And He Left His House

As I read 1 Nephi 2 this morning, I was struck by the sacrifice required of Lehi. I don’t think he anticipated what was coming. The Lord gave him a great revelation in 1 Nephi 1, and he learned of the impending destruction of Jerusalem. And so, he went immediately and started preaching to the people, just like Jeremiah and other prophets. The Lord hadn’t commanded them to leave, so it seems unlikely that Lehi was expecting to have to depart—besides, where would he go? But Nephi recorded, “And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness” (v2). Nephi had already told us that Lehi had “dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days”, and since he had four sons all old enough to be married, I’m guessing he was at least in his mid-forties. That is a long time in one place to have to suddenly leave. And Nephi made it clear that he had a lot of possessions as he highlighted what he left behind: “And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness” (v4). Later in the chapter he gave us a similar list from the perspective of Laman and Lemuel: “To leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness” (v11). The abundance of Lehi’s possessions was made even more clear when Nephi attempted to use them to buy the plates from Laban: “And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things…. And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it” (1 Nephi 3:22, 25). In short, Lehi was leaving a lot behind in terms of material wealth when he packed up his family and headed into the desert. What faith he must have had to take that step into the unknown!

                Given what he left behind, what Lehi did when he made it to the wilderness by the borders of the Red Sea is powerful: “And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.” He had left his home and all his wealth to live in a tent—and Nephi was quick to point that out, saying simply, “and my father dwelt in a tent”—and yet the first thing Lehi did was to make an offering to the Lord and thank Him (1 Nephi 2:7, 15). The story begs the question for each of us: if the Lord asked us to leave all our belongings for Him and go somewhere completely foreign to us, could we do it and go with gratitude for the Lord’s blessings? I thought of this especially yesterday as I found out that a former co-worker of mine was just called to serve with his wife as mission leaders in Brazil. That means their family, with kids still at home in school, will pick up and leave their house, their friends, their extended family, and all of their normal comforts of life this summer to live for three years in a place that doesn’t even speak English. Unlike Lehi, though, they will eventually return, but it is still a sacrifice of enormous proportions that would be difficult for any of us to make. It reminds me of the Lord’s command to William Marks and Newel K. Whitney to leave Kirtland: “Let them settle up their business speedily and journey from the land of Kirtland, before I, the Lord, send again the snows upon the earth. Let them awake, and arise, and come forth, and not tarry, for I, the Lord, command it. Therefore, if they tarry it shall not be well with them. Let them repent of all their sins, and of all their covetous desires, before me, saith the Lord; for what is property unto me? saith the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 117:1-4). They were to leave their property that they couldn’t sell and simply depart to a new land, not unlike Lehi. Could we do likewise?

It is perhaps not surprising that this story of Lehi is found right at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, reminding us that the gospel of Jesus Christ requires great sacrifice from each of us. The first and great commandment is to love the Lord with all our hearts, and that means we must love Him even more than our houses and cars and bank accounts and all our material possessions. In a dramatic fashion, Lehi showed us how to do this.