Skip to main content
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Without the Mormon Lens: 7 - Lehi

Image
By Mason
    Let's think back to the idea of re-contextualization. We should expect to find a mash-up of pre-existing events, people, and ideas as we read. We will see themes being pulled from the Bible, removing their original context, and then being inserted into this new narrative.  This is evident as the entire first chapter sets the stage for the rest of the Book of Mormon. Before Joseph Smith can establish a Native American scripture, he first needs to give an explanation as to how a tribe of Israel ended up in the Americas in the first place. Think of it as his method of worldbuilding.

     Joseph Smith gives the narrative voice of the story to Nephi, who represents himself as a sort of parallel to Christopher Columbus. This voice will eventually become more clear. However, as Nephi begins to describe the visions of his father, we might not immediately see the American influence. 

    He begins by placing us in Jerusalem where we are presented with a condensed representation of events in the Old and New Testaments through the experiences of Lehi. Smith jumps around a lot in this first page, which I think is important to see. The story of Lehi itself is very linear but its inspiration seems to have been pulled from all over the Bible in rapid succession, with a primary focus on Jeremiah.

The Book of Mormon, pg 5

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
     "For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father Lehi having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days;) and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people, that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed." (pg 5)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    We are immediately presented with a direct reference to the Book of Jeremiah, where Jeremiah himself is one of the prophets who prophesied of Jerusalem's destruction. 

~~~~~Old Testament ~~~~~~
    3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: 

    4 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. 

    5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. 

    6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. (Jeremiah 21:3-6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    Then we see in the very next paragraph, that Smith makes another reference to Jeremiah as Lehi expresses deep concern over the fate of Jerusalem.
The Book of Mormon, pg 6

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "Wherefore it came to pass, that my father Lehi, as he went forth, prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people. " (pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    Which is exactly what Jeremiah admonished those who has been carried away captive into Babylon to do.

~~~~~Old Testament ~~~~~~
    12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

    13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    I believe we see our first  major biblical re-contextualization as we are presented this shift in Lehi. Where he goes from being aware of the teachings of the Prophet Jeremiah, to actually taking the role of a prophet himself. 

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
"And it came to pass, as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard, he did quake and tremble exceedingly." (pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    This vision carries the same imagery as Moses and the burning bush. 

~~~~~Old Testament~~~~~~
     2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed (Exodus 3:2)
~~~~~~~~~~~

     More importantly it aligns with Joseph Smith's own vision of God the Father as described to a house guest in 1835.

~~~~~Joseph Smith~~~~~~
     "I called on the Lord in mighty prayer, a pillar of fire appeared above my head, it presently rested down upon my head, and filled me with joy unspeakable, a personage appeard in the midst, of this pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing consumed" (Joseph Smith. 1835)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    But then we get yet another shift where we reference Ezekiel's vision of God combined with John's vision in the Book of Revelation.

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the spirit and the things which he had seen; and being thus overcome with the spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the Heavens open; and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God." (pg 6)

~~~~~Old Testament~~~~~~
    24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. 

    25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 

    26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. (Ezekiel 1:24-26)

~~~~~New Testament ~~~~~~
     3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelations 15:3)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "And it came to pass that he saw one descending out of the midst of Heaven, and he beheld that his lustre was above that of the sun at noon-day; and he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament; and they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a Book, and bade him that he should read." (pg 6)

~~~~~Old Testament ~~~~~~
    10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe (Ezekiel 2:10)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "And it came to pass as he read, he was filled with the spirit of the Lord, and he read saying, Wo, wo unto Jerusalem! for I have seen thine abominations;(pg 6)

~~~~~Old Testament ~~~~~~
    27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be? (Jeremiah 13:27)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    " yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem -- that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof, many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon. "(pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    Up until this point, Lehi was only concerned about the destruction of Jerusalem, but once he read this book, he became aware, not only of the city's destruction, but of its captivity as well. It's almost as though the story of Lehi paused at Jeremiah 21:6 and then picked up again in verse 7.

