Lehi continues
his patriarchal counsel, but now turns his focus to his son Jacob. If you
remember, Lehi and Sariah gave birth to sons named Jacob and Joseph during
their travels (and travails) in the wilderness. It is not clear exactly how old
Jacob is at this point. Nephi’s account told us that his family journeyed eight
years through the wilderness, and the time that has gone by since the ocean
journey to the promised land could be anywhere from a few short years to a
decade or two.
My own
assumption is that Jacob is probably at least as old as Joseph Smith was when
he had his first vision of the Father and Son, because Lehi reveals to us (in
verses 2-3) that Jacob has beheld (presumably in vision) the coming of Jesus in
the “fulness of time” and has “beheld in thy youth his [Christ’s] glory.” So if
Jacob is 14 (Joseph Smith’s age at the time of the First Vision) or older, and
he was born sometime between a year to six years into the wilderness journey,
we are probably sometime after 585 B.C.—at least six years since the arrival of
Lehi’s family in the Americas.
We haven’t
had much detail about their experiences, other than to know that the land is
fruitful in supporting the family’s sustenance and prosperity. Remember, Nephi
made two different records. This is the shorter one, devoted more to sacred teachings.
The longer record (not available yet, but perhaps in a future day) presumably
tells us a little more about those first years. But it seems as though Lehi’s
family may not have had as difficult a time as the Jamestown settlers or the
Pilgrims did on the North American east coast 2,200 years later.
As curious
as we may be for the temporal detail of the family’s circumstances in the
Americas, this chapter teaches us that, whatever those circumstances may have
been, the key thing was that Lehi and those of his children who were receptive
to the way of the Lord had ample opportunity to learn and live true Christian
doctrines of salvation and eternal life. The richness of this doctrine bursts
forth in great abundance through Lehi’s words to Jacob. Note also the parallels
between Lehi, as a great patriarch seeking to transfer blessings down the
generations, and the patriarchs of the Old Testament. He even names his young
sons Jacob and Joseph, presumably after their counterparts who descended
directly from Abraham and Isaac and became the fathers of great nations.
And as the
sacred words flow, the dominant impression I have is one of immense gratitude
for the Book of Mormon. This chapter exemplifies why another testament of Jesus
Christ was necessary. Without contradicting the Bible, it clarifies and ties
together in a straightforward, powerful way doctrines and principles so
important for us to understand in order to know God’s plan for us to be happy
and to be reconciled to Him.
Lehi clearly
has an expectation and a solid premonition that Jacob will spend his days
serving God and sharing divine teachings with the generations of their family
who populate their new home. So Lehi uses this opportunity to remind Jacob of
the fundamental things for him to emphasize with their beloved family. And the
core of it is all there in his first few points in verses 4-7. Adam (and Eve)
fell from a state of paradise in the Garden of Eden to a state of temptation
and trial in the world. But don’t lose hope, because salvation is freely
offered. Even though we fail in keeping the Lord’s law, we still can be saved
if we show “a broken heart and contrite spirit” by repenting and following the
one who satisfied the demands of the law (Christ) through his “sacrifice for
sin.” Here we glimpse the first direct mention in the Book of Mormon of the
simply-worded but powerfully profound truth that upon Christ’s death and
resurrection, the need for animal sacrifice (found in the Old Testament law of
Moses) goes away, and the sacrifice becomes one of forsaking our own sins by
holding on tightly to the saving power of Christ’s Atonement.
Lehi then
expounds upon this doctrine, taking care to relate everything he says back to
these initial core truths. Freedom of choice, also known as agency, needs to
exist for us so that we are not simply forced into following, but so that we
find growth in the process of making our choices amid opposites that confront
us—good/evil, pleasure/pain, work/idleness. It centers upon the idea that in a
world where our imperfect nature is barraged by influences around us, we
ultimately either choose to “act”—hopefully moving toward salvation through
Christ—or we are “acted upon.” And if we’re
acted upon, it’s probably in a way that hinders our discernment or capacity to
choose. As Lehi lays out in verse 27, we either select liberty and eternal life
for ourselves, or we find ourselves in captivity and death (separation from
God) under the power of the devil (a fallen angel). He doesn’t have to go into
his imagination to come up with these concepts. After all, the defining
struggle of his life has been to make sure his family followed the Lord’s
warning by leaving Jerusalem for an existence free from the captivity and death
that would have otherwise come.
It is
critically important for us to know what this chapter teaches about the fall of
Adam and Eve. Their choice to leave the garden for the challenges of a mortal
existence was absolutely necessary for God’s plan to work. Just as necessary as
the Atonement of Christ or the creation itself. In fact all of these components
of the plan work seamlessly together and are described best by verse 25, which
says, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” Although
we may not fully comprehend the circumstances and state of being under which
Adam and Eve decided to partake of the forbidden fruit (thus leading to their
departure from Eden), Lehi makes a very interesting point (in verse 23) when he
says that if they had stayed in the garden “they would have had no children;
wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy.” Lehi
makes a distinction here between innocence and joy, and seems to make a direct
connection between family life (having children) and the potential for joy.
Clearly, as Lehi’s mortal life draws to its close, it’s a poignant time of
reflection for Lehi on his own joyful (and sorrowful) experiences with members
of his family.
You can read
the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng
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