Today we’re doing a special episode on Book
of Mormon geography. We’re doing something
a little bit different. You can see behind
us, we’ve got a green screen, and we’ll
be spending time with maps that help you to
better understand the message of the Book
of Mormon. Now, before we jump in, Tyler and
I would like to share just a bit of our story
of how we met and how we got involved in building
products to help people better engage with
the scriptures.
So, both of came onboard at BYU I was 2009
2010 2010 and when we first met, we discovered
we both had this deep love not only for the
gospel but helping more people better understand
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we have this
desire to build products and tools to help
people better engage. So, we decided to build
a group at BYU called “The Virtual Scriptures
Group.”
We’ve done lots of visualizations about
scriptures and one of the things you’ll
be seeing today is the outcome of that group,
and Tyler will tell you that it’s been an
enormous amount of work primarily Tyler I
mostly have been cheering him on. It’s been
fun to watch him do all the hard lifting.
But we’ve been working on these maps to
help people better understand what Mormon
was trying to convey in witnessing of Jesus
Christ and why Mormon included any geography
at all as part of the message to witness that
Jesus is our Savior.
Now, before we jump in, talking about Book
of Mormon geography, it’s important to know
that God’s chosen prophets and apostles
have recently put out an official essay about
Book of Mormon geography, and it’s very
important that all of us take the time to
carefully read and review this, and Tyler
and I love that the brethren have taken the
time to speak on such an important matter.
Now, first of all, this you can find on the
Church’s website. We’ll also include a
link in our information below where you can
find this.
There have been a variety of proposals about
where the Book of Mormon took place: North
America, Central America, South America. But
what the brethren want us to focus on is the
key message of the Book of Mormon which is
Jesus Christ. And, they state this at the
end of the second paragraph of this essay:
“Although Church members continue to discuss
such theories today (about where the Book
of Mormon happened), the Church’s only position
is that the events the Book of Mormon describes
took place in the ancient Americas.”
And let me just conclude our introduction
here with two really important statements,
one from Elder Ballard, and then finally from
our beloved prophet, President Nelson. Elder
Ballard said, “The Book of Mormon is not
a textbook on topography. Speculation on the
geography of the Book of Mormon may mislead
instead of enlighten; such a study can be
a distraction from its divine purpose.”
And then this beautiful statement from President
Nelson that I wholeheartedly accept: “Interesting
as these matters may be, study of the Book
of Mormon is most rewarding when one focuses
on its primary purpose - to testify of Jesus
Christ. By comparison, all other issues are
incidental.”
We hope that our offering to you today about
Book of Mormon maps and geography is taken
in this light. That our intention is to help
clarify and bring light and understanding
to the Book of Mormon so all of us can be
better followers of Jesus Christ.
OK. Let’s dive in. The very first thing
I need to make really clear is: What is an
internal map? Versus What is a geographical
model that’s external in nature? Internal
versus external. An internal map doesn’t
look at archaeology, anthropology, artifacts,
ruins, linguistic studies, DNA studies, political
elements. It simply looks at what does the
Book of Mormon itself say about the locations
that are mentioned inside of the book? So,
an internal map says you’ve got 531 pages
in the Book of Mormon. You’ve got over 550
specific geographic references mentioned in
the book. You’ve got multiple migrations
and multiple movements of people. So, what
an internal map does is it says how could
I put together a relational comparison type
map based on just what the book says? Not
based on what commentators or other scholars
outside of the book, but just stick with what
does the book say?
Now, the danger with this is that they will
use words like “mountain,” “wilderness,”
“borders,” “land,” “city,” and
whenever you’re trying to make a map you
have to make a judgment call on what does
a wilderness look like? Because, in First
Nephi, when they’re traveling through the
wilderness, we know exactly where they’re
going in the Old World and we can go there
a look and say “Oh, this is what Nephi’s
calling a wilderness.” It’s a desert.
There’s not a lot of that type of land in
the New World, but we’re using the same
word “wilderness” and “wilderness.”
So, it leaves this ambiguity of is it mountainous?
Is it unincorporated government land that
nobody’s claimed yet? Is it jungle? Is it
swamp? Is it? You see the problem? It can
be a variety of things. And so, when we make
this map, an internal map, there’re going
to be some judgments or some conclusions that
are drawn that may be totally off because
we didn’t understand what Mormon or Moroni
meant when they wrote what they wrote in the
book.
