What Are We Seeing?
The Book of Mormon starts with accounts of Lehi and Nephi seeing visions of things to come. In each case, the visions are preceded by faith, pondering, and prayer. In Nephi’s case, an angel starts a conversation by asking questions. For some reason, this struck me as odd. It seems to me that Nephi should be the one asking for answers, not the other way around. But Nephi expected divine communication because he believed his father’s words and that the Lord could make known the things Lehi saw and heard.
When I ponder or pray, I am the one asking the questions. I have never seen an angel or had the Spirit ask me what I want. Perhaps I have not seen a vision because my faith is not strong enough or my prayers intense enough, or maybe I ponder the wrong questions. More likely, I have no reason to have a vision of the future because I can read accounts of the prophet’s visions. Maybe a vision of the future of my family would reveal things I could not keep to myself or fill me with anxiety and dread.
Like Nephi, I know that the Lord is able to make things known to me, but am I able to handle it? I also know that God, our Father in Heaven, loves me and will only give me what I can handle. There are instances where people have pestered God for things they ought not to, and they got what they asked for, to their condemnation or stumbling. For now I am content to trust that Father in Heaven will give me what I need, when I need it.
Oftentimes, when we want to see the distant future, we fail to see what is just ahead of us. Although it would be valuable to see our eventual outcome, it would rob us of living by faith. Our motivation to carry on would surely die along with part of our agency. The proper use of agency allows us to progress, so knowing the future would probably do more harm than good.
At this point, I think I have talked myself out of wanting to see into the future.
As I continue to think of why Nephi saw his vision, I believe it had less to do with satisfying his curiosity and more to do with the calling that was extended to him in the vision. Verse 7 of chapter 11 in 1 Nephi says, “And behold this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign, that after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him, ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God.” In essence, Nephi was called a special witness of Christ.
Another reason for the vision is that he needed to record it for future reading. As we read the vision, we can see and understand the world around us in our day and time. We can see that God honors the covenants of old and how they can bless us. The plan of Satan and his methods are exposed so that we can navigate around the pitfalls, lies, and deceptions he uses to make us stumble and fall. Being able to identify the subtleties and snares of Satan is indispensable for us.
One of the parts of Nephi’s vision gives us context that helps us interpret the Bible with greater accuracy—knowing that some of the more plain and precious doctrines have been changed or deleted in the Bible and why saves us countless hours or years of wondering about the apparent omissions of some principle. Most Christian denominations consider every word of the Bible to be the word of God and that it is complete and without errors. They claim that it was translated under the influence of the Spirit but fail to recognize the bias of the translators, which would, of necessity, change the original intent.
In short, the visions of the prophets of old and modern-day revelation help us see clearly what we need to see. In some sense, seeing has nothing to with our eyes but more to do with understanding. Recognition of truth versus error happens as we combine the spiritual insights of others with our own. The greatest dangers and the most sublime blessings come at us imperceptibly slowly, and unless we are paying attention, we can miss them altogether until it is too late.
Now, I would like to discuss some imagery in the visions of Lehi and Nephi. First is the image of the Tree of Life versus the great and spacious building. The tree is not a human construct. It cannot be made by man, only by God. Conversely, the building is a human construct in which God has no part. One represents love, the other pride. Again, one comes from God, and the other from man. The things of God never fail, but the things of man and the world fall. Those who value the love of God over the pride of the world are building on something firmly rooted in the ground. Those who desire worldly things are building on things with no foundation. As you recall, Lehi saw that the building was in the air, meaning that it literally had no foundation whatsoever.
Next, I think there are at least three different groups of people in the vision: those who have direction by clinging to the word of God, those who seek the vanity of the world, and those who are lost and wandering. These groups are not hard to identify in our world. But the conditions of all of us can go from one group to another. We have all been lost, prideful, and held to the iron rod at different times. The value of the visions of Lehi and Nephi is that we can see what group we are in at any given time. If we feel lost, we can remember the word of God and feast upon it to find ourselves again. If our pride gets the better of us and our legs are kicked out from under us, we can repent and return to God. If we hold tight to the word of God, we feel joy amidst trials and experience a life of meaning and purpose.
I hope we can use our spiritual eyes to see and our hearts and minds to understand. Life will be better when we do.