By Greg Christiansen
Lehi found himself in a dark and dreary waste, lost and alone. Knowing not where to go, he prayed to the Lord for mercy. He needed to be rescued, because he had spent many hours traveling in darkness, having followed a man who was dressed in a white robe.
When we read Lehi’s dream, we seem to assume that this man in the white robe was good. Perhaps he was Christ. Perhaps he was an angel. Yet then we are left with a difficult question. Why did this man in white lead Lehi into darkness, and where had this man gone to when Lehi suddenly found himself lost and alone? After all, a key aspect of Lehi’s dream is to teach us how to navigate the darkness and find the Tree of Life, and in the dream the solution is not to follow men wearing white robes. It is to hold onto an iron rod, which rod represents the words of God.
It seems to me that one thing Lehi’s dream teaches us is that following a man who wears a robe of authority and holding to the rod of iron are not always the same thing. We find this same lesson elsewhere, when Paul warns the Corinthians, teaching that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). He was warning them that appearances can be deceiving. It is not enough that someone wears the robes of authority. We cannot simply assume that a message comes from God because the person that delivers the message wears a mantle upon his shoulders or is dressed in a white robe. Doing so would simply be surrendering our agency to someone else.
There is a difference between blindly following someone and following the straight and narrow path in faith through the darkness. The man who holds onto the iron rod may not be able to see the straight and narrow path beneath his feet, but he can have faith that it is there because he feels his hand holding to the rod. To the contrary, the man who follows a man in white through the darkness, clinging to that man’s robe, has put all of his faith into that man, and if the man is leading him astray he will either wind up in the ditch together with him or he will eventually find himself abandoned to darkness like Lehi did.
Brigham Young understood this principle. He said to the saints, “What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually” (Brigham Young, “Eternal Punishment,” Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt 12 January 1862, Vol. 9 (London: Latter-Day Saints Book Depot, 1862), 150.)
Here Brigham Young makes several important points that I feel the need to emphasize, in case they were missed. 1. We should never assume that following our leaders and following the Lord is the same thing. 2. Blindly following others runs contrary to the purposes of God in our salvation. 3. Gaining a witness of the Lord’s guidance helps us to positively influence our leaders. 4. We gain that witness by the Spirit of God.
Ultimately, there is perhaps a false belief in the Church that the words of the prophet and apostles and the iron rod are the same thing. Yet it is critically important to recognize that the iron rod does not equate to the words of the Lord’s authorized servants, but it equates to the words of God. Sometimes they are the same and sometimes they are not, and it is left to us to discern the voice of the Lord from the philosophies of men. Similarly, not every word of scripture is the word of God, even though those words can be found within canonized works.
If such were the case, we would be bound by Paul’s counsel when he said, “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church” (1 Corinthians 14:34-35). The same Paul who taught us that we cannot always trust in the appearance of authority, gives us a case in point as to why. It is plain that in this case Paul was preaching in accordance with the philosophies and traditions of men, and not in accordance with the truths of God, who regards women and men equally.
This does not mean that Paul was an evil man, or that he was intentionally trying to lead others into darkness. It simply means that good men can at times preach falsehoods with boldness, because they have inherited false traditions and beliefs from the world or are relying upon the wisdom of the world. It shows us how powerful traditional beliefs can be. Truly, we are often blinded by such traditional beliefs, and it is plain also that Paul did not always recognize his own blindness. Yet this same Paul would speak wise words to us, which shows he also was trying to be better than he was in this regard. He said, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19).
This does not mean we should be hesitant to obey the Lord until we understand things for ourselves. One thing the scriptures teach us is that very often obedience comes before understanding. Adam was commanded to make animal sacrifices, and surely it must have been difficult for him to do so after having lived at peace with the animals in the Garden of Eden. Yet he knew that the command came from the Lord, so he obeyed even though at first he did not know why he was doing it. Similarly, Nephi walked blindly into the city of Jerusalem, hoping to get the brass plates but having no idea of how he was going to accomplish the task. Still, he knew that his father Lehi had been commanded by the Lord, so he went forward in faith. While Adam and Nephi were required to walk forward blindly, it is important to recognize that they were not blind as to who they were obeying.
Yet history also provides us with many examples where those in authority have followed their own wisdom, calling it the will of the Lord. The Deuteronomists in Jerusalem in the days of King Josiah may have been a group who abused their mantle of authority in such a way. They issued new laws to the people during a time of sweeping reformations. Among these new laws was the commandment to murder anyone who promoted a false god, even if they were your mother, brother, daughter, wife, or so forth. Soon after giving this commandment, the author of it declared, “Thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 13:18).
Here the speaker equates their commands to the voice of God, yet we should have ample cause to question the validity of such a claim. Was it really the Lord’s will for people to start murdering their neighbors and loved ones? Even though the law of Moses carried harsh penalties for grievous sins, like adultery, the new command given by these priests to murder a brother because he promotes a false belief, and to not even “pity him,” giving him no opportunity for repentance, sounds highly questionable as a command that would have come from God. It certainly does not sound like the same God the Nephites served in the Book of Mormon. Indeed, the God of the Book of Mormon feels very different from the God of the Old Testament, even though Lehi was a contemporary of these Deuteronomists.
It makes me wonder how many Jews blindly followed the commands of those priests, and murdered family members or neighbors under the accusation that they were promoting a false God or false worship. Indeed, this command was part of a movement to rid Jerusalem of “false prophets,” to the point that it is no wonder how quickly many would shout out “stone him” whenever a prophet would say something not to their liking. Lehi and Jeremiah would be such prophets, declaring that this same Jerusalem which was being run by these Deuteronomists was wicked and was on the eve of destruction.
Is it no wonder that Laman and Lemuel often viewed murder as an acceptable way to handle their problems with Nephi. From our modern perspective, we might simply dismiss those two brothers as being awful murderous individuals. Yet Laman and Lemuel claimed that Jerusalem was not a wicked city, and their murderous way of dealing with Nephi was consistent with the teachings of the high priests of Israel in regards to dealing with false prophets (even though Moses had never authorized such a law back in his day).
Indeed, there is a real moral danger in giving those in authority over you a blank check in determining the Lord’s will for you. Laman and Lemuel could have easily justified murdering Nephi, calling him a false prophet, allowing the unjust laws given to Jerusalem by uninspired priests to blind them to right and wrong. Similarly, on another occasion they seem to have used Jeremiah’s words to attack their father, Lehi. Jeremiah had warned Jerusalem against false prophets who “speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16). Laman and Lemuel used similar language to criticize their father, calling him a “visionary man” who had led them from their home “because of the foolish imaginations of his heart” (1 Nephi 2:11). It suddenly becomes easy to understand why they so often considered murdering Nephi and even their father. They simply had to label them as false prophets, and the laws they had been taught actually commanded them to murder them without pity.
They were in many ways a product of the Jewish culture of their day. At the same time, Nephi was also a product of that Jewish culture and yet he was a branch that drew strength from the tree’s good roots and not from its corrupt branches. The stories of Moses and others inspired him in such a way that he could say to his brothers, “If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them” (1 Nephi 17:50).
We must acknowledge in this day of warring opinions and beliefs that we cannot escape from the responsibility to discern the voice of the Lord from the other voices. Grabbing hold of the coattails of our leaders is not the same as grabbing hold of the rod of iron. But by instead discerning the good from the evil, we will better be able to support our leaders in all things that are good, and to cast aside those things which are not. And by casting aside that which is not good, perhaps we will inspire others to cast it aside also, and even positively influence our leaders in that regard.
