WHY WAS THERE MORE THAN ONE PROPHET IN THE DAYS OF LEHI?

For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed. (1 Nephi 1:4)

Some students of the gospel identify so strongly with the president of the church as "the Prophet" that they are bothered by the presence of multiple prophets in Old Testament times. Who was the President of the Church in Lehi's day? Was there one predominant prophet?

First of all, there is almost always more than one prophet on the earth at one time. Currently, there are 15 men on the earth set apart as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators. What makes the President of the Church unique is that he is the only man on earth who has authority to exercise all the keys of the priesthood, even though those keys were given to him when he was first ordained an apostle. Today's organization of prophets is much different than in Lehi's day.

In the Old Testament, there was no "President of the Church." The presiding priesthood authority under the Mosaic Law was the high priest of the Aaronic Priesthood (2 Kings. 22:8; Nehemiah 3:1). Since the ecclesiastical institution of the time was governed by the Aaronic Priesthood, these prophets (most of whom had obtained the Melchizedek priesthood through personal righteousness) were not ecclesiastical administrators in the same sense that they are today. Rather, they received mandates from the Lord to perform specific prophetic functions. The prophet Jonah is a good example; he was commanded of the Lord to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Lehi was commanded to prophecy to the Jews regarding their impending destruction and to call them to repentance. Other Old Testament prophets were given special callings to counsel the king in conjunction with their responsibility to cry repentance to the people, Samuel, Nathan, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. They may have been the major prophets of their day but they were not the administrative leaders of the religious organization under Mosaic Law.

The justice of God requires that he warn the people before they are destroyed. 2 Kings 17:13 says: "Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets."

In the case of the Babylonian captivity, the Lord sent several prophets to warn the people. Lehi, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Nahum, Urijah (Jeremiah 26:20-23), Zephanaiah and Obadiah were probably all contemporaries, and all but Obadiah and Nahum are known to have prophesied specifically about the destruction of Jerusalem.

A RECORD IN THE LANGUAGE OF MY FATHER

Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians (1 Nephi 1:2)

This passage has engendered quite a bit of controversy among Book of Mormon scholars who are trying to determine the language Nephi used to record his history. The traditional teaching is that the Book of Mormon was written in "reformed Egyptian," a script which used symbols capable of conveying entire concepts in much less space than Hebrew. The term, "reformed Egyptian," comes from Moroni's description in Mormon 9:32:

"And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech."

There is speculation, however, that the language of Moroni's day was considerably different than that of Nephi's day. Moroni admits in that verse that it had been handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. Any linguist knows that languages can transform quickly, especially over hundreds or thousands of years. Nephi doesn't name the language he used; he says it was the language of my father. Lehi was a Jew of the tribe of Manasseh. Hebrew would have been his primary language. However, scholars have noted Lehi's wealth and the obvious influence of Egyptian culture on Book of Mormon writings and practices. These suggest that Lehi was a prosperous merchant who would have had much trade with Egyptian merchants. He undoubtedly knew their business language. Nephi suggests that this language was part of the learning of my father and the learning of the Jews. This would have included learning how to speak and write the Egyptian language of Lehi's day. No scholar is as qualified to teach on this subject as is Hugh Nibley, who said:

"We now realize that the ancient Jews could write quickly and boldly (in Hebrew), in an artistic flowing hand, with the loving penmanship of those who enjoy writing.' And the Nephites got rid of this to learn in its place the most awkward, difficult, and impractical system of writing ever devised by man! Why all the trouble? Simply to save space. What space? Space on valuable plates. When did the custom begin? With Lehi. Where and when did he learn 'the language of the Egyptians'? In Palestine, of course, before he ever thought of himself as a record-keeper. Did the wealthy Lehi learn Egyptian characters so that he could sit in his house in the land of Jerusalem and by writing Hebrew with demotic (a form of Egyptian writing which differed from classical Egyptian hieroglyphics; it was used for recording deeds, books, etc.) symbols save a few cents a month on writing materials? And did he command his sons to learn Egyptian so they could save space when they kept records? Of course not: when they learned the language, neither Lehi nor his sons had any idea that some day it would be useful to keepers of records on metal plates. They had no other reason for learning Egyptian characters than to read and write Egyptian. It was only later when historians became cramped for space that they saw the advantage of continuing to write in Egyptian. And the Egyptian characters can only have been preserved for their use because the language was also preserved..."

