Chapter Eighteen
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”72
“And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.”73
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”74
Jer. 15:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
In chapter four we considered God’s thoughts and intentions toward those who were deported to Babylon and those who remained in Jerusalem. Had God intended to save Lehi and his family, he would have sent them into captivity in Babylon with the rest of those spoken of in Jeremiah chapter twenty-four:
“ . . . whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”75 It is evident from the above verses that God had plans of fellowship again with those who he sent away to Babylon, or at least with their descendants, but not for those who remained in Jerusalem. If God had sent Lehi and his family into the wilderness it would have been for their destruction according to Jeremiah 24:8-10:
“ . . . and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land . . .” “And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.” Had Joseph Smith slanted his story to indicate they were being sent out into the wilderness for their destruction, the story would have better agreed with the Bible. The wilderness was at that time a place of death for everything and everybody. The birds had even flown the coop, so to speak, as we shall see. From somewhere near the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry that spanned thirty years prior to Zedekiah’s reign God had turned off the rainfall from heaven across the lands of Israel and Judah. All the evidence this writer can glean from the book of Jeremiah indicates that the drought endured from chapter three in the book of Jeremiah throughout the rest of the prophet’s forty-one year ministry. By the time Joseph Smith’s story places Lehi fleeing Jerusalem, the entire lands of Judah and Israel as well as the surrounding wilderness areas must have been parched bare ground. Jer. 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
Jer. 5:23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Jer. 9:9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer. 14:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer. 14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
Jer. 14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers?
Jer. 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
Notice above in Jeremiah 9:9-12, that God said the habitations of the wilderness were impassable. Not even the wild animals of the wilderness were able to survive. To send the family out into the wilderness as Joseph Smith claimed would have meant their death of thirst or starvation. Had Joseph Smith known the Bible better when he penned the BkM he might have started his story just thirty years earlier. It might have been believable then. When he tells us that Lehi’s family passed through the wilderness that God said was impassable, we must either believe God or him. The following verses teach us to believe God’s record above men’s:
“ . . . he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son.”76 “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar . . .”77 There is no doubt in this writer’s mind that God would have been able to sustain Lehi and his family through the impassible wilderness had he so desired. God’s abilities are miraculous above and beyond anything humans can imagine. The same God who created the water on this earth in Genesis chapter one is still able to create water and food anywhere he desires. God’s abilities are not the issue, but just because God was able to sustain the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years does not prove that he did the same for Lehi and his family. Jeremiah’s record indicates that he did not! Upon their arrival near the borders of the Red Sea, Joseph Smith recorded that Lehi offered sacrifice and burnt offerings unto God three different times. Having allegedly traveled over 150 miles across the Sinai Desert through impassible wilderness areas, Lehi’s sacrifices could not have been the perfect unblemished sacrifices commanded by God. Let’s consider the illegality of those alleged wilderness sacrifices next. #69 1 Nephi 2:2, BkM #70 1 Nephi 2:2 & 4, Bkm #71 Hebrews 6:18, KJV Bible #72 Titus 1:2, KJV Bible #73 1 Samuel 15:29, KJV Bible #74 Numbers 23:19, KJV Bible #75 Jeremiah 24:5-7, KJV Bible #76 1 John 5:10, KJV Bible #77 Romans 3:3-4, KJV Bible |