~~~~~Old Testament ~~~~~~
    7. And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. (Jeremiah 21:7)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    It's interesting that after Lehi read about Jerusalem's destruction, he actually began to praise God, despite it being God who allowed the city to be destroyed.

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "And it came to pass that when my father had read and saw many great and marvellous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! (pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    Which clearly references the same verse in Revelations as before

~~~~~New Testament ~~~~~~
     3 ...Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelations 15:3)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
 Thy throne is high in the Heavens, and the power and goodness, and mercy is over all the inhabitants of the earth; and because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish! (pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    Keeping the narrative in context with the destruction of Jerusalem, its possible that Joseph Smith also alludes to Jeremiah's words to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian.

~~~~~Old Testament ~~~~~~
    18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 39:18)

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen; yea, which the Lord had shewn unto him". (pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    At this point, most of what we have read so far has been a composite of stories from Moses, Ezekial, Jeremiah, and John. With an additional hint toward Joseph Smiths own (supposed) life experience. We have only covered a little more than a single page. Yet we can look at what we just read and can clearly see that it is inspired heavily by the Bible, as many main ideas are simply summarized through the Lehi character. 

    Nephi acknowledges that he is only sharing a summary of Lehi's life in this book. 

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    "And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, for he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams; and he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account; but I will make an account of my proceedings in my days..." (pg 6)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    To me, this come across as a method used by Joseph Smith to reign the story in a bit. After all, he had just spent an entire page where many of the elements of multiple prophets were combined into one, and a lot of ideas were thrown out.

     This is also likely because Joseph Smith had initially written 160 pages of the Book of Lehi, which were stolen by the wife of Martin Harris, his first scribe. This condensed history of Lehi was his attempt to cover everything he had previously written without actually having to rewrite it all. Which may also explain why the story of Lehi feels a bit rushed.

    From here, Smith actually seems to dial it back a notch and portrays Lehi in a bit of a less complicated, and more streamlined way. Not before reiterating that this account is just a summary, and that the subject will eventually be changed to Nephi himself.