"The fact remains that the abridging and editing of the Book of Mormon was in a language known to no other people on earth but the Nephites." (Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaredites, pp. 16-17)

In conclusion, what was the language used by the writers of the Book of Mormon? The short answer, "reformed Egyptian," is probably more helpful and accurate than the long answer discussed above.

Reformed Egyptian and languages in the Book of Mormon

THE POWER OF MY SPIRIT QUICKENETH ALL THINGS

And the Book of Mormon and the holy scriptures are given of me for your instruction; and the power of my Spirit quickeneth all things. (D&C 33:16)

I believe that "all things" means all things. He will not usurp or override our moral agency, but when given an invitation, his Spirit will augment and accelerate our agency. When the Spirit, the gift of the Holy Ghost, is given a chance to influence us, decisions become easier and despair dissipates as solutions to our challenges become clearly evident.

The Book of Mormon prophets make it very clear that the Holy Ghost is willing to exert a very powerful influence in our lives when we are responsive to his promptings. Nephi, Mormon, and Ether explained that the Spirit strives with us to guide our lives on righteous paths (see 2 Nephi 26:11; Mormon 5:16; Ether 2:15). Moroni proclaimed that the Spirit persuades us to do good (see Ether 4:11-12). Amulek taught that the Holy Ghost contends with us to do that which is right (see Alma 34:38), and King Benjamin explained that the Holy Ghost entices us to be righteous (see Mosiah 3:19).

The promptings of the Spirit were never intended to supplant our moral agency, but the Spirit will underscore preferable options in our behavior and clarify a certain course of action in our hearts and minds. (Spencer J. Condie, "Agency: The Gift of Choices," Ensign, Sept. 1995, 21)

THEY SHALL SPEAK AS THEY ARE MOVED UPON BY THE HOLY GHOST

Truly, the Holy Ghost is a revelator. He speaks and his voice is the voice of the Lord. He is Christ's minister, his agent, his representative. He says what the Lord Jesus would say if he were personally present.

Speaking "unto all those who" are "ordained unto" his "priesthood," the Lord says: "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation" (D&C 68:2-4)

Truly this is that promised day when "every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world" (D&C 1:20).

If all of the Latter-day Saints lived as they should, then Moses' petition would be granted: "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!" (Numbers 11:29).

This is the promised day when "God shall give unto" us "knowledge by his Holy Spirit," when, "by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost," we shall gain knowledge "that has not been revealed since the world was until now" (D&C 121:26).

This is the day of which Joseph Smith said: "God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them" (Teachings, p. 149).

And we look forward to that glorious millennial day when "they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:34).

(Bruce R. McConkie, Thou Shalt Receive Revelation, Ensign, Nov. 1978, 61)

HE SHALL TAKE UPON HIM THE TRANSGRESSIONS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE

And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else (Alma 11:40).

In contrast to the resurrection which comes to all regardless of their individual effort, the doctrine of redemption from sin is contingent upon faith in Christ. He will not redeem the wicked from spiritual death if they will not believe in his name. This is a fundamental doctrine which is so often misunderstood in Christianity.

"This is an important principle which must be viewed properly in order to avoid confusion. There are persons who teach that Christ suffered only for those who will repent. This is false. It is incorrect The Lord suffered for every soul, 'yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam' (2 Nephi 9:21; see also D&C 18:11; D&C 19:16). His suffering and atonement are efficacious, however, only for those who repent and come unto him. Thus to refuse to repent is to mock his pain and shun his sufferings. It is, in the words of Paul, to do 'despite unto the spirit of grace' (Hebrews 10:29)." (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, p. 77)

How Is Jesus the Word of God?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)

“… the Father operated in the work of creation through the Son, who thus became the executive through whom the will, commandment, or word of the Father was put into effect. It is with incisive appropriateness therefore, that the Son, Jesus Christ, is designated by the apostle John as the Word; or as declared by the Father ‘the word of my power.’ (Moses 1:32.)” (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 33.)