Fire Dwelt on a Rock

“And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly.” (1 Nephi 1:6)

There came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him.

Why did it dwell on a rock before Lehi? Why mention the rock, instead of just saying “the ground,” or simply, “it dwelt before him?” 

I think the answer rests in the action that preceded the fire.

He prayed unto the Lord.

Lehi lived in a time when the Law of Moses was in full affect. We know from 1 Nephi 2:7 (And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.) that Lehi was in the habit of either building altars or finding other suitable places to make sacrifice and call on the Lord. So we can guess that this rock that the fire dwelt on was an altar. Lehi prayed and offered sacrifice, and the Lord answered his prayer in a miraculous way.

Pillar of fire.

What do we know about pillars of fire? Or pillars of light? In Joseph Smith’s first vision, we know that a pillar of light brought Joseph in contact with Father and Jesus. Pillars of fire in scripture are often conduits that bring mortals in contact with heavenly beings (Moses 1:17, 3 Nephi 17:24). So it stands to reason that a heavenly being was included in the pillar of light that Lehi saw. This makes sense considering what happened.

He saw and heard much.

Much. I love imagining what that little word encompasses. If he was in conversation with an angel from the Lord, what sorts of things do you suppose are included in that tiny description of “much?” Whatever it was, it exhausted him to the point that when he went home, he fell on his bed and from there ended up being carried away in a vision and having his throne room theophany.

“And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.” (1 Nephi 1:7-8)

Apparently once he pierced the veil, a veritable flood of godly information came to him, first through the messenger and then through the vision. When the Lord finds someone who is willing to do the work required to pierce the veil, He doesn’t skimp on answering their questions.

So what was it that made this prayer so powerful? I’d wager there were a lot of reasons, but I think one of the main reasons that this prayer elicited a flood of spiritual knowledge to fall on Lehi is because it was an intercessory prayer.

In Behalf of His People

“Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.” (1 Nephi 1:5)

Lehi had heard the warnings from the other prophets of the time about the coming destruction of the jews (Verse 4). And because he cared about the people of Jerusalem, he was filled with such compassion that he poured out his soul in mighty prayer on behalf of his people. That is a Christlike response. He saw the danger his people were in and so he pleaded with the Lord on their behalf. He made intercession. There is great power in praying for others, and it’s something we should all do more of.

There is a myriad of lessons to be learned from these records. I love that these early verses introduce us to one of the great themes that repeats throughout the Book of Mormon. Eight verses into 1 Nephi and we already have an account of Lehi piercing the veil and entering the Lord’s presence. There is tremendous hope in that.