Come Follow Me LDS- 1 Nephi 8-10 (Jan 13-19)

'Lehi's Dream'

-  The dream as a mirror image of the Garden of Eden

-  'Men are that they might have joy'. The dream as chiasmus

-  A reflection of Lehi's environment in Jerusalem

-  Restoring the Tree of Life

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right in this episode we are going to

cover chapters 8 9 and 10 of first Nephi

I'm gonna be a little bit shorter than I

will normally be you know one Episode

week my father passed away just a couple

of days ago and was a legend of a man

and suffice it to say that I'm gonna be

a little bit busy this week and so I

need to shorten this a little bit but it

kind of works out for us because what a

shout-out by the way to greatest dad

ever

Jeff Matson but it kind of works out for

us because we have the Lehigh stream and

Lehigh's dream we get to different

accounts of it we get it first

'only in with Lehigh here in chapter 8

and then later starting in Chapter 11 we

start going into Nephi's account and he

fights account is much more well in

depth right it's going to cover a lot

more about the meanings it goes well

beyond the account of Lehigh that

doesn't mean Lehigh didn't have the same

vision but it's just the description is

coming from Nephi and so he gives his

description of everything that he saw so

what I'm gonna do in this episode is I'm

going to at least lay the groundwork for

Lehigh's dream this is a very important

part of the scriptures and it's not just

a matter of I mean certainly it's a

matter of identifying ourselves in it

and understanding the adversary

understanding hanging on to the iron rod

looking at ourselves as individuals

trying to make it to the Tree of Life

but I think there's a little bit more to

it and I want to give you my take on

what I see in this vision first of all I

think we need to look at comparing this

to a couple of other things well at

least

this episode we're gonna primarily focus

on one thing and that is the creation

story it is very very similar we have

the tree of life here in Lehi’s dream

then of course we have the Tree of Life

in the story in the Garden of Eden and

so if we start pulling some parallels

here we start to see something and to me

after studying this what I see is a

mirror image of the creation story and

and especially the Garden of Eden story

where the Garden of Eden story creation

is all about building up to that point

of being in Eden and then having the

fall right and being thrown out into the

lone and dreary world and a little bit

more on this end of Lehi’s dream what

we have is almost like it's almost like

the chiasmus right of the Eden story

where we come into the fall and

then with Lehigh's dream we start moving

back up toward the Tree of Life through

a temporal existence a carnal existence

here separated from him so it's a lot

like second Nephi to write man fell or

Adam fell that men might be that's part

of the Garden of Eden story and men are

that they might have joy and that is the

story of Lehigh's dream and we're gonna

see that exact word in here in fact

we'll see happy and joy in this account

of lovely highs dream so let's start

here into chapter 8 and see what we can

find here and maybe help you look at

this in just a little bit of a different

way so it says here in verse 1 is

something very odd it's kind of like

Nephi 20 if I says you know and my

father dwelt in a tent this is just

thrown in here it seems like there's

nothing to do with anything we're

getting an introduction into this dream

and here in verse 1 it says and it came

to pass that we had gathered together

all manner of seeds of every kind both

of grain of every kind and also of the

seeds of the fruit of every kind why

does he throw this in here you know I'm

not certain about it but let me give you

my thoughts on this

and verse two and it came to pass that

while my father tarried in the

wilderness he spake unto us saying

behold I have dreamed a dream or in

other words I have seen a vision I've

had a couple people comment to me about

how hey this is one of the titles I gave

to one of the videos a while back was

was Lehigh's earlier dream and I was

told well that was a vision he wasn't

asleep well the vision I was focusing on

was him back at his home where he had

fallen asleep possibly or was not it

doesn't matter but here you see this

is a hebrewism it's a way of

writing a literary tool here but he says

behold I dreamed I have dreamed a dream

or in other words I have seen a vision

so again there it's very nebulous what

is always happening with these things

whether it's the book of Revelation

whether it's Nephi who says that he's

carried away and he's not even certain

if he's in the body or not these are

spiritual experiences and so it's

something very foreign to us and so it's

we're not aware of the physical right or

they're not aware of the physical at

this time they don't know

is it a dream they're asleep and

they're dreaming is this something that

seems so real that they it feels like

they were awake were they awake it's

hard to say sometimes exactly what is

happening here but it says here in verse

3 and behold because of the thing which