Ultimately, the allegory of the vineyard in Jacob 5 teaches us that the Lord’s work is all about the fruit. Are the trees of the vineyard producing good fruit, or is the vineyard full of all kinds of bad fruit? Similarly, the Savior taught us that in the last days we can know the nature of the prophets in that same way, saying that we “shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:15-20).
As we seek to cast off the shackles of false beliefs and false traditions, let us continually embrace all things that are good. With that being said, I anticipate that there will be some who will view this essay as an attack upon our leaders. That is not my purpose. My purpose is to confront a false belief that I have heard repeated many times when people have discussed our troubling times. I have heard them say, “Well, so long as we just follow the prophet we will be okay.” I have come to realize that there is something wrong about that statement, and can point out that Brigham Young would have called such a belief a “reckless” one.
What we should be telling ourselves instead is, “So long as we just follow the Lord, we will be okay.” We follow the prophet as he follows the Lord. President Nelson himself has emphasized this point, repeatedly directing us to discern the Lord’s voice. In his words, “We are to hear the words of the Lord, hearken to them, and heed what He has told us!”
P.S. Moroni 7 is a good study on this topic.
Thank you for expressing the sentiments of my heart in such a beautiful essay. The man in the white robe has been a perplexing figure in Lehi’s dream. And we often confuse the true voice that we should all be listening too. I love what Elder Bednar said many years ago about how the imperfections of the brethren have strengthened his faith. Not to focus on their imperfection, but that we (they and us) are all progressing toward becoming like our Heavenly Parents.
Fascinating!!!! New food for thought, very much needed at this time with so many options to consider and my spiritual insights not always matching what is coming from church headquarters! Thank you!!!! Sue
You have expressed my thoughts, thank you for this timely essay
Masterfully written!! I have never before picked up on the man in the white robe, leading Lehi into darkness. Your essays are amazing and spiritually uplifting.
Thanks!!
I appreciate this article and the notice of the man in a white robe – which I’d never considered. I cherish the opportunity and privilege it is to exercise my power to choose to take ownership of my obedience instead of being blind in my obedience, which obviously requires discernment. This must be an area I can strengthen.
I also Love Moroni 7. It is a true compass for discerning truth from error. Thank you for adding that suggestion at the end.
Amen
Thank you! Very healing to both sides of my battling heart and mind on this subject. I see where I am invited to repent and am so grateful to do so.
Blessings
Thank you so much. What an important subject. So well thought out and expressed. I had not thought about the person dressed in white either. Excellent observation. May the Lord bless you.
Thank you!!!! Lots of great insights! Love the quote by Brigham Young!!! Sometimes I can’t help but feel like the church is hijacked, that decisions and choices that are made as a church collectively are hinged on anything but revelation or guidance from the Lord. I feel like the boat of the church is about to crash to smitherness while those at the helm are just telling us to go full Speed ahead as if there was no sign of unprecedented danger…
Great article!! So much food for thought here…
Let me just talk about what is the elephant in the room at least for me…I do not like the letter from the Utah area authorities encouraging us to wear the mask and social distance. It does not feel right to me. It also feels wrong to me to not be able to sing in church and to see everyone wearing a satanic initiation symbol…a mask… while worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and Mother.
These mandates are immoral and unconstitutional. The social distancing, the masks, the vaccines, the closing of non essential businesses, the propaganda/news and the fear porn all feel so dark to me.
None of the responses by LDS church or Gov leaders to the fake covid plandemic passes the sniff test. It’s all so very wrong and if these leaders continue to encourage and even force the vaccine upon us it will be yet another sign to me that they are not hearing the voice of the Lord and following Him.
I so agree!
I totally agree with you 100% and haven’t been able to justify it in my mind that they are encouraging the tyranny. Especially when I go to the temple. I’m told that in places like figi and Samoa where there’s No covid they still have to wear masks and socially distance.
However it is coming out that those who have received the jab are shedding on to those that haven’t with disastrous results so maybe it’s a good thing for the vaccinated to keep wearing masks and keep their distance so they don’t infect those of us who aren’t. You never know. It might have an unrealized purpose .
