Lehi the Son of Helaman

One of the prophets in the Book of Mormon whom we don’t know a lot about is Lehi, the brother of Nephi and son of Helaman, but clearly he was a powerful prophet and missionary for the Lord.  We are first introduced to him in this passage: “And it came to pass that he had two sons. He gave unto the eldest the name of Nephi, and unto the youngest, the name of Lehi. And they began to grow up unto the Lord” (Helaman 3:21).  In that gospel upbringing he was taught by his father to remember both his ancestor Lehi and the Savior: “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation” (Helaman 5:12). Lehi clearly did that and became active in preaching the gospel to the people as described by Mormon: “But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities” (Helaman 4:14).  Nephi was the chief judge but he gave that up to preach the gospel full time: “Nephi had become weary because of their iniquity; and he yielded up the judgment-seat, and took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days, and his brother Lehi also, all the remainder of his days” (Helaman 5:4).  He didn’t just preach the gospel for a little while but he committed to do so all of his days. 

               Nephi and Lehi’s marvelous experiences taking the gospel to the Lamanites are recounted in Helaman 5.  They did preach “with such great power and authority” that eight thousand of the Lamanites in Zarahemla were converted and many others in the land of Nephi.  They had a marvelous experience in which “they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not” and the people heard the voice of God from heaven (Helaman 5:44).  The account in this chapter is one of the most marvelous missionary experiences recorded in the Book of Mormon.  Subsequent missionary efforts, though, were not quite as successful.  The next we hear of him is in this reference: “Also Nephi and Lehi went into the land northward, to preach unto the people. And thus ended the sixty and third year” (Helaman 6:6).  Unfortunately we don’t have a record of their efforts in the land northward other than this terse summary: “in the sixty and ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of the Nephites, that Nephi, the son of Helaman, returned to the land of Zarahemla from the land northward. For he had been forth among the people who were in the land northward, and did preach the word of God unto them, and did prophesy many things unto them; And they did reject all his words, insomuch that he could not stay among them, but returned again unto the land of his nativity” (Helaman 7:1-7).  So Nephi was there for six years, but interestingly the account says nothing about whether Lehi also returned. In the subsequent chapters that describe Nephi’s efforts to preach to the people in the land of Zarahemla, with his prophecy concerning the death of the chief judge and his receiving the sealing power from the Lord, Lehi was not mentioned at all.  It wasn’t until after the famine and subsequent abatement that Lehi was finally referred to again after the seventy and sixth year (seven years after Nephi returned from the north): “And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a whit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people” (Helaman 11:19, 23).  Whatever he had been doing, Lehi was just as righteous and devoted to the Lord. 

               So where was Lehi during that seven year period?  I have to wonder if he didn’t actually stay in the land northward to keep trying to preach the gospel to them when Nephi came back.  The text isn’t clear, but likely the “great famine” included the land northward, and it appears that they also repented at the end of the famine.  Right after finally mentioning Lehi again, Mormon wrote that they “began to multiply and spread, even until they did cover the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward” (Helaman 11:20).  So it seems like at this time the people of the land northward repented, and perhaps Lehi stayed there in the land northward during the famine to help call the people to repentance.  Wherever he was during this period, it is clear that he was a faithful missionary for the Lord who devoted His whole life to Him.