So, some people might wonder, why even do
this in the first place? Why do an internal
map? Why not just skip geography since the
main point of the book isn’t geography?
It’s another testament of Jesus Christ.
So, why do that? Having taught in religious
education for over two decades now, I’ve
noticed a pattern with my students that there
are some sticking points, there are some pain
points when it comes to reading and understanding
and engaging with the Book of Mormon. And
they’re pretty predictable after a while.
You notice that many students struggle when
we get into the Isaiah chapters. They struggle
when we start talking about the various plates
in the Book of Mormon. They struggle, not
all of them, but it’s a general pattern
that many of them struggle when it comes to
describing the geography and getting an image
in their mind of what’s going on. They struggle
when the book starts talking about the house
of Israel and the Abrahamic covenant and they
start to feel a little distant from it because
they’re confused.
Human beings traditionally don’t like feeling
confused. They don’t like feeling ignorant
or feeling like they don’t understand what’s
going on. And, it can actually create feelings
of distance between them and the text when
they open it up and say “Well, I don’t
know what this is saying”, and so consequently
they will end up just breezing over the words
because they’re supposed to read from the
Book of Mormon, right? If we can start to
minimize those pain points and give resources
to help people say “Oh, wait a minute. I
get this Isaiah passage” or “I understand
this Abrahamic covenant element here,” or
“Ah, I can see in my head now what’s going
with the geography that’s being mentioned”
all of a sudden they will engage at a deeper
level with the text.
Not so they gain a testimony of the geography,
but so that they feel a greater connection
to these real people in real settings with
real problems going on around them, and in
so engaging, they will now pay more attention
to what they’re reading and feel less confused,
and all of a sudden principles of the gospel
will begin to become clearer to them and they
will be able to find the attributes and the
characteristics of Christ dealing with these
people more clearly, and consequently they’ll
be more equipped to be able to see God dealing
with them in their own life today better.
That’s why I started this journey nine years
ago at BYU of developing this internal map.
This, what you’re looking at right here,
this is version number 42. In other words,
this is an iterative process. Because, I started
with a really simple one, version 1. And then
teaching, noticed, “Oh, wait, that can’t
be there,” and so moved some things and
saved it as version 2 and then I saved some
other things and before you know it, then
I hired a really gifted student.
I have to thank Josh Cotton for the look and
the feel of what you see here. He was a brilliant
illustration student who created this particular
look, and then I’ve modified and moved things
around based on multiple passes through the
Book of Mormon since then. Hence, version
42. Implication is, I’m already working
on version 43 because as you keep going through,
you realize “Ooh, I need to move this a
little bit over here to make a little better
sense for this particular story that I had
overlooked before regarding that particular
geographic reference.”
One other thing, and then we’re diving in.
When you read a story like The Chronicles
of Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkien’s series of
the Lord of the Rings, the trilogy, you’ll
notice that for these authors, Tolkien and
Lewis, either in the front or the back of
the book, they have maps. They have a big
general map of all the land, and then they’ll
give you some more detailed maps sometimes,
zoomed in. That’s what we’re going to
try to do here. Same thing with Narnia. Sometimes
it’s a beautiful colored map at the back,
and sometimes it’s a simple map at the beginning
to give you the labels. The point isn’t
the map. The point is to give you an anchor
point in your mind to connect the different
parts of the story so that you can go on a
journey, on a quest with these characters,
and it makes it so that you can visualize
the story better.
In this case, this is fiction. In the case
of the Book of Mormon, its non-fiction. These
are real people. They’re real locations.
And, the day will come when God will reveal
to us exactly where all of these locations
are. But, until that day comes, we’re sticking
with the prophets of God who say, “Don’t
fight. Don’t contend over differences of
opinion on external geography models. We’re
going to stick with the internal version and
stay geography neutral, but try to at least
draw some attention to the relational distances
and differences between these different elements
in hopes that you’ll be able to have a better
experience in your journey through this book.
So, as we get ready to actually dive in to
some scriptures in the Book of Mormon that
talk about the geographical relationships,
I need to make this really clear. My job is
not to attack anybody’s external geographical
study of where the book might have taken place.
