Is Joseph Smith a direct descendant of Lehi?
Question
Dear Gramps,
In a recent priesthood lesson, we were discussing the lineage discussed in 2 Nephi where Lehi was prophesying to his young son Joseph in which a choice seer would descend from the lineage of Joseph of Egypt, which we know today would be Joseph Smith, Jr. Did this lineage come directly through Lehi? The Nephite nation perished with Moroni; so did it come through another son of Lehi? I think possibly that the lineage beginning with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ephraim and Manassah) giving rise to the choice seer in the latter-days came through the offspring of Ephraim (which would include Lehi?) and a host of other possible routes to Joseph Smith Jr. Am I on the right track here? I would appreciate anything you could add so the quorum can cover it briefly next Sunday in our meeting. Thanks a lot.
Bob
Answer
Dear Bob,
The only descendants remaining from Lehi are the Lamanites, the ancestors of the Native Americans. Although Joseph Smith was of the blood of Ephraim, it was not through Lehi’s descendants, but from the blood of Ephraim scattered thoughout the nations, as is the case with most of the other members of the Church.
Gramps
Aren’t the Lamanites descendants of Manassah, not Ephraim?
The Nephites were not entirely destroyed. The two groups assimilated into one entity after the final battles at Cumorah. What was destroyed was Nephite culture and society. The religion—meaning the priests, teachers, etc.–we gone, the government was broken up, trade was no more, all the institutions of Nephite society came to a screeching halt. But many of the Nephites lived on. Part of the problem with the semantics of the Book of Mormon is figuring out what is meant by a Nephite (or for that matter what is meant by a Lamanite). Sometimes (in the most infrequent cases) a Nephite is a direct descendant of Nephi. The most used case is anyone who is a member of the church of God is called a Nephite. Another use of the term is anyone who happens to fall within the jurisdiction of the Nephite kingdom and is subject to their laws and to their government. Remember Alma, who relinquished the Chief Judgeship in order to preach to the Nephite people and when he arrived at Amonihah the people rejected him because he was no longer a ruler, but also Amulek told Alma not to sorry about all those “others” because Amulek, unlike all the others living in Amonihah, was was a Nephite, meaning that he was a descendant of Nephi and not simply a non-descendant living within the borders of the Nephite Government jurisdiction.
Speaking of the deserters who left the side of the Nephite and joined the Lamantes at the battle of Cumorah, Mormon writes in Mormon 6:15: And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each; yea, even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites, had fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.
And later, Moroni tells us that after the battle of Cumorah there were many more battles during which time Nephite defected over to the Lamanite side and were admitted into Lamanite society, or at least allowed to live among the Lamanite people by simply denying their Christian faith. In Moroni 1:1-2 he writes:
1 Now I, Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, I had supposed not to have written more, but I have not as yet perished; and I make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me.
2 For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ.
Think of the possibility that the Nephite and Lamanite nations were located in the northeastern and mid western part of the United States, as some have concluded. The Children of Hagoth left in boats and many thousands did not return. Couldn’t they possibly be descendants of Joseph of Lehi and Joseph of Egypt? I could be possible.