"And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath 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."
Here we come to an end of what is recorded about Lehi's experience with his ascent to the throne of God.
We are told that there are many things which Lehi saw in dreams and visions as well as many things which Lehi prophesied to his children that are not included in this record.
Although we do not have a complete account of all that Lehi received from God what is here constitutes a tremendous explosion of light for us, the readers of this record.
The content of this event in Lehi's life is compressed into a very short narrative so that we do not get a view of all of the detailed events that led to this culminating experience.
How did Lehi come to the point that he could receive all of this?
Why is this tremendous event placed at the very front of the Book of Mormon in such a compressed way?
The Prophet Joseph taught the following.
"We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of the same." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 51)
We can clearly see that Lehi has arrived, "...at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him."
What we are not privy to in this account is everything that details how Lehi's views became clearer, what greater enjoyments he had, how he had overcome the evils of his life and lost his desire for sin, how he was instructed in the government and laws of God's kingdom (family) by proper degrees in order for his mind to be capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of what he saw.
There is a tremendous amount that is left out here.
As a group we are interested in wording in the scriptures.
We believe what the title page of the Book of Mormon, the Three Witnesses and Nephi spoke concerning the Book of Mormon.
"...Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation - Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed - To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof...The interpretation thereof by the gift of God." (Book of Mormon title page)
"And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us;..." (The Testimony of Three Witnesses)
"...and the man that is not learned shall say; I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: the learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee." (2 Nephi 27:19 - 20)
The Book of Mormon was translated and the interpretation of the translation of it was given by God.
God translated the Book of Mormon.
He did His own work.
He gave Joseph the words that were to be written.
That means that words in the Book of Mormon really matter. They are the interpretation that God Himself deemed prudent for us to have from the words inscribed on the plates.
As we read the following verse we can see that how God worded it is important.
"And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of teaching my brethren, our father, Lehi, also spake many things unto them, and rehearsed unto them, how great things the Lord had done for them in bringing them out of the land of Jerusalem." (2 Nephi 1:1)
"How great things" not "what great things"
We believe that the Lord is interested in us studying "how great things" not simply "what great things".
If the Lord is no respecter of persons, which we believe, then as He presents something (an event) to us in scripture it will necessarily be paired with a "how to" in order for us to accomplish the same results. (How he accomplished the great things so to speak)
We do not believe that we can be saved by simply reading about and being familiar with the events that happened to other people.
We believe that we must duplicate those events in our own lives.
As such, those events described become anecdotal witnesses for us that if we follow the same path as those giving the witness we can arrive at the same station that they have arrived to.
That is why it is important in our opinion to know why Lehi's transcendant experience is placed at the very first of the Book of Mormon in a compressed manner not describing the "how to" or "how great things."
Wouldn't it be better to start from the beginning and move along until the grand moment?
We believe that God has a higher way of teaching.
When the angel appeared to the Prophet Joseph in his bedroom on the night of the 21st of September 1823 to instruct him about the plates and where to find them, the angel only briefly described the plates and then immediately started to explain the end goal.
"After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the forth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming. In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that the prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when "they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people," but soon would come. He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated that the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered manyexplanations which cannot be mentioned here."
By teaching Joseph the end results of the work that the Lord was bringing forth Joseph's mind was oriented to understand how the translation of the Book of Mormon fit in to fulfill God's purposes. Being taught the end created a foundation for understanding what the Lord was doing.
Another example:
"I was at home lying in my bed when the Lord spoke to me, calling me by name, when it ended I was commanded to write an account. As I wrote, the words were given to me, and I recorded the following: On the 13th of February 2003 I saw the Lord coming in His glory. At first a sign appeared in the heavens; a light emanating from a single point, and turning first this way and that, All the world saw it. And men debated over its meaning. At length the light turned upon us, and within it was the Lord, showing His glory, with concourses of angels and the hosts of heaven following in His wake. And when we saw that it was the Lord, we rejoiced and were filled with joy. I turned to my wife and said, "Look, it is Christ!" and she said, "Yes it is!" And we were filled with joy and peace of mind, for the long awaited day of the Lord had come. But others were filled with dread. They feared and lamented and wanted the mountains to cover them and hide them from His presence, For He was clothed in red and came in judgment. And Christian ministers knew they had taught falsely nad that their faith could not save - and they begged for relief from the Saints. This caused me to marvel at how this could be. It was given unto me to understand that without the ordinances of salvation through the authorized ministers of the gospel, it was not possible for men to shed their sins. And they could not look upon a just and Holy Being without being racked with torment and guilt for their sins. And they pled with the Saints to minister to them, but we could not, For we were constrained by the Spirit, and were forbidden to do so. For this was the day of judgment which the Lord had in His heart, and He was now come to preach His own sermon, clothed in red, and to deliver those who waited on Him and to convict and condemn those who had not. I write this in my own hand, and bear solemn testimony that is is true, Amen. When I had finished recording the foregoing account I replied to the Lord that it was not complete and that I could give a much fuller account. The Lord replied, "When the time comes to bear testimony of this, these are the words you shall use." And many other things were told me that cannot be written...The Lord does everything according to His higher way of teaching. By beginning with a vision of His return, He set out the foundation for understanding His course, which is on eternal round." (The Doctrine of Christ, Denver Snuffer, Doctrine of Christ Conference, Boise Idaho, 11/Sept./2016, pgs. 3 - 5)
Does the Lord show the end product so that those who are on His path have a foundation for understanding the learning along the way?
We believe that is why Lehi's experience, a brilliant burst of light, is placed by God at the first of the Book of Mormon.
Everything that follows in the Book of Mormon will describe the "how to" (how great things) that are associated with anyone coming along the path to the same station as Lehi; following the same teaching pattern above. They will reinforce what Lehi received.
The Lord is showing the end in order to provide a proper foundation for understanding the Book of Mormon; what its teachings lead to.
Does Lehi's experience orient our minds to see how Nephi's narrative and the other revelations and prophecies in the Book of mormon can teach us how to make our own views clearer, give us greater enjoyments, overcome the evils of our lives and help us lose every desire for sin, instruct us in the government and laws of God's kingdom by proper degrees so that our minds are capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of the sames so that we too can arrive at that point of faith where we are wrapped in the power and glory of our Maker and are caught up to dwell with Him?
We believe so.
What an incredible book.
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