I have seen I have reason to rejoice in

the Lord because of Nephi and also of

Sam for I have reason to suppose that

they and also many of their seed will be

saved ok so a couple things here that

are that have laid the groundwork here

for a Lehi stream for us

number one why have they gathered all

manner of seed of every kind and the

seeds of fruit of every kind right we

tend to always think of this thing is

kind of like it you know again oh this

happened here and then this happened

when we went this and then we and then

Lehi had his dream that's not what's

happening right I mean this is Nephi 30

years

later or more writing down what he wants

to write down right before he talks

about Lehigh's dream so why is he doing

that here's my thought on that if we

look at Genesis chapter 2 where we get

kind of this different rendition of the

creation story right we see some

elements here that are going to start

popping up in Lehigh's dream and so we

get for example in verse 5 after we get

thee and these are the generations of

heaven and earth so that's a probably a

different author possibly coming in at

that point but it says in verse 5 and

every plant of the field before it was

in the earth and every herb of the field

before it grew for the Lord God had not

caused it to rain upon the earth and

there was not a man to till the ground

or to keep the garden which is also a

word for what the high priest would do

in the temple as they administered the

ordinances and the rituals etc so if we

look at this right here in the creation

story we start to get this idea of the

plants and remember in Chapter 1 of

Genesis it talks about how the plants

are made and the trees and how they all

duplicate themselves after each one of

their kinds right so it's all brought

it's all regenerated right the seed of

an oak tree is going to create an oak

tree and etc so I think that's what

Nephi is doing here he's bringing in the

creation story and we're going to see

kind of elements of that story and the

Garden of Eden story but in some ways in

a mirrored way it's coming back to the

tree of life where we fell away from God

we're now trying to return to him and

then here in verse 3 of chapter 8 of

first Nephi he says that and also many

of their seed including me find Sam will

be saved so this is all about setting up

being saved by the Redeemer this is all

setting up Christ in this in this dream

here

that a lot of this is yes we

get the idea in this dream that it's all

about the future right he has reason to

be upset because Laman and Lemuel are

not going to come and they start talking

about the Gentiles and the seed of Nephi

and the Covenant and Israel house of

Israel etc etc all about the future that

doesn't mean that Lehigh's environment

and his past has not played a part in

this dream and I'll show you what I mean

in just a little bit here so he says in

verse 4 but behold Laman and Lemuel I

fear exceedingly because of you for

behold me thought I saw in my dream a

dark and dreary wilderness or

a dark and dreary world right that that

Adam and Eve were cast out into after

the fall and it came to pass that I saw

a man and he was dressed in a white robe

and he came and stood before me I'm not

gonna say who this man is most will say

is probably the Savior saying some even

say it might be Satan guiding them into

the lone injury world it seems or it

could be an angelic host that is guiding

Lehi here through this vision that's a

very very common thing to have in these

apocalyptic visions but regardless if we

think of this as kind of chiasmus or

a mirror image of the Garden of Eden

story it's probably one of the

characters that we would find there

right any of the characters that we

would find there and very well maybe the

Savior leading us where he has to go as

well and it came to pass that he spake

unto me and bade me follow him and he

came to pass that as I followed him I

beheld myself that I was in a dark and

dreary waste so we have a dark and

dreary world a dark and dreary

wilderness a dark and dreary waste right

very similar to the fall of Adam and Eve

and after I had travelled for the space

of many hours in darkness I began to

pray into the Lord that he would have

mercy on me according to the multitude

of his tender

and of course this is us right I mean we

think about first of all how Lehigh

handles this he's going through the

darkened furry world many others are

going to go through the dark and dreary

world what are they going to do Lehigh

reaches out to God but he reaches out to

God to look for help and for mercy to

help him out of this situation so we all

find ourselves in the world here in the

dark and dreary world and Lehigh is

giving us the example that when we find

ourselves in that position and we're

stuck and we are drowning in darkness or

whatever it might be that we are to

reach out to the Lord and seek His

mercy seek the atonement in our lives

and verse 9 and it came to pass after I

had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a

large and spacious field and it came to

pass that I beheld a tree whose fruit

was desirable to make one happy so we

have the terminology that's a little

