skip to main |
skip to sidebar
In our day of Political Correctness and concerned hearts
that see the good in all people, despite their deeds, we find an interesting
dichotomy regarding feelings and evaluations today about Laman and Lemuel and
the sons of Ishmael.
On the one hand, we have those who see nothing but evil in
the two older of Lehi’s sons; and on the other hand, we have those who feel
that these two rebellious sons were justified in their actions, being taken out
of their security, away from their wealth, and taken into the wilderness on an
extended camping trip that evidently would have tried the patience of a Saint.
We also see those who tend to downplay Nephi’s extraordinary
faith and patience, under the guise that he kept the record, therefore, made
himself look better than he was; and those who think Laman and Lemuel’s
rebellion was overstated.
As one person wrote: “We can easily see Laman and Lemuel as
being lost from the start, almost like stock characters in a novel, having
little depth or complexity.” Of course, this is no doubt true of any individual
we may choose to evaluate, or try to judge—our knowledge or view is colored by
the limited information we have available and the degree we choose to look
beyond the obvious.
As an example, it is often asked, if Laman and Lemuel
objected so vehemently about going into the wilderness, why did they go at all? Both were adults at the time fully capable of making their own
decisions—or were they? They were adults of course, both in the late twenties
or more, but what kind of choices were available to them?
In 600 B.C. Israel, children of any age were under the
direction and control of their father—he was the leader of their Family/Clan,
he held the rights of decision, of distribution of his holdings and property,
of all family choices and options. While it would be possible for a young man
to strike out on his own, in most cases, he would do so without anything since
the father owned everything. He would give up his rights to inheritance, and as
the oldest son, Laman would have given up the rights granted to him under
Primogeniture—the birthright, or “bechor.” This right of possession, into which
the eldest son is born and takes rank over brothers and sisters, held the right
of the greater part of Lehi’s wealth and their inheritance. However, it could
only be claimed if that son lived as he was supposed to, being obedient in all
things to his father and performing the tasks expected of him.
Honor thy
father and they mother that thy days may be long upon the Earth (Exodus 20:12)
Not only was it customary, but absolutely necessary, for
that son to do all that his father entrusted in him if he expected to
inherit—and after the death of the father, the first-born son was the head of
the family, responsible to provide for the widows of his father and his
unmarried sisters, who had no hereditary rights—a prerogative of the first-born
as the real head of the family after the father’s death that was deeply rooted
in the domestic life of the Hebrews and Jews.
Lehi, being a righteous man, had no choice when “the Lord
commanded him, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into
the wilderness”(1 Nephi 2:2). And when he announced that he was taking his
family into the wilderness and to a far away “land of promise,” under the
direction of the Lord, it was Laman’s responsibility to follow, expectedly
without question or opposition.
Consequently, Laman could have opposed his father and not
gone with him, but in doing so would have given up his right to any inheritance
or even care—left alone without possession of funds to fend for himself, with
no rights to anything—not even a roof over his head or food to eat—that was
owned by Lehi.
As a result, Laman and Lemuel followed their father into the
wilderness, but did so complaining at every opportunity, and constantly wanting
to return to Jerusalem, their home, and their father’s wealth. It is probably
not any different than what might be experienced today by the vast majority of
young men in a similar situation.
Consequently, if we
do not look for deeper meaning in Laman and Lemuel’s story, we may fail to
identify the necessary precepts to avoid the pitfalls they fell into and to
which we are vulnerable today. After all, it was not just a matter of being the
first born with Laman, but the pride of being in charge, of inheriting most of
Lehi’s wealth, and more especially of not being subject to his younger brother—a
major issue in the Middle East!
To the credit of
Laman and Lemuel, they agreed to leave everything they possessed and journey
into the wilderness to an unknown location at their father’s request (1 Nephi
2:4); they agreed to leave their material possessions but also their hopes and
dreams of a future among the only people they knew; they agreed to travel a
three-day journey back to Jerusalem to fulfill the request of their father and
the Lord to bring back the plates of brass (1 Nephi 3:9); they agreed to
approach Laban and request the records, no doubt suspecting that the success of
such a request was not likely (1 Nephi 3:11–14); having failed, they agreed
with Nephi’s suggestion, to sacrifice all their family wealth in an attempt to
secure the plates (1 Nephi 3:22); they dutifully returned to the tent of their
father after successfully obtaining the plates (1 Nephi 4:38), where “they did
rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord;
and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel” (1 Nephi 5:9).
