Continuing with
the legend from the previous two posts in which the legend itself was covered
in the first post. Below is the explanation of that last post, and the
connection to the Book of Mormon and the events listed there with Lehi arriving
in the Land of Promise and how this legend grew out of the interaction of his four sons.
The first
fifteen points were covered previously. Below is the sixteenth point onward:
16) Three
brothers who became the leaders of three groups who called themselves
separately but were united as one people -- The Nephites were called
Nephites, Jacobites, and Josephites (Jacob 1:13). The Zoramites mentioned were descendants of
Zoram, Laban's servant, and not a brother to Nephi. Sam's descendants were never called by a
separate tribal name, but were joined with Nephi's descendants (2 Nephi
4:11). Yet all were called Nephites
(Jacob 1:14);
17) The
three brothers had to escape into the Andes with some of their people --
After Lehi died, Nephi was told by an angel to take as many as would go with
him and flee into the wilderness (2 Nephi 5:5).
That Nephi went into a highland or mountain valley can be seen in the
numerous references to the Land of Nephi, which he founded at this time (2
Nephi 5:8), was up in the hills or mountains or highlands from the land of
Zarahemla for the Lamanites always went down
to fight with the Nephites after taking over the Land of Nephi;
18) A
long-lasting dualism occurred between the two groups -- The Nephites and
Lamanites separated (2 Nephi 5:5) and fought many battles (1 Nephi 12:19) until
the Lamanites conquered the Nephites (1 Nephi 12:20; Mormon 8:7). These wars
covered almost 1,000 years;
19) Each
cherished a separate history -- The Nephite history was well documented
throughout the written records, and the Lamanite history was retained through
word-of-mouth for nearly 600 years (Alma 54:17, 24) and those two histories
differed greatly (Alma 54:21; 55:1).
20) There
was a brother who did not combine with the league of three and led his people
into the wilderness where the "warlike orientation of these footloose
people was evidenced" -- Nephi described the Lamanites as "an
idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and seeking in the wilderness for
beasts of prey" (2 Nephi 5:24) while Enos said they had an evil nature,
were wild and ferocious, both bloodthirsty and full of idolatry and filthiness,
and that they wandered in the wilderness (Enos 1:20). He also said the Lamanites were continually
seeking to destroy the Nephites;
21) These
people of the one brother became adept at raiding the valley below -- Once
King Mosiah fled northward to Zarahemla, the Lamanites took over the vacated
highland homes of the Nephites in the Land of Nephi. From that point on the scriptures talk of the
Lamanites going “down” to attack the Nephites (Words of Mormon 1:13; Alma
63:15; Helaman 1:15). Obviously, the
Lamanite lands of the Land of Nephi, which was to the south of Zarahemla (Alma
22:28-34), was in a highland valley at a greater elevation than the land of
Zarahemla, thus, the Lamanites continually raided the valley below;
22) These
people of the one brother perfected the ritual huarachicoy or breechcloth ceremony -- The
Lamanites were described as going naked (Mosiah 10:8) except for a short skin
girdle—breechcloth—about their loins (Enos 1:20);
23) One
brother was so brave and strong and skilled with weapons that the other two
brothers were affronted and humiliated at not being able to match his feats
-- Nephi was the one brother who felt
capable of doing whatever was asked of him (1 Nephi 3:7, 15; 16:23; 17:50), was
the better hunter for it was he that secured food along the trail when all the
bows broke or lost their spring (1 Nephi 16:30-31), was skilled with the bow
and sling (1 Nephi 16:15), and obviously the most steadfast and brave in
following the directions of the Lord.
And in all this, Laman and Lemuel were affronted that their younger
brother should rule over them (1 Nephi 18:10);
24) They
were galled by envy and sought to kill their brother -- Laman, Lemuel and
the sons of Ishmael sought to kill Nephi on several occasions (1 Nephi 7:16;
17:48)
It is also
interesting that often in this legend, though speaking of the four brothers,
only three are mentioned—typically the good one and the two not-so-good ones.
This parallels the situation with Nephi and his two wayward brothers, Laman and
Lemuel, with Sam, the fourth brother hardly mentioned, if at all in the entire scriptural record.
It should also
be noted that of the several legends surrounding ancient Peru, even those later
adopted by the Inca to promote their manufactured history, there is frequent
mention of four brothers, and sometimes three brothers.
We should also
keep in mind that just before his death, Lehi blessed his children (2 Nephi 1:1
to 2 Nephi 4:11). A careful reading of
the order will show that at this time Father Lehi organized his posterity into
tribal groups, like Father Jacob had organized ancient Israel into 12
tribes. These seven tribes were: Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites,
Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites (Jacob 1:13; 4 Nephi 1:38; Mormon
1:8). In this manner Lehi organized a
household of God (2 Nephi 4:12) like Jacob (Genesis 49). Father Lehi was to the Nephites what Father
Abraham was to Israel (Enos 1:25; Mosiah 1:4; 2:34; Alma 9:9; 18:36; 36:22;
56:3; Helaman 8:22; 3 Nephi 10:17). Thus
there were actually 7 tribes in the land of promise throughout, yet there were,
originally, ten heads of households (adding Lehi, Sam [which was joined
tribally with Nephi] and the two sons of Ishmael, though both occupied one
tribe). It should be noted that there
was never, at any time, a tribe of Mulek or Mulekites--these were adopted into
the Nephite lineage as were Sam's descendants.
Thus, in these
legends, we find a comparison with the groupings of the scriptural record with
that of handed down histories (legends) over the centuries of early Peruvian
occupants found within seven distinct tribal categories.
These tribal groups in
the scriptural record are: There were ten men who stood as
heads of families: Lehi, Laman, Lemuel,
Sam, Nephi, Jacob, Joseph, Zoram, and the 2 sons of Ishmael; however, only
seven as heads of tribal groups: 1) Laman, 2) Lemual, 3) Ishmaelite sons, 4)
Nephi, 5) Jacob, 6 Joseph, and 7) Zoram. This seven parallels an ancient myth
of Manco Capac. In fact, the Inca, in their formulating their early legends,
always dealt with brothers, typically four, but sometimes seven, and
especially “four brothers accompanied by their four sisters-wives.”
In repeating what was written
earlier, it is interesting that, despite these numerous and documented matches
to the scriptural record listed here in the last five posts, John
L. Sorenson and other Mesoamerican theorists claim that there is “no other
possibility for the Land of Promise other than Mesoamerica.” In fact, Sorenson
claims that:
“Ingenious and impassioned arguments have been mustered in support of other theorized
areas (from the Great Lakes to Peru or encompassing the entire hemisphere) as
the scene for Nephite history. But every proposed geographical setting other
than Mesoamerica fails to meet the criteria established by the text of Mormon's
account.”
It is hard to believe
anything could be found to match the scriptural record more than what has been
listed in these five posts regarding Andean South America.
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Why was Sam not established as a tribe?
ReplyDeleteI can only guess that he had daughters only (?)
ReplyDeleteDavid: Good question. We are not told. Sam was in the same type of roll that was Hyrum Smith. A good, stalwart, upstanding brother that willingly took the background and supported his brother in all things, including martyrdom. Lehi understood Sam's nature and heart and realized he would be in the background to Nephi, and folded his posterity into the same line as that of Nephi, giving in a greater status than that of a mere brother, perhaps to keep later generations from claiming the birthright over Nephi's posterity.
ReplyDeletePaulo: An interesting thought. For some reason, Nephi did not give us mention of any of his children, other than they existed, and not of those of any of his siblings. We know very little of his sisters, except that they existed, any actually not even the number.
ReplyDelete