That’s not what I’m trying to do. There
are people who believe with all their mind
and all their hearts that the book took place
in North America. Others believe that it took
place in Baja California. Others believe that
it took place in one of eight kind of general
classifications in Mesoamerica. Others believe
it took place in South America. And my job
is not to point out flaws, or problems, or
issues with any of those models.
I’m simply trying to stay in the book, and
by default, the idea here is that this is
an internal map that shouldn’t look like
anywhere on the planet. Some have looked at
it and said, “Hey, that looks like South
America, this shape here.” If that’s the
case, that was totally unintentional and you’ll
see why its shaped that way based on our first
block that we’re going to read in Alma 22.
But the point is, you should be able to take
this model, its intended to be elastic, or
flexible. If you want, you can twist it onto
its side or turn it onto this other side or
pull it here or compress it here or push it
in here and stretch it out there to fit whatever
external geographical model you prefer. That’s
the intent of an internal map. Just make sure
you keep some of these critical relational
distances and comparisons between different
features intact as you do your skewing and
twisting and pulling it to fit whatever geographic
model you prefer.
So, as we have been going through the Come
Follow Me curriculum this year, you’ve noticed
we’ve been using this map on occasion, but
now we’re coming into sections of the Book
of Mormon where there’s a lot of movement
and a lot of migration and a lot happening
with these people and rather than having that
be confusing, that’s the reason we’re
doing this special video is to kind of orient
you and give you more of the lay of the land
so it doesn’t be, so that geography doesn’t
become a distraction, and it doesn’t become
an arguing point or a point of contention
for us against anybody’s external model.
But simply to say, “Look, here is kind of
what’s happening in this particular chapter
or this particular story as we move forward
in that Come Follow Me curriculum.
So, initially, let me just orient you on the
overall map. Up north is the land northward.
It’s where the Jaredite story predominantly
takes place. And, ironically, this story covers
a much longer period of time as well as way
bigger populations than you get with the Nephites,
Lamanites, and Mulekites later on in the timeline.
However, you’ll notice we don’t have very
many cities listed, we don’t have very many
geographical features, and it’s kind of
cloudy and unknown up north because Mormon
didn’t choose to give us very much detail.
Very little geographic detail up north.
You’ll notice the land southward is divided
into two areas. You have the land of Zarahemla
to the north, the land of Nephi to the south.
And, the land of the first inheritance to
the west in the south. This is where the vast
majority of the Book of Mormon takes place,
is in the land southward, and you’ll notice
most of our geographical references come from
the land of Zarahemla. That would just make
sense because it’s coming from Mormon who
is the captain of the Nephite armies starting
at age 15, in his sixteenth year, he’s 15
years old, until the last battle. So, for
all those years, he’s doing all of this
movement, and then the southern parts of the
land northward. Consequently, he’s giving
you a lot more detail and detailed descriptions
of geographical references in the land of
Zarahemla.
Now, having said that, as you look into the
south, the land of Nephi, we’ve put cities
here, but the reality is is Mormon doesn’t
tell us “this city is 1-day journey east
of this city” or “3 day’s journey north
of that one.” He doesn’t give us any of
that detail, which is interesting. You’d
kind of expect that. It seems that Mormon
hasn’t spent much time in the land of Nephi.
So, he knows he’s read off of the records
that he has about these different places mentioned,
but he’s not giving us the geographical
relationships. So, be very careful making
any judgments on our particular location of
the cities in the land of Nephi because it’s
a whole bunch of guesswork.
Whereas, when you come into the land of Zarahemla,
he’s a lot more detailed, so we’re a little
more certain on the relational placement of
those particular things. Now, let’s dive
in.
So, we’ve already covered a lot of stories
this year in Come Follow Me, and let’s take
a look at where we’ve been so far and where
we’re going in the future. So, we began
in the New World with the entrance in the
land of the first inheritance back in the
end of First Nephi. Then you got the great
split of the Nephites and Lamanites in chapter
5 of Second Nephi where Nephi tells us he
traveled many day’s journey into the wilderness
with all those who would follow him. And,
after many days, they founded a place and
they called it the city of Nephi and the land
of Nephi.
So, the Nephites are going to be here, in
this city and land of Nephi and Shilom, and
this region, for about 400 years, until the
Lamanite aggressions and wars become so bad
that in about 200 BC, the Lord inspires King
Mosiah, Benjamin’s father, to leave the
land of Nephi and travel northward. And, the
distance between Nephi and Zarahemla, based
on other stories that we’ve covered in the
Book of Mormon so far, like Limhi and Alma,
after Abinadi’s story, tells us that it’s
about a 21 day or a three-week journey to
get from Nephi to Zarahemla.
