Lehi comes to the end of a long and productive life. Just as Jacob of old had done, Lehi offers patriarchal exhortations to his sons.
But Lehi does not stop there. He gathers his grandchildren about him to impress upon them his principal patriarchal message: obey and prosper or disobey and be cast off. He reminds them that if they are “brought up in the way [they] should go,” they will not depart from it.
Parents today are anxiously concerned about the welfare and spiritual growth of their children and grandchildren. For those, like Lehi and Sariah, who observe that some of their children are falling by the wayside, the encouraging words of John Taylor come to mind, for he gave assurances that “Your Sons and Daughters Will Be Saved”:
God has fulfilled His promises to us, and our prospects are grand and glorious. Yes, in the next life we will have … our sons and daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time… . You that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the priesthood, work and labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the path of exaltation and glory. This is just as sure as that the sun rose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all your sons and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save our posterity. (Millennial Star, 22 January 1894, 51–52)