Eric Poulin

Posts Tagged ‘lehi wilderness’

1 Nephi 17:4

Lehis Journey in the Wilderness

“And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.”

I find it hard to keep in perspective that Lehi and family were traveling in the wilderness desert of Arabia for 8 years. It always seems that they went quickly from Jerusalem to the American continent; but it took more than 8 years, because once arriving in Bountiful, they stayed there for a while, at least long enough to construct a ship, which probably took nearly a year.

We need to keep in mind that they were not just walking with a backpack and a canteen. They had animals, provisions, tents… Their women bore children, people died and were buried. It was a really long journey: in distance, time and emotional drain. I’m sure this time served as a purification period for them. Similar to the people of Moses wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before entering their promised land, they first needed to be purified and prepared. During this time we can only assume that they continued keeping the commandments and, despite that, they did not obtain their promised land any time soon. Read the rest of this entry »