So, that kind of gives you an idea of the
distance and the spread. We also get some
clues about this land of Nephi where they
first settled in that when King Limhi’s
people escaped, the Lamanite soldiers who
followed them northward into the wilderness,
after a day, they get lost in the wilderness,
and they’re so confused they can’t follow
Limhi’s group, and they also can’t figure
out how to get back home to Nephi, to the
land of Nephi, city of Nephi, rather. So,
the land had to be such that they were totally
disoriented and they wandered for many days
until they found Amulon.
So, that just kind of gives you the lay of
the land in the south part. So, the majority
of the rest of the Book of Mormon story is
going to take place here, in the land of Zarahemla,
including that long section at the end of
the book of Alma that we’re going to cover
later on about the war chapters. Now, let
me give you some examples of where this, this
geographical reference point, this internal
map, can help us make a little better sense
of those war chapters.
If you turn to Alma chapter 22 verse 27 all
the way over to 35 happens to be the single
most densely packed in section of the Book
of Mormon regarding geography. It’s where
Mormon, the abridger, pauses in his story
where he’s been telling the story of Lamoni,
and now in chapter 22, King Lamoni’s father,
and that king over all the Lamanite lands
becoming converted, and he pauses to now describe
some of these geographical features.
So, you’ll notice in verse 27 where we pick
this up, the king is going to send this proclamation
throughout all of his land. So, keep in mind
this is the land of Nephi where the Lamanites
live. Notice how he describes it here.
He sent this proclamation throughout all the
land amongst all his people who were in all
his lands, who were in all the regions round
about which was bordering even to the sea
on the east and on the west. So, you’ll
notice the land of Nephi needs to stretch
from the sea on the east to the sea to the
west – coast to coast. And look at its northern
border. It was divided from the land of Zarahemla
by a narrow strip of wilderness that ran from
the sea east even to the sea west and roundabout
on the borders of the seashore.
Uh. You’ll notice that this little narrow
strip of wilderness – it needs to run all
the way from sea to sea, whatever that wilderness
is, whether it’s a mountain range, whether
it’s a desert, a swamp, a jungle, whatever
the wilderness is, it’s got to go from sea
to sea, separating these two lands. OK. Notice
also that it runs through the borders of Manti
by the head of the river Sidon, running from
the east towards the west. And thus, were
the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.
So, you’ll notice Manti is always listed
somewhere near that narrow strip, that dividing
point. It’s one of the entry points between
the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla.
And it’s always listed – Manti always
seems to be associated with the head of the
river Sidon.
Now, a quick word about the river Sidon. It
says there at the bottom of verse 27 through
the borders of Manti by the head of the river
Sidon, running from the east towards the west.
You could interpret the word “head” of
the river as a confluence. In antiquity, they
would do that. They would see a confluence
as a head of the river or a branching point
of a river, like in the book of Genesis, after
the creation, the river that came forth, and
it formed a head that went into four different
directions. So, it can be a spreading out
point, or it can be a beginning point, or
it can be a confluence point. However you
want to interpret that, totally fine.
We have chosen on this particular map to depict
the head of the river being the beginning
point of the river flowing from the east towards
the west in the region of Manti near the narrow
strip of wilderness, based on this. Again,
you are seeing lots of judgment calls have
to be made as you are doing this, and that’s
all they are. They’re not absolute truths.
They’re judgment calls.
Look at verse 28. Now the more idle part of
the Lamanites lived in the wilderness and
dwelt in tents and they spread through the
wilderness on the west in the land of Nephi
over here, yea, and also on the west in the
land of Zarahemla. So there a wilderness on
the west in Nephi and a wilderness on the
west in Zarahemla. Notice also that it spreads
in the borders by the seashore and on the
west of the land of Nephi. Down he comes to
the south again, in the place of their father’s
first inheritance, and thus, bordering along
by the seashore.
So, he’s describing this whole western front,
it seems, in this segment, where there are
wildernesses, and the Lamanites are dwelling
in tents there, and even down to the point
of the land of the first inheritance which
seems to be on the west of the land of Nephi.
