Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 1
1:21, 22 Jesus told his disciples to expect persecution “for so persecuted they the prophets which
were before you" (Matt. 5:14). Luke also records (Acts 7:52) that their fathers had slain the
prophets who told of “the coming of the Just One."
WARNED IN A DREAM, VER. 23-27
1 Ne 1:24 For behold it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said
unto him, Blessed are thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done;
1:24 The prophet Joel (2:28) declared that "your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions." These were not ordinary dreams but spiritual dreams and visions through which
the Lord would convey his word.
1 Ne 1:26 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.
1:26 To the Jews, the term "wilderness" did not mean a desert place, but an uncultivated land used
for pasturage (Num. 14:33; Judg. 1:16). To depart meant to leave his heritage, but it would save
his life.
THE FAMILY LEAVES JERUSALEM, VER. 28-35
1 Ne 1:29 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 he
departed into the wilderness;
1:29 Lehi was a man of means. He had "gold and silver, and all manner of riches" (1:77). It was
hard for him and his family to leave these, but God had shown him that the city would be
destroyed and his life was in danger. He manifested his trust in God by venturing forth into the
wilderness.
1 Ne 1:30 And he came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea;
1:30 This body of water is 1,350 miles long. Its northern end has two gulfs, Suez and Aqaba. It is
likely that the latter was the route taken as it is the more direct course from Jerusalem.
1 Ne 1:33 And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his
tent in a valley by the side of a river of water.
1:33 Major R, E. Chessman says, “Caravan speeds run two and one-quarter to three and ninetenths
miles an hour, thirty miles being ...a good average for the day."
1 Ne 1:34 And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and he made an offering unto the Lord,
and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.