more recent in the church about the plan

of happiness I think this has a lot to

do with it this exact scripture here

whose fruit was desirable to make one

happy so we started off this chapter

with fruit and seed and all the

different types of plants that there

might be and here we're starting to

follow up here with Nephi's words about

a tree and a fruit that's desirable to

make one happy in other words happiness

here the way I see it is being

contrasted to the dark and dreary world

so it's hey you are in the dark and

dreary worldly hi you've reached out I

am giving you my mercy and the way he

does that as he shows him the tree of

life and the fruit on that tree of life

so that is the way we are extracted out

of the dark and dreary world and it came

to pass in eleven that I did go forth

and partake of the fruit thereof and I

beheld that it was most sweet above all

that I ever before tasted it's

interesting

because Eve actually says that of the

tree of knowledge of good and evil right

yeah and I beheld that the fruit thereof

was white to exceed all the whiteness

that I had ever seen so white it as a

representative of glory and it's a

represent representation of purity right

and strength and virtue and so by the

way in the Book of Mormon the way I see

it that's the way it's always used

regardless of what they're talking about

we'll get to that down the road so in 12

he says and as I partook of the fruit

thereof it filled my soul with exceeding

great joy there's our word joy right

Adam fell that men might be and here

we're moving our way back to joy right

and so this ties right in with ii

ii ii v chapter ii and joy is

interesting because he partakes of the

fruit here and remember that even in the

book of Revelation there is a book that

one is to partake of right and so when

you consume things right you are

accepting it in your with the book it

would be I've read it and I've

digested it and it's a part of me I've

consumed it so what are we thinking

about with the fruit here it's the same

kind of thing same type of vision he's

partaking of the fruit and he is

digesting it and accepting it and it

becomes a part of him it's kind of like

what we do with a sacrament right when

we have the sacrament and we partake of

the bread and the water there's a reason

for consumption of that because it's a

representation that we are accepting it

and that we're consuming it and it's

becoming a part of us the other thing to

note here with the word joy is this is

very similar to the word Asherah and

Asherah is a way of talking about a tree

in Hebrew right and so in a sense joy is

the tree or the fruit of the tree

wherefore I began to be desirous

that my family should partake of it also

for I knew that it was desirable above

all other fruit so in the story of the

fall Eve says and Satan had said this is

a very it's very desirable right very

desirable fruit as well so here we have

a parallel to that but an image coming

back to the fruit where we're now

partaking of the Tree of Life and not of

the tree of knowledge of good and evil

so this is all so desirous but it's

desirous in a much higher way in a much

better way after the fall going for the

fruit of the tree of life and in 13

we're just gonna run down this chapter

here and as I cast my eyes round about

that perhaps I might discover my family

also I beheld a river of water and it

ran along and it was near the tree of

which I was partaking the fruit so we go

back to Genesis 2 for example we get a

story about the four rivers that are

coming out from the tree of life

basically right there to go out and

reach the entire world here we have a

river but it's not necessarily a good

river right so again kind of a mirror

image on this and I look to perform once

it came and I saw the head there of a

little way off and at the head thereof I

beheld your mother Sariah

and Sam and Nephi and they stood as if

they knew not whither they should go so

this is another example of is it good

that man should be alone right and so

this is like no all right we need to

bring Sariah and his family together

with Lehi at the tree because for all of

us even going beyond just marriage right

it's not good for any of us to be alone

we start off as individuals we always

keep an individuality with the ironic

priesthood the lower law but we have to

graduate also to a higher law of family

and community and so that is our

representation here of the higher and

lower laws so it cast his eyes around

for layman Lemuel and here in 18 it says

and it came to pass

I saw them but they would not come unto

me and partake of the fruit so again

here in chapter 2 of Genesis and in

Chapter 1 of Genesis we have the Tree of

Life

what is the Tree of Life and we're gonna

hear more and more in Nephi's account

exactly what that's about but the bottom

line is I'm sure if I could go over that

right now but it let's just say let's

just say all combined

it's the doctrine of Christ that is the

Tree of Life the doctrine of Christ we

could summarize it that way perhaps

and so laman and lemuel will not come to

them will not come to Lehi and his

family the rest of the family so what

