Living With Vision: Lehi's Dream

We talked about vision this week, living with it and living without it. Lehi's vision sets the tone for the entire narrative. It is first and foremost a family affair, with the members of Lehi's own family playing all of the principal roles. His reaction to it is personal. It is Nephi who, through his interaction with the Spirit of the Lord, sees that the meaning of the vision is cosmic in scope; it involves the whole plan of salvation, hinging on the birth and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When he asks the meaning of the things his father saw, his Spirit guide says simply, "Look." And so he might say to us.

Nephi makes what is, in my opinion, the most breathtaking leap of understanding recorded in the scriptures, when he looks upon a young girl, holding a child in her arms in Nazareth, near his old home town. When the angel first asks him if he understands the "condescension of God," and then tells him that this young woman is "the mother of the Son of God in the flesh," Nephi suddenly understands the meaning of everything. It is the love of God.

We won't ever be alone, and this life is not a random set of experiences with no purpose. God himself was willing to be born in a barn, live as a homeless person and eventually suffer every pain and temptation in order to redeem us. That is what the Book of Mormon and every work of scripture is all about. Feeling the joy of this deliverance is partaking of the sweet, delicious fruit. Offering it to our children and loved ones is the purpose of our existence. Christ is the tree of life.

Symbols and Semitic Connections

Here are the main symbols of Lehi's dream along with the interpretations of the symbols as given to Nephi:

Dark and Dreary Wasteland: 1 Ne 8:7                   (What do you think?)          

Large and Spacious Field: 1 Ne 8:9,20                   World: 1 Ne 8:20                 

Tree of Life: 1 Ne 8:10; 11:25; 15:21-22               Love of God: 1 Ne 11:21-22

Fruit of the Tree: 1 Ne 8:11-12                               (What do you think?)

Fountain/River of Filthy Water: 1 Ne 8:13; 12-16   Hell/depths: 1 Ne 12:16, 15:26-36

Rod of Iron: 1 Ne 8:19                                            Word of God: 1 Ne 11:25; 15:23-25

Mist of Darkness: 1 Ne 8:23                                    Temptations: 1 Ne 12:17

Great and Spacious Building: 1 Ne 8:26                 Pride, worldly wisdom and

                                                                                   vanity: 1 Ne 11:35-36; 12:18

Each of these symbols has connections in the literature that Lehi and Nephi would have been familiar with at the time. (And that Joseph Smith would have known nothing about, by the way.) Ancient legends included a tree of life that offered both water and fruit, mists of darkness and a spirit guide to take the hero through the dark and threatening wasteland.  

—  Dreamed a Dream” ~ Hebrew “cognate accusative” dreamed a dream, built a building, sacrificed a sacrifice – uncommon in modern languages but would have been common in Lehi's time

—  Dark and Dreary Wasteland ~ Narrative of Zozimus (600 BCE) has him going through a wilderness praying and receiving a spirit guide

—  Mary as the Mother of God ~ In Ancient Israelite tradition in the Northern Kingdom, the “Sacred Tree” symbolizes Asherah, wife of God and symbol of divine wisdom

—  White Tree/White Fruit ~ 7 th BCE texts describe sacred tree, white fruit

—  Filthy Water = Muddy Wadi. Awful Gulf: “In the Orphic gold plates… the avoidance of the spring on left = the avoidance of suffering, or hell.”

       Combo Living Fountain/Tree of Life: Babylonian creation myth has tree of life “bathed in watery             white vapors,” both a source of food and water

Here is an interesting article about these connections: Lehi's Dream and Ancient Symbols 

Ne 8:9,20  World: 1 Ne 8:20 

Finding a "User-friendly" Approach to the Book of Mormon

In the last few years most of us have been obliged to embrace the digital age. Confronted with a confusing variety of devices with their attendant charge cords, passcodes and modus operandi, we love devices that are labeled “user-friendly.” This is a relatively new term, coined to describe complex machines or systems that are readily accessible without special skills or a lengthy set of instructions. In other words, given a little time, patience, and a few helpful suggestions (usually from someone at least half our age!) you and I can figure them out.

