Lehi

I don’t usually dwell on Lehi because his part of the story was lost with the 116 page manuscript so, like the Book of Mormon, I focus on Nephi. Nephi has to get a testimony, the brass plates, Ishmael’s family, and build a boat all within the first 17 chapters. The story in the Book of Mormon flows from Nephi’s experiences and so it is very easy to overlook his father, Lehi.

But it is Lehi’s vision that is the catalyst that starts his family on their journey to the promised land. It is his life that is in danger. He is the prophet of God who had offended some very powerful people in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah, Huldah and Urijah were contemporary prophets with Lehi. Jeremiah was thrown into prison multiple times, (at least 3 times), but he was never killed in the bible narrative. However, the prophet Urijah was killed in Jerusalem. He had tried to flee Jehoiakim and he ran all the way to Egypt where Jehoiakim’s agents found him and delivered him to the king. King Jehoiakim slew Urijah with his own sword. No doubt Jeremiah and Lehi were fully aware of Urijah’s fate and were mindful of their own precarious footing in the city of Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 26: 20-24)

Lehi had a vision that told him that his life was in danger and that he needed to leave Jerusalem. Lehi knew it wasn’t safe to go to Egypt – Jehoakim would surely find him – or north through Babylon or east through Assyria. The Lord guided him south through the Arabian peninsula on the old frankincense trail.

https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-departure-of-lehi-from-jerusalem/