Father Lehi prophesied after a pillar of fire opened before him, a visionary encounter with the Lord, and reading a book of God’s plans for the future. His message was met with intolerance. He was ridiculed and mocked for claiming the Jews were about to be destroyed. His message of a coming Messiah made them want to kill him: “when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him, yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out and stoned and slain; and they also sought his life that they might take it away.” 1 Ne. 1:5RE
The Lord commended Lehi for delivering the message, but then “the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.” Id., paragraph 6 By fleeing he and his family would be spared from both the immediate threat of murder and the looming destruction of Jerusalem.
When Lehi departed the text clarifies for us what is valuable and what is not valuable. The contrast is a profound revelation for us to consider about our own circumstances. Here is what was left behind: “And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things,” Here is what he took with him: “and took nothing with him save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and he departed into the wilderness.” Id., paragraph 7
Our family and the provisions to care for them are our only true valuables. Wealth is not.
The lessons from the Book of Mormon are becoming increasingly relevant to our circumstances. It is more prophecy than history. Hugh Nibley said, “The Book of Mormon is an inexhaustible encyclopedia of knowledge.” That supply of knowledge only requires study to yield its wisdom for us.