The Mulekite Homeland in the Land of Promise – Part III

Continued from the previous post regarding the Mulekite homeland, where they landed, where they settled, and who they were. A first scriptural reference and answers were in the earlier post, here with continue with the second point:
    Looking at the Second of These Two Scriptural Accounts: Nor can the second account cited in Helaman be used for this to validate theorists; claims that the Mulekites landed in the Land Northward.

Red Circles denote the two lands mentioned by Mormon

In 73 BC, before the Nephites had migrated into the Land Northward, Alma says: “...he (Moroni) named all the land which was south of the land Desolation, yea, and in fine, all the land, both on the north and on the south—a chosen land, and the land of liberty.” That is, Moroni was naming the land of promise south of the land of Desolation, i.e., the Land Southward, as a chosen land, and the land of liberty. He called the land south (the land of Nephi, then held by the Lamanites) and the land north (Zarahemla to Bountiful, then held by the Nephites) as the chosen land—chosen meaning the land of promise was chosen by the Lord for the Nephites as long as they remained righteous—and the land of liberty. Here we find Moroni (or Alma the recorder or Mormon the abridger) naming the Land Southward having two divisions—a land north and a land south.
    In fact, these two lands, all part of the Land Southward, though divided in Moroni’s day among the Lamanites on the south and the Nephites on the north, were all part of the land of promise of which Lehi and his family had been promised forever, providing they remained righteous. Moroni, in his zeal and complete understanding of the Lord’s promise to Lehi, is proclaiming all this Land Southward, a land of liberty—he is not referring to the Land Northward, that is the land north of the narrow neck, since neither he nor the Nephites yet occupied that land, and the battle in Zarahemla he anticipated, and was gathering forces to fight, had nothing to do with any land north of Bountiful.
    In 30 BC, Helaman, referring to the harmony that then existed among the Lamanites (in the south—Land of Nephi) and the Nephites (in the north--Zarahemla to Bountiful) referred to this unprecedented peace, saying: “...they became exceeding rich, both the Lamanites and the Nephites; and they did have an exceeding plenty of gold, and of silver, and of all manner of precious metals, both in the land south and in the land north. Now the land south was called Lehi and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south” (Helaman 6:9-10).

Division of the major land groups in the Land of Promise

 

Again, we find a separation of the Land Southward, which was fully occupied by Lamanites in the south and Nephites in the north, following this natural social division that had existed for nearly 500 years at this time. To make sure he gets his message across, Helaman mentions the difference between the land north and the land south, yet both having the same in common— that is, the Lamanites in the south and the Nephites in the north of the Land Southward were rich, were in communication with one another, intermingled, raised crops, had gold, etc. (Helaman 6:11-12). This was an unprecedented time of peace in the 500-year history of the land of promise and certainly worthy of note.
    In about 18 BC, the Disciple Nephi described the Nephites in the Land Southward who abandoned their land and withdrew to Bountiful, which was on a line with the Land of Desolation (3 Nephi 3:23-25), and gave the Gaddianton Robbers the land to their south. As Mormon writes: “the Robbers gained the Land South and the Land North” as they came down out of the hills and took over the land south of the Nephites (3 Nephi 4:1). Here the term Land North is given but the Robbers were not in the Land Northward—only in the northern part (Land North) of the Land Southward.
    To get a proper perspective, the elements of the land are listed as (working from the south to the north): Land Southward (Alma 22:32): Land South: (Lehi)
1. Land of First Inheritance (First Landing of Lehi)
2. Land of Nephi
Land North: (Mulek)

3. Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:29)
4. Land of Bountiful (Alma 22:29)
Area of Separation or Debarkation (Alma 22:32)
5. Narrow Neck of Land (Alma 22:32) Land Northward (Alma 22:32)
6. Land of Desolation (Alma 22:30)
7. Site of Last Jaredite Battle (Alma 22:30)
8. Land of Large Bodies of Water (Helaman 3:4-5).

Mosiah leads the Nephites into the wilderness around 250 BC, and eventually to the city of Zarahemla

There is another scripture, rarely quoted by the Mesoamerican Theorists, which also makes this understanding quite clear. It is found in Omni, and was written by Amaleki who was a first-hand, eye-witness to the events he described, for he lived in the days of Mosiah, saw his death, and the reign of King Benjamin (Omni 1:23). He was part of the group of Nephites that escaped under the direction of Mosiah, and traveled to the city of Zarahemla. He knew the Mulekites first hand, and wrote:
    “Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon. And they journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.” (Omni 1:16-17, emphasis added).
    That is, the Lord led the Mulekites across the great sea to land in the area where Mosiah discovered them—Zarahemla. And they had lived there ever since their landing.
    Joseph Allen attempts to change this simple understanding of Amaleki’s statement by saying: “The forefathers of the people of Zarahemla journeyed in the wilderness and crossed the great waters and that subsequently a colony of Mulekites migrated to an area they called the Land of Zarahemla.”
    However, Amaleki does not say that—he says: and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them,” which is quite different. Allen tries to instill a belief that the Mulekites, once having landed in the Americas, spent some time somewhere, then subsequent to that, migrated into the land where Mosiah found them. This is the type of thing that Mesoamerican Theorists try to do to alter or change the scripture so it meets their specific beliefs or opinions. But Amaleki does not say they landed somewhere and subsequent to that landing they migrated somewhere else. He says quite simply that the Lord brought them across the great waters and into the land where Mosiah found them, and that they had dwelt there from that time forth.
    There is nothing complicated about this scripture. The Mulekites landed in the north of the Land Southward, in the land of Zarahemla, where they had always dwelt and where they were when Mosiah found them around 250 B.C. Thus, they never landed in the Land Northward, were not among the Jaredites, never subsequently migrated anywhere for they lived in that land where they first landed up until the time Mosiah found them.
    In addition, this record was written by Amaleki who was an eye-witness to the events at Zarahemla and the uniting of the Nephites and Mulekites, and the recounting of Zarahemla of his genealogy, which was written down but not on the plates from which Omni has been abridged (Omni 1:18). Thus, his account should be quite convincing.
(See the next post, “The Mulekite Homeland in the Land of Promise – Part II,” regarding the Mulekite homeland, where they landed, where they settled, and who they were)