Many years ago (how time flies!) I was teaching 15 and 16 year-old Sunday School students from the Book of Mormon. When we came to this part of 1 Nephi, I divided them into teams of two; gave each team a large sheet of butcher paper and a box of markers; and asked them to draw Lehi's dream. It made for an interesting lesson because they had to look beyond the symbols to the meaning of the symbols as they drew. They loved it!
I didn't save any of the pictures, but all of them included the key symbols you see in this simple drawing above:
- The tree
- The large and spacious building
- The river
- The mists of darkness (seen as lines by the people wandering lost at the right of the picture )
- The iron rod
Nephi wanted to know what his father had seen and he wanted to know what the symbolism of the vision meant. As was his habit, he took the matter to the Lord. Nephi was blessed with a vision of those things which Lehi had seen. asked Nephi questions which guided him to an understanding of the meaning of the dream. Here are some of the answers Nephi received and recorded. I will write Nephi's words in blue so that they will be easy to distinguish from my words.
For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen. . . as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain. . . And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. (1 Nephi 11: 1-2)
Nephi then saw the Messiah teaching among men and choosing twelve to follow Him. He saw the wicked men of the world fighting against Messiah and His apostles. This, the Spirit said, was the wisdom of the world in the great and spacious building. Nephi wrote: And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw. And the angel [said] Behold the world and the wisdom thereof . . . I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel [said] Thus shall the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the apostles of the Lamb. (1 Nephi 11: 35-36)
After that, Nephi saw his own people arriving in a land of promise; prospering in the land; then falling away from the teachings of God and becoming full of pride; warring with their brethren; and being destroyed. The angel told him: And the large and spacious building . . . is the vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. (1 Nephi 12: 18)
Nephi wrote: And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell. (1 Nephi 12: 16) Nephi later taught his brothers: The water which my father saw was filthiness . . . It was an awful gulf which separated the wicked from the Tree of Life and from the Saints of God. . . It was the representation of that awful hell . . . prepared for the wicked . . . there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy. (1 Nephi 15: 23-29, 34)
And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost . . . And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever. (1 Nephi 12: 17-18)
When Nephi's brothers asked: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree? Nephi answered: It was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord . . . to keep his commandments always in all things. (1 Nephi 15: 23-25)
I love to teach and learn with music. If you do, too, go to: http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/the-iron-rod?lang=eng To the right of the song, click on "Vocals and Music" for a treat.
Text in blue from the Book of Mormon
Remaining text copyright June 2013, Gebara Education
Pictures from:
Building www.zimbio.com
River www.howtodraw.com
Mist www.flickr.com
Rod and hand www.unblogmysoul.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment