He Saw God Sitting Upon His Throne

In a recent podcast, Dr. Nick Frederick said this in talking about the importance of the book of Revelation: “Now consider, what's the first story in the Book of Mormon? Prophet named Lehi finds himself transported into the throne room of God in almost an exact representation of Revelation 4, where John finds himself transported into the throne room of God.” I have written before about the connection between 1 Nephi 8 and the book of Revelation, but I’m not sure that I have ever considered how the first chapter of the Book of Mormon is also similar to John’s vision. John recorded his experience at the throne of God in these words: “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold…. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:2-4, 10-11). Nephi recorded this about his father’s vision: “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. And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster 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.” Both saw God on their throne and saw others praising and giving glory to Him there. John specifically saw 24 elders while Lehi saw a group of 12, and Lehi specifically praised the Lord for His works like those before the throne in John’s vision: “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are 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!” (1 Nephi 1:14)

                After Lehi saw the Lord on His throne as well as the twelve with Him, he received a book. Nephi recorded, “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. And it came to pass that 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! 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…. [He did] read and seen many great and marvelous things” (1 Nephi 1:11-14). This reminds me of what happened to John later in his vision. He saw an angel with a little book, and then he was given that book himself: “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it” (Revelation 10:8-9). Lehi read his book and John ate his, but the effect was the same, leading both of them to prophesy. Lehi was inspired to prophesy about the destruction of Jerusalem, and he then went to Jerusalem and preached just that: “He went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard. And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world” (1 Nephi 1:18-19). John was told after he ate his book, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Revelation 10:11). Ultimately, he gave us the whole great prophecy of the book of Revelation which, like Lehi’s preachings, predicted destruction that would come upon the wicked. Both were inspired by the books they received in their visions to prophesy to their people. The visions of Lehi and John both witness of the reality of God—they saw Him directly—and the need for us to heed the words of prophets who are warning us against the calamities that will indeed come upon the wicked. And this parallel account in the Book of Mormon is another witness of the importance of the book of Revelation for Latter-day Saints.