Lehi’s Calling (Book)

In Nephi’s summary of his father’s record, Lehi was introduced to a council of divine beings and received a prophetic commission (1 Nephi 1). In several ways, the details of Lehi’s heavenly encounter follow the pattern of prophetic call narratives found in biblical and pseudepigraphic literature.¹ One common motif in this genre is the heavenly book. In Lehi’s calling, angelic beings descended from heaven and delivered to him a book containing pronouncements of judgment:

… and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read. And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon. (vv. 11–13)

Not all was doom and gloom though. Lehi also “testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world” (1 Nephi 1:19).

The Heavenly Book Motif in the Bible

The Ten Commandments—written by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10)—constitute the prototypical heavenly book in canonical Jewish texts. While these tablets weren’t given to Moses during his initial prophetic call, they were certainly delivered as part of an ascension narrative.

In Ezekiel’s prophetic call, a “roll of a book” was delivered to him which contained “lamentations, and mourning, and woe” (Ezekiel 2:9–10). In a striking metaphor, he was then commanded to “eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel” (v. 3:1). The prophet Daniel, in one of his visions, saw the “Ancient of Days” sitting on a fiery throne surrounded by countless angels. In this setting, “the judgment was set, and the books were opened” (Daniel 7:9–10). In the concluding chapters of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi reports that a “book of remembrance was written before [the Lord] for them that feared the Lord” (Malachi 3:16).

In the book of Revelation, John saw God sitting upon a throne surrounded by angelic beings giving him praise. “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.” Then the Lamb (Christ) “took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne,” and the angels “sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof” (Revelation 5:9). The heavenly book motif surfaces repeatedly in John’s Revelation, especially the “book of life.”² This same sub-type is also mentioned in Philippians 4:3.

Several of the above examples have similarities with the heavenly book given to Lehi. For instance, the books revealed to Daniel and John were each part of an ascension narrative featuring a throne scene.³ An even closer analogue is the heavenly “roll” given to Ezekiel. Just as in Lehi’s account, this heavenly document was given in conjunction with Ezekiel’s prophetic calling.

The Book of Fate

Despite contextual similarities, none of the heavenly books mentioned above clearly match the specific type of book given to Lehi—the book of fate.⁴ According to Leslie Baynes, “The book of fate, as its name suggests, records what will happen in advance, either to an individual or to a larger community.”⁵ Such books can “predict good or ill” and often “act as witnesses to the trustworthiness of God’s word.”⁶

This may explain why immediately after reading about the future destruction and captivity of his people, Lehi could so enthusiastically join the angelic hosts in praising the Lord (1 Nephi 1:14).⁷ Knowing the ultimate fate of Israel—especially the final redemptive power of the Messiah—was apparently enough to overshadow any discouragement over the impending calamities. “The concept of a heavenly tablet gives readers hope that God is in control.”⁸

As counted by Baynes, “There are only two or three occurrences of heavenly books that fall under the sub-type book of fate in the Hebrew scriptures: Psalm 139:16, Psalm 56:8, and Daniel 10:21.”⁹ Not only are these passages sparse, but their references to the book of fate aren’t particularly obvious. They are obscure enough, in fact, that one scholar has questioned whether the motif exists at all in biblical texts.¹⁰

Baynes points out that the “minimal use” of the book of fate in the Bible stands in “sharp contrast” to “its employment in ancient Mesopotamian texts, where that sub-type of the motif dominates descriptions of heavenly books.”¹¹ For example, in Mesopotamian enthronement texts a king would often ascend “to heaven to receive, among other things, the tablets of destiny and to get his commission.”¹² These heavenly tablets, which boldly proclaimed the “destinies of all beings,” were the “primary way that the gods memorialized their will.”¹³

Although the mode of transmission is uncertain, it can be assumed that Mesopotamian literature in some way influenced the book of fate motif in early Hebrew literature, as well as its later development and flourishing in apocalyptic texts of the second temple period.¹⁴ A particularly apt example of the latter category is the book of Jubilees, which is well-represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls and ostensibly derives from heavenly tablets given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Jubilees doesn’t just mention a heavenly book; it purports to be a heavenly book, nearly in its entirety. As a book of fate, it presents the past and future destinies of Israel as having been essentially foreordained by a heavenly record.¹⁵

