Laman and Lemuel as faithful Deuteronomists

In my last post, I introduced the concept of a mantic worldview (one which embraces a heavenly order and revelation from God through spiritual communication and prophets) and a sophic worldview (an intellectual, materialist worldview that denies the existence of heavenly things).

This contrast shows up throughout human history, including in the Book of Mormon. This post will be the first in a cluster of posts on this topic and how it shows up in many ways throughout the history of the Nephites.

Today we'll look at Laman and Lemuel.  The modern reader might be tempted to envision Nephi's older brothers as lazy, heathen, fickle, or just plain wicked. Why did they choose to follow their father yet criticize him every step of the way?  Why did they constantly try to kill their younger brother Nephi?

A new paper by Val Larsen suggests a different motivation for Laman and Lemuel's actions. He suggests they were faithful adherents to the reformed religion of Josiah which dominated Jerusalem at the time of Lehi. He suggests that viewing the brothers through this lens best explains their seemingly inconsistent and often aggressive actions towards Nephi and Lehi.

An overview of Josiah's reforms

To get a better sense of the impact Josiah's reforms had on the culture of the day, Larsen offers some details about the step Josiah took to consolidate religious practice (and consequently political power):

1. Eliminating the concept of a council of Gods ("Elohim ... Asherah ... [and] seventy sons who ruled the nations of the earth, the son Yahweh being the God of Israel" who resided both in the temple and in heaven) in favor of monotheistic worship of Yahweh.
2. Removing symbols of Asherah (including the tree/menorah) from the temple and the Mount of Olives.
3. Denying the corporeal nature of God in favor of an imperceptible, intangible God.
4. Emphasizing  strict adherence to the Law of Moses.
5. Declaring the written law to be complete and unchangeable.
6. Outlawing all forms of prophecy. ("Prophecy could be accepted as prophecy only after it was no longer prophecy, i.e., only after unfolding events had proved it to be true (Deuteronomy 13:1–3; 18:21–22).
7. Requiring the people to kill anyone who came to them as a prophet.
8. Banning all forms of sacrifice and ritual worship outside of the Jerusalem temple.

History repeats itself

As I look at this list, I see similar trends occurring after the time of Christ.  It's as if each period of restoration is inevitable followed by a drift from the mantic to the sophic. We can even see evidence of it in the church today, despite the urgings from our leaders to seek personal revelation and come to know God directly, worship Him more diligently in our homes, etc.

Lehi as a mantic restorer

What I also see is a good explanation for Lehi's concern for his people at the very beginning of the Book of Mormon (see 1 Nephi 1:5). Lehi would have descended from the Northern Kingdom tradition, which (according to this paper) embraced prophetic dreams, the ministry of angels, imagery of the Tree of Life, and the Bronze Serpent tradition. Each of Josiah's reforms would have struck at the heart of this Northern Kingdom tradition.

Of course what follows in 1 Nephi 1 is a heavy endorsement of the mantic worldview: Lehi is blessed with a vision of "he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1:8).  Later, he sees Jesus Christ descending and given a prophetic charge to minister to the people and cry repentance.  When that fails (the people try to kill him), he is commanded to flee the city with his family.

Laman and Lemuel

This leads us to Laman and Lemuel, who as Deuteronomist sophists would have simultaneously been required to obey him (Deuteronomy 5:16) and kill him (Deuteronomy 13:1-10;18:20)!

Here are a few additional points of evidence cited by Larsen in favor of his view of Laman and Lemuel as Deuteronomists:

• They first rebel after their father builds an alter outside of Jerusalem.
• They complain their father is a visionary man.
• Nephi describes his brothers as "like the Jews at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father” (1 Nephi 2:13).
• They ignore the sign of the angel after beating their younger brothers.
• They later rebel as they leave Jerusalem the final time, after Nephi rebukes them sharply, in accordance with Deuteronomy 13:5.
• They refuse to come to the Tree of Life in Lehi's dream.
• Nephi persuades them to help build the ship by invoking the example of Moses.

Conclusion

This is a fascinating idea, and I find it pretty compelling. It is very interesting to me how neatly this story found in the opening of the Book of Mormon fits a historical context only recently pieced together by scholars.

Sadly, the battle between these two ideologies does not end when the family crosses the ocean.  We see evidence of these same struggles happening repeatedly through Nephite history, as we'll discuss in future posts.

"...the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved." (Part 1)

8 Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved. (Alma 41)

"Walk" as a covenant symbol.

I love identifying covenant symbols in the Book of Mormon.  The more I carefully study these words, the stronger I come to know how carefully prepared these words were. This two-part series of posts will cover the term "walk," which I believe most often refers to a people who are living according to the temple covenant.

To illustrate this, I'll give a few example of how this word is used in the other books of scripture in part 1, followed by a long list of examples of its use in the Book of Mormon in part 2.

Old Testament

• Enoch "walked with God." (See Genesis 5:22.)
• Noah "walked with God." (See Genesis 6:9.)
• Abraham walked "before God." (See Genesis 17:1, Genesis 48:15.)
• Leviticus 26 specifies the conditions of the covenant.  The Lord outlines conditions for what will happen in consequence of the people "walk[ing] in [His] statutes" and "walk[ing] contrary unto [Him]" (see verses 3 and 21, for example).  One of the blessings of obedience is to have the Lord's promise: "I will walk among you" (see verse 12). One of the consequences of disobedience is to have the Lord "walk contrary unto you" (see verse 24).
• 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. (Deuteronomy 5)
• 3 And the king (Josiah) stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23)
• 18 Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved... (Proverbs 28)

Of all of the references in the Old Testament, perhaps my favorite is found in Micah 4:

2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem...

5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

In these verses we get a direct connection between the latter-day temple, Zion, walking in the Lord's ways, and "walk[ing] in the name of the Lord."  We also find some of these direct connections in Isaiah 2/2 Nephi 12:2-5.

New Testament

• 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6) This verse seems to clearly connect the baptismal covenant with the term "walk."
• 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2) This verse connects "good works," "walking," and the purpose of our creation in "Christ Jesus." This is a very interesting passage that I will dedicate an entire future post to.
• 6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him... (Colossians 2)
• 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1)
• 6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. (2 John 1)
• 4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. (Revelation 3, NIV) We find some pretty striking temple imagery in these verses.

D&C

• 133 Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen. (D&C 88)
• 24 Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another. (D&C 90)

In the next part, we'll look at how "walk" is used in the Book of Mormon in a covenant context.