are they not coming to again we get this

idea of just looking at good and bad

right tree of life great spacious

building good bad true right the

purest righteousness is Christ but I

think there's more to it than that to me

I look at that and if we follow along

the lines of what we've been talking

about so far with the Book of Mormon we

see that laman and lemuel do not accept

Christ right they do not accept this in

their lives

they have a problem with it they are

they are perhaps Deuteronomists and in

that theology and their doctrine there

may be a messiah but it is a political

Messiah and there is not a son of God

right they're gonna reject the doctrine

of the Son of God which is the core of

the doctrine of Christ so this is

something that has already been

happening if that's the case right a

naturally Lehi would see this in his

dream because laman and lemuel have not

accepted the doctrine of Christ in their

life and they're not going to partake of

the fruit in 19 and I beheld a rod of

iron and it extended along the bank of

the river and led to the tree by which I

stood this is kind of interesting

because apparently it seems I don't know

this for sure but I've read this that

there was a rod iron that used to go up

to them

Temple Mount and reach that reach the

reach the temple so you'd go up a path

and there'd be a wrought-iron there

you'd hang on to that and you go up to

the temple I've read that by LDS

scholars I don't know for sure if that's

true as far as archaeological evidence

goes so I can't back that up but you

might want to look for that it just

popped into my mind here and I also

beheld a straight and narrow path which

came along by the rod of iron and even

to the tree by which I stood and it also

led by the head of the fountain unto a

large and spacious field as if it were

had been a world so think about John the

Baptist year right he's saying that this

here this path here is straight and

narrow and so when we think of John the

Baptist crying in the wilderness prepare

either way make his paths straight or

narrow right is the narrow path the

path to God the path to progress in our

lives the path to growth is narrow it

has to be right that makes all the sense

in the world it couldn't be a broad path

where everything is okay I can tolerate

everything that doesn't make any sense

that's not progress progress is

narrowing ourselves down to becoming

more like the example of the Savior and

in 21 he says and I saw numberless con

courses of people many of whom were

pressing forward that they might obtain

the path which led under the tree which

I stood so now we started to see all

these people trying to come forward

that's all of us

I've seen it said that that's women

Allah mules descendants perhaps I think

it's all of us right we all obviously

are going through the lone and dreary

world and trying to well not always

trying but some of us sometimes are

trying to reach the Tree of Life and to

do that we have to hang on to that iron

rod I've had times in my life where I

probably let go a little bit one time in

my life where I let go a little bit not

really too far from it right I wasn't

that far away from it but just a little

bit

right unfortunately did not go off where

I got lost but a lot of reading a lot of

things on the internet early in my life

20s and I let go just a little bit I let

go just a little bit and fortunately

have grabbed firmly back onto that men

Lehi says and it came to pass that they

did come forth and commence in the path

which led to the tree and it came to

pass so this is okay we're on our way

forward I can see this this is people

that might be interested in truth that

maybe they're members of the church but

they're starting down the path that

would lead to the savior think of the

procession right going through the

procession and it came to pass that

there arose a mist of Darkness well what

do we get in Genesis 2 right it says

here in verse 6 but there went up a mist

from the earth and watered the whole

face of the ground so you can see again

how we're getting this parallelism in

the Garden of Eden story and Lehigh's

dream that's just coming from the other

side yeah even an exceedingly great mist

of Darkness in so much that they who had

commenced in the path didn't lose their

way that they wandered off and were lost

that myth seems to be getting thicker

and thicker all the time right think of

a boat being out in a heavy fog and

losing its way mist is there to confuse

us have you ever been in a really heavy

fog when you're driving really heavy and

you can see maybe 20 30 feet in front of

you and you have to hang on to the road

if you can see it and that's the

only way you know where you know which

way to go

he's by looking down at that road in 24

and it came to pass that I beheld others

pressing forward and they caught four

came forth and caught hold of the end of

the rod of iron and they did press

forward through the midst of darkness

clinging to the rod of iron even until

they did come forth and partake of the

fruit of the tree okay so they have

moved forward and they have accepted the

doctrine of Christ and they've

assumed it right they've made it a part