However, their
sacrifice was not finished. They were soon commanded to return to Jerusalem
again, this time to convince Ishmael’s family to sacrifice everything and join
them on their journey to a still-unknown promised land. They agreed to this
without murmuring (1 Nephi 7:3), and returned once again to the tent of their
father in the wilderness after succeeding in their mission. While there, Lehi
had a dream and Laman and Lemuel inquired as to the meaning of it (1 Nephi
15:2–3, 7); they were “pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord” as
they began to understand the meaning of the dream (1 Nephi 15:20). They
continued to inquire about the meanings of their father’s dreams (1 Nephi
15:21–26), and they did “humble themselves” again before the Lord (1 Nephi
16:5).
Later on, when Nephi commenced
building a ship that would ultimately carry them beyond the hope of ever
returning to their homeland again, Laman and Lemuel joined in and helped in the
construction. After travailing in the wilderness for over a decade, they
arrived in the promised land (1 Nephi 18:23). Finally, before his death, Lehi
blessed all his family, including the sons of Ishmael (their parent having
earlier died), and made great promises to them provided they lived righteously,
and reminded them of “their rebellions upon the waters, and the mercies of God
in sparing their lives, that they were not swallowed up in the sea.” Lehi
reminded them, “notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of
promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord
God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed.
Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever,
and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the
Lord” (2 Nephi 1:2, 5).
But all of this was
lost on Laman and Lemuel. Their concern was not about serving the Lord and the
many blessings he had provided them, nor the future promises of a land more
choice than any other as their land of promise—they were concerned about Nephi
and continued to murmur against him, saying, “Yea, they did murmur against me,
saying: Our younger brother thinks to rule over us; and we have had much trial
because of him; wherefore, now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted
more because of his words. For behold, we will not have him to be our ruler;
for it belongs unto us, who are the elder brethren, to rule over this people”
(2 Nephi 5:3). Their entire future, the entire future of their posterity, the
future of an entire nation, was condemned by that one, singular thought of not
wanting Nephi to rule over them.
In the scenario
portrayed earlier, having eliminated all the negatives of Laman and Lemuel’s
behavior and actions, it still came down to this one issue. Their pride in
wanting to be in charge, to rule over others, to obtain the right of
leadership.
(See the next post, “Are Laman and Lemuel
Misunderstood? – Part II,” for an even more in-depth understanding of what
drove Laman and Lemuel and caused them to rebel against their father, their
family, and the Lord)
Continuing from the
last post regarding the location of the incense port of Moscha, known as Khor
Rori, and the area where Nephi built his ship to sail to the Land of Promise.
We ended that last post with the thought that iron ore has been found at the
base of the Jebel Samhan (Mountain of Samhan), which exist along the point of
land just to the east of Khor Rori.
The Mountains of Jebal Samhan Range where
iron ore is found along the mountain base 20 miles away from Khor Rori
As stated in the last post, according to Potter and
Wellington, If the mountain to which Nephi went was Jebel Samhan, which is
readily visible from Moscha (Khor Rori) being less than 20 miles to the east,
then it might explain Nephi's comments about "ore to molten" (1 Nephi
17:9). Nephi asked where to go to find ore to molten into tools, and the Lord
directed him to where ore could be found. If that mountain was Jebel (Jabal)
Samhan, then it was close enough to where Nephi built his ship in Khor Rori to
be the place where the ore was found.
However, it should be noted that contrary to popular belief
among theorists, the Khor Rori Hadrami colony, the earliest record of any
settlement in the area, covers the period no earlier than 350 B.C. and no later
than 300 B.C., and was a small iron-age site of stone-foundation homestead
villages, stone-fenced fields, regionally-developed ceramic traditions and distinctive
microliths as part of a larger lithic assemblage, which scores of
archaeologists working in the area date to 150 B.C. to 200 A.D.
The primary trade item from the region was incense,
particularly frankincense (Boswellia sacra) and myrrh (Commiphora sp.), and
facilitated trade through their respective regions, with safe passage through
tribal territories necessitating political or military involvement and monetary
considerations among these powerful Bedouin groups, such as the Kinda, and
further to the north, the Nabataeans.
In fact, the furthest east along the Arabian coast
settlements have been found was that of Al-Shihr in 800 B.C., which lies in
the middle of Yemen in then center of the Hadhramaut, some 600 miles to the
west of Salalah and Khor Rori, the latter being one of the latest ports along
the coast to be settled.