This has got me thinking about another device we can’t function properly without: the word of God. Are the scriptures “user-friendly?” I would submit that they are, and all of the new technology available to us is making them even more so! But, like my tablet or my new FitBit, discovering the power of these wonderful tools takes a little time and effort, and sometimes the assistance of a friend. So I thought we might sit down together and take a fresh look at our own unique text, the Book of Mormon.

Making the Connection

Have you ever given a friend a Book of Mormon, only to find that he or she experienced some confusion when, instead of a book that explains Latter-day Saint beliefs, your friend finds it to be a narrative about Hebrew emigrants to North America in 600 BCE? Let's be honest: though we are very familiar with the story and its characters, we may have a little of the same “disconnect” in understanding how the Book of Mormon relates to our daily lives. There is a crucial difference between reading the scriptures and really using them. 

Let me illustrate. If you are anything like me, this morning you woke up with a set of things that you are: worrying about, praying about, chatting about on the phone with your friends, or trying not to think about! We all have sorrows and weaknesses that weigh us down. We wrestle with money worries and conflicting demands on our time. Our challenges may include health issues, struggling children, addictions, aging parents, marital difficulties or loneliness. We may have all of the above, and more, because life is difficult by definition. Can we actually use the Book of Mormon to address the very modern problems that beset us every day?

We can, and as we learn to do so this book will become more user-friendly in the very best sense. Rather than a chore on our “to-do” list, the Book of Mormon can become the blueprint for a Christian life. The key to “liken[ing] the scripture unto ourselves” is to identify our modern problems as they are faced by these ancient people. Here are just a few examples: Nephi and his brothers have a lot to teach us about family violence. Lehi and Sarah show us how major changes in lifestyle can cause stress on a marriage. Alma Senior and Junior illustrate the difference between control and influence in parenting. The brother of Jared has something to teach us about dating. (Really!) Mormon and Moroni guide us in knowing when it is acceptable to wage war with others. There are so many more, and we will explore them together.

All you need to get more out of the Book of Mormon is a notebook, some quiet time each day, and a commitment to really pay attention. As you read, ask yourself the following questions: Where am I in this story? In other words: how could this story relate to my life? And, where is Jesus in this story? What is He trying to teach me here? Why is this story in the scriptures at all ? And finally, ask the most important question, "So what do I do about this?" or "How does this affect my life?"

Therefore, What?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said the following: "President Boyd K. Packer, himself a master teacher and long-time administrator in the Church Educational System, has a question he often asks when we have made a presentation or given some sort of exhortation to one another in the Twelve. He looks up as if to say, “Are you through?” And then says to the speaker (and, by implication, to the rest of the group), “Therefore, what?”

“Therefore, what?” I think that is what the Savior answered day in and day out as an inseparable element of His teaching and preaching. I’ve tried to suggest that. These sermons and exhortations were to no avail if the actual lives of His disciples did not change." (CES Conference on the New Testament, 8 August 2000, BYU)'' 

The scriptures are meant, above all, to change us, and the only real key to change is Jesus. As you read, try to write down everything you learn about Jesus Christ, the atonement, and his relationship with you. If you do so, your reading of the Book of Mormon will become a source of living water for you. You will find yourself really using what you read in your daily life, and the scriptures will become what one artist has called "the antidote for the emptiness of existence." I invite you to fill your soul with the wisdom, inspiration, and Christian joy that the Book of Mormon offers. As Alma says so beautifully:

"If ye will nourish the word…by your faith with great diligence…it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in your, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof… and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst." (Alma 32:41-42)

Why the Book of Mormon Is Worth Studying Even if You Aren’t a Mormon

We've said a fond farewell to the Old Testament, and we erstwhile scriptorians are taking a break for the summer! On Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 at 10am, we will reconvene in the Cardiff Chapel at 1444 Lake Drive and begin our study of The Book of Mormon. We thought long and hard about this course of study; we worried just a little about leaving the familiar territory of the Bible, because we love having members of different faiths attend our class and don't want to put anyone off! But we love this book so much that we just have to study it! So for any of you that are not very excited about this idea, here is my best persuasive speech about:

Why the Book of Mormon Is Worth Studying Even if You Aren’t a Mormon

If you want to know what the Book of Mormon is, you might do what many of us do when we want to know about something unfamiliar: take a look at Wikipedia. Here is what it has to say:

“The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter-day Saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.

