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Without the Mormon Lens: 15 - The Tent of My Father

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By Mason

    This is going to be a quick post. I haven't been able to find any major parallels in the first two paragraphs that I share below regarding Sarah's interactions with Lehi. I know I found something before but can't for the life of me remember what it was. 

    But, for the integrity of this project and my desire to not exclude even a single line of text from the Book of Mormon, I'll just include the text here and come back with any updates as I figure it out. 


~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~ 

   "And it came to pass after we had came down into the wilderness unto our father, behold he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceeding glad, for she truly had mourned because of us; for she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying, behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father."

    " And it came to pass that my father spake unto her saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision, I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem and had perished with my children. But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which thing I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness. And after this manner of language did my father Lehi comfort my mother Sariah, concerning us, while we journied in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews."

    "And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted; and she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and gave them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this language did she speak. (Pgs 14-15)

~~~~~~

    The language of which sounds an awful lot like Luke's words in the book of Acts. It's a small detail and I'm not going to go back to it. But it worth pointing out.

~~~~~ The New Testament ~~~~~

    11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. (Acts 12:11)

~~~~~~

    Now that Lehi has the plates, Joseph Smith begins shifts temporarily to pull inspiration from Moses again rather than Joshua. In this case, the parallels are found in Deuteronomy.

~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~

    1 And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. 

    2 And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster:

    3 And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee. (Deuteronomy 27:1-3)

    6 Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God:

    7 And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God.  (Deuteronomy 27:6-7)

~~~~~

    Okay, so lets make quick note in these verses, Moses is giving the Israelites direction on what there are supposed to do once they cross the river Jordan. Nephi and his brothers returning from Jerusalem can be seen as being as impossible of a task and seems to carry a similar level of importance. Remember that Nephi is a parallel to Joshua and Joshua is who brings the Israelites across the river Jordan. That's fun isn't it?

    So what was the direction that Moses gave to the Israelites? 

    The first was to build an altar and make sacrifices, which is what Lehi did.



~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~

    "And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel." (Pg 15)

~~~~~

    Second, they were to write the words of the law upon the stone and become people of God

~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~

    8 And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

    9 And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God.   (Deuteronomy 21:8-9)

    10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.   (Deuteronomy 27:10)

~~~~~~~

    While Lehi doesn't necessarily write words on stone, he does present to his family the five Books of Moses immediately after they perform a sacrifice. Which, for all intents and purposes, has the same effect and occurs in the same order as Mose's direction.

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~

    "And after that they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father Lehi took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, which was our first parents; and also a record of Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah; and also the prophecies of the Holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah." (Pg 15)

~~~~~

    Smith then establishes Lehi's family as being 'people of God' by declaring their lineage to ancient prophets. Which, again seems to align with the direction given to the Israelites.

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~

    "And it came to pass that my father Lehi also found upon the plates of brass, a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph which was the son of Jacob, which was sold into Egypt, and which was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father Jacob and all his household from perishing with famine. And they were also led out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by the same God who had preserved them. And thus my father Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records." (Pg 15)

~~~~~

    After giving these instructions, Moses then prophecies concerning the Isrealites.

~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~

    1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 

    2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God... (Deuteronomy 28:10)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~

    "And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed; that these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people which were of his seed. Wherefore he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many times concerning his seed." (Pg 15)

~~~~

    The children of Israel are then commanded to remain obedient to the Lord and are reminded of their genealogy.

~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~

    9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.  

    10  Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,

    11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:

    12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:

    13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. (Deuteronomy 29:9-13)



~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~

    "And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us. And we had obtained the record which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children. Wherefore it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journied in the wilderness towards the land of promise." (Pgs 15 - 16)

~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~

    5 And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. (Deuteronomy 30:5)

~~~~~

    By the way, this post is a bit of a milestone as it concludes the first chapter of the Book of Mormon.  I didn't realize it would take me so long to breakdown an entire chapter but you know what? I'm glad I've been so granular. I've learned a lot and I hope you have too, the similarities so far between the Israelite Exodus and the journey of Lehi and his family have been absolutely fascinating for me to compare and I just want to thank you for spending the time to sit down and reading through what I have to share. 

- Mason


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