The ruins
of Sumhuram in the foreground with the inlet of Khor Rori in the background and
the Sea of Arabia beyond
According to Lynne S. Newton, (A Landscape of Pilgrimage and Trade in Wadi Masila, Yemen, 2007,
pp56-62) the clearly established point by these numerous archaeologists is that
Sumhuranm (Khor Rori) was not settled during Lehi’s time, and obviously was not
settled until at least 250 years after Lehi left that area he called Bountiful.
So let us return to Nephi’s reaction to the Lord telling him
to build a ship. There are really only two possible answers to Nephi’s reaction
to the Lord’s command: 1) He already knew how to do all these crafts and it
didn’t concern him to use his skills to build such a vessel; or 2) Nephi was a
positive individual who trusted implicitly in the Lord and knew he could do
anything the Lord commanded him to do.
Of the two possibilities, there is nothing in the scriptural
record to suggest that Nephi had previous knowledge or had demonstrated
abilities in crafts toward the building of anything significant at the stage in
this life when they reached Bountiful. Regarding the second possibility, there
is specific evidence in the scriptural record that this was his approach to all
things.
Left: Lehi
asking Nephi to go back to Jerusalem and get the Brass Plates; Right: Nephi
bringing back the Plates to Lehi
As Nephit writes: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded,
for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save
he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he
commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7), and also “If God had commanded me to do all things I
could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be
thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done”
(1 Nephi 17:50).
It
is understandable that people without such implicit faith would not see that
someone else might possess such faith and, as so many theorists have done,
figure Nephi already knew how to do such things. But his brothers obviously
understood that he did not know how to do so and had never done such a thing: “And when my brethren saw that I
was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother
is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh
that he can cross these great waters” (1 Nephi 17:17-18). If Nephi had
developed building skills in such areas, why would his brothers not know it?
They did not think he could build a ship because he had no such craft skills,
and he acknowledges that when he said later, “And now, if the Lord has such great power,
and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he
cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?” (1 Nephi 17:51).
It
was not that Nephi was a builder, or that he had developed such craft skills in
the past. It was that he had such implicit faith in the Lord, that if the Lord
asked him to do something, he knew without a doubt that he could do it.
Though
not the same, but along a similar line of confidence without previous skills, I am reminded of the time my
wife and I moved to Cedar City after retiring. We had a certain amount of money
from the sale of our home in California and wanted to build our dream home in
the mountains of Cedar. Without any greater skill than building a stereo cabinet years
earlier, I designed a 7400-square-foot house that my wife and I built ourselves
on a ridge overlooking a high mountain valley. I don’t mean we hired people to
build it—I mean we built it ourselves. We put up all the framework, we
installed the cabinets, we ran the plumbing, wiring, electrical and built the
soffits, ceiling, laid the tile floors, etc. We put in the sinks, bathtubs,
shower stalls; we put in the appliances; we hung the windows and doors; hung
the lights, did the wainscoting, laid the tile counters, granite kitchen
counters, built a rock fireplace, and installed three others—in short, we built
it all.
The 7400-square-foot, two-story house we built without any previous
experience
Did
we have any experience? No.
Was
there any question in our minds we could build it? No.
As
it is with a lot of things in life—it was a matter of attitude.
Nephi
didn’t need to know anything about building, about the trades, or about crafts.
He trusted in the Lord, and made it clear to us that was all that he needed. He obviously had great confidence in his own ability and in the Lord's direction.
Rather
than try to find things that are not in the scriptural record, and even go
against the scriptural record, we all might be better served if theorists would
stick to the what is written and read it the way it was written by those who
were there, who lived upon the land, and who knew what it was they meant when
they wrote. After all, Nephi is an inspiration to us all—showing us the kind of
attitude that is required to achieve our callings, assignments, and fulfill our
responsibilities. Theorizing on other matters, especially when it is
self-serving, takes away from the intent of the scriptural record itself.
Not long ago someone sent me a lengthy writing about Nephi
and his reaction to the Lord telling him to go build a ship. They used this as
a means to suggest that Nephi was, in fact, a ship builder of some type, though
he lived in an area where ships were not built. As he put it: “When Nephi was commanded by the Lord to
build a ship, his only reply was, ‘whither shall I go to find ore to molten,
that I may make tools to construct the ship?’” (1 Nephi 17:9).
