, and many other conditions that influenced the writers of the Book of Mormon, especially Lehi and Nephi.

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Lehi 1 Nephi 1

How grateful I am for the record we are given in the Old Testament of the dealings of the Lord regarding the Children of Israel. Perhaps for the first time ever, in all my studies of the Book of Mormon, I finally believe I have come to more fully understand the historical background and current issues that the Prophet Lehi and his family faced by living when they did in Jerusalem. This understanding comes, in part, because of the accounts given by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. These men, contemporaries of Lehi, were prophets of the Lord who delivered messages of repentance to a wicked and prideful people. These people, the covenant or chosen people of the Lord, had received authority to administer in the ordinances of the Temple, but had lost the “power” through disobedience, wickedness and the worship of false Gods or abominations. They had come to rely more upon the arm of flesh, than upon the Lord himself. (Again, my attention is called to Elder Boyd K Packer and his voice of warning given in conference.)

Isaiah had prophesied many years before the time of Lehi, to an unrepentant Northern Kingdom of their impending doom, or scattering, which became a reality because they were unwilling to listen to his voice. The Assyrians were the means the Lord used to accomplish this work of scattering, as He allowed them to conquer the Northern Kingdom and utterly destroy its leadership. In Lehi’s lifetime the prophet Jeremiah resounded with a similar message given to the prideful Southern Kingdom. These Children of Israel would soon follow the same path as the Northern Kingdom when the Lord uses the Babylonians to scatter His covenant people because of their disobedience to his commands.

The Babylonian “take over” of Israel came in waves. First, they quietly removed those who had wealth, education, or political power from the area and took them to either the city, or king’s court in Babylon, as was the case with Daniel, or to the outlying areas which were similar to refugee camps, which was the case with Ezekiel. Next they replaced the rightful King of Judah, who they took captive to Babylon, with a “puppet king”, one they could control, by the name of Zedekiah. It was during the first year of Zedekiah’s reign that Lehi received his call to cry repentance to the people of Jerusalem. At the same time the prophet Jeremiah was also preaching to the people in Jerusalem. Thus, we have four different prophetic accounts of the Lord’s message to His people who lived simultaneously.

It is interesting to note that the Lord instructed three of the prophets, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah to convey His will to them, that they needed to physically surrender to Babylon but return to the Lord spiritually so that He could some day allow them to return to their land of promise. (This would be facilitated by His use of the Persian Empire, and King Cyrus who eventually conquered Babylon and, as Isaiah prophesied years earlier, allowed the Children of Israel to return and reconstruct their beleaguered Temple.) Lehi conversely was given the message to take his family and flee into the wilderness.

This is the situation that was present at the time of the record of 1 Nephi, as he informs us:

1:4 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.

Having entered into a Covenant with the Lord, the Children of Israel could not believe that their “great city” could be destroyed. They must have been confused by the message given, after all, they had a Temple in their midst, certainly the Lord would offer protection and guidance to those He loved? This attitude is evidenced by the account of the actions of Laman and Lemuel. Their focus on the authority, or gift of the covenant, allowed them to forget the true source from which the actual blessings come, the “power” of His word. I believe that the Book of Mormon is a definitive work, or instruction manual, on HOW to tap into that power. This is the same power that President Packer warned us about, which is ultimately the only way to be saved from destruction.

As I study, I love to look for principles and patterns that show HOW to gain that power in my life. That will be my focus in studying the Book of Mormon this time around.

What will be yours?