This had to be a most difficult portion of Nephi's vision, so full of darkness and sorrow. Right after the blessing of seeing the majestic life of the Savior; to have to witness so much war and destruction among his own posterity.
The way in which the vision is presented to Nephi interests me. Nephi sees the "mist of darkness" that Lehi saw and the next verse segues into the "vapor of darkness" that encompassed the people at the time of Christ's crucifixion. What a poignant and interesting visual effect to go from a metaphorical description of the temptations of the devil, to a literal manifestation of the results of succumbing to that temptation. Similarly, he sees the cities and buildings of his descendants crumble to the earth and then views and understands the meaning of the "large and spacious building" his father saw. He sees the great division between the peoples of the Land of Promise and witnesses the great gulf that divides the righteous from the proud and they that do wickedly; again, literally as well as metaphorically. When we watch the evening news, do we make similar comparisons between the symbols of Lehi's Dream and the literal manifestations of his message that surround us?
2 comments:
Again, you've had some great insight into the amazing series of comparisons and contrasts Nephi describes for us.
I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to watch his posterity destroy themselves (which is truly what they did -- regardless of who or what it was that eventually killed them.)
It's no wonder he prayed for his descendants (as well as his brothers' descendants) all his life and did whatever he could to try to make a positive impact on their lives. It also gives you a greater understanding of why he thought keeping his record was so important, and why he thought it needed to principally be a spiritual record.
As parents, we know what we would be willing to do to save our children -- especially if we thought their salvation might be in doubt. However, unlike Nephhi, we haven't seen their final state. It would be interesting to see if that kind of vision of the lives of our posterity would motivate us to try even harder.
The vision of the tree of Life spoke to me the same way....Nephi is shown the tree of life and when he asks for the meaning, he is shown Christ's birth, ministry, and atoning sacrfice. The interpretation is the Love of God. "And God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son..." Christ is the light and life of the world and if we come unto him we will taste the joy of his fruit.
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