To many, this evidently seems like a statement of fact that
Nephi was not troubled about building a ship, that he felt completely confident
in being able to do so. And that all he wanted to know was where would he find
ore to make tools—another indication they claim shows Nephi was an experienced
carpenter and builder.
Iron ore
mine where it is now understood that iron in primeval seas rusted by bacteria
and form obvious deposits that can be seen where seas have receded over time
where structures of iron
carbonate minerals occur (siderite, FeCO3), just as they do in
geological iron formations
I have always found attitudes like this to be strikingly
negative. Why wouldn’t Nephi feel he could do so? He didn’t need any previous
knowledge or experience, or even know anything about building, ships, or
manufacturing of any kind. What he did know was all he needed to know—albeit a
type of knowledge that seems beyond most people today.
Long before this command, long before Nephi had any of the
experiences we know about, long before he had exhibited his undying faith in
the Lord, Nephi made it quite clear what type of attitude he possessed about
such matters.
“I
will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the
Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a
way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them”
(1 Nephi 3:7).
After all, he had a
perfect faith in the Lord. As he said, “And
now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among
the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build
a ship?” (1 Nephi 17:51), and also “If
God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me
that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I
should say it, it would be done” (1 Nephi 17:50).
How many of us today
have such an attitude? How many who are called to be a Bishop, a President of
an organization, or put in charge of a very special and complex assignment have
such an attitude? I am reminded of when I was a Bishop many years ago and was
given an assignment by the Stake President to get my Ward members to attend
Know Your Religion (a monthly evening class conducted by BYU in our area during
eight months of the year). I prayed about this for a time, then called a woman
in the Ward to be in charge of this assignment. She was very reluctant, never
having done anything like that before, and not considering herself either a
leader or a sales person.
Though there were
many interesting steps along the way, the point is she gained the confidence
she had lacked and in the long run, her singular three-week effort caused our
Ward to sell more tickets than every other Stake
in California. She did the same thing in pre-selling Education Week tickets (a
four day conference held in our local area each year), and the following year
even accomplished more in both programs—which resulted in such an explosion of
spiritual knowledge in our Ward it had a remarkable effect on every other
program and effort, including meeting attendance, home and visiting teaching,
temple attendance, etc.
Know Your Religion classes a purpose to drive
deeper into topics not commonly discussed or developed on the weekly Sunday
meetings. The classes always filled the chapel and though meant for adults,
often families attended
Unfortunately, just
the opposite is more often true, for far too many people today seem to think
they cannot do something without a great deal of training, experience, and
previous involvement in such activities. However, Nephi knew implicitly that
the Lord could show him how to build a ship. He also had sufficient confidence
in his own ability that he could follow the Lord’s instruction and accomplish
the task in which the Lord would direct him. What he didn’t know in that moment
was where he could find ore—obviously, the ore he needed was not apparently
available to him in that area of Bountiful, which he had seen or explored.
After being in the
land of Bountiful “for the space of many days,” the voice of the Lord came to
Nephi to get up on a mountain (1 Nephi 17:7). And after reaching the mountain
top, the Lord said further, “Thou shalt
construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry
thy people across these waters” (1 Nephi 17:8)
He did, however,
understand that metal was made from ore, and metal tools would be necessary to
make such a ship as the Lord showed him. Evidently, neither on that mountain,
nor anywhere else he had yet been in Bountfiul, contained an ore bearing rock
that he thought he could use to make the tools.
Because we live in a
world today of plenty, which is readily available to us, we are not used to
thinking in terms of items in their natural state. As an example, if I need to
make something out of wood, I go to Home Depot and buy the wood; if I need
paper for my printer, I go to Staples or Office Depot and buy a ream of paper,
if I need food, I go to a grocery store and buy the food. Nephi, on the other
hand, was in the midst of his store—the natural environment in which he lived.
The person who sent me that information, as well as its author, saw Nephi’s
question and immediately decided 1) Nephi was a carpenter, and 2) he was also a
metallurgist.
As the sender of the article
wrote: “According
to Keith Christensen, Nephi came from the interior of Judah where ships were
not built. Yet he does not plead inability to build one. His question is
limited to ore to make tools to do the construction. He exhibits no doubt about
his ability to make the tools and build the ship. Obviously, then, Nephi had
those skills to begin with.”
