My plan this morning was to slam through a big chunk of the Book of Mormon because I am super far behind on my goal of reading 15 pages a day to finish by the time Wiyah comes home. I had only read a few chapters when my brain snagged on something. I don’t even remember what it was exactly. But I noticed a pattern and now that I recognized it, I kind of wanted to go back and see it more clearly and see what I might have missed. But I also wanted to keep reading forward because I’m so far behind.
Anyway, I decided to go back. I mapped out the interactions between Nephi and the Angel as Nephi is being shown the vision his father had. It was fascinating. I just divided my paper (It took me 4 pages, horizontally) into thirds. The first column is what the Angel initially says to Nephi, which is most commonly “Look!” or “Behold!”. The second column is what Nephi actually saw. And the third column is the Angel’s explanation of what that is or what it meant. It’s such a great way of teaching. Hey, let me direct your attention to this. What do you see? And sometimes the learner can piece it together quite nicely. But sometimes the learner is missing information or hasn’t pieced it together and then the teacher can give further explanation. After I had it all mapped out, I actually highlighed every place where anything was mentioned that had been mentioned in Lehi’s vision.
One of the first things I noticed was that at the beginning, Nephi desired to know the things of the vision by the power of the Holy Ghost. He knew them already because Lehi told him. He says that Lehi spoke with the power of the Holy Ghost. Nephi already believed his father, we find out later. But he wanted more than just Lehi’s words and his own belief in his father’s words which were spoken by the power of the Holy Ghost. He wanted to “see, and hear, and know all these things” for himself by the power of the Holy Ghost. I just found that fascinating. His father spoke with the Holy Ghost. Nephi believed. But he wanted more.
So he’s pondering on these things and he’s caught away in the spirit. He actually recognizes the Spirit of God and says the Spirit of God was in the form of a man. So Nephi basically says he spoke to the Spirit of God man-to-man. For 13 verses. Because in 1 Nephi 11:14, in the middle of the vision he is already having with the Spirit of God, the heavens open and an angel descends. It’s like a vision within a vision! And it’s the angel who interacts with him for the remainder of the four chapters and the rest of the vision.
Why is that? Doesn’t it just make your brain burn with curiosity? Why does this vision start out with the Holy Ghost and then switch to an angel? I can’t say I know the answer. But I have two guesses.
- Nephi specifically asked to be shown these things by the power of the Holy Ghost. Hello! Answered prayer.
- Some sense that when Jesus is the Comforter. The Holy Ghost is another comforter. And in verse 14 is the introduction of the Son of God into the visions. So maybe if you are witnessing the Son of God (just like in his earthly ministery) that’s not the time for the Holy Ghost.
Anyway, this is how my outline goes:
Spirit: What do you want Nephi?
Nephi: I want to see the things my father saw.
Spirit: Because of your faith you’ll see that and so much more.
Nephi then sees the tree.
Nephi: I see that you’ve showed me the tree which is most precious.
Spirit: What do you want, Nephi?
Nephi: I want to know what it means.
I just love this interaction. Truth be told, I almost find it funny. Nephi wants to see the vision so he asks to see the vision and he is shown the very tree his father saw. Wow. He’s having his vision. And maybe he didn’t realize it until that moment that he what he really wanted was to know what it all meant. (My other interpretation involves a healthy dose of sarcasm which I am assuming does not come from God!)
Then comes the angel who talks to him about the condescension of God. Nephi doesn’t understand. So the angel walks him through different visions about Jesus. Then Nephi sees the rod of iron, the fountain of living water, the tree of life and understands their representations. Once he has all that background, the angel can then help him understand what the condescension of God is.
Continuing, the angel shows Nephi the Savior teaching and healing people. The people gather to hear him but then kick him out from amongst them. They judge him and sentence him to death for his “crimes”.
And then I absolutely love the angel’s sad pronouncement.
Behold the world and the wisdom thereof.
Nephi then is taught about the Great and Spacious building.
Next, Nephi is shown a vision about his own descendants. There is a lot of war and dwindling in unbelief which must have been so hard for Nephi to see and know seeing as how he had only barely left Jerusalem and hadn’t even arrived in the promised land yet. He already knows how his story will end with his descendants turning wicked and being wiped off the face of the promised land. And as he sees the Nephits and Lamanties gathered for battle, the angel teaches him about the fountain of filthy water, the depths of the river, the mists of darkness and the great and spacious building. What visceral teaching. It’s not just a history (future history?) lesson. It has a deep application and value to Nephi that is going to forever evoke an emotional response of whenever he thinks about sin and pride.
That seems to conclude the part of the vision that Nephi asked to see. And the following two chapters are dedicated to the prophecy by the Holy Spirit that Nephi would see and bare record of the Son of God and more. (How cool is that??)
So he’s already seen what happens during Christ’s lifetime in Israel. And he’s seen what happens to his own people starting from the birth of Christ until the Nephites are destroyed. So now he’s shown what’s happening with the Gentiles who are coming over to inherit the promised land. He sees the Gentiles loving the Bible, but missing important information that makes them stumble. They cross the ocean, come to the promised land, Lamanites are scattered. But then the Bible and other books come forth from the Gentiles back to the Lamanites that convince them that the records and prophets are true.
If you can imagine even seeing and comprehending that much of world history through the gospel lens…It would have been amazing. But the angel isn’t done yet! Then Nephi gets a vision of a more global level and sees what appears to be the winding up scenes before the end of the world. It’s the Church of the Lamb of God vs. Mother of All Harlots. And lots of war, of course.
My favorite part is 1 Nephi 14:11-14
11 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.
12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.
13 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.
14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
I feel this. The great whore is powerful and her dominion is great. And sometimes my courage fails me and it feels like all is lost. But though the dominions of righteousness may be small, they are armed with the power of God in great glory. So beautiful and hopeful. Maybe it comforted Nephi, too.
But wait! That’s not all! There’s more!
After this comprehensive vision, the angel basically tells Nephi, “I have a bunch more amazing things to show you now. But you can stop taking notes because you can’t write any of this down.” Nephi concludes that the previous four chapters are only a small part of the things that he saw. He testifies that he saw the things his father saw (which was what he asked for at the beginning) and then ends by saying:
If all the things which I saw are not written, the things which I have written are true. And thus it is. Amen.
sparkling blue 