We learn in the first chapter of the Book of Mormon that Lehi lived during the reign of King Zedekiah, and that "many prophets" had been called of God to preach repentance to a wayward people. (See 1 Ne. 1:4.) Some of those prophets would have included Jeremiah (1 Ne. 7:14), Ezekiel, Zephaniah and possibly Habakkuk. It was a dark day for the children of Israel, a time of bitter apostasy - a time of rampant immorality (Jer. 5:8-9; Jacob 2:31-34), a day when the pastors or shepherds of the flock, the spiritual leaders of the people, were corrupt (Jer. 23:1-2).
Nephi's mention of the "elders of the Jews" (1 Ne. 4:22) and especially his remark concerning the "brethren of the Church" (1 Ne. 4:26) cause us to wonder about Lehi's standing before God at the time the Book of Mormon narrative begins. We know he was a prophet and presumably received his mission and commission in 1 Nephi 1. In speaking of those who were called by God to the prophetic office after Moses and the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood were withdrawn from ancient Israel, Joseph Smith taught, "All the prophets had the Melchizedek Priesthood and were ordained by God Himself." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181.)Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained: "By combining the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, we have at least a thousand passages which let us know what prevailed among the Lord's people in the Old World.
"Did they have the fulness of the everlasting gospel at all times? Yes. . . . Do not let the fact that the performances of the Mosaic law were administered by the Aaronic Priesthood confuse you on this matter. Where the Melchizedek Priesthood is, there is the fulness of the gospel, and all of the prophets held the Melchizedek Priesthood. . . .
"There was not so much as the twinkling of an eye during the whole so-called pre-Christian Era when the Church of Jesus Christ was not on earth, organized basically in the same way it now is. Melchizedek belonged to the Church (D&C 107:1-4); Laban was a member (1 Ne. 4:7-28, especially verses 22 and 26), so also was Lehi, long before he left Jerusalem." ("The Bible: A Sealed Book," in Doctrines of the Restoration, p. 292, emphasis added.)
It is difficult to tell from the text of the Book of Mormon what Lehi and his family already knew about the gospel, or what they learned from visions, dreams, the ministry of angels, and from searching the scriptural record we know as the brass plates. What we do know is that Lehi taught the gospel; he presented to his people and, by extension, to modern readers, some of the most plain and precious doctrinal teachings found anywhere in holy writ. Lehi kept a record of his proceedings, including his teachings, and many of those teachings come to us through Nephi's abridgment of his father's record. (1 Ne. 1:16; 8:29; 9:1-6; 10:8; 14:28-29.)
THE MESSAGE
In a very real sense, Lehi laid the doctrinal foundation for the Nephites. Within our present Book of Mormon, we find some of the most profound sermons and teachings from Lehi, and, once again, these are but Nephi's abridgment of Lehi's messages. For example, consider some of the doctrines discussed by Lehi:
1. The "doctrine of the two ways." In Deuteronomic fashion, Lehi stresses the blessings from obedience and the punishments and missed opportunities from disobedience. It was Lehi who first stated the prophetic principle from God that weaves itself through the entire Nephite record like a doctrinal refrain: "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence." (2 Ne. 1:20.) Herein is defined for us the ultimate sense in which God blesses or punishes His people: those who keep His commandments open themselves to the influence of His Holy Spirit, while those who deny and defy the truth walk alone in the darkness of the world.
2. The redemption of fallen man. One of the most pressing and poignant messages in the Book of Mormon is humanity's need for redemption - redemption from the effects of the Fall.
It is Lehi who first teaches the doctrine of the Fall and the plight of fallen man; and it is Lehi who then couples the Fall and the Atonement, a practice that is universally carried out throughout the remainder of the record. Nephi quoted his father thus: "Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews - even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world. And he[Lehi] also spake concerning the prophets, how great a number had testified of these things, concerning this Messiah, of whom he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world. Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer." (1 Ne. 10:4-6, emphasis added.)
In speaking later to Jacob, Lehi observes that unaided man is forever lost, and, further, man is saved by merit, but not by his own merit. "Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed," he says to Jacob. Why was Jacob redeemed? Because of his obedience, his faithfulness, his commitment? Jacob was indeed a worthy and steadfast individual, but Lehi pointed out that man's works, even though essential, are insufficient. "I know that thou art redeemed, because of the rightouesness of thy Redeemer." (2 Ne. 2:3, emphasis added.) Truly, as father Lehi taught, "by the law no flesh is justified; or by the law men are cut off." (2 Ne. 2:5.) Unless we keep the law of God perfectly, we cannot be pronounced innocent and worthy of exaltation on our own, for we fall short through our sins and misdeeds. Our only hope is to be justified or exonerated from sin through faith in the name of One who did live the law perfectly. "Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth." Truly, "there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." (2 Ne. 2:8.)