Thank you so much for this
This Will be added to the bread in the oven or on the back burner Or mowing over Need the bread dough 🤔 and I do agree with this thanks again now of to work I’ll listen again to the-book-of-mormon and especially Moroni chapter 7
It has also answered some of my prayers thanks again
Thank you for this, I have always wondered how/why Laman and Lemuel would be so inclined to kill their father and brother!
The truth is we (as LDS people) are actually a lot more like Laman and Lemuel than we are like Nephi. Another interesting facet of the story is Jacob; he was born after they left Jerusalem, and was never subject to the rigid orthodoxy of the law… and as a result, spiritually matured much faster than even Nephi, who had to struggle to “unlearn” the culture of his upbringing.
It’s also worth noting that a central part of Laman and Lemuel’s quarrel with Nephi was that it was their right to rule, as the elder brethren, which was another religious and cultural tradition. They taught their children that Nephi had also robbed them, which was likely a reference to the fact that Nephi took the brass plates and the Liahona when he fled with his friends and family into the wilderness, which things they might have considered their birthright after Lehi died. If they were not blind and deaf to the will of the Lord, they would have had a valid argument supported by religious tradition.
Hello Greg, appreciate your observations and insights.
A couple of things I have observed and would like your possible input. When it comes to the bible, I fear the words of Paul have been changed by men putting there own perverted philosophies and false traditions and are not the original words of Paul. This, I fear, has happened a lot and Joseph’s inspired translations of the bible bears this out. I wished he would have had more time to have made further corrections.
I would also like to get your input regarding the JofD. It was my understanding that the church doesn’t use the JofD much because of many mis-transcriptions, such as the Adam-God Theory. I’m not arguing one way or another but the JofD seems to be our critiques main breeding ground for attacking our beliefs. Having said that there are many quotes I enjoy and have used over the years. If we have the spirit of inspiration and revelation we can determine the light from the darkness which brings me to my last point.
I love using one of the few scriptures we have about putting our trust in the arm of flesh. It is found in 2 Nephi 28:31. “Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, SAVE THEIR PRECEPTS SHALL BE GIVEN BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST.” The principle here is not the person who is giving the teachings, but it is squarely on our shoulders to have the Holy Ghost witness to us when what is being taught is by that man or given by the Holy Ghost. It is indeed important for us to ask and receive a witness from the Holy Ghost on all things given to us.
Then it is interesting to what Nephi says in verse 14 in chapter 28. “…they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.”
I like your questions, Verlan, and your insights that go with them. I think it is best whenever possible to give people the benefit of the doubt. Like you, I would like to think well of Paul in all regards, and accept the possibility that his words may easily have been altered. Yet, whether they were his words or someone else’s words, we may feel a conflict when we look at the Bible as an authoritative source, and yet read words that we can feel in our hearts are not true, like those particular words of Paul. My belief is that it is on each of us to discern the truth.
I feel that same thing applies to the JoD. Even if certain discourses were translated 100% correctly, it does not guarantee that the entirety of the discourse is true and inspired. Certainly, there is room for error whenever truth is being filtered through men of flesh. This may be one reason why Christ identified Himself as the only sure foundation upon which we can build.
Ultimately, if we look at our leaders as infallible, we do them a disservice, and remove from them the liberty of speaking their thoughts freely. Instead, we place upon them the tremendous burden of feeling like every word that comes out of their mouths has to be sanctioned by heaven.
I appreciate the time Brother Greg has taken to share his thoughts here. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to be reminded of several important lessons I have learned, beginning in The Old Testament and continuing throughout all the officially canonized Books of Scripture available to me today.
As I revisited Deuteronomy chapter 13, in it’s entirety, I was reminded of the importance the God of the Old Testament places on the worship of the One and Only True God versus The worship of idols, false gods, and false priests who press. The Deuteronomists were indeed tasked with discouraging priestcraft and idol worship precipitated by those who claimed to have received visions and revelations… and as a result were intent on encouraging others in a direction away from The One True God.
