The themes I’ve picked up on in this reading of First Nephi have been ones that trouble me, as well as the Bloggernacle, frequently: what does it mean to preside in your home? Further, what level of personal confirmation of our leaders’ words are we entitled to? Let’s see what Nephi and Lehi can teach us about these two related problems.
As you read First Nephi, you may notice one pervasive theme: the ubiquity of Nephi’s reliance on “the commandments of God” in his exhortations to his brethren. This is so in-character for him that the formulation often escapes further scrutiny. Well, think for a minute about the commandments he’s referring to. The Ten Commandments? No. The words written by prophets in the Brass Plates? Nope. He’s talking about the admonitions of none other than Dear Old Dad. I’ve linked four scriptures above that make that reference, but there are many, many more moments when Nephi speaks of his Father’s counsels as the Lord’s commandments. He could reason that going back for the plates is the right thing to do, or offer proofs or seek to prop up his dad’s authority. Instead, he just assumes it, definitively declaring that the old man’s dreams and visions are nothing less than the binding will of the Almighty.
Imagine using the same appeals in your own home, with your siblings when you were a kid, or with your kids now. “Guys, dad said he was inspired to ask us to go to mutual each week. Don’t you think we need to follow the commandments of the Lord?” Yeah, it’s a tough case to make.
Yes, because Lehi was a prophet, and I’m not.
In what way was he a prophet? Was he ordained a prophet? Did he hold the Priesthood office of ‘Prophet?’ Unlikely. He was righteous, devoted, and had the Spirit of the Lord. These things all contributed to his attainment of the very intriguing status of ‘visionary man.’ In other words, there is almost no external barrier holding you and me back from leading our families in exactly the same way. It’s possible for our own admonitions to our families to be nothing less than the Commandments of the Lord. I’m unwrapping a very, very simple concept here, but it’s helpful to me to realize it. How do I preside in the home? By using my proper role as the Priesthood holder in the home to receive literal revelations from the Lord as to the guidance of my family. We can preside by being prophets. I know of nothing to suggest that this status is unattainable for every worthy Priesthood holder.
Of course this setup also seems ripe for abuse, but that’s why we are shown the parellel lesson of how Nephi follows. In fact, given how much we talk about the follower’s right to peripheral, confirming revelation, I’m surprised Nephi isn’t invoked more often. I submit that he’s the perfect model for this kind of faithful, engaged following.
What are the great revelations of Lehi recorded in First Nephi? The standouts are his initial dream of the Lord and his apostles, followed by the warning to leave Jerusalem for a Promised Land, and the vision of the Iron Rod and the Tree of Life. Amazingly, Nephi, the son and follower, was given access not just to a confirming spirit, but to the exact same revelations, personalized addenda, and authoritative interpretations! This is an amazing realization to me. We lose this because we approach Nephi as a prophet, so it’s unremarkable that he receives these things– but we must emphasize that he comes to each of these revelations as a secondary participant, on the referral of his prophet-father. He gains access only in his attempt to confirm and understand the commandments of his file leader. In other words, Nephi learned to be a prophet simply by asking the Lord to help him understand what his Father was talking about.
The actual text is helpful to illustrate the spirit of his seeking. 1 Nephi 2:16:
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold, he did visit me and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
1 Nephi 11:2-5:
And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he has spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.*
*Followed immediately by one of the greatest epiphanies ever recorded.
My point is that when it comes to the argument over personal confirmation of prophetic statements, both sides are wrong and small-minded. Conservatives are wrong to suggest the search for confirmation is faithless and rarely justified. Liberals are wrong in suggesting that the tone should be one of doubtful rationality. The real spirit in which we should seek confirmation of the prophet’s words is that exemplified by Nephi: not one of doubt, but of hunger. We don’t want to know if it’s right, we want to gain access to it, learn more about it, feel it, converse with the Holy Ghost himself about its meaning and ramifications and sheer wonder. Nephi doesn’t want anyone to tell him Lehi’s right. He wants the next stage– access for himself. Once Lehi eats the fruit of the tree, he looks around because he wants his family to have it. This is the model of revelation– though it is given first to only some, it ultimately belongs to everyone.
I think Lehi’s leadership and Nephi’s model of obedience fit very nicely together, and form the backbone of a very tidy narrative in First Nephi. Families should be lead by nothing less than a revelator, whose words are nothing less than the commandments of the Lord. And families should follow by first trusting the words, and then using them to achieve personal, primary access to the truths taught therein.
Please feel free to discuss these trains of thought as long as they remain fruitful, and then add your own insights gained from reading First Nephi.
