13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.
I think this verse gives a little bit of evidence that at
least Lehi probably believes that his sons are not purposely rebellious and
bad, but they have just gotten off the path. They have been lulled into a
spiritual sleep that has finally put them into spiritual bondage. It seems like
someone who is a believer, or has a testimony should be able to always go back
to that testimony and stay on course. But it is not that easy. Sometimes we
need to be reminded, as the Lord reminded Oliver Cowdery of when he received
his testimony (see D&C 6: 22–23). Satan’s goal is to get everyone to leave
that path that in Lehi’s dream led to the Tree of Life. Sometimes he will get
people to openly and purposefully rebel, but probably more often he lulls “into
carnal security,” and he “cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully
down to hell” (2 Nephi 28: 21). One graphic example of this is when Amaliciah
led Lehonti slowly and carefully from the high ground he had taken, making him
believe that he (Lehonti) was in charge of his own destiny at all times. In
fact, Amalikiah had deceived him, or lulled him into carnal security until
Lehonti was eventually poisoned “by degrees” until he died (see Alma 47: 9–19).
This can happen so gradually that we don’t even know it’s happening.
I have experienced how this must feel. When you are reading a
book by natural light from a window, and all of a sudden someone enters the
room and turns on the light. So engrossed have you been in your book that you
never noticed it getting darker. It took someone on the outside to tell you
that you were trying to read in the dark and didn’t even realize it. Or maybe
you did realize it was getting darker, but you figured you could handle it, so
you don’t bother to get up and let the greater light shine.
Lehi is trying to be that person who turns on the spiritual
light for his rebellious sons so they can see the error of their ways and
repent. They have been lulled away and are being led carefully down to hell.
- Alma 12: 11 (9–11)
- 1 Nephi 12: 18
- 1 Nephi 15: 28 (28–30)
- 2 Nephi 28: 21–24
- Alma 47: 18 (12–18)
