"He will bring other nations unto them...and take away the lands of their possession."
In the fierce debate over surging migrants entering the U.S., Lehi has something to say.
About 7,500 people from 24 different countries were reported by NBC News to be in this massive group making its way north through the Mexican state of Chiapas on the border of Guatemala. The image was taken December 2023, as the migrant caravan departed from Tapachula, Mexico (Credit to Edgar Hernandez Clemente / AP).
America is in the middle of a fierce debate on surging migrant crossings at the U.S. border that will be a major decider of the 2024 U.S. Presidential election.
“Who’s to blame?” Like everything in politics today, the problem is cleanly laid at the feet of the opposition. Republicans insist that inaction by President Biden is at the root of the surging numbers, while Democrats insist inaction by a Congress in Republican hands explains the dilemma.
It’s hard for the average person to know what’s actually true. And the angst is understandable, since we’ve witnessed record levels of illegal border crossings in recent years, as reflected in various Pew research graphs, including this one:
Is this all President Biden’s fault? Or are the Republicans in Congress really as responsible as MSNBC claims?
Or could something else be going on? This passage from the Book of Mormon jumped out at me recently, a prophesy from the ancient prophet Lehi, recently arrived on the American content, “that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord” (this and all the subsequent references are in 2 Nephi 1).
Instructing his sons that the land they were standing on was “consecrated unto him whom he shall bring,” he explained this blessing was contingent on how they acted:
And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.
Lehi then went on to teach that this land of America (they likely lived closer to Central America, with posterity eventually extending both directions into the north and south continents), had been kept and preserved by God, who he believed had limited people’s awareness of the land to those he wanted to bring: “And behold, it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.”
Lehi then reiterated what he had said earlier about the conditions upon which the land were to be possessed - applying them specifically to his posterity:
Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.
Then, a striking warning (emphasis my own):
But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them. Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten.
I can’t help but ask myself in reading this, could we be witnessing a fulfillment of this prophesy in the United States today?
I’m not sure, but I find the possibility intriguing. About this Book of Mormon text embraced by Latter-day Saints as scripture, President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) taught more than once that while the book narrates “a chronicle of nations long since gone….in its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, it is as current as the morning newspaper.”
I suggested in our adult Sunday School class a few weeks ago that this specific passage may be more relevant to America’s migrant crisis than anything they would or could read in the New York Times or any other major newspaper today.
If so, imagine for a moment how this teaching could shift our national conversation freighted with suspicion, hostility and fear. Rather than “this is my land, and those people are coming in and threatening what is rightfully fine”…we might all feel a little more humility as to whose land this ultimately is, and who it is that is showing up at our borders.
Photo by Barbara Zandoval on Unsplash U.S. Customs and Border Protection - San Ysidro, San Diego, U.S. June 22, 2021
I’m proud of how Utah has approached the surging numbers of refugees, showing more compassion from consecutive governors than other Republican states. Republican governors welcoming Syrian and Afghan refugees, while making proactive efforts to encourage the enactment of fair compromises on immigration (see Utah Compact). Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have also made regular statements on immigration and spoken in General Conference about compassion toward refugees.
Many churches have encouraged similar compassion. In line with this, so many in our state have embraced and tried to support refugees however we can. My friend Andrew Steurer volunteers at the refugee center down in Logan, teaching Drivers License classes. Two other dear friends, Wally Goddard and Mark Harbertson have mentored different refugee families.
None of this is to argue for resignation or passivity when it comes to open borders. It’s hard to see why anyone would want to continue our current promiscuous policies when it comes to who should be allowed to come in (unless Elon Musk is right about the political incentives of flooding the country with new voters - a level of cynicism I find hard to digest).
It seems to me that many good people across the political spectrum agree that the rule of law and orderly borders are both essential to a functioning nation, and America’s been failing on both fronts. That debate should continue, with our elected representatives hopefully finding wise and compassionate solutions in how to respond to the many migrants now illegally in the country - and the many more sure to show up in the months ahead.
It’s honestly hard for me to understand the full truth about what’s happening on the border. I genuinely can’t tell who’s responsible politically, since I struggle to trust the partisan news on either side. But as we reach for a clearer picture, it’s important to remember that America’s long been a nation of immigrants, with roughly 10% of the population in the last 160 years (+/- 10%) coming from another country, as reflected here:
While doing what we can to encourage legal means of entry, ancient scripture encourages much more humility and introspection as to what’s taking place. Maybe this isn’t about Biden alone, or the Republicans in Congress.
Maybe it’s about us too.