Ryan, this is a great post, and I agree with almost all of it. I think we should be very careful with your quote above. What if you hungrily search the confirmation of the prophet’s words and then feel you received a revelation that contradicts directly what the prophet has said? There are many on the bloggernacle who claim they have hungrily sought personal revelation and then come up with positions that directly contradict the prophet. What do you do then?
I think you partially answer here:
I think the key lesson from this is that you are approaching revelation with the assumption that the prophet is correct and you want to feel it and converse with the Holy Ghost about it. You are not doubtful. You are charitable and teachable. I imagine Nephi as a person who loved his father and was predisposed to believe in him. His attitude was directly contradictory to Laman’s, who was predisposed not to believe in his father and wouldn’t even ask the Lord for personal revelation. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to or seen post on the bloggernacle who claim they have received revelation that contradicts what the prophet says. In many cases, they are clearly lying and they have not even really asked. In other cases, they may have asked half-heartedly. In many cases, they have not asked enough and with enough sincerity. But there are many, many people who claim to be very sincere and claimed to have received revelation that directly contradicts what the prophet says. What do you tell those people?
Geoff, you point out one of the great difficulties of our church’s revelatory framework, and one that I don’t feel competent to answer. My own approach has been to assume the best of the person who makes this claim, give them the benefit of the doubt, and write it off in my own mind as an example of the complexity of the Lord’s workings. No, I don’t believe it’s possible to receive revelation that contradicts that of the prophet, but I do think it’s theoretically possible for revelation to suggest that the prophet’s words be tailored in a specific, sometimes exceptional way for an individual. In my own life I choose not to elevate that possibility as very likely or realistic. But again, I admit that it is theoretically possible, and therefore, when someone claims to have experienced just that eventuality, I am able to in good faith withhold judgment, and just assume they are correct.
This would be different if that person was in my own spiritual stewardship, and I had a duty to help them stay on the right course. At that point, I’d have to get down to the core of why they believe as they do, and pray with them about the meaning and source of the supposed revelation.
I think the major problem with those who take the position you address is that it often sounds like they see this as more the rule than the exception. I’m of the school that thinks it would be ludicrous to have a prophet if the Lord overrules him in my own life on more than a very rare basis.
I wonder if Nephi has an answer. I’ll keep this problem in mind as I keep reading.
True that, Ryan. Nephi makes the perfect bookend to Moroni’s promise that by the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the truth of all things. When his brothers are confused and having trouble not understanding, he consistently reminds them that they need to inquire of the Lord and wonders why they have not done so.
I find Lehi’s panoramic vision of God, innumerable angels, the One who descends, the disciples to be one of the most extraordinary visions in scripture. It reminds me of the First Vision, except in this vision Lehi sees into heaven rather than God coming down and appearing to him on earth.
Ryan:
1. I don’t think Nephi was assuming these were commandments; in fact 1 N 2:16 seems to point to the opposite conclusion; i.e. that he prayed and received confirmion of the truth of his Father’s words as the will of the Lord. Whether or not he reasoned, in the D&C sense of reasoning and then praying for confirmation, is not explicitly stated or denied. Given the record isn’t complete…I don’t think you can leap to that conclusion; at least, it seems to make more sense that the revelatory path is the same for all generations, and thus, he did reason before praying and having it confirmed.
2. 1 N 2:16, as you point out, is key. Up until this point, Nephi doesn’t appear to have been a player, either way. I think it is very telling that he admits that it was the Lord softening his heart that leads him to believe in his father’s words, w/o such belief he further admits that he would have rebelled, like unto his brethern.
3. I think you discount too much the Prophetic role, and office, of Lehi and Nephi. The record we have is far from complete, and by no means shows that they didn’t have a contemporary D&C, i.e. Priesthood offices revealed and conferred upon them.
4. In the end, the most important insight though, is that _each_ and every Saint can go and pray and have their heart softened unto belief; albeit with the caution they are unlikely to have the Prophetic experiences (like the epiphany you mentioned, which may have also occurred in 1 N 2:16, depending on how you interpret “visited”).
Ryan, great post — thanks. In keeping with your presiding theme, I’ve always found it very powerful that when Nephi’s bow breaks even Lehi murmurs and yet when Nephi prays and receives inspiration as to what to do, he runs it by Lehi first. In spite of Lehi’s obvious failings and human-ness Nephi still respected Lehi’s presiding authority.
Lyle, thanks for your thoughts.
