12 Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall
be bloodsheds, and great visitations among them; wherefore, my sons, I would
that ye would remember; yea, I would that ye would hearken unto my words.
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea,
even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are
bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are
carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.
14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and 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.
15 But behold, 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.
16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the
statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of
my soul from the beginning.
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).”[1]
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. The idea of ‘the second death’ likewise is at home in Egyptian
texts and iconography depicting the divine judgment of Osiris.”[2]
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).”[3]
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.’”[4]
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).”[5]
[1] Prophecy in the Book of Mormon: The Three
Periods, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed
May 23, 2013.
[2] Words and Phrases, Paul Y.
Hoskisson, John W. Welch, Robert F. Smith, Bruce W.
Warren, Roger R. Keller, David Fox, and Deloy Pack, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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