Lehi continues, explaining to his children, that, as the
Lord brings others to the Promised Land, they would be wars and bloodshed. He called on them to listen to his
words. Hugh Nibley analyzes Lehi’s
words.
Writing with special consideration
for their own descendants, the Book of Mormon prophets are especially concerned
for the future of that highly mixed people known as the Indians. In the 1820s
the Indians still held most of the continent and felt themselves a match for
any invader. But Mormon forewarns them that all their efforts to prevail by
force of arms will be hopeless (Mormon 7:4). In the beginning Lehi prophesied
that his descendants who would survive until our day should see generations of
"bloodsheds, and great visitations among them" (2 Nephi 1:12), and
that God would "bring other nations unto them, and … give unto them power,
and ... take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause
them to be scattered and smitten" (2 Nephi 1:11) … This scattering and
smiting was to exceed anything the Indians had experienced before 1830: it was
to be carried to the point of virtual extermination, "driven about as
chaff before the wind, ... led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before
the wind, or as a vessel ... without anything wherewith to steer her... .
But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by
the Gentiles ... who shall possess the land" (Mormon 5:15—20).
He admonishes them to “awake
from a deep sleep, year even the sleep of hell” (2 Nephi 1:13). Shake off
the sleep and chains of hell, which has bound the children of men. If they don’t, they will be carried away and
suffer the misery and woe in hell.
When teaching Zeezrom, Alma2 taught him:
And
now Alma began to expound these things unto [Zeezrom], saying: It is given unto
many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict
command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word
which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and
diligence which they give unto him.
And
therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion
of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater
portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God
until he know them in full.
And
they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the
word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken
captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of
hell.
Alma 12:9 - 11
The angel speaking to Nephi is his great vision referred to
this great gulf.
And
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.
1 Nephi 12:18
When Laman and Lemuel asked Nephi the meaning of Lehi’s
vision of the Tree of Life, Nephi would explain, in part:
And
I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the
tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
And
I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell, which the
angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.
And
I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also
divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto
the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever,
and hath no end.
1 Nephi 15:28 - 30
Lehi pleads with his family as only a loving father who
knows his life is coming to an end can. “hear the words of a trembling parent, whose
limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no
traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth” (2
Nephi 1:14).
Critics of the Book of Mormon have claimed Joseph Smith plagiarized
Shakespeare in verse 14. Hugh Nibley
responds:
The phrase found in 2 Nephi 1:14
describing the grave as the land "from whence no traveler can return"
has been claimed by some to have come from Hamlet. In fact, the phrase is
common to many ancient Near Eastern texts.
2 The idea of "the second death"
likewise is at home in Egyptian texts and iconography depicting the divine
judgment of Osiris.
3
The Book of Mormon frequently refers to “dust.” Richard Rust explains the use of “dust.”
The extreme opposite of water and
fruitfulness is dust. This image is associated in the Book of Mormon with
mortality, humiliation, captivity, obscurity, destruction, and death. The
wicked, Nephi prophesied, would be "brought low in the dust," and the
Jaredites, unless they repented, would be destroyed and their bones should
become "as heaps of earth upon the face of the land" (1 Nephi 22:23;
Ether 11:6).
Yet out of the dust come life and
blessings. The Book of Mormon itself was prophesied to come "out of the
dust." Echoing Isaiah, Moroni cried: "Arise from the dust, O
Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments" (Moroni 10:27, 31).
Laman and Lemuel were exhorted to "arise from the dust," that is to
"awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell" (2 Nephi
1:14, 13).
Lehi’s soul has been redeemed from hell. He has beheld the Lord’s glory, “and I am encircled about eternally in the
arms of his love” (2 Nephi 1:15). The
phrase, being encircled in the arms of the Lord, is one that is found in scripture. Jacob would teach his the Nephites, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech
of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose
of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended
towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts” (Jacob 6:5).
Alma2 would tell the people of Zarahemla, “Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all
men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and
I will receive you” (Alma 5:33).
During the time of darkness and destruction after Christ’s crucifixion,
Christ told the multitude, “Yea, verily I
say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards
you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me” (3 Nephi 9:14).
M. Catherine Thomas explains how the image of the atonement.
The image of the atonement is of being encircled in or by
something—for example, being encircled in the arms of the Lord. Many Book of
Mormon passages speak of being embraced or encircled in the arms of the Lord,
of this great image of at-one-ment. For example, Lehi declares: "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 Nephi 1:15). And in Alma 5:33,
we read: "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of
mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive
you."
Noel Reynolds looks at Lehi’s attitude towards his coming
death.
Lehi's perception that his life is
near an end drives the timing of his remarks. He describes himself as "a
trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent
grave." He speaks to his children of those things that are of the deepest
importance, for in "a few more days" he will "go the way of all
the earth" (2 Nephi 1:14). For Lehi, his own pending demise provides
additional rhetorical leverage in his effort to coax his oldest sons to
repentance.
Death
holds no terror for Lehi because "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 Nephi 1:15). But like Laman and Lemuel who are in a deep
spiritual sleep, "even . . . the sleep of hell," those who do not
repent and "shake off the awful chains by which [they] are bound"
will be "carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and
woe" (2 Nephi 1:13).