Why? Because now we shift in 29 to the other
side, to the east. Notice. And also, there
were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore,
whither the Nephites had driven them. And,
thus, the Nephites were nearly surrounded
by the Lamanites. Nevertheless, the Nephites
had taken possession of all the northern parts
of the land. So, you’ll notice that the
Nephites have possession of the land of Zarahemla
on the north, and there’s the wilderness
on the west, there’s a wilderness on the
east, and then there’s the narrow strip
of wilderness that separates Zarahemla from
the land of Nephi.
And, the Lamanites have started to fill in
these wilderness areas, dwelling in the tents,
surrounding the Nephites, kind of like a horseshoe,
all the way up to the land on the north which
is Bountiful. Look at verse 30. And it bordered
upon the land which they called Desolation,
it being so far northward, that it came into
the land which had been peopled and been destroyed
by, or sorry, of whose bones we have spoken,
which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla,
it being the place of their first landing.
So, it seems that the Mulekites landed up
north and then came into the land of Zarahemla
whereas the Nephites landed down south and
then eventually ended up coming into this
middle ground in the land of Zarahemla. Look
at verse 31. The Mulekites came from there
up into the south wilderness. You’ll notice
we’re coming from the land northward up
into the south wilderness. Again, not looking
at up and down being north and south orientation
on a map, because they are not doing that
like we do. They’re looking at the lay of
the land and they’re going up into the land
of Zarahemla here.
So, picking it back up in verse 31, and they
came from there up into the south wilderness,
thus the land on the northward was called
Desolation, the land on the southward was
called Bountiful, it being the wilderness
which is filled with all manner of wild animals
and other, other things.
Look at verse 32. Now it was only the distance
of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite
on the line Bountiful and the land of Desolation
from the east to the west sea. Now we have
to pause her for a minute because there are
a variety of ways you can interpret that passage,
and I’m not sure which one is the actual,
accurate way. So, the way I’ve chosen to
interpret it here is if you were to draw a
line between Bountiful, the city, and Desolation,
the city, you’ve got a line that’s going
north/south. And, from anywhere on that line,
it would take a Nephite a day and a half to
go from the east, you’ll notice he didn’t
say from the east sea, it’s from the line
Bountiful Desolation on the east out to the
west sea. So, anywhere from here out to the
west sea it’s going to take a Nephite about
a day and a half to make that journey. Which
means the whole land doesn’t have to be
a day and a half’s journey from the east
coast to the west coast near Bountiful or
Desolation.
Now, moving on. Look at the second half of
verse 32. Thus, the land of Nephi and the
land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by
water. Hence, the shape that we’ve chosen
to use here to depict that particular phrase
that if you combine the land of Zarahemla
and the land of Nephi together into what we
call the land southward, it says it was nearly
surrounded by water. That whole land. Hence,
this depiction, this shape.
Ah. There being a small neck of land between
the land northward and the land southward.
Again, there are a lot of ways you can interpret
the phrase “a small neck of land.” And,
this is one of many versions of an interpretation
of that little phrase.
Now, you’ll notice that the Nephites have
taken control of the northern part up into
Bountiful and Desolation because they don’t
want to be completely surrounded by the Lamanites,
although they are nearly surrounded by the
Lamanites because of them having tents and
living in these wilderness areas on the west,
south, and east of the land of Zarahemla.
So, later on in our Book of Mormon study,
we are going to see how Captain Moroni is
eventually going to push all of those Lamanites
out, and then fortify that narrow strip of
wilderness between the two.
So, as we take this larger map and now zoom
in on where the majority of the Book of Mormon
story takes place, for us. Most of our stories
take place in the land of Zarahemla. So, we
zoom in here with the narrow neck, or sorry,
the narrow neck on the north and the narrow
strip of wilderness on the south. This is
where the bulk takes place.
We need to make this very clear. When the
Book of Mormon refers to Zarahemla, you have
to look carefully at what’s going on around
it. Is it referring to the land of Zarahemla
which is the northern part of the land southward,
everything between the narrow neck and the
narrow strip of wilderness? Or is it referring
to the region of Zarahemla that’s more in
the central part of the land? Or is it referring
to the capital city also called Zarahemla?
