Lehi’s Calling (Sun and Stars)

In Nephi’s summary of his father’s record, Lehi is introduced to a council of divine beings and receives 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 feature of Lehi’s calling is his comparison of divine beings to celestial bodies: “he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day. And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament” (vv. 9–10).²

While such comparisons aren’t a standard part of the call narrative itself, they are fairly common in both biblical and pseudepigraphic texts. In many cases, the authors went beyond mere comparison and instead used the sun, stars, or other luminaries as direct substitutes for angelic beings.

The Bible

Before Joseph was sold into Egypt, he dreamed that “the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me” (Genesis 37:9). While this dream foreshadows Joseph’s own life events, it also evokes divine council imagery found throughout biblical and pseudepigraphic literature, wherein angelic beings (often compared to celestial bodies) are depicted surrounding a throne in worship.

In the book of Job, premortal angelic beings designated as “stars” sang praises at the creation: “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:7). Similarly, we read in Psalm 148:2–3: “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.”

Concerning a king of Babylon, Isaiah asked, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12). The term Lucifer actually means “morning star,” and over time this passage was seen as an allegorical reference to Satan—the prototypical fallen angel.³ As will be discussed below, stars are also equated with fallen angels in 1 Enoch.

Daniel prophesied that in the resurrection, the “wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul expressed a similar idea: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:41–42).⁴

The book of Malachi declares, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2). When Jesus was transfigured before his disciples in the New Testament, “his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2).⁵ And, finally, in his apocalyptic visions, John beheld the Savior, who “had in his right hand seven stars … and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (Revelation 1:16).

The Pseudepigrapha

In 1 Enoch, wicked angels are frequently described as stars, as seen in the following passage: “I saw seven stars (which) were like great, burning mountains. … they are the ones which have transgressed the commandments of God” (20:13–15).⁶ According to 2 Enoch, God declared, “for all the armies I fashioned the heavens, the sun from the great light. … and all the armies of the stars and cherubim and seraphim and ophanim, and all these from the fire I cut out” (A 29:1–3).⁷

Concerning a class of angels known as “the ophanim,” the book of 3 Enoch states that “From them light shines, like the light of the Morning star” (25:6).⁸ In the same text, the angel Metatron says that the crowns given to angelic beings were as “the brightness of the sun’s orb and the rays which shine from each separate crown are as the brightness of the morning star in the east” (21:4).⁹ Later, Metatron describes an angel using several celestial comparisons:

… his radiance like the light of the morning star, his image like the greater light …. His body is full of eyes like the stars of heaven … and each eye is like the morning star. Some of them are like the lesser light, some like the greater light. From his ankles to his knees they resemble stars of lightning; from his knees to his thighs, the morning star, from his thighs to his waist, the light of the moon; from his waist to his neck, the light of the sun; and from his neck to his forehead, ‘unfading light’” (26:4–6).¹⁰

In Abraham’s vision recorded in the Apocalypse of Abraham, he spoke of angelic beings as “hosts of stars” (19:9).¹¹ When Abraham encountered the archangel Michael in the Testament of Abraham, he said he was “bright as the sun and most handsome” (2:4).¹² Abraham later saw a personage sitting upon a  throne who was “a wonderous man, bright as the sun, like unto a son of God.”¹³ In the same text, Isaac said, “I saw heaven opened, and I saw a light-bearing man coming down out of heaven, flashing (beams of light) more than seven suns” (7:3–4).¹⁴ In the story of Joseph and Aseneth, Aseneth (Joseph’s wife) encountered an angelic messenger whose “face was like lightening, and his eyes like sunshine” (14:9).¹⁵

The Apocalypse of Elijah declares that “When Christ comes … the whole world will behold him like the sun which shines from the eastern horizon to the western. This is how he will come with all his angels surrounding him” (3:3–4).¹⁶ As described in 4 Ezra, the righteous beings who inherit glories in heaven will be shown “how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on” (7:97).¹⁷

According to the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, the thrones of angels are “sevenfold more (brilliant) than the light of the rising sun” (Clement, Stramata 5.11.77).¹⁸ The same text describes “a great angel standing before me with his face shining like the rays of the sun in its glory” (6:11).¹⁹ A fragment of the Sibylline Oracles reads: “For what flesh can see with eyes the true and heavenly immortal God, who inhabits the vault of heaven? But men, who are mortal, are not even able to stand against the rays of the sun.”²⁰

Conclusion

When read in conjunction with biblical and pseudepigraphic literature, Lehi’s comparison of divine beings to the sun and the stars is entirely fitting. Such imagery is found abundantly in a variety of ancient contexts, including in texts which, like 1 Nephi 1, feature a prophetic call narrative.  

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.

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.

The BibleGenesis 37:9Job 38:7Psalm 148:2–3Isaiah 14:12Daniel 12:3Malachi 4:2Matthew 13:43Matthew 17:2Matthew 24:27–28Acts 26:131 Corinthians 15:41–42Revelation 1:16The Book of Mormon1 Nephi 1:9–103 Nephi 19:25

The Bible

Genesis 37:9

Job 38:7

Psalm 148:2–3

Isaiah 14:12

Daniel 12:3

Malachi 4:2

Matthew 13:43

Matthew 17:2

Matthew 24:27–28

Acts 26:13

1 Corinthians 15:41–42

Revelation 1:16

The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 1:9–10

3 Nephi 19:25