of their life they have trust they have

faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

but unlike saying I believe in Jesus

Christ and I'm saved right that's not

really what happens necessarily we need

to keep consuming the fruit from the

tree of life in 25 it says and after

they had partaken of the fruit of the

tree they did cast their eyes about as

if they were ashamed I think that this

is I think this is a very strong

principle that sometimes we don't think

about enough especially in these this

day of social media and the internet

shame is a crucial part of persuasion

and it's a crucial part of a serpent

truth and so if we feel ashamed of

something it's a lot easier to give up

on something or to change our minds and

maybe even to go against what we had

said or believed because we want to feel

wanted we want to feel a part of a

majority that may make you feel ashamed

this is this goes directly to the heart

of the pre-existence and the war in

heaven it never has ceased right in the

war in heaven Lucifer is called the

accuser and that's what we would see

here was shaming when names are thrown

at you and you're put into a certain

collective a certain position those

accusations come at you and you don't

want to be any of those things and so

you start to lean more toward those that

are causing the shame in 26 and I also

cast my eyes round about and beheld on

the other side of the river of water a

great and spacious building and it stood

as it were in the air high above the

earth what is this so starting off

why is it high above the earth right

it's because it's puffed up right it's

like Jesus talking about the leavened

bread that gets puffed up it's pride

right it's the pride of the world but

it's a building and so what might that

mean to Lehi and what might that mean to

us

well let's reach back a little further

to the time of the beginning of the

story of the Jaredites in the Book of

Mormon to the Tower of Babel and what

was that that was a building that was

going to be built up higher and higher

to reach up toward God it was a matter

of pride I don't need to follow what God

says I can actually build a tower to get

there I can go around all of the

requirements I can go around faith just

like Korihor and Sharom and

Nehor show me a sign first

right show me the sign first because I'm

going to get around this whole faith

thing and this whole requirements thing

and go straight to heaven straight to

the knowledge straight to the surety of

everything that's the Tower of Babel

that's the Great and spacious building

it is a temple of the world that wants

to reverse our progress and wants to

reverse the plan of salvation of putting

the sign in front of our faith but for

Lehi I can't help but think that what

he's seeing there is perhaps Jerusalem

or he's coming out of and what Jerusalem

has become as we see that it is opposite

right of the Tree of Life which is

Christ and if those in Jerusalem in

charge have refused the doctrine of

Christ rejected it then that makes all

the sense in the world that you have the

city of Jerusalem being puffed up and

the fall of it will be great right just

like Jerusalem is going to fall here

just about ten years later and the fall

is going to be great

and we might even think about the

precise building of being

don't cringe but might be the temple in

my mind that's the way I see it anyway

because I'm not saying that's what it is

I'm just saying in my mind I don't doubt

that Lehi see something like this

because the religion has been corrupted

and in fact just like going back to the

time of Isaiah

these reforms that have been made

interestingly enough the reforms that

are made in the time of Lehi and under

Josiah had a rejection of something in

the temple and that rejection could very

well have been the a schwa which they

are saying which at least the

Deuteronomists are saying the people

were worshiping but the ash or there

could be the ash Fatah which could be a

tree that's what it looks like to me the

tree was removed from the Holy of Holies

because it represents Christ just like

the Nehushtan in the time of Isaiah

was removed and it represents Christ so

if he's having this vision here about

the tree of life and about the Great and

spacious building was there an event in

the temple because of the doctrine of

the Deuteronomists and the people of

Jerusalem or the large portion those in

power where they had removed a large

menorah perhaps representing the Tree of

Life out of the Holy of Holies and

smashed it

because that's what happened it looks

like to me right we know that something

called an ashram which could very well

be a tree was removed from the temple at

that time and here Lehi is perhaps

reacting to this and what had happened

where he is using the Tree of Life as

the goal and yet it may have been what

was removed in his life from the temple

and of course he's doing this in a way

that is a mirror of a temple liturgy a

temple dialogue that would happen with

the creation and the Garden of Eden

story and of course with a doctrine of

Christ that would have been possibly

removed at this time now let's take one