The mention of king Josiah, a contemporary to Lehi and his family, reminded me of one of my favorite Old Testament stories of the young king Josiah and the Prophetess Huldah (the other Prophet in the land at the time of Jeremiah) whose courage in the face of idol worship brought an entire nation to repentance. As I read in Second Chronicles Chapter 34 I am intrigued by the bravery of this young king and his determination to repair the house of Judah and adhere to the Book of the Law and honor his spiritual heritage within The House of David. Of particular interest to me is verse 21 of Second Chronicles chapter 34, where the young King Josiah asks his advisers to “go and inquire of the Lord” concerning the words of “a book” that was found while undergoing the restoration of the temple. Josiah directs his advisers that this inquiry of The Lord is to be facilitated through the Prophetess Huldah, whose call for national repentance the young King is quick to heed and impliment.
As I follow the footnotes connected to the word “book” in verse 21 it is fun to discover reference to both Deuteronomy and First Nephi 15: 23&24 a direct connection to Nephi‘s recital of his experience with The Lord in relation to his father Lehi’s dream. It is here that the iron rod – word of God- pattern falls beautifully into place spanning both Old Testament and Book of Mormon recordings. ☺️
Seeing as I know that “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made Flesh” it is very easy for me to interpret the meaning of the Iron Rod/Word of God in direct reference to the Savior Himself which is a tender reminder of our dear prophets’ admonition to “Hear Him.”
It is also interesting to me to note that there is a pattern that has existed, beginning at the time of the creation of the Garden of Eden, where Elohim “allows” Satan to tempt His children. A conversation between the God of the Old Testament (Jehovah) and Satan is our introduction to the book of Job and In the New Testament it is recorded that the Saviors’ own experience in the wilderness with Satan was part of the plan and sanctioned by The Father. (Mathew 4:1 JST) Chapter four verse one makes clear to me that even one who is accompanied by God, or perhaps led by one of His Messengers, is often times left alone to be tried, tested and discover for himself the gifts of the dark and dreary wilderness.
How grateful I am for the Lord’s revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 129: 4-9 where it is made abundantly clear the way in which I am to discern the spirits of those who come as messengers for and from the Father….it is certain that this knowledge is paramount for us all and especially applicable for those who come into this world with the spiritual gifts of prophecy and revelation, be it in a personal or familial capacity, or as is the case for those whose stewardship lies within The First Presidency and Quorum of The Twelve Apostles of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Brother Greg’s reference to Brigham Young, and this most instructive quote, was also a welcome opportunity for me to revisit and remember that which I was able to discern, many years ago, when this same quote became a part of my own spiritual awareness. How grateful I am for the opportunity I have been given, to create a personal and continual, revelatory experience with the Savior and the Father. As I am invited to discern truth, spoken through the mouthpiece of The Lord’s Servants, I in no way feel obligated to judgment in relation to the character or condition of the heart of the prophet who has heeded The Lord’s invitation to share the message of salvation…. Nor do I believe that it serves me to call out a warning based on my own interpretation and/or choices… made in APPLICATION of the truths I have discerned.
It is my own lack of faith that motivates me to attempt to enlighten those who I am afraid will not be as privileged without my intervention. Indeed it is dangerous territory for me to assume that a fellow traveler, be they prophet, priest, king or pauper, is outside the reach of their Maker…and in so doing intend to impliment my own plan of salvation… on their behalf.
Rather, I believe it is simply my honor and privilege to apply the atonement personally and plead for the gift of discernment that I may be more able to choose right action in relation to that which I have received. In so doing I am then freed to concentrate on the sanctification and purification of my OWN heart that I may be counted worthy to be called both Servant and Friend of He Who is Mighty to Save…. and for this knowledge I am eternally grateful! 🙏