1 Nephi 12

Nephi's vision continues.  Again Nephi writes the phrase "And I saw the heavens open."  These chapters are deserving of more careful study, but in today's reading verses 16 and 17 stood out to me.

"And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.

And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost." (1 Ne. 12:16-17)

Nephi is shown in vision the things that his father saw in vision, but there are significant differences, either in what was shown or in what was reported.  Perhaps each was shown essentially the same vision but each noticed different things.  Nephi was Lehi's son, but he was still a different and a unique individual.

The angel teaches Nephi that his father saw "the fountain of filthy water."  The way that Nephi describes his father's vision and his own vision causes me to wonder if the tree of life, which is a fountain of living waters, and is pure at the source, is polluted down stream.  In other words, there are two different kinds of waters that are described, one water that is pure and clean, and another that is filthy.  By the way, who would write the phrase "a river of water"?  Doesn't that sound redundant?  What else can rivers be made of, if not water?  

In these visions there are descriptions of rivers and fountains.  In Lehi's vision, he sees people who feel their way toward the great and spacious building, and he sees people who are drowned in the depths of the fountain.  (1 Ne. 8:32)  This is the river of which Lehi spoke, but his mind was swallowed up in other things, so he did not notice the filthiness of the river.  (1 Ne. 16:26-29)  Lehi's mind was swallowed up in the vision of the tree of life.  He was focused on the tree of life, which is also like a fountain: 

"And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God." (1 Ne. 11:25)

It seems to be that there are two fountains, one of pure water, or living water, and one of filthy water.  In Nephi's account of his father's vision, Lehi notices that Sariah, Sam and Nephi stood at the head of the river that was near the tree of life.  Nephi seems to write of the river and the fountain interchangeably, but Laman and Lemuel are not standing at the head of the river as are Sariah, Sam and Nephi.  The symbolism of the tree of life and the fountain of pure water seem to be connected with Sariah, who is the mother of Sam and Nephi.  Sam and Nephi are standing close to their mother, the source of their life, whereas Laman and Lemuel are not.  In any case, the fountain of filthy water that Lehi saw was representative of the depths of hell.  Whether it was a different river or the same river that was polluted down stream, I do not know.  The important thing is that the fountain of living waters is a representation of the love of God, and it is the most desirable above all things.

Someday we'll be able to read the text in the original reformed Egyptian, and we'll have Lehi's own account of his vision.  Until then, these are a few of the things that gave pause for reflection in this chapter.