more step on this and see if we can see

some parallels here if we're seeing this

as a kind of a chiasmus of a story here

a chiasmus of a vision by the way the

Garden of Eden story is a vision don't

forget that that's also a vision that

Abraham had that Moses had that is a

vision and so if we compare this again

and we look at the Tree of Life in the

Garden of Eden story what is opposite of

that and in Lehigh's dream we have the

Tree of Life here and what is opposite

of that what is the other choice well of

course in the Garden of Eden story you

have the tree of the knowledge of good

and evil and in Lehigh's dream you have

the great and spacious building and what

is the great and spacious building

represent it represents pride it also

represents then things that are kernel

it would represent things that are of

the individual in a sense pride is all

about looking at yourself it's the

perverted way of working through the

ironic priesthood is how I would see it

and the tree of life being the son of

God is the Melchizedek Priesthood right

in the Garden of Eden story and the tree

of knowledge of good and evil would be

more of a representation of things that

are Aaronic of a carnal law like we

get in section 84 and there's a fall

from a perhaps a Melchizedek law maybe

they were in between they're somewhere

in the Garden of Eden down to a lower

carnal law and it's the same thing that

happened with the children of Israel at

Sinai they were offered the tree of life

so to speak they were offered the

Melchizedek law the fullness of the

ordinances in the gospel and where

Christ is at the very center of that now

and they rejected it just like laman and

lemuel are doing and instead they took

a lower law hey carnal law well taking

that on and then moving forward from

that carnal law is what you get with the

great in spacious building Jerusalem

right because they have rejected the

Tree of Life they have rejected the

Savior the Son of God it's a key term

they have rejected the Son of God and

the Great and spacious building is what

happens when you do that so I'm not

saying the tree of knowledge of good and

evil is the Great and spacious building

I'm saying that in a mirror image here

we're getting the lower law and then

coming back in our journey here as we

are in a fallen state that the great and

spacious building is a result of denying

the Tree of Life and we get this imagery

we can see this happening remember we

hear about the people in Jerusalem

mockingly hi as he preached what was he

preaching about again we don't emphasize

this enough he's preaching about Christ

he's preaching about Jesus Christ and so

here we see this again just imagine what

his experience has been in Jerusalem

here when he was near being stoned and

and rejected by everybody says here in

27 and it was filled with people this is

the Great and spacious building both old

and young both male and female and their

manner of dress was exceedingly fine and

they were in the attitude of mocking and

pointing their fingers accusing toward

those who had come at and were partaking

of the fruit so this is what Lehi

experienced he had already partaken of

the fruit in a sense as a prophet with a

doctrine of Christ when he was in

Jerusalem and yet he was just like he

was being mocked by those in power and

many others probably in Jerusalem for

what he was preaching for what he was

teaching for the fruit of the tree of

life Jesus Christ and after they had

tasted of the fruit they were ashamed

it's easy how it's interesting how

that can transfer onto somebody right

how we can influence somebody's thoughts

influence somebody's emotions influence

somebody's Direction one to another

that's why the path is narrow and they

were ashamed because of those that were

scoffing at them and they fell away into

forbidden paths and were lost

was this Lehigh's experience in

Jerusalem had he preached to many had

Jeremiah preached to many about Jesus

Christ and many fell away and were

mocked and so they just didn't want

to deal with the scorn in Jerusalem and

then if I interject here and now I need

by do not speak all the words of my

father and he's going to follow up with

his own vision here afterward of the

same thing of the Tree of Life but he

says that Lehi sees many multitudes that

do press forward and come and partake of

the Tree of Life the fruit of the tree

of life and many other multitudes that

take the other paths the two ways right

he takes the it take the other paths and

they end up at the great and spacious

building and if we look at the core

doctrine of Christ and the reason we're

supposed to follow his example it's not

just the Beatitudes so to speak it's not

just our behavior but it's I think in my

opinion here is the example the

biggest thing he did was the sacrifice

in the garden Gethsemane and so what are

we supposed to do now what is how do we

sacrifice for others how do we take on

others burdens how do we love those

around us because that's what the fruit

of the tree of life is and if you're not

all the way to the very end of that the

most the most pure sacrifice an eternal

sacrifice that encompasses everything

the ideal then what you're doing is

