It is not our purpose here to adjudicate between these various proposals, ranging between 605–588 BC, for when Lehi left Jerusalem. This uncertainty on the exact timing of Lehi’s departure and its relationship to the birth of Christ actually helps us to take stock of our own present situation. #475 by Book of Mormon Central published on 2018-10-11T15:10:28Z Much of the Book of Mormon's chronology is based on the number of years which passed from the time Lehi left Jerusalem, which the is typically dated to "about 600 BC." How Could Nephi Have Known about Jeremiah’s Imprisonment? When the sign did not materialize, finally Nephi prayed at Passover, the day to hope for deliverance. Lehi obeyed the Lord. Lehi and His Family Leave Jerusalem Listen to the Prophet. They could have left any time after Lehi's call in 597 BC. Why Did Lehi and Jeremiah Find Themselves in a Dark and Dreary Wilderness? Lehi is told by God that Jerusalem will be destroyed and that Lehi should take his family and flee into the wilderness and that they will be led to a promised land. Lehi’s Direction of Travel leaving Jerusalem As you leave Jerusalem and travel south, then south-southeast along the Red Sea as Nephi tells us (1 Nep 2:5; 16:13-14, 33), an understanding of the terrain is helpful in better appreciating the scriptural account. As such, we have a good amount of archaeological information about how people lived in Jerusalem in 600 B.C. The land of Jerusalem encompasses much more of the immediate area surrounding the city. Each proposed departure date creates a different social and political context for the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon, yielding a variety of insights into why the Book of Mormon begins the way it does. When did Lehi and his family actually leave Jerusalem? Records reporting the activities of Babylonian kings provide the very day Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem: March 10, 597 BC.3 This leads many Book of Mormon scholars to conclude that Lehi left around 597–596 BC, within the first year of Zedekiah’s reign (cf. On 17 September 1948, Lehi assassinated UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte. We are of the opinion that Lehi’s property lay somewhere in the land of Jerusalem and not within the walls of the city. However, a more careful comparison of Nephi's account to the Bible as well as to Babylonian sources indicates that Lehi most likely really did leave in 601 BC, exactly 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Waters of Mormon 2 . Much of the Book of Mormon's chronology is based on the number of years which passed from the time Lehi left Jerusalem, which the is typically dated to … Owasco Culture . In the first book of the Book of Mormon, First Nephi, Lehi and Nephi lead their family out of Jerusalem, and across the sea to the "promised land" (the Americas). ... As a result, he was commanded to leave Jerusalem. How did the people know for sure that Jerusalem had been destroyed as Lehi and his family had left before it was destroyed. Mark 13:32), a fact which has been reiterated in modern revelation (see Doctrine and Covenants 49:7; 133:11). Why then would anyone want to delve into this on-going chronological inquiry? All of the different proposals fall within a very eventful 20-year window. We know from 1 Nephi 16:13-17 that they started out in a nearly south-southeast direction, and they traveled at first in the more fertile parts of the wilderness. When Lehi was told by the Lord to flee into the wilderness (1 Nephi 2:2), he not only had tents, donkeys, seeds and other provisions at his immediate disposal to take with him, he also knew exactly where to go. This is important not only in locating Lehi’s house (which seems most likely to have been in Jerusalem’… This leads to David fleeing Jerusalem during Absalom's rebellion. Lehi, as well as Jeremiah, both prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed if the people didn't repent. If Sariah had just the four young men Lehi was a prophet living in Jerusalem around 600 BC. No girls are mentioned as being born in the wilderness. Indeed, Lehi did what was, for Zionists, unthinkable: they attempted to ally with Nazi Germany to establish a fascist Israel. Some proposals are stronger than others and one approach will solve certain problems better than another, but all offer possible implications about the context of the early chapters of the Book of Mormon. Jerusalem) or if I assume that Nephi’s sisters were born to Sariah after the departure from Jerusalem, then Laman, as the eldest child of Sariah, might have been about eighteen to twenty years of age at the time Lehi escaped from Jerusalem. Shortly after Nephi and his brothers returned, Lehi prophesied that in “six hundred years from the time [he] left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world” (1 Nephi 10:4; 19:8; 2 Nephi 25:19). See his article, "Yet another eclipse for Herod." He proposed that in 609 BC, when the Egyptians killed Jehoahaz and appointed Eliakim as king, the “people of the land” did not recognize the Egyptian vassal as the legitimate king, but instead considered young Zedekiah as the rightful heir. September 20, 2018. We build enduring faith in Jesus Christ by making the Book of Mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world. Lehi was an Israelite of the Tribe of Manasseh, and father to Nephi, another prominent prophet in the Book of Mormon. The Savior declared “that the day and hour” of his coming “knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36; cf. Answer . Like historians today, Mormon apparently had some uncertainty about the timing of things that happened so many centuries before. For this reason, it is useful to know whether Lehi left in 588, 597, or 605 BC. They could have left any time after Lehi's call in 597 BC. Click Here To 'Like' Meridian Magazine on Facebook, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple Location Announced, Temple in Tooele Relocated and Renamed, We Need Children Even More than They Need Us, Why Elizabeth Smart’s grandmother’s passing inspired her to compete on ‘The Masked Dancer’, Come, Follow Me For Individuals and Families: “What Lack I Yet?” Matthew 19-20; Mark 10; Luke 18, Photo Essay: Come with Young Joseph into the Sacred Grove, Jeremiah’s Imprisonment and the Date of