WITH LEHI IN THE DESERT

 

 

I was reading the prophecies of Joseph of Egypt regarding the Lord's promise to him that He would raise up a righteous branch of the House of Israel through his children and I came across these words which impressed me the most: "...and I go down to my grave with joy" (JST Genesis 50:24). As we know Joseph had a terribly hard life. In his own words:  "My brethren hated me...they wanted to kill me.....into a cistern they lowered me....they sold me into slavery.....I was taken into captivity....I was overtaken by hunger....I was alone....I was in weakness...I was in prison.....I was in bonds....assaulted by bitter words of the Egyptians...a slave" (The Old Testament Pseudepigraha, p 819) This is not to mention being cut off from his family whilst in his youth and suffering isolation and spiritual peril in a heathen land. Upon reflection I thought that Joseph was most likely happy to go to his grave to rest from all the challenges and labour he performed in his life time but then a thought struck me that only a man who had lived a good and righteous life and was at peace with God could afford to say such a thing. And this is definitely true of Joseph for he also wrote: "....the Lord loved me....the God of my fathers preserved me...the Most High raised me up....the Lord of all set me free....the strength of His hand came to my aid....the Lord himself fed me generously....God came to help me.....the Lord showed His concern for me...the Saviour acted graciously in my behalf......He rescued me and He exalted me." (The OT Pseudepigraha, p 819)

The scriptures highlight one very important thing through people that have gone on before us....we do not come here to a bed of roses, but more often than not, to a bed of thorns. Even the most noble do not escape. Consider the story of Lehi. He did everything he was commanded of the Lord to do. For that he was forced to flee into a desert "so compelling that even the hardened Bedouins avoid like the plague...detestable certainly describes the place in the eyes of Lehi's people, who 'murmured' bitterly at being led into such a hell." (Hugh Nibley, Lehi In the Desert, p 51). It is in this 'wilderness' of his life that Lehi watched his family suffer constant hunger, being the rule of the desert; danger from encounter with ever warring Arab tribes; loneliness from isolation; taxing marches down the Arabian Peninsula;  fear from possible camp raiders; and constant recurring rebellion of his children. And this was Lehi's life and the life of his family for 8 years. Add on top of this, crossing the Indian Ocean and starting from ground zero in a foreign land.  And what did Lehi say about it all when his time came to cross the bar? No complaints. He recounted how great things the Lord had done for his family in bringing them out of the land of Jerusalem and how merciful He had been (2 Nephi 1:1,4). And then this glorious summation of his life: "...the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (2 N 1:15). I think like his forefather Joseph, Lehi was 'happy to go down to his grave', not to rest from his labours but to meet his God.

When our time comes will we be just happy to be rid of this life or will we eagerly rush to meet the God who has loved us, preserved us, led us, blessed us, sustained us and redeemed us? When our time comes, may we be able to say:

"Twilight and evening bell and after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place 

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face 

When I have crossed the bar."

(Lord Alfred Tennyson)

 

- Cathryne Allen

(Art: Come Unto Me by Yongsung Kim)

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)