You have land of Zarahemla, land of Zarahemla,
and the city of Zarahemla, and the regions
round about. So, that’s where it can get
a little confusing as you jump in here, is
you have to keep straight these different
terms that are being used.
The other thing to notice is the Book of Mormon
mentions four, predominantly four entry points
or access points between the land southward
and the land northward. So, the first one
is over here on the east seashore. It says
it’s in the south near the narrow strip
of wilderness. It’s called Antionum.
That’s where the Zoramites live. Can you
see why Alma and Amulek and Zeezrom and others
of his sons went on this mission to teach
the Zoramites? They don’t want to lose that
entry point into the land north or into the
land of Zarahemla because it’s kind of a
critical military position.
The next entry point that gets mentioned repeatedly
in the Book of Mormon is the land of Manti.
So, there’s traffic going both directions
between the two lands near Manti. The other
one is over hear near Antiparah. You’re
going to get some entry points into the land
of Zarahemla at Antiparah. And this one is
a little more difficult. It’s up north.
It’s on the western side. Ammonihah. There’s
no entry point mentioned between the Nephites,
or sorry, the Lamanites ever coming into the
city of Melek, which we’re told is over
west of Sidon over against the west wilderness.
And its west of Zarahemla as well. So, that’s
why we depict it over here. But, there’s
never any entry point there.
By the way, isn’t it beautiful that when
the war chapters are going to start, Captain
Moroni is going to move the stripling warrior’s
families, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, from Jershon
which is here on the east, he’s going to
move them over to Melek which is the safest
place for pacifists to live because it’s
in the center of the land and there’s no
seeming entry point there. It’s the safest
place to keep them reserved because this is
going to be a major battle front and he knows
that.
So Ammonihah up here on the north – it’s
the fourth entry point that is mentioned,
and it becomes pretty significant in a couple
of different chapters. So, those are the points.
Now watch. When the war chapters begin, let
me give you one demonstration of how we put
the map together the way we did.
So, if you go to chapter 51, you’re going
to see that up to this point, from Alma 43
through 51, Captain Moroni has been able to
defend Nephite lands and build fortifications
to the point where the Lamanites keep trying,
but they’re not very successful at taking
over the land, until we get to chapter 51.
So, let me give you an example of the types
of exercises you go through when trying to
make sense geographically. And, I’ll give
you a really kind of an obvious example. In
Alma chapter 51 verse 26, you have Amalickiah
who has brought his armies, numerous hosts
of the Lamanites have come in, and they’ve
taken over the city of Moroni here on the
south east part of the lands of Nephi. Because
those Zoramites actually became confederate
and invited them in. And in the meantime,
all of these cities that are fortified by
Captain Moroni have had to have many of their
soldiers pulled out to come to the center
of the land to fight a civil war against the
king men who have risen up.
So, it’s because of internal fighting that
has now opened up the door for Amalickiah,
the enemy, to come in and take over these
strongholds. Now watch what happens in verse
26. Look at the map. Look closely as I progress
here. Thus, he, Amalickiah went on, taking
possession of many cities, the city of Nephihah,
the city of Lehi, the city of Morianton, the
city of Omner, and the city of Gid, and the
city of Melek or Mulek, all of which were
on the east borders by the seashore.
So, you can see why its depicted in this way
in a south to north orientation going from
city to city to city until he came to Mulek.
And now you notice in verse 28 It came to
pass they marched to the borders of the land
Bountiful, driving the Nephites before them
and slaying them. The whole goal of Amalickiah
is to take over all these fortified cities
and then eventually get to Bountiful so he
can now control the north which gives him
the access to the land northward, thus creating
this trap all the way around the Nephites.
Well it’s here in the story where Captain
Moroni sends Teancum and his men up here between
Bountiful and Mulek to head off that attack
from Amalickiah’s men, to prevent them from
getting to Bountiful. They have an incredible
battle that day, and you’ll notice the wording,
that that night they were tired, verse 32,
it was dark. Teancum had caused his men to
pitch their tents in the borders of the land
Bountiful, and Amalickiah did pitch his tents
on the borders on the beach by the seashore.
And after this manner were they driven.
So, you have this battle that took place,
and now Amalickiah’s armies camped on the
beach here on the east and Teancum’s men
are camped in the borders of the land Bountiful,
not of the city Bountiful, but of the land
Bountiful, and we don’t know exactly how
big the land Bountiful is. It could be stretched
out to be much bigger than this depiction.