you're turning inward at some point to

some degree at least you are turning

inward to yourself and that's pride

so Jesus Christ's sacrifice in

Gethsemane is the exact

polar opposite of looking into ourselves

and what we want so laman and lemuel do

not partake of the fruit and Lehi as

we're told here he exhorts them then

with all the feeling of a tender parent

of course that they would hearken to his

words that perhaps the Lord would be

merciful to them again I think the key

there is understanding what is he

exhorting them to do

well he's exhorting them to come to

Christ right he's exhorting it to them

that they can accept the doctrine of

Christ have faith in the atonement in

the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and

rely on that right and put that at the

top of their values hierarchy so that

the Lord would be merciful unto them

just like he was with Lehi at the

beginning of the dream right where he's

going through the darkness he reaches

out and he is then blessed with mercy by

seeing the tree and then making his way

toward it and then I'm going to pass

over chapter 9 here this is not as short

as I was hoping it would be because

later on in Nephi does go over a little

bit more about these about the different

plates so we're gonna cover that later

on in the series here so we're gonna go

straight to chapter 10 there's just a

couple points I want to cover on this

first it looks like Nephi you what he's

doing here again he's writing this

thirty years later or so and he is

saying look before I go into everything

about my brothers and my dad and

what's gonna happen later on with the

divisions and the difficulties that

they're gonna have in the wilderness I

need to set this up a little bit more

and it's interesting that this is what

he puts in here at this time he says

look that I'm writing this he says to

proceed with mine own account this is

verse one I must speak somewhat of the

things of my father and also of my

brethren so he's laying down a framework

here for more of the relationship

between him and I think mostly with

his brothers but interestingly what he

talks about here is

the prophecies about the Gentiles and

the house of Israel and he wants this in

place before we start moving forward

with the story before he advances the

story to us so he talks about how

Jerusalem Lehi says that Jerusalem is

going to fall just like the Great and

spacious building that many will be

exiled into Babylon and that they will

then return and they do about 70 years

later and they then reoccupy and rebuild

a second temple at that time which is

kind of like the temple that Jesus was

at but modified quite a bit from King

Herod that's why we call it Herod's

temple and then he prophesized again

going right after the example of the

Tree of Life here he goes back and says

that Lehi says in six hundred years

there will be a prophet and he says this

is what he says in verse four yay even

six hundred years from the time that my

father left Jerusalem a prophet would

the Lord God raise up among the Jews

even a messiah or what does that mean it

means an anointed one that would be like

a high priest or a king or both or in

other words and again he's always

clarifying this and I think I know why I

think it's because in Jerusalem just

like later on and even up to today the

Jews don't believe that the Messiah is

God right they don't believe in a divine

Messiah

so we continually get this qualification

here from Nephi and Lehi as to who the

Messiah is he says even a messiah or in

other words a savior of the world right

this is not just a savior of the Jews a

political Messiah for Jerusalem and

Judah and then again just like we get in

the New Testament over and over again in

verse 5 he talked about how great number

of the prophets had testified concerning

a messiah who was the Redeemer of the

world again a qualification there he's

to me as I see him writing this and just

like with Paul right when they

continually talk about that put in a

qualifier like that about the son of God

like John does and a redeemer of the

world a savior of the world it's because

they are making sure that it is not what

was being preached in their environment

right whether it's the Jews at Jesus's

time or whether it's the Jews in Judah

at Jerusalem in Lehigh's time and then

we'll go over this more with Nephi's

account of the vision and prophecy but

he talks again about John the Baptist

right that's always there it's just so

interesting to me that here you have the

Redeemer of the world and yet you always

bring in John the Baptist or a preparer

write the words here are and he spoke

also concerning a prophet this is verse

7 who should come before the Messiah to

prepare the way of the Lord as the

procession right yeah even he should go

forth and cry in the wilderness prepare

ye the way of the Lord and make his

paths straight and then he goes into

specifics for there standeth one among

you whom you know not and he is mightier

than I whose shoes latchet I am not

worthy to unloose and much spake my

father concerning this thing so you can

see him expounding on the lower law you

can see him expounding on the Aaronic

