1 Nephi 18:7
Theme- families and Harship
What
7 And
now, my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; the elder was
called Jacob and
the younger son Joseph
.
Even
though Lehi and Sariah were traveling and in the wilderness and
suffering great hardship, the Lord blessed them with two more sons.
That made the journey even harder for them and especially for Sariah.
It also gives an idea that they were maybe still in their forties
or at least still in their childbearing years, when they began this
journey. They four sons who were perhaps in their teens or early 20's
and and now two more little ones.
Revelation
from Joseph Smith tells us that the two oldest sons of Ishmael were
married to Lehi and Sariah's daughters. So that makes two daughters
and six sons.
2
Nephi 5:6
6 Wherefore,
it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and
also aZoram and
his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and
Joseph, my younger brethren, and
also my
sisters,
and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with
me were those who believed in the bwarnings and
the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.
Ishmael
and his wife probably had two sons and seven daughters. One daughter
may have been older than the two boys as she is the one who married
Zoram.
That
would make 10 in Lehi's family and 11 in Ishmael's family plus Zoram.
A total of 22 people plus many grandchildren who were also born in
the wilderness under hard circumstances. We only know that they did
have children during their sojourn. Perhaps Ishmael was a little
older than Lehi, we don't know, but his oldest daughter married
Zoram. Ishmael died on the journey
1 Nephi 16:7
7
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of
Ishmael to wife; and
also, my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife;
and also Zoram took
the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.
1 Nephi 16:34
34
And it came to pass that Ishmael died,
and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.
1 Nephi 17:1
1
And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in
the wilderness; and we
did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel
and wade through much affliction in the wilderness;
and our women did bear children in
the wilderness.
1 Nephi 17:1
1
And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in
the wilderness; and we
did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel
and wade through much affliction in the wilderness;
and our women did bear children in
the wilderness.
1
Nephi 17:4
If
Ishmael's wife didn't bear children in the wilderness that would
leave 12 couples who were of childbearing age. If they each had two
children like Sariah then there would have been 24 children born
Since it was an 8 year journey they may have had many more children
than 2 per couple during that time. in the wilderness That would be
a total of 46 people and it could have been more or less than that.
We can be sure that there was a large family there to board that
ship.
600 B.C. Probable
Lehi trail
Ensign
1976- September- In Search of Lehi's Trail Part 1
So,
after a great deal of study, we felt almost ready to construct a
hypothetical passenger list and itinerary for Lehi’s departure from
Jerusalem. We began with his party. We know that Lehi took his wife
Sariah and four sons. The party may have included daughters as well,
since Nephi casually mentions “my sisters” many years later when
they were in the promised land (2
Ne. 5:6);
but they could have been born in the wilderness. Later the group was
joined by Ishmael and his wife, at least two married sons and their
families (1
Ne. 7:6),
five unmarried daughters, and Zoram, Laban’s former bondsman. It
seems safe to estimate, then, that Lehi’s party faced the desert
with at least twenty people. (See Illustration 4.)
Elder
Erastus Snow noted that the Prophet Joseph Smith said Lehi’s
daughters married Ishmael’s two sons. (JD, 23:184.)
Part
1 and part 2 of In Search of Lehi's Trail are valuable resources
giving a lot of history and background to help understand Lehi's
journey.
Why
They
journeyed for 8 years. During that time, the Lord sent them marriages
and children to continue on the posterity. They were a chosen people
who would be led to the promised land. It would not end with just
the original family of Lehi. They were commanded to “multiply and
replenish the earth”
Genesis 1:28
28
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply,
and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth.
Pattern
Genesis 9:1
1
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply,
and replenishthe
earth.
2
And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters,
and they began to multiplyand
to replenish the
earth.
28
And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will
cause them to be fruitful andmultiply,
and replenish the
earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth.
Christ
Multiplying
and replenishing the earth is a part of the plan of salvation. So
this verse does point to Christ and the plan which He and the Father
are the authors of.
Conference
4/15
Boyd K. Packer
The
Plan of Happiness
The
desire to mate in humankind is constant and very strong. Our
happiness in mortal life, our joy and exaltation are dependent upon
how we respond to these persistent, compelling physical desires. As
the procreative power matures in early manhood and womanhood, very
personal feelings occur, in a natural way, unlike any other physical
experience.
10/11
Neil L. Andersen
The
family is ordained of God. Families are central to our Heavenly
Father’s plan here on earth and through the eternities. After Adam
and Eve were joined in marriage, the scripture reads, “And God
blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth.”2 In
our day prophets and apostles have declared, “The first commandment
that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for
parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment
for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in
force.”3
This
commandment has not been forgotten or set aside in The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.4 We
express deep gratitude for the enormous faith shown by husbands and
wives (especially our wives) in their willingness to have children.
When to have a child and how many children to have are private
decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord. These
are sacred decisions—decisions that should be made with sincere
prayer and acted on with great faith.
...It
was not in the Garden of Eden that Adam and Eve bore their first
child. Leaving the garden, “Adam [and Eve] began to till the earth.
… Adam knew his wife, and she [bore] … sons and daughters, and
[acting in faith] they began to multiply and to replenish the
earth.”11
It
was not in their Jerusalem home, with gold, silver, and precious
things, that Lehi and Sariah, acting in faith, bore their sons Jacob
and Joseph. It was in the wilderness. Lehi spoke of his son Jacob as
“my first-born in the days of my tribulation in the
wilderness.”12 Lehi
said of Joseph, “Thou wast born in the wilderness of [our]
afflictions; yea, in the days of [our] greatest sorrow did thy mother
bear thee.”13
In
the book of Exodus, a man and woman married and, acting in faith, had
a baby boy. There was no welcoming sign on the front door to announce
his birth. They hid him because Pharaoh had instructed that every
newborn male Israelite should be “cast into the river.”14 You
know the rest of the story: the baby lovingly laid in a little ark
made of
Apply
Families and hardship are well acquainted..Married
couples should have children if it is possible. It doesn't have to
be easy or convenient. We are expected to go through hardships in
this life. In doing so we learn to rely on the Lord. The family
proclamation has been given to us today. It is to live by and
cherish. Families are eternal. If we seek the Lord, he will bless
us to find joy even in hard times. Lehi and Sariah and their family
were great examples of this.
Hymns
300-
Families Can Be Together Forever
48 Foreshadowing
the great work to be done in the temples of
the Lord in the
dipensation of
the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the
sealingof
the children to their parents, lest the whole earth be smitten with a
curse and utterly wasted at his coming.
Children
198-
A Happy Family
