After having seen Christ’s visit to his people, he looks and
sees that there will be righteousness for three generations. “[T]heir garments were white
even like unto the Lamb of God. And the
angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of
their faith in him” (1 Nephi 12:11). Many of the fourth generation also lived in
righteousness.
Then, Nephi saw the second multitude in his vision. Corbin Volluz writes about the two multitudes
Nephi saw in his vision.
In Nephi's vision, he is shown the
prophetic meaning behind the symbolic imagery of Lehi's dream: "And it
came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the earth gathered together"
(1 Nephi 12:13). Whereas the first gathering together of multitudes was a
representation of the house of Israel assembling in order to fight against the
twelve apostles of the Lamb, this second gathering of multitudes represents the
seed of Nephi and his brethren who gather together for their final great
battle, which would result in the virtual annihilation of the Nephite society
(1 Nephi 12:14–15). Once again the phrase multitudes gathering together is
being used to interpret the symbol of the great and spacious building of Lehi's
dream.[1]
The multitude Nephi saw consisted of the Nephite and
Lamanite armies, ready to do battle.
Towards the end of his life, Mormon would record, “And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their
children, did now behold the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and
with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did
they await to receive them” (Mormon 6:7).
The angel spoke to Nephi, explaining the fountain of filthy
water. “The ‘fountain [river] of filthy
water,’ the interpretation of which the angel gives as ‘the depths of hell’ (1
Nephi 12:16). This is the destination of the descendants of Nephi, who died in
their wicked and rebellious state.”[2]
The mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil. They “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” (Proverbs 4:14-15).
The savior taught, “Strive to
enter in at the strait [GR narrow] gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).
The great and spacious building “is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men” (1
Nephi 12:18). “The ‘great and spacious
building,’ the interpretation of which the angel gives as ‘the vain
imaginations and the pride of the children of men’ (1 Nephi 12:18). This pride
is the inner force that caused the Nephites' overthrow.”[3]
Jeremiah twice warned against vain imaginations. “But
they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in
the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward” (Jeremiah
7:24). “And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set
before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; But have
walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their
fathers taught them” (Jeremiah 9:13 - 14).
In the parable of the richman and Lazarus, the Savior taught
there was a gulf between the righteous and wicked.
And
[the richman] cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue;
for I am tormented in this flame.
But
Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art
tormented.
And
beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they
which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would
come from thence.
Luke 16:24 - 26
“In light of Nephi's vision, which came to him after he
asked to see what his father, Lehi, had seen, Lehi's dream of the tree of life
can be seen as much more than the journey of one man who is concerned for his
two rebellious sons. The vision is of cosmic significance, entailing the rise
and fall of a great civilization and extending from Lehi's camp to the entire
world and its ultimate future. Above all, the vision reveals the Son of God—his
birth, life, and death.”[4]
There is a great gulf dividing the righteous and the
wicked. Hugh Nibley explains how this is
an appropriate metaphor for someone who lived in a desert environment.
To symbolize what is utterly
inaccessible, Lehi is shown "a great and a terrible gulf" (1 Nephi
12:18), "an awful gulf" (1 Nephi 15:28), a tremendous chasm with
one's objective (the tree of life) maddeningly visible on the other side; all
who have traveled in the desert know the feeling of utter helplessness and
frustration at finding one's way suddenly cut off by one of those appalling
canyons with perpendicular sides—nothing could be more abrupt, more absolute,
more baffling to one's plans, and so will it be with the wicked in a day of
reckoning. Hariri describes death as "a chasm drear" which sooner or
later confronts all mortals. Many recent photographs show us that Burton
was not exaggerating when he described the "titanic walls, lofty donjons,
huge projecting bastions, and moats full of deep shade" that are a
characteristic of Lehi's desert. It is very much like the "red
rock" country of our own Southwest.[5]
When the Nephites and Lamanites met in the great battle, Mormon
would describe his situation. “[B]ehold I have witnessed almost all the
destruction of my people, the Nephites. And
it is many hundred years after the coming of Christ *that I deliver
these records into the hands of my son; and it supposeth me that he will
witness the entire destruction of my people.
But may God grant that he may survive them, that he may write somewhat
concerning them, and somewhat concerning Christ, that perhaps some day it may profit
them” (Words of Mormon 1:1 - 2).
Many generations of the Nephites lived with wars and rumors
of war. Moroni would comment on the
Nephite situation. “And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. And behold also, the Lamanites are at war one
with another; and the whole face of this land is one continual round of murder
and bloodshed; and no one knoweth the end of the war” (Mormon 8:8). “For
behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of
their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ”
(Moroni 1:2).
The Lamanites will dwindle in unbelief and become a “dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people,
full of idleness and all manner of abominations” (1 Nephi 12:23).
[1] Lehi's
Dream of the Tree of Life: Springboard to Prophecy, Corbin T. Volluz, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 18, 2013.
[4] Lehi's
Vision of the Tree of Life: Understanding the Dream as Visionary Literature,
Charles Swift, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February
18, 2013.
[5] Lehi's
Dream, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed February 18, 2013.
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