That’s fine. But Teancum’s men are in
the borders of Bountiful while Amalickiah’s
are on the beach, and it’s that night when
Teancum’s going to go and kill Amalickiah,
and we’ll talk about that in a future Come
Follow Me video when we get to there.
So, why does any of this matter? You can see
that for these very real people in this very
real setting that the concern of oh no, we
just lost our entire eastern front, not just
our eastern front but eastern strongholds
and fortifications. And, you’ll notice that
Captain Moroni at that point doesn’t throw
his hands up in desperation and give up. And,
he doesn’t try to take back all of the cities
at the same time. This is really helpful for
me and for my family as we study these stories
and study the Book of Mormon to see the hand
of the Lord working with these people who
have lost a great deal of ground in their
efforts to progress as a society.
And, he helps them focus on let’s reclaim
and retake this ground one city at a time.
So, from 51 moving forward, you’re going
to want to watch Captain Moroni focus on one
city at a time, beginning with Mulek, and
then Gid, and he’s going to work his way
south pushing the enemy back out of his lands.
And there’s something powerful there to
tie us back into the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and to the strength of the Savior in helping
us not just keep sin and addiction and temptation
out of our lives, but how to remove it with
His help, with His grace, once it’s taken
hold or taken root into certain parts of our
character or our family as we move forward.
Now, if you think it’s bad to lose your
whole eastern side, turn over to chapter 56
of Alma and look at 13. 56:13. Now these are
the cities of which the Lamanites have obtained
possession by the shedding of the blood of
so many of our valiant men. The land of Manti,
and the city of Manti, and the city of Zeezrom,
and the city of Cumeni, and the city of Antiparah.
So, again, I don’t know if Mormon intended
for it to be depicted this way, but we know
that Manti is one of the entry points, we
know that Antiparah is on the west as an entry
point, and so I’ve filled in the blanks
with Zeezrom and Cumeni in an east to west
flow.
So, now if you look at the map, we’ve lost
our eastern seashore, our whole eastern border,
and now we’ve also lost our southern front.
We are in trouble. And so what happens is,
is the rest of this story is how Helaman,
and those 2,000 stripling warriors, help to
reclaim these lands in the south. And we’ll
talk at length about one of the stories of
the stripling warriors and their efforts to
retake the city Antiparah when we get to that
chapter in the Come Follow Me curriculum.
So, at the ending of the war, there is this
interesting migration that occurs that Mormon
informs us of in Alma 63. Notice he says it
came to pass that in the thirty and seventh
year of the reign of the judges, there was
a large company of men, even to the amount
of five thousand and four hundred men with
their wives and their children departed out
of the land of Zarahemla into the land which
was northward. They’re leaving. They go
to the land northward out of Zarahemla.
Not only that, but verse 5 introduces you
to this character in the story called Hagoth
who goes to the west sea by the narrow neck
which led into the land northward which was
on the borders of the land Bountiful.
So, you’ve noticed now, combining this story
with one back in Alma 51 and 52, that the
land Bountiful has a reference point to the
west sea and a reference point to the east
sea. So, he builds a large ship and takes
people where? They went into the land northward.
It came back. He built that or he filled it
again and built other ships and they all went
northward and they were never heard of again.
So, you get major migrations in Alma 63.
Then you turn over to Helaman 3. One again,
you get huge numbers of people migrating out
of the Nephite geo-political central point
to the land northward. Notice how it describes
this. Verse 3 of chapter 3 in Helaman. It
came to pass that in the forty and sixth,
yea, there was much contentions and many dissensions
in the which there were an exceeding great
many who departed out of the land of Zarahemla
and went forth unto the land northward to
inherit the land. Now where did they go? They
didn’t just go straight north.
They did travel to an exceedingly great distance
in so much that they came to large bodies
of water and many rivers. And even they did
spread forth into all parts of the land into
whatever part it had not been rendered desolate
and without timber because of the many inhabitants
who had before inherited the land.
And so, they are going up, and they are spreading
into all parts of the land. Then, the rest
of the story doesn’t follow them. We don’t
get their stories. We don’t get their prophecies
or their revelations if they had them. Our
story in the Book of Mormon stays in the land
of Zarahemla. And towards the end, then Mormon,
who was living in the land northward, his
dad migrated into the land southward and there
at age 15 he takes over as the chief captain
and the rest of his life is spent among the
people in the land southward, in Zarahemla,
and then things migrate north in preparation
for the last battle into the land northward
at the hill Cumorah in the land of Cumorah
depicted here in the north.