The Book of Mormon, pg 7

~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~
    " -- Behold I make an abridgement of the record of my father, upon plates which I have made with mine own hands; wherefore, after that I have abridged the record of my father, then will I make an account of mine own life."  (pg 7)
~~~~~~~~~~~

    As we continue into the next post, we will see Lehi continue to act as a representation of Jeremiah. From there he will transition into the role of a Moses character as he works to lead his family to the promised land. The ties to America will slowly be unveiled as Smith begins to demonstrate potential inspiration from sources outside of the Bible.

Check Your Understanding:

Test what you picked up from this post.

1. What narrative problem is Joseph Smith solving in 1 Nephi?




2. Which biblical figures appear to influence Lehi’s opening visions?




3. What does the post argue Lehi’s visions demonstrate?




4. Why might the story of Lehi feel condensed or rushed?




5. What literary method does the post argue Smith uses throughout Nephi’s narrative?




6. According to the post, how will Lehi’s character evolve?








- Next Post -

8- The Exodus Begins

The prophet Lehi takes on the role of Moses.


New here? Consider starting at the first post.



Category:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Peacemaker Summit and an Attempt to Silence Mormonism's Critics

By Mason
 An upcoming event called the Peacemaker Summit , organized by The Holy Rebellion , is being promoted as a gathering for faithful LDS creators. The organizing vision for this event is explicitly about displacing critics of the faith by flooding social media platforms with coordinated, high-volume pro-Mormon content. That goal deserves scrutiny. My initial reaction to the original video The Stated Aim: Outnumber the Critics Travis Lish and Christian Williams from The Holy Rebellion have been clear about their motivation. They believe critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dominate online spaces and that faithful voices need to overwhelm that presence. The solution being proposed is to create enough volume to hide criticisms from search results.  ... our goal is 1 billion views per month  collectively  as Latter Day Saint creators. Imagine a world where when you search Mormon or LDS or Joseph Smith  across any platform, what you would see...
1 comment
Read

The "Mormon" Trademark is About to Expire

By Mason
 The request for Mormon Stories to rebrand has spread quickly through Mormon spaces. Followers learned that om November 14th 2025, the LDS Church had reached out with claims that the podcast was infringing on the “Mormon” trademark. The demand leaned on the legal idea that the Church owns the word.  The request was shared on social media by @mormstories, but those posts seem to have been removed. Fortunately, copies of the email were  shared on reddit. But there is a significant detail sitting behind this entire dispute. The Church will have to renew the "Mormon" trademark in the 2026 to 2027 window.  Source: USPTO database When that time comes, they must prove that they still use the word “Mormon” in active commerce. USPTO rules are clear on this point. A trademark only survives if the owner can show that it is still printed on actual goods or services that are still being sold or distributed. The official guidelines spell it out at uspto.gov under “ Keeping your r...
3 comments
Read

Mormon Blood and the Esther Cohen-Tizer-Epstein Letter

By Mason
With the recent release of nearly 3.5 million pages of the Epstein files, there have been several connections made regarding Jeffery Epstein paying tuition for several students at BYU. The most notable of which is presented in what is known as the Esther Cohen-Tizer-Epstien Letter.    Some are questioning the authenticity of the letter, but some clues seem to point us to a woman named   Esther Cohen .  Lets look at a few connections. Note that these connections are not an attempt at making any accusations and are simply connections made through publicly available information. I will be updating this page as I find more information. EFTA00129111  Reference to the Seven Bowls School of Nutrition From Esther's website: alchemyofnourishment.com She began studying nutrition as a teenager: Which also seems to align with her site. Alchemy of Nourishment Along with the claim of residing in Colorado Alchemy of Nourishment The final piece of the puzzle is a 2017 revi...
2 comments
Read

Where Did Joseph Smith Dig for Treasure?

By Mason
Before Joseph Smith was known as a prophet, he was known locally for treasure digging. An article written by Dan Vogel   mapped out the physical locations connected to that earlier phase of Smith’s life. Drawing from court records, affidavits, neighbor testimony, and later reminiscences, Vogel was able to place Smith on specific hillsides, farms, and riverbanks across western New York and northern Pennsylvania. Show Dan Vogel's Full Article (If you have issues on mobile, you can read the full document  here ) The article itself is a valuable asset to anybody who wants to understand the treasure digging activities of Joseph Smith. However, due to the design of the maps provided it may be difficult to immediate tell where the digs took place. Which in my opinion, may limit the sharing of his research. As such, I took it upon myself to update the map in Google Earth using Dan Vogel's research as my guide. This gives us a bit of clearer idea of w...
Post a Comment
Read

Early Mormon Criticisms - 4: Fanaticism

By Mason