On the other hand, I
read that and see a young man with considerable trust in the Lord and
confidence in his ability to do what the Lord told him. To me, Nephi looked
around that mountain top and down on the valley and river inlet below and saw,
or had earlier seen, trees from which the wood could be used, he had seen or
could see the waterway and inlet in which he could safely build his ship and
launch it, and obviously knew of the water (Irreantum) on which he would cross
the great deep.
As for finding ore in
the area of Khor Rori, which is the location most likely Nephi built his ship
and most closely matches the scriptural record at this point, he was unaware of any metal bearing ore. It might also be
of interest to know that when Nephi asks the Lord “whither shall I go that I
may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the
manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Nephi 17:9), many have thought it
would have been right underfoot or close by in Bountiful; however, the
scriptural record sheds no light on that issue. Nephi asked, and the Lord told
him. Where that was, we are not informed. However, twenty miles away to the
east is Jebel (Jabal) Samhan, a large mountainous area along the coast that
makes up the point along the end of the Qara Mountains to the east of Khor
Rori iron ore is located.
Iron ore is found at the base of the Jabel
Samhan, twenty miles east of Khor Rori and an easily accessible location for
Nephi to reach; Top: Map showing (yellow arrow) the location of Jebel Samhan;
Bottom: The series of cliff facings of Jebel Samhan that overlook the point and
the sea where Iron ore was found
It just so happens that iron ore is found at the base of
Jebel Samhan. The location of iron ore at this spot is significant. Since Nephi
was a days ride from the rest of the family, he constructed a bellows where the
ore was (1 Nephi 17:11), and smelted the ore to make tools (1 Nephi 17:16).
According to George Potter & Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, (July 2000), p. 247, this makes
perfect sense. Why would Nephi carry the ore back to Khor Rori? It would take
many journeys to get enough. It was far easier to smelt the ore and make the
tools at the mount and just carry the tools back.
Continuing with the last post on 350 Years of Nephite Development, and more
on the discrepancy of Hunter and Ferguson claiming the Nephites were not
involved in much building and expansion during the period between Nephi’s
arrival in the Land of Nephi and Mosiah leaving that land to discover
Zarahemla—a period of about 350 years (though they list it as 400 years).
Top: Map of several
ancient cities developed around the area of Cuzco, Peru, the area considered to
be the City of Nephi. If this is the case, then several other cities were built
in this close area—eventually acquiring the title the Sacred Valley (Valley of
Urubamba; Middle: This is a very productive river valley with crops, cities,
overlooking resorts; Bottom: A picturesque valley that today draws tourists by
the hundreds of thousands
One of their comments, as listed in the last post, was: “Some of the skills and some of the knowledge
of the original company may have been lost because of not having been put to
use by succeeding generations. Such losses may have occurred both during the
period of Nephite history covered in the Book of Mormon (600 B.C. to 421 A.D.)
and the period between the close of the Book of Mormon history and the coming
of the Europeans in the sixteenth century.”
Hunter and Ferguson, in their book, Ancient
America And the Book of Mormon (1950). On pp258-259, also wrote: “The Book of Mormon indicates that less than
fifty persons were in the original Nephite colony. Not all of the skills of the artisans of the
ancient Near East may have been represented. Manpower was so limited during the
first 400 years, according to the data contained in the Book of Mormon, that no
great building program was possible.”
Four points here are in question according to the scriptures:
1) Twenty-two specific people are mentioned in the scriptures as being
part of the original colony, plus an unspecified number of children. Ishmael's sons are indicated as having
families (1 Nephi 7:6), and Nephi says their women gave birth during the
8-year-trek in the wilderness (1 Nephi 17:1, 20). With at least seven married couples, and over
an eight year journey plus a couple of years while building a ship at
Bountiful, figuring a child every two years, that could be five children per
couple or 35 children. If Ishmael's sons
had children before they left, which the record suggests, there could likely be
four to eight more children, making a total of 61 to 65 people.
Jacob and Joseph were not married (1 Nephi 18:7) and evidently his two
sisters were not married for there is no mention of their families (2 Nephi
5:6). If Nephi's "sisters"
were more than two, then additional numbers could be added. Thus, at least 60 and possibly upwards of 70
people could have been in that original colony that set sail from Bountiful.