It’s fascinating as you look at the whole
story flow of this Book of Mormon that there
was that one part in Alma 50 and 51 where
Captain Moroni sends his people to the east,
to the east seashore to build up all those
cities that we lost. But, as far as migrations
are concerned in the book, where people are
migrating away from the Book of Mormon lands
where this is taking place, the geo-political
center point of the Nephite civilization,
every single one of those migrations in Alma
63 and Helaman 3, they all go northward, whether
they are traveling by boat, or by land, they
all go northward. They don’t go west, they
don’t go south, and they don’t go east
at that point. They are all headed one direction.
So, to conclude. Brothers and sisters, the
Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus
Christ. It is an instrument that was prepared
by God for our day to gather the elect out
of the four corners of the earth and bring
them into this covenant relationship with
God. This book is so good you could spend
a lifetime exploring it through a variety
of lenses or using a variety of approaches.
You could explore it simply for its archaeology
aspects, through its weather depictions, through
its political descriptions, looking at DNA
studies, looking at plants, animals, metals,
languages, anthropological, linguistic studies,
geographical studies. But, at the end of the
day, I don’t have a testimony of any of
those things, because there are so many questions
that remain unanswered in each of those areas.
And, I do have to mention here, that when
it comes to questions of geography, or questions
of archaeology, or linguistics, that there’s
an important distinction to remember. Absence
of evidence is not evidence of absence.
So, we don’t know what the Lord will yet
reveal concerning all of these different aspects
of the Book of Mormon. He could have made
it really simple, but He didn’t in these
cases. He doesn’t want, it seems, that He
doesn’t want our testimony to be based on
these kinds of facts and provable features.
He wants us to come unto Christ because we
have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, because
we trust Him, even though we don’t have
all the answers.
And, that to me is a motivating factor for
learning just enough about the geography,
or the linguistics, or the anthropology, or
the archaeology, to be able to better visualize,
but not spend all my time focused on that
element or that aspect or that lens.
This is like an analogy that a dear friend
and colleague of mine at BYU named Mark Wright
shared with me on one occasion. If we’re
not careful, we will spend so much time studying
these side aspects of the book, that it would
be kind of like coming up to a well that is
filled with delicious, life-giving water,
but we spend all of our time analyzing and
exploring the rocks around the well, but no
time drinking the water out of the well.
So, our invitation would be that when you
open this book, that the main focus, the main
attention isn’t drawn to its geography,
or its politics, or its languages, or its
archaeology or anthropology, but rather, that
you open this book, drink from the living
water that if offers.
So, brothers and sisters, as we move forward
through this Book of Mormon year of Come Follow
Me, I want to reiterate something that we
focused on at the beginning out of the Gospel
Topics Essay. Here’s the quote: “Individuals
may have their own opinions regarding Book
of Mormon geography and other such matters
about which the Lord has not spoken. However,
the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles urge leaders and members not to advocate
those personal theories in any setting or
manner that would imply either prophetic or
Church support for those theories. All parties
should strive to avoid contention on these
matters.”
And, then, I would finish with President Nelson’s
statement: “Interesting as all those other
matters may be, study of the Book of Mormon
is most rewarding when one focuses on its
primary purpose – to testify of Jesus Christ.
By comparison, all other issues are incidental.”
Well, brothers and sisters, I want you to
know that I know that Jesus is the Christ.
And, the more I read this book, the more I
know that, the more I love Him, the more I
want to be like Him. The more I see His hand
guiding and shaping the people through these
movements and migrations, and even yes, the
wars, and the defeats, and the loss, and the
turning to Him, and repenting, and being redeemed,
the more I see it here, the more apt I am
and the more my eye is focused on being able
to see that same guiding, shaping, merciful
hand in my life and in the life of my loved
ones and my family today. I know He lives
and I know this book will bring us to Him.
We hope you have felt our love and enthusiasm
for the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Thank you for spending time with us.
And, we hope that the resources we have shared
with you encourage you to dig deeper and to
seek more love from God through the Book of
Mormon. We encourage you to spread light and
goodness wherever you go.
