The Lamb of God

Yesterday my sister pointed me to a very interesting podcast about the Book of Mormon. In it the research Don Bradley puts forth evidence that suggests that the beginning chapters in 1 Nephi took place in the context of the Jewish Passover feast. The Book of Mormon never explicitly mentions Passover, but it does say that they kept the Law of Moses. For example, one passage says this: “Yea, and the people did observe to keep the commandments of the Lord; and they were strict in observing the ordinances of God, according to the law of Moses; for they were taught to keep the law of Moses until it should be fulfilled” (Alma 30:3). The Lord had declared to the people of Moses, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever…. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover…. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped” (Exodus 12:14, 26-27). So we must believe that Lehi and his family originally, and then subsequent Nephite generations before the coming of Christ, did keep the Passover feast, slaying lambs and teaching their children of what happened to Moses and his people.

            One of the contextual clues that Brother Bradley suggested is an indication that the story of Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem may have happened around the time of Passover is the teaching that Lehi gave as soon as they departed the city. We read, “And my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with water. And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world. And it came to pass after my father had spoken these words he spake unto my brethren concerning the gospel which should be preached among the Jews, and also concerning the dwindling of the Jews in unbelief. And after they had slain the Messiah, who should come, and after he had been slain he should rise from the dead, and should make himself manifest, by the Holy Ghost, unto the Gentiles” (1 Nephi 10:9-10). Assuming that it was indeed the time of Passover, Lehi would have been connecting the lambs slain as part of the feast with the Lamb of God who would be slain for the sins of the world. Interestingly, the phrase “Lamb of God” is not found in the Old Testament, and most of the people of Israel probably did not understand the connection between the lamb slain at Passover and the Lamb that would be slain for the sins of the world. But Lehi and Nephi understood this and likely wanted their family to see the connection.

            As I searched this morning, I was surprised to see that the phrase “Lamb of God” only appears three times in the Book of Mormon outside the writings of Nephi. Nephi used the phrase extensively in describing the vision he received shortly after leaving Jerusalem. For example, he wrote, “And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record. And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:32-33). It appears that his vision happened shortly after that of his father’s, and so it was likely not long after the Passover feast (assuming that this did indeed occur around the time of their departure). So, Nephi may have been thinking about the symbolism of the Passover feast as he described the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world. Later in his writings he also described the Savior as “the Lamb of God” when he foretold of how He would be baptized, and he again emphasized that He would “take away the sins of the world” (2 Nephi 31:4). Alma was probably thinking of these words of Nephi when he similarly wrote, “Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness” (Alma 7:14). And finally Moroni used the phrase in his writings as he questioned us, “Behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that great day when the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God? Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God?” (Mormon 9:2-3)

Overall the phrase seems to have been mostly connected with the beginning of the Book of Mormon and, it seems, the Passover feast. Perhaps Mormon didn’t use the phrase in the bulk of the Book of Mormon because by his time the law had been fulfilled and he knew his readers were less likely to connect the Lamb of God with the lamb of the Passover. At any rate, to think that the Book of Mormon began at the time of the Passover feast makes sense and points the readers to the ultimate purpose of the Passover—to remind us of the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world.