According to Smith's account and the book's narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates. Smith said that the last prophet to contribute to the book, a man named Moroni, buried it in a hill in present-day New York, then returned to earth in 1827 as an angel, revealing the location of the book to Smith, and instructing him to translate it into English for use in the restoration of Christ's true church in the latter days.

The Book of Mormon is the earliest of the unique writings of the Latter-day Saint movement, the denominations of which typically regard the text primarily as scripture, and secondarily as a historical record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. The Book of Mormon is divided into smaller books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and verses. It is written in English very similar to the Early Modern English linguistic style of the King James Version of the Bible, and has since been fully or partially translated into 108 languages. As of 2011, more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been published.” (Wikipedia, The Book of Mormon)

Believe it Or Not, It’s Good Stuff

There you have it. As a result of its fantastic claims, The Book of Mormon is taken very seriously only by Latter-day Saints, and is largely ignored by everyone else, except some few who have devoted themselves to debunking it! I will make no effort whatsoever to prove the authenticity or the historicity of the text; that is much better left to more qualified individuals. My approach in this course will be to examine the Book of Mormon as a work of literature as well as a book of scripture, and to try to mine from it some of the nuggets of wisdom that have made it precious and important as a sacred text to millions of people, including myself. After all, even Wikipedia admits that there are some interesting things in the Book of Mormon:

“The Book of Mormon has a number of original and distinctive doctrinal discussions on subjects such as the fall of Adam and Eve, the nature of the Atonement, eschatology, redemption from physical and spiritual death, and the organization of the latter-day church. The pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection.”

A Complement to the Bible

            As I have taught our community Bible class over the last two years, I have been continually inspired by the number of beliefs we have in common as Christians; these seem so much more important than the doctrinal issues that divide us. I have used the Book of Mormon as a Bible commentary many times in our classes, and simply invite those who are not of our faith to enjoy the insight offered if it appeals to them, and reject it if it does not. Our sessions have virtually no doctrinal disputation; we’ve been much more concerned about our own relation to the teachings of Jesus than various points of doctrine. The Book of Mormon (though often referred to) has never been a point of discussion beyond this blanket disclaimer.

Nevertheless, I personally feel that the Book of Mormon, whether one accepts it as divinely inspired or not, stands on its own as a great work of literature, based on its character development, its complex plotting, and its remarkable collection of authors, each uniquely different in tone and voice. In addition, I contend that it also stands as a great work of sacred scripture, based on the remarkable and original views it espouses on a number of topics, from human nature to the mission of Christ to the apocalypse. Along with the Bible, I feel that it merits its own course of study.

As we progress together through each of the fifteen books in the Book of Mormon, I hope you will begin to appreciate the tremendous wealth of knowledge and insight (particularly about the role of Jesus Christ in our individual lives) that is available in this very unique text.  Many modern challenges, from class warfare to feminism to personality disorders, are dealt with in its pages. If you are not a Latter-day Saint and do not accept the church’s claims about the origin of The Book of Mormon, it is my hope that this study will open your mind to its value as a sacred text, and will add to your own understanding of your own spiritual quest as a result. If you are a Latter-day Saint and do accept this as a standard work, I hope that this commentary will enrich your appreciation of its timeliness and relevance to your daily dilemmas. 

 It's All About Jesus

In any case, our goal in this course is that same as the stated goal of the Book of Mormon itself, namely, to act as another witness of Christ. As Mormon (the brilliant editor and redactor of the book) states in the closing chapters, there is one sure way to judge the value anything that comes into our purview:

 “For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”

(Moroni 7:16)

For me, the Book of Mormon has offered a significant addition to my knowledge and understanding about Jesus, which is the most important information I possess. Anything that adds to that part of my life is welcome and wonderful to me. I’m grateful for what I have learned from its pages, and I’m excited to journey through them together with you. So let’s get started!