Lesson 47 - The Liahona

Shortly after the marriage of his sons to the daughters of Ishmael, Lehi was directed by the Lord to continue his journey the next day towards the Land of Promise. The little colony had been organizing and resting for some time at the place they had first selected on the shores of the Red Sea, near a little stream which Lehi called the river Laman, in honor of his eldest son. The next morning when Lehi arose and went to his tent door he found near by a round ball of curious workmanship. It was made of fine brass and within it were two spindles or needles, one of which pointed the way the company should travel. The country through which they were about to pass was new to them and 'they had no guide who knew the way. They were acquainted with the region between Jerusalem and the Red Sea, and consequently did not need any person or thing to point out that road. From this time it would be different, all was strange to them; without divine help they might die for want of water and food, or fall into the hands of the inhabitants of the land, or entirely lose their way in the desert. So the Lord provided this ball, which they called a Liahona. It had the strange peculiarity of working according to their faith, and, when necessary, writing would appear on it, giving instructions to them what to do in cases of emergency. In fact, it took the place and performed the work of the fiery, cloudy pillar that went before the Israelites when Jehovah led them out of Egypt in the days of Moses. This Liahona first led the company for four days in a direction a little east of south along the.borders of the Red Sea. At the end of these four days they rested. They called the place where they camped Shazer. Here they hunted and killed game for food, and then resumed their journey along the borders of the Red Sea. And so they continued to follow the directions of the ball, which led them through the more fertile parts, of the wilderness. By. and by they changed their direction and traveled almost directly eastward, across the Arabian Peninsula, until they reached the waters of the great ocean. The Prophet Joseph Smith says, “They traveled nearly a south south-east direction until they came to the nineteenth degree of north latitude, then nearly east to the Sea of Arabia."