Lehi explained to Jacob (in the same chapter) that if our first parents had not partaken of the forbidden fruit, all forms of life on earth would have remained in their paradisiacal condition - no death, no children, (v. 23; Moses 5:22), no ultimate happiness. "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." Now note how, once again, Lehi links the Fall and the Atonement: "And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall." (2 Ne. 2:22-26.)
3. The destiny of the House of Israel. Inasmuch as two of the central messages of the Book of Mormon are the testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God; and the promise of the gathering of Israel, it should not be surprising to find both of these matters dealt with impressively by the first prophet of the Lehite dispensation. Lehi was the first of this branch of
new worldT Hebrews to compare the house of Israel to an olive tree, presumably drawing upon the Allegory of Zenos on the brass plates. In speaking of the manner in which the Almighty had chosen to scatter this particular colony in an effort to disperse the blood of Israel, Lehi explained that the olive tree had "branches [that] should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth. Wherefore, he [Lehi] said it must needs be that we [the Nephites] should be led with one accord into the land of promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord, that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth." After the house of Israel should be scattered they should be gathered together again." Lehi then provided a key theological definition - what it means for a branch to be grafted. He pointed out that in the last days the people of Israel "should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer. (1 Ne. 10:12-14, emphasis added.)
Lehi is the first of the Book of Mormon prophets to teach that in the last days the gospel would be restored through what the Nephites call the Gentiles - Gentile by culture, Israelite by lineal descent - and thereafter brought to the people of Israel, those we would know as the Lamanites and the Jews. Nephi explained to Laman and Lemuel: "And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches" is that in the last days "the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah [shall] come unto the Gentiles [the Latter-day Saints], and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed." Now note the Christ-centered nature of this gathering: "And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, . . . and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved." (1 Ne. 15:13-14, emphasis added.)
4. Prophecies concerning Joseph Smith and the Restoration. In giving counsel to his youngest son Joseph, Lehi draws upon the prophecies of Joseph of old, the son of Jacob who had been sold into slavery in Egypt. The material found in 2 Nephi 3 contains excerpts from a more extensive prophecy contained on the brass plates (2 Ne. 4:1-2), seemingly what we have in Joseph Smith's Translation of Genesis 50. Lehi thus quoted Joseph's prophecy concerning the call in the last days of a "choice seer," one who would be a descendant of Joseph (v. 7); who would bring the people of the last days to a knowledge of the covenant God made with the ancient patriarchs (v. 7); who would be a lawgiver and a covenant spokesman like Moses (v. 9); who would be given the name of Joseph after his own father (v. 15); who would bring forth the word of God, a word that would supplement, clarify, and substantiate the word we know as the Bible (v. 11; compare 1 Ne. 13:39-40; D&C 20:11); and whosever works would bring the people of the Lord to salvation (v. 15).
Most Latter-day Saints are aware of Jehovah's statement through Ezekiel that in the last days the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph would become joined and thus "one in thine hand." (Ezek. 37:15-17.)
Joseph's prophecy also included reference to the call of Moses as a lawgiver and of Aaron as his spokesman (v. 17). The prophecy then turned to the latter days: "And the Lord said unto me [Joseph of old] also: I will raise up [a man] unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall decare it." (2 Ne. 3:18.)
CONCLUSION
Lehi was a mighty man, but one with whom we can identify. He was a faithful man, though he made mistakes. He was God's representative, even though there were times when he murmured. (1 Ne. 16:18-27.) Lehi was a preacher of righteousness, one who was not afraid to preach the truth, condemn wickedness, and call people to repentance. (See 1 Ne. 8:36-38; 2 Ne. 1:13-14, 21.)
Lehi's doctrine was sound, and his witness was sure. He was a man who proved true and faithful in a day of great wickedness; he thus represents, like so many of the Nephite great ones, the principle that one can come unto Christ and be perfected in Him, even as we pass through the mists of darkness. He taught us in his incomparable dream/vision (1 Nephi 8) how critical it is to press forward on the gospel path, hold tenaciously to the word of God, give no heed to those who chant or mock or proselyte from the great and spacious building, until we eventually fall in reverent awe at the feet of our Lord and Savior and partake of eternal life. And because he consecrated his life to his Lord, he received the assurance of everlasting reward: "The Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." (2 Ne. 1:15.)