Furthermore, on at least one occasion, Jubilees describes a book of fate in an internal narrative. When discussing Jacob’s vision at Bethel, the text states that Jacob saw an angel “descending from heaven, and there were seven tablets in his hands. And he gave (them) to Jacob, and he read them, and he knew everything which was written in them, which would happen to him and to his sons during all the ages” (32:21).¹⁶

Other documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls present similar themes.¹⁷ As understood by Armin Lange, one of these texts (4Q180 1, 3–4) explains how the “predestined and pre-existent order of the world was inscribed on the heavenly tablets and revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of the Torah.”¹⁸ Another text (1QH^a ix.24) states that “Everything has been engraved before you with the stylus of remembrance for all the incessant periods and the cycles of the number of everlasting years in all their predetermined times.”¹⁹ Yet another reports that engraved upon a heavenly book “is that which is ordained by God against all the . . . [. . . of ] the sons of Seth, and a book of remembrance is written in his presence for those who keep his word.”²⁰

Finally, the book of fate motif surfaces repeatedly in 1 Enoch.²¹ In one instance, an angelic messenger tells Enoch to

look at the tablet(s) of heaven; read what is written upon them and understand (each element on them) one by one. So I looked at the tablet(s) of heaven, read all the writing (on them), and came to understand everything. I read that book and all the deeds of humanity and all the children of the flesh upon the earth for all the generations of the world. At that very moment I blessed the Great Lord, the King of Glory for ever, for he has created all the phenomena in the world. I praised the Lord because of his patience. (81:1–3)²²

This passage is especially relevant, not only because Enoch received a heavenly book which foretold the past and future deeds of humanity,²³ but because immediately after reading it he praised the Lord for his greatness and patience with mankind. Lehi essentially had the same response after his reading of a heavenly book: “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!” (1 Nephi 1:14).

Conclusion

It seems probable that by Lehi’s day written documents were viewed as a uniquely authoritative mode of communication.²⁴ Thus, Lehi’s message to the people wasn’t merely his own prophecy, uttered through spiritual inspiration. It was instead grounded in things that he “saw and heard” in vision, as well as what he “read” from a heavenly book given to him by an angel (1 Nephi 1:19). Whatever its physical form, such a book would undoubtedly have been viewed as more binding than even the most esteemed legal or political documents of the day.

While the heavenly book motif is well attested in both biblical and extrabiblical texts, the specific type of book delivered to Lehi—the book of fate—is rarer. Not only is it absent from the Bible’s prophetic call narratives, it can hardly be found in the Bible at all, unless one knows what to look for.

In contrast, the book of fate shows up clearly and repeatedly in the later pseudepigraphic literature that developed from the writings of Lehi’s day. For the most part, however, these texts weren’t available in English until after 1829.²⁵ Thus, the best parallels with the specific type of heavenly book given to Lehi are found in ancient Jewish texts that were most likely unknown to Joseph Smith when he translated the Book of Mormon.

Stephen O. Smoot, “The Divine Council in the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 27 (2017): 155–180.

John W. Welch, “The Calling of Lehi as a Prophet in the World of Jerusalem,” in Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem, ed. John W. Welch, David Rolph Seely, and Jo Ann H. Seely (Provo: FARMS, 2004), 421–448.

Brent E. McNeely, “The Book of Mormon and the Heavenly Book Motif,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research, ed. John W. Welch (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1992), 26–28.

Blake T. Ostler, “The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form Critical Analysis,” BYU Studies Quarterly 26, no. 4 (1986): 67–95.

Bible:Exodus 31:18 Deuteronomy 9:10Psalm 56:8Psalm 139:16Ezekiel 2:9–10Ezekiel 3:1Daniel 7:9–10Daniel 10:21Malachi 3:16Book of Mormon1 Nephi 1:11–19

Bible:

Exodus 31:18

Deuteronomy 9:10

Psalm 56:8

Psalm 139:16

Ezekiel 2:9–10

Ezekiel 3:1

Daniel 7:9–10

Daniel 10:21

Malachi 3:16

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 1:11–19