Lehi’s Departure, Lehi’s 600-Year Prophecy and the Birth of Christ, Five Secrets the Book of Mormon Reveals about the Rise and Fall of Nations. Description. When Nephi was a youth, his father Lehi was commanded of the Lord to take his family and leave the city Jerusalem. Little is mentioned in the Book of Mormon concerning the route of travel of Lehi and his family from Jerusalem to the shore of the ocean where Nephi built the ship to cross the ocean. Moccasin Bend . Nephi” that Lehi “came out of Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah.” However, more than a decade ago, 2 I noted a clear conflict between Mormon’s statement and other Book of Mormon texts written by another prophet, Lehi’s son Nephi, a participant in the escape from Jerusalem (particularly 1 Nephi 7:14 and 2 Nephi 25:10). Nephi and his family lived in Jerusalem, circa 600 BC, during the reign of King Zedekiah, until Lehi was commanded by God to take his family and flee into the wilderness. Lehi and his wife, Sariah, had four sons. 1 Nephi 2:1–3. Randall P. Spackman, “The Jewish/Nephite Lunar Calendar,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 7 (1998): 48–59, 71. Dennis L. Largey (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2003), 196–204. Or the month? Why is this big news? The Book of Mormon contains the three groups coming to the Americas. between 588 BC and 5 BC.13 Thus, whether Lehi left in 597 or 588 BC, there are ways, based on ancient precedent, to count off 600 years until Christ was born (3 Nephi 1:1). The first year of Jehoiakim began in 608BC. between 588 BC and 5 BC.13 Thus, whether Lehi left in 597 or 588 BC, there are ways, based on ancient precedent, to count off 600 years until Christ was born (3 Nephi 1:1). In a dream, the Lord warned Lehi of the danger and told him to take his family and leave Jerusalem. Matthew 25:13), and be prepared to greet him whenever that glorious time arrives. However, after Absalom's death, he returns to the city to rule Israel. The modern chapter heading of 1 Nephi 1 indicates that the opening events began “about 600 BC.” For hundreds of years, the Nephites measured time by how long it had been since Lehi left Jerusalem.1 Knowing exactly when Lehi left would go a long way in figuring out the timing of many other Book of Mormon events. Nephi was the fourth of six sons of Lehi and Sariah.He is believed to have been born in 615 BC. Lehi obeyed the Lord. Show the numbered picture that corresponds with each part. Lehi was an Israelite of the Tribe of Manasseh, and father to Nephi, another prominent prophet in the Book of Mormon. David Rolph Seely, “Chronology, Book of Mormon,” in Book of Mormon Reference Companion, ed. Lehi began his ministry “in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah” (1 Nephi 1:4).2The Bible reports that King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah as king of Judah, after Nebuchadnezzar took the city of Jerusalem and deposed Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:9–17; 2 Chronicles 36:9–10; Jeremiah 37:1). Ancient Israelites, on the other hand, used a lunar calendar of approximately 354 days, with an extra month added once every 2–3 years to keep it in sync with the solar year.12 Randall Spackman noted, if the Nephites did not add the extra month—like the “Muslim year” still used today in much of the Middle-East—then “600 strict lunar years” would pass between 588 BC and 5 BC.13 Thus, whether Lehi left in 597 or 588 BC, there are ways, based on ancient precedent, to count off 600 years until Christ was born (3 Nephi 1:1). Since Christ was born around 5 BC,8 there’s obviously less than 600 years between either 597 or 588 BC. Scholars have used the information in the Book of Mormon to suggest a few different possibilities. Even Mormon seems a little uncertain about how many years had passed between when Lehi left Jerusalem and the chronologically crucial time when King Mosiah took the throne, which Mormon estimated was “in the whole, about four hundred and seventy-six years” (Mosiah 6:4). In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the prophets began to predict captivity anddestruction unless the people repented. KnoWhy #451; 1 Nephi 2:13. When dealing with ancient history, it is not surprising to have ambiguity in the chronology or timing of particular events. Lehi and his family (wife Sariah, four sons Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi, and unnamed daughters) leave Jerusalem and establish a camp in the wilderness. What Sacrifices did Lehi Offer to God in the Wilderness. How did the people know for sure that Jerusalem had been destroyed as Lehi and his family had left before it was destroyed. They left their house and their gold and silver in Jerusalem and traveled into the wilderness. Let us begin with Jehoiakim who was the king of Judahwhen the conflicts between Judah and Babylon began. It is not our purpose here to adjudicate between these various proposals, ranging between 605–588 BC, for when Lehi left Jerusalem. Lehi and his family packed provisions for the journey. Lehi had to persevere with the jews because some of them did not believe in him and kept on mocking him. Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please CLICK HERE. New York Antiquity . Why Did Moroni Quote Malachi about Elijah’s Coming? So it cannot be said that Laman and Lemuel did not know about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the threat to their father that caused the Lord to direct Lehi to leave and head into the wilderness—they simply did not believe the reasons he had, thinking him a … It wasn’t until toward the end of Zedekiah’s reign that Jeremiah was imprisoned, about 588–587 BC (Jeremiah 32–33; 37–38).5 Because of this, some Book of Mormon scholars think Lehi stayed in Jerusalem through most of Zedekiah’s reign and departed closer to 588–587 BC.6 Others, however, point out that there were other times Jeremiah was imprisoned.7. Before their flight, Nephi's father prophesied the impending destruction and captivity of Jerusalem by the armies of Babylon. 3 Nephi, headnote).4, After returning for Ishmael’s family, Nephi mentioned the prophet Jeremiah being “cast into prison” (1 Nephi 7:14). reprint.) KnoWhy #475; 1 Nephi 10:4. KnoWhy #518; Jacob 2:18 . Land Bountiful . 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