LEAVING THE WORLD BEHIND

 

Besides being a God-fearing man, Lehi was a very successful merchant. In other words, Lehi was rich (1 Nephi 2:4). And with riches comes worldly security. There was one problem though. Lehi and his family lived on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a city whose wickedness was so great that God did not send only one prophet to call its' inhabitants to repentance but as many as nine. Lehi was one of those prophets. None of it helped though and Jerusalem was destined for destruction and captivity hence God’s command to Lehi to flee with his family (1 Nephi 2:2). So Lehi obeyed and found himself in the desert, living in a tent.

 

In the first book of his record, Nephi mentions four different times that his father lived in a tent (1 Nephi 2:15, 1 Nephi 9:1, 1 Nephi 10:16, 1 Nephi 16:6). Living and trading so close to the desert means the family would have been accustomed to bedouin's way of life which was tent dwelling. One cannot read this story, however, without reflecting on Lehi's desertion of all his acquired worldly possessions and security of a permanent home to live in a tent. What's impressive is that he only once during his 8 years of travelling in the wilderness murmured against God because of Nephi's broken bow and lack of food for two families he was responsible for (1 Nephi 16:20). This is very impressive considering that he swapped the easy life for hardships that awaited him colonising a new land he knew nothing of. But Lehi had one advantage….he knew God.

Lehi’s detachment from worldly goods stands in stark contrast to his eldest sons, Laman and Lemuel, who murmured exactly for this reason. Their objection to leaving Jerusalem meant leaving their ‘gold, and their silver, and their precious things’ (1 Nephi 2:11). What made the difference in their willingness to follow where the Lord led? Nephi states clearly that it was because his brothers didn’t know God and His dealings with His children (v12). In other words, because they didn’t know Him, their faith was missing. It brings to mind Joseph Smith stating in Lecture 2 of Lectures on Faith, that three things are necessary in order for a person to exercise faith in God unto life and salvation: 1. The idea that God exists; 2. That He is perfect in His character and attributes; 3. An actual knowledge that the course of life which is he is pursuing is according to His will. Note the third….how much easier would it have been for Laman and Lemuel if they had the first two under their belt?

Coming to know God takes work. This is why we are told that faith without works is dead. The scriptures are the greatest source of God’s dealings with His children. Another source is recognizing and acknowledging His hand in your life. Whenever I am faced with a need to exercise faith in Him, I look back over my life and see the great acts of mercy and goodness toward me and I know all will be well. My frame of reference bolsters my faith. The most interesting thing is this…..I have had a really hard life. It wasn’t until just recently that I came to appreciate this hardship realising that it has given me exactly what I wanted – my closeness to the God of my heart. Had my life been easy sailing, I am not sure that it would have brought me to this place. This is the greatest lesson Laman and Lemuel missed.

It matters not what kind of life we have as long as it brings us to the foot of His throne. Lehi understood this. His faith in the God of Israel was undaunting. This is why he was able to leave everything behind and stand on the banks of the Red Sea, with no ship in sight, stating with conviction and confidence: "I have obtained a land of promise" (1 Nephi 5:5).

 

I lift, I lift,

Above the world below.

I reach and find Your hand

To guide me where I am meant to go.

You are my guiding light,

You are my all,

You are my inner compass

That will bring me home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Lehi Studying Plates by Joseph Franklin Brickey)