priesthood you can see him expounding on

how you have to prepare things first and

that there's an administration

priesthood for that and then there is

the mock ascetic priesthood but these

things always have to go together the

higher in the lower laws the Aaronic

priesthood and the Melchizedek

priesthood you can't have one without

the other

they are both necessary they represent

the heavens and the earth

they represent the Savior directly and

they represent temporal things and so

you have to bring this together that's

what creation is all about it's about

heavenly things manifesting themselves

and directing temporal things and

creating a new creation out of that

organizing a new creation out of that

and it seems like he's talking about the

words of Isaiah here and maybe

many others as well many others of the

profits that we don't have zenok and

zenus and Miam and perhaps some other

things that have not made it through all

of the editing and translations and

scribes but then in verse nine he says

and my father said he should baptize in

Bethabara beyond Jordan and he also said

he should baptize with water I was being

very specific to me he's distinguishing

that from baptizing with a spirit which

is the Melchizedek priesthood even that he

should baptize the Messiah with water

and after he had baptized the Messiah

with water he should behold and bear

record that he had baptized the Lamb of

God who should take away the sins of the

world this is very Christ-centered very

doctrine of Christ centered Lamb of God

where we get this reference it appears

back to isaiah in Aramaic lamb also

means servant and so it's the same word

so the servant of god there are several

what they call servant songs in isaiah

they are messianic scriptures and so we

may be looking at something very similar

here a little play on words with the

lamb of god of course it also refers to

the Passover lamb and then if i relates

the words of Lehi about the gentiles and

being the Jews being scattered and how

everything works back together and again

if you've listened to me for a while you

know about how I talk about covenant and

that it's not just a covenant between us

and the Lord it's a covenant among us

children of God right that's the only

way that's what charity is for us it's

it's we have to be separated the whole

story of the creation is about

separation and then joining together and

so as children of God we are all

separated in many ways to Gentiles and

Jews and Israelites and the whole

work and plan of salvation the work and

glory of God is kind of this covenant

process of separation and then joining

everything together it's what happens

with mankind to begin with we

fall away from God to separation and

then were brought back together it's

like that word I said cleave right that

means to separate like a knife a cleaver

and then it also means to cleave on to

to gather together to hold on to to join

together and this is a big part of the

Book of Mormon is all about this

covenant that the Lord has the Abrahamic

covenant that one way or another winds

its way through as Lehi says like an

olive tree and different branches are

grafted in and some work and some don't

but it's all this work and glory of God

to bring to pass the immortality and

eternal life of man but understand here

by Lehigh's words that being grafted in

is that they come to the knowledge of

the true Messiah their Lord and their

Redeemer and then he goes down here

after he talks again about being at the

tent of Lehi and he says in verse 17 and

it came to pass after I Nephi having

heard all the words of my father

concerning the things which he saw in a

vision and also the things which he

spake by the power of the Holy Ghost

which power he received by portent idol

here by faith on the son of God and the

son of God was the Messiah we're gonna

see very much so this title of son of

God play out actually in Nephi's account

which is more explanatory than what we

have here with Lehi and the son of God

was the Messiah

see I was enforcing this over and over

again because of the environment that

he's been in who should come and I Nephi

was desirous also that I might see in

here and know of the things by the power

of the Holy Ghost which Lehi had seen

right in verse 19 he that diligently

seeketh shall find and the mysteries of

God shall be unfolded unto them that's

ultimately getting in my view here

getting back to the Holy of Holies

with the mysteries of God and then we

get a little bit about the works of Paul

and especially the works of James right

where it says here in 20 and 21

therefore remember oh man for all thy

doings thou shalt be brought into

judgment it matters what you do it

matters what your decisions are a matter

is what your actions are we're given the

opportunity from the Lord and from our

Father in heaven but it's up to us and

how we act and that's how we end the

episode and we prepare ourselves here

and have laid the groundwork a little

bit for what we're gonna get from Nephi

which is an anchor write his account of

Lehigh's vision here is an anchor to the

entire rest of the book morning I'll

talk to you next time