Continuing with the previous post
regarding the first Nephite prophet, and how he was beloved by the Lord and one
of the great examples in the scriptural record for each of us to pattern our
lives after.
As for the other reason why
Nephi’s ship would not have gone through Indonesia, nor island-hopped across
the Pacific, is that of secrecy.
It was made very clear that “after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my
father, Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went
forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them
concerning the things which he had both seen and heard”
(1 Nephi 1:18), and “When the Jews heard
these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old,
whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life,
that they might take it away” (1 Nephi 1:20). Soon, the “Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a
dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which
thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this
people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy
life” (1 Nephi 2:1).
Now
in a dream the Lord commanded Lehi to “take
his family and depart into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 2:2), which he did,
leaving behind “his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and
his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were
his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness” (1
Nephi 2:4). Evidently no one knew where Lehi went, for later, when Nephi and
his brothers went back to obtain the brass plates and encountered Zoram,
Laban’s servant who had the keys to the treasury (1 Nephi 4:20), Nephi states:
“we were desirous that he should tarry with us for this cause, that the Jews
might not know concerning our flight into the wilderness, lest they should
pursue us and destroy us” (1 Nephi 4:36).
It
was the habit of the time for Jews to pursue fleeing prophets who spoke out
against them even into Egypt to capture and bring them back for trial. On some
occasions they outright killed them. This would have been known to Lehi and it
was important to him and his family that no one know of their journey into the
wilderness for fear of being pursued and killed. Obviously, Lehi wished to
travel quickly, and took a route in order to escape the priests and Zedekiah’s sphere of influence as quickly as
possible. It is likely he knew of this route from his dealings toward the south
and with Egypt, or it is possible the Lord simply instructed him where to go.
In any event, Lehi was traveling swiftly and secretly, as much as possible, and
would not have had time nor the desire to go into Jerusalem to purchase tents,
supplies, or “seeds of every kind” (1 Nephi 8:1).
Thus,
when the colony entered Nephi’s ship and set sail, they would not have taken
any course that would have led them through populated areas, nor would they
have even gone anywhere on their trek to Bountiful where they might have been
recognized and word carried back to Jerusalem, where priests were always ready
to send men after a heretic guilty of
blasphemy. Lehi would have been very careful to remain isolated from other
people because of such a concern. Obviously, Nephi well understood the fear and
need for secrecy and when he encountered Zoram, he could not let the man go
free and return to Jerusalem to tell of the family’s journey into the
wilderness. This was such a concern that Nephi states “And it came to pass that
when Zoram had made an oath unto us, our fears did cease concerning him” (1
Nephi 4:37).
Obviously,
this was not a minor issue. Fearing the Jews trailing them into the wilderness
and killing them was evidently a grave concern for Lehi as well as he sons.
This should also suggest that for those who think Lehi had a home inside
Jerusalem, the city was so crowded for space, that the leaving of an entire
family with supplies for a trip, tents and donkeys (1 Nephi 2:4), would have
obviously attracted people’s attention—and Lehi would have been well known at
the time for he had been preaching in the city (1 Nephi 1:18-19).
All
of this should show us two very important facts: 1) Nephi’s route to the Western
Hemisphere would have been along a course where there were no lands to
tempt the trouble-making sons; and 2) a route where the major winds and
currents flowed away from the Arabian coast. And that route has been shown here
numerous times in this blog, and is one of the main issues covered in the first part of
the book Lehi Nevere Saw Mesoamerica.
Nephi’s course (red line) from Arabian coast (left) to the Western
Hemisphere (right), traveling with the only currents and winds that move in
that direction all year long and without encountering any contrary currents,
winds, or obstructions
Lehi’s course followed the winds
and currents away from the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, picked up
the winds and currents of the Indian Ocean gyre, and flowed into the Prevailing
Westerlies and West Wind Drift of the Southern Ocean across the Pacific, flowed
northward into the Humboldt (Peruvian) Current and stopped where the winds and
currents died down along the 30º South Latitude in Chile. Along this course,
which would be the shortest route from Arabia to the Western Hemisphere, and
the fastest, there would be no chance for any mutinous attitudes. The waves and
currents are so strong, and so direct, that all those on board needed to do was
hold on and watch the sun cross the sky and the moon and stars in their places
throughout the journey. No food or water replacement would be necessary as Thor
Heyerdahl’s Kon Tiki voyage showed. It would have been an easy, though somewhat
frightening voyage, and given the rebellious sons no opportunity to make any
trouble. Thus, Nephi wrote in two verses that he got the ship into the wind
once again and sailed to the promised land, landing without incident or
comment.
The greatness of this initial
Nephite prophet should be well understood. What he wrote he wrote in
simplicity, for that was what he loved--as he said, “I
shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time
that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth
in plainness unto my people, that they may learn.” Now if we are to learn, we
need to recognize that Nephi’s words were plain and simple, geared to our
understanding. When he says they ” were driven forth before the wind towards
the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:8), he meant exactly what he said, i.e., his
ship was propelled by the winds (and thus the currents), toward the promised
land. That is, from the time he set sail, he tells us the winds were driving
his vessel toward the Land of Promise.
So
where does the wind blow from the Arabian coast toward the Western Hemisphere
without contrary winds and currents? Only along the
Southern Ocean (see image showing Lehi’s course above).
The Monsoon winds and currents blow
inland (left) for six months of the year and blow out to sea (right) six months
of the year. The large arrows indicate winds, the small arrows indicate
currents. Any attempt to sail in a sailing ship “driven forth before the winds”
when the SW monsoon is blowing (left) would send a ship into the area of
Karachi to Mumbai along the northwest
India coast (winds are stronger than currents)
Now
that is plain and simple. No questions needed. We can follow Nephi’s course
across the ocean to where he landed, for the winds and currents move swiftly in
that direction, but stop blowing and die down at the 30º South Latitude along
the Chilean coast at the Bay of Coquimbo. It is as simple as that.
Yet,
there is more to understand—see the next post, “The Importance of
Knowledge."
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