Do We Know Where the Land of Promise is Located? – Part X

In the last nine posts the several points in a FARMS website were introduced and an evaluation of John L. Sorenson’s points begun. In this post, we will deal with the comment:

3. “Why Nephi compared their land to an “isle of the sea.”

First, Nephi did not compare their Land of Promise to an “isle of the sea.” He merely wrote down what Jacob was preaching to the Nephites at the time. Nor did Jacob compare their Land of Promise to an “isle of the sea.” What he said, which is entirely different, is: “for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea” (2 Nephi 10:20).

Sorenson must explain away the island since his Mesoamerican model is not now nor ever has been, an island. However, “We are upon an isle of the sea” is a pretty straight-forward comment. The word “upon” means “to be on.” Thus, the Nephites were on an isle of the sea, and no explaining away from Sorenson or other theorists can change the plain and simple language which Nephi loved and used, and commanded his descendants to follow in keeping the records.

An Island is an island, is an island, is an island.

And since they were on an island, we can ask, why were they there? The complete text of Jacob’s talk is: “And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea.”

Thus, they were upon a better land than Jerusalem, the seat of the Hebrews in Palestine. Instead, they were led away from there and now were upon an island—an island to which the Lord had led them—being a better land then Jerusalem. This was Jacob’s message—their island was a better land than Jerusalem. The second part of his message was that the Lord had not forgotten them (the Nephites) even though they were no longer in Jerusalem, and were not cast off from the Jews and, as they thought, from the Lord.

Sorenson uses the word “compare,” which means “to liken, to represent as similar, for the purpose of illustration.” This is stated by him to try and illustrate a different meaning for the phrase “we are upon an isle of the sea.” It is used to confuse, explain away, or change the very simple statement Jacob said—obviously, his listeners knew where they were, he was not trying to tell them something they did not know about their location—what he was trying to do was assuage their fears and concerns that they were so far away from Jerusalem that the Lord might not remember them. And his next statement shows this quite plainly, for he then likens their island to that where others of the House of Israel had been led, by saying, “But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren” (2 Nephi 10:21).

There is no comparison intended here—they were upon an island and it was a better land than that of Jerusalem, the home of the Jews. And the Lord had not forgotten them and, in fact, had led others away to other islands.

Again, Sorenson wants to cloud the issue because his Mesoamerican model is not an island—so he must change the meaning of the scriptural record because at face value (plain and simple language) it does not match his model.

(See the next post, Do We Know Where the Land of Promise is Located? – Part XI)