Another False Claim on the H38 Virus Website

On the H38 Virus Website, which claims to have the True Book of Mormon Geography, the following statement is made:

3. The Land Northward was so small, they could see THREE of the FOUR SEAS standing on the Hill Ephraim, in the Land Desolation, by the Narrow Neck. (Ether 7:6-9)“

Actually, Ether 7:6-9 does not say that at all. What it says is: “Now the land of Moron, where the king dwelt, was near the land which is called Desolation by the Nephites. And it came to pass that Kib dwelt in captivity, and his people under Corihor his son, until he became exceedingly old; nevertheless Kib begat Shule in his old age, while he was yet in captivity. And it came to pass that Shule was angry with his brother; and Shule waxed strong, and became mighty as to the strength of a man; and he was also mighty in judgment. Wherefore, he came to the hill Ephraim, and he did molten out of the hill, and made swords out of steel for those whom he had drawn away with him; and after he had armed them with swords he returned to the city Nehor and gave battle unto his brother Corihor, by which means he obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kib.”

First of all, this is the only reference to the hill Ephraim in the entire account of Ether, as well as in the entire Book of Mormon. Secondly, as one can see, there is absolutely no mention of ANY sea visible from the hill Ephraim, let alone all three! Thirdly, there is absolutely no mention of a Sea North or a North Sea in all of the Book of Ether.

One can only conclude that the Land Northward was not so small as claimed, for there is nothing in the scriptural record to indicate such. In fact, Mormon tells us that Nephite emigrants from the Land Southward, when entering the Land Northward, “they did travel to an exceeding great distance…that they came to large bodies of water and many rivers” (Helaman 3:4), suggesting a rather large area. Much later, when the Nephites entered into a treaty with the Lamanites (Mormon 2:29), the Nephites obtained the entire Land Northward. This means the area was large enough for several million people to inhabit.

In addition, we do not know from the scriptural record that the Land of Moron was near the Narrow Neck of Land. All we know is that Moron was near the Land of Desolation, and this Land of Desolation ran from the north to the south where it bordered on the Narrow Neck and the Land of Bountiful beyond (Alma 22:31-32).

We also know that the Jaredites “built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land. (Ether 10:20), which tells us the Jaredites were as far south as the Land Northward ran, and as far north as the Land of Many Waters (Mosiah 8:8) and the Waters of Ripliancum (Ether 15:8), which may have been the Sea North, but it was never called such in the Ether record. In fact, the only mention of the Sea North is in Helaman 3:8, which is also where the only mention of the Sea South occurs.

Also, this website promotes the belief that the Land Northward was the focal point of the Land of Promise. They also suggest that the Land Northward alone had a Sea North and a Sea South by quoting Helaman 3:8: “And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.”

However, this scriptural statement does not say the Land Northward had a south sea. It says the people spread over all the land—that they “did go forth from the land southward to the land northward and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth from the sea south to the sea north” has reference to the entire Land of Promise—from the land southward to the land northward. The terminology “cover the face of the whole earth” refers to the entire Land of Promise, not just a portion of it.

Also, by the time this was written in Helaman’s time, the Land Southward was basically completely covered with humanity, from the Lamanites in the south to the Nephites in the Land of Zarahemla and northward to the narrow neck. At this point, Mormon injects the fact for his future readers that with the movement of Nephites into the Land Northward which multiplied and spread out over the land, that the entire Land of Promise was now covered with the children of Lehi and that “they covered the face of the whole earth.” That is, they covered the face of the entire Land of Promise.

As can easily be seen, Mormon injects the Land Southward and the Land Northward in his statement. This is the entire Land of Promise, not just one portion of it.