 This series looks back at how early critics of the church reacted to the rise of Mormonism. Some mocked it, others warned against it, and a few tried to make sense of it. Each post features a historical excerpt and some brief context to show how critics viewed the new faith as it was unfolding.  -The full series can be found  here - The article titled “Fanaticism” was published on February 11, 1831, in the United States Gazette , a Philadelphia paper with national circulation. It reprints material from the Painesville Gazette , reflecting local reports from northeastern Ohio rather than direct investigation by the Gazette itself. The author is unnamed, consistent with early-19th-century newspaper practice, and the tone reflects mainstream Protestant skepticism toward emerging religious movements. The piece focuses on Kirtland and nearby areas in Geauga and Cuyahoga counties at a very early stage in Mormon development, less than a year after the Book of Mormon’s publica...
Post a Comment
Read

Full Text - Mormons Taking Oaths of the Temple House (1904)

By Mason
  This article appeared in 1904, during the height of national scrutiny surrounding the LDS Church and the U.S. Senate investigation into whether Apostle Reed Smoot should be seated as a senator. At the center of that inquiry were questions the public had debated for decades but rarely heard addressed in sworn testimony.  What actually happened inside the Endowment House ?  What oaths were required?  Do the oaths conflict with civic loyalty, democratic norms, and basic transparency? The reporting below relies on testimony given under oath to the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections and presents the claims exactly as they were reported to a national audience. This was not written as theology or internal instruction. It was written as political journalism, aimed at informing a non-Mormon public that largely had no access to temple ceremonies and relied on secondhand descriptions. THE WASHINGTON TIMES DECEMBER 14, 1904 MORMONS TAKING OATHS OF ENDOWMENT HOUS...
Post a Comment
Read

LDS Apologists Try to Beat a Dead Horse

By
It looks like the topic of horses and the Book of Mormon is going to crop up every few months like a nasty case of eczema, so I feel it’s worthwhile to summarize the debate as it currently stands. There's another post on this blog  about more recent research, but it always goes back to the (in)famous analysis done by Matthew Roper and his colleagues at BYU, John Clark and Wade Ardern, all the way back to 2005. But first, let's look even further back.  What the Book of Mormon Said The word “horse” appears 14 total times in the Book of Mormon in the context of domesticated livestock, with half of those references being connected with pulling chariots of war. Both Lamanite and Nephite peoples equated these horses with those described in Isaiah 2:7 and 5:28, which Nephi expressly quotes in his own record (compare 2 Nephi 12:7 and 15:28), with no distinction made between them. The horses of the Americas, per the Book of Mormon, are intended to be the same in form and function to ...
Post a Comment
Read

Encouraging Marriage: Lowering the Age for Female Missionaries

By Mason
 In October 2012, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially lowered the minimum age for missionary service. Before that change, men could begin at age 19 and women at age 21. The update allowed men to start at 18 and women at 19, a major shift in how young Latter-day Saints approached their early adult years. That change dramatically increased missionary numbers, with applications skyrocketing in the weeks after the announcement and women making up a much larger share of those who served.   For more than a decade after that update, the rule stayed the same. Women could serve at 19 and men at 18, with women serving 18-month missions and men serving two years. In November 2025 the Church again changed the rule: the minimum age for women to serve was lowered to 18, equalizing it with men.  What made this new policy notable wasn’t just equality in age; it was the statements that came with it.   In a January 2026 interview with the Church’s own Deseret News, Presid...
Post a Comment
Read

There Is No Curse, Part 5: Then What Is It?

By
We need to talk about the current apologetics attempting to downplay the Lamanite curse. Nephi Sees Our Day In preparation for my next topic, I was reading 1 Nephi 13:15 , where Nephi sees a vision of the future for his own civilization and the European conquest of America. This passage stuck out to me: And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain. This is in direct contrast to 1 Nephi 12:23 : And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations. You might notice that there is ample ambiguity in both passages, but in juxtaposing these two peoples, we see a contrast that I just can’t reconcile if the curse is only “symbolic” or “spiritual.” In comparing Gentiles to Lam...
Post a Comment
Read

The Smithsonian “Early Horses” Article Does Not Prove the Book of Mormon True

By Mason
     A Smithsonian Magazine article titled “ Native Americans Spread Horses Through the West Earlier Than Thought ” (2023) has been circulating in Mormon spaces as supposed proof that horses existed in the Americas during Book of Mormon times.      The article summarizes a legitimate scientific study published in Science titled “ Early Dispersal of Domestic Horses Into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies .” (2023) But when you read what the researchers actually found, it’s clear this does not support the Book of Mormon’s claims at all.      What the Study Actually Found      The research team, led by William Timothy T. Taylor, analyzed horse remains found across the Great Plains and northern Rockies. Using radiocarbon dating, DNA sequencing, and isotopic analysis, they discovered that the animals were of Spanish origin. In other words, these were not remnants of ancient, native North American horses that somehow...
Post a Comment
Read
e
Link copied!