1. I didn’t mean to say that Nephi didn’t reason on his own. My first point about the way he refers to his Father’s counsel as “The Commandments of God,” applies not to his internal dialogue, but his communications with his brothers. In other words, I find it very impressive, even if he’s now totally convinced that his father speaks for the Lord, that he feels comfortable referring to Lehi’s commands as the words of the Lord, speaking to his less-malleable brothers.
In other words, let’s say my dad tells me something to do, and I know it’s inspired. I’m going to try and do it. But I probably gain a lot by (again, assuming it really is inspired, and I know that) changing my approach to this counsel, from “inspired counsel from my dad,” to “The commandments of the Lord. In fact, I’ve received blessings in the past where I could have thought of them either way. But when I decide to think of them as the Lord’s literal commandments, it brings a whole lot of extra power to the exercise. Wouldn’t you say?
2. That’s exactly right. This verse is excellent, and gives great insight into Nephi’s character arc. I love that he wasn’t a player at first. He made a choice, and stuck with it.
3. Lyle, this is a very interesting point, one I’ve tried to unravel myself, but with limited success. Here’s what I come up with: The only actual office I know of in which a person is called to be a prophet is when the person is also called as the leader of the church. As far as I know, Lehi wasn’t called as the leader of any church unit, at least not while in Jerusalem, and I think it unlikely that he was. Thus, two possibilities: 1. There is a Priesthood office that calls someone to be a ‘prophet’ (whatever that is) without a corellating role as a leader in the church, which office we just don’t know about, or 2. Lehi was just a High Priest of the Melchizedek order who felt called to warn people of the things he’d been given to see. I think the former is much more likely. (but I note that Isaiah seems to have held the role described in option 1, as other OT prophets. But again– was that an office, or just a response to inspiration?).
As for Nephi, I think it even more unlikely that he received any kind of formal calling to his prophetic position. He made good choices, the Lord spoke to him, promised to make him a leader over his family, and that’s how things evolved. Lehi probably ordained him to the High Priesthood, but again, it’s unlikely that he gave him any formal presiding office, at least until Lehi was close to death. Do you think there’s some hidden Priesthood office being passed carried by Lehi and Nephi, or isn’t it more likely they’re just acting as Priests of the Melchizedek Priesthood?
4. Explain why you add that caution, and what you base it on? If you base it only on current practice and experience, is that attributable to the Lord setting it up that way, or our lack of faith and discipline?
Andrea, that’s a great observation. I’m going to continue to read First Nephi as a presiding story. Seems like there’s a lot of wisdom to be gained here.
3. I’m not convinced its tied to being a “church” leader. What about Noah? Did he hold the Prophetic office?
Also, it seems that different dispensations have different organizational structures; which may be biasing my views. Did they have church “units” in Jerusalem?
I find it hard to image that someone sees God and isn’t given a PH/prophetic office. In the case of Joseph, apparently this was a work in progress. Then again, that required the entire restoration of the PH; which wasn’t necessary in the case of Lehi/Nephi. I guess it just seems simpler to presume that Nephi was called to be the Prophet for his people; just as GBH has been for us today.
4. Based on numerous statements at GC that we should pray for a testimony, but don’t expect an angel to appear, etc. etc. I think God has it set up this way, i.e. it is possible for an individual to have such an experience, but only if it is the Lord’s will. Since he has an established line of PH & revelation, in the “divine economy” it would seem redundant. Also, the fact that supposedly a testimony via HG is more powerful/testimony building that an ephiphany. Must admit that never made sense to me.
My insight gleaned? I wrote about it here. It’s more about the Laman and Lemuel take on the situation.
I was delighted to dive into 2 Nephi last night. Excellent stuff there.
People can be visited by God, or given specific instructions, and have authority to give others direction but NOT the authority to warn the entire world. Isn’t that (the authority over the whole world part) what the office of “Prophet” is supposed to be about? I mean, there’s nothing I’ve seen that says women can’t be visited by God, but clearly they’re not getting a priesthood ordination or the office of “Prophet” out of the deal, even if they do know now that they really do have to lead their children across a continent and into the mountains (or whatever.)
And… as to having faith when there’s a glowing personage who suddenly appeared in your bedroom versus when there’s a still, small voice urging you to obey something? Well, which is easier? That’d be the one that’s less “testimony-building,” in my estimation, simply because that would be “faith” as opposed to “having seen it already.” It’s a slothful servant who must be commanded in all things, you will receive no witness until the trial of your faith, etc., etc.
I usually wonder why Laman and Lemual left Jerusalem with their father. They are definitely two people who are hard to understand. Visits from angels, zapping, etc. and they still had trouble believing in Nephi or Lehi or in God’s will.