Ishmael, his family
and his household. It was very common in Lehi’s day for wealthy families to
have large households involving servants, indentured servants, slaves, etc., but all considered part of the "household" under Hebrew law and to whom the patriarch of the family was responsible for them in every way. It would be unlikely that Lehi would have left any behind since he did not want anyone to know where he went who might want to kill him, plus the fact that a patriarch of the time would have felt totally responsible for all in the household, their care, well being, and livelihood
2) In addition, when Nephi went back to get Ishmael and his family, an
interesting statement is made: “the Lord did soften the heart of Ishmael, and also his household, insomuch that
they took their journey with us down into the wilderness to the tent of our
father” (1 Nephi 7:5, emphasis mine).
A Hebrew household of this period would have included servants, slaves,
and even workers of the land, as well as their families, especially among
wealthy landowners—for certainly Lehi was wealth, and very likely Ishmael also.
We see this in Abraham’s household when it says, “And all the men of his house,
born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with
him” (Genesis 17:27)—that is, servants and slaves alike, of course the term
“slave” is used but the relationship between master (Abraham) and slave (bought
with money of the stranger) was quite different in the Hebrew household. As an example,
this act was one of willingness and with their consent, not forced upon them as
the word “slave” brings to mind. In fact, according to Catherine Hezse, Jewish Slavery in Antiquity, Oxford
University Press (2005), p 382, slaves in
ancient Israel were seen as an essential part of a Hebrew household and,
according to Jeffrey H. Tigay, The Jewish
Study Bible, Oxford, 2004 pp 102-202, from a salve’s point of view, the
stability of servitude under a family in which the slave was well-treated would
have been preferable to economic freedom.There were two sets of rules governing
slaves—one more lenient set for Hebrew slaves (Levitifcus 25:39-43) often
referred to as “bondman” or “bondservant,” and one set for Canaanite slaves
(Levitucus 25:45-46).
It is also well understood that Jews owned both Hebrew and non-Hebrew
slaves before the Babylonian exile (while Lehi lived at Jerusalem) and up to at
least the Maccabean era (164-63 B.C.) Because of Lehi’s wealth, his home and
lands of inheritance outside of Jerusalem, having businesses that took him away
from home (down to the king’s highway to the Frankincense Trail or into Egypt),
it is most likely that he had servants and slaves in his household.
In addition, it should be understood that the statement “all his household” is a specific
understanding in Hebrew of those who make up the household, as seen in 1 Nephi
5:14 when talking about father Jacob “and all his household from perishing with
famine.”
If this was the case, we could add from 10 to 30 or more people in this
original party that sailed to the Land of Promise--many adult men, for a grand total of 80 to
100 people. Nor would it be unusual for Nephi not to have included such in his
listing of his family, for such was common among writing of the period—and is
the reason why we do not know anything about Nephi’s sisters (2 Nephi 5:6).
We might want to keep in mind that in the Biblical period, extended
households included numerous other people as seen in Abraham, who had an older
servant in charge of his household (Genesis 24:2), who he sent back to Haran to
find a wife for his son, Isaac (Genesis 24:4); and this servant had taken other
men of Abraham’s household with him (Genesis 24:32)
As for the skills of the rest of the colony, consider that Nephi had
been taught at the hands of the Lord to do many things.
1. Specifically, he learned to make tools from ore (1 Nephi 17:9-11,
16), he knew or at least was aware how to work with wood or build “after the manner of men,” (1 Nephi 18:2), as well as after the manner of
the Lord, which was beyond what man knew to do (1 Nephi 18:1). It was the Lord
who showed Nephi how to build (1 Nephi 18:3-4), and it was Nephi's undying
positive attitude that he could do anything that sustained him in this learning
(1 Nephi 17:50-51). Thus it can be
understood that Nephi possessed the requisite building skills to achieve
whatever building he might desire and the Nephites might need.
2. Nephi did not keep this skill and knowledge to himself. Once in the land of promise and separated
from his older brothers and the sons of Ishmael, Nephi showed his people how to
"build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of
copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious
ores, which were in great abundance."
(2 Nephi 5:15). It should also be kept in mind regarding this, that the Lamanites did not know how to build other than that first generation and their work on the ship, and since we have no knowledge of the Lamanites building anything, it might be assumed that after that first generation that worked on the ship, any building knowledge was lost.
3. Regarding how extensive the cities in the land of Nephi were, and
how much manpower the Nephites possessed during those nearly 350 years in the
land of Nephi can be seen from the writings of Jarom, the son of Enos. Two hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem
the people had "waxed strong in the land" (Jarom 1:5) and had cities
(Jarom 1:7). They "multiplied
exceedingly and spread upon the face of the land" constructing with fine
workmanship many buildings (Jarom 1:8).
The marvelous earthquake-proof building we find at Sacsayhuaman and numerous other sites in Andean Peru is certainly reminiscient of an ability far beyond man at the time and even rivals building ability of our day
Thus it can be concluded that the early Nephites had the manpower, the
skill, and the experience in building.
How extensive that was is unknown, but when Zeniff went back to the land
of Nephi "away in the south in the land of Shilom" (Mosiah 9:14)
around 200 B.C., we learn that there were at least two cities there besides the
city of Nephi (Mosiah 7:21). How
extensive these cities were we are not told, but we do know that both the city
of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom had walls about them (Mosiah 9:8), thus suggesting a
city of some size and extensive construction.
We also know that Zeniff was granted only a portion of the land by king
Laman (Mosiah 7:21), and that the Lamanites who had been in that area retreated
elsewhere (Mosiah 9:7).
Zeniff called the Lamanites a lazy group of people content to live off the
labors of others (Mosiah 9:12), and if they had been living in the vacated
Nephite cities before Zeniff's arrival, they might have retreated to other
cities Jarom tells us the Nephites built during their nearly 350 year stay in
the Land of Nephi.
As for building during certain periods, it is obvious that building
programs would have been curtailed during times of extended wars, such as
during Mormon’s time, 305 A.D. to 385 A.D., when the Nephites were constantly
running for their lives (Mormon 2:16; 4:2, 14, 21-22; 5:7) or digging in for
pitched battles (4 Nephi 1:20; 3:1; 5:4). It is also evident that huge building
programs would have been going on during the period following the Savior’s
appearance in 3 Nephi, for they “did build cities again (4 Nephi 1:8), and “did
wax strong and multiply exceedingly fast” (4 Nephi 1:10).
It should also seem obvious that building programs following the
annihilation of the Nephite nation basically put an end to any building, since
civil wars followed that event (Mormon 8:8) for a very long time, and also that we have no knowledge of the Lamanites ever building anything during the scriptural record period.
I was in a discussion not long ago regarding what some theorists
considered a lack of Nephite construction during the first 350 years they spent
in the Land of Nephi, after building the city of Nephi. This idea first began,
as far as I know, with Thomas Stuart Ferguson and Milton R. Hunter in their
book, Ancient America And the Book of
Mormon (1950). On p158-9, they wrote, “Manpower was so limited during the
first 400 years, according to the data contained in the Book of Mormon, that no
great building program was possible.”
They went on to write, “Some of the skills and some of the knowledge of
the original company may have been lost because of not having been put to use
by succeeding generations. Such losses may have occurred both during the period
of Nephite history covered in the Book of
Mormon (600 B.C. to 421 A.D.) and the period between the close of the Book
of Mormon history and the coming of the Europeans in the sixteenth century.”
Two questions always come to my mind when this type of information is
discussed. First, what makes someone think that, and second, how would anyone
know that?
Of course, the answers are evident in their writing, when they went on
to say: “Actually the parallels far outnumber the differences, even at the
present date when archaeological work in the Tehuantepec region in Middle
America is still in its infancy. Middle America—that is, Mesoamerica. That is,
because Hunter and Ferguson are Mesoamericanists, they evaluate what is written
in the scriptural record against a Mesoamerican background.
As is, and will forever be, the case, when the wrong place setting for
the Book of Mormon is brought into the picture, the scriptural record has to be
changed or altered in order to meet the criteria of the place and not the
scriptural writing.
Two things are involved here. Nephi, evidently a master builder, or at
least one who learned the trades at the tutelage of the Lord, and “not after
the manner of men” (1 Nephi 18:2), was ”showed many great things” as he set
about to build the ship “according to the word of the Lord,” that would take
the Lehi party across the great deep. This ship “was of curious workmanship,
and the Lord did show him from time to time after what manner he should work
the timbers of the ship” (1 Nephi 18:1), obviously Nephi knew more than other men
about building.
After he moved the righteous contingency of the party to the area they
called Nephi, he “did teach his people how to build buildings, and to work in
all manner of wood and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and
of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance” (2
Nephi 5:15). He also built a temple like unto Solomon’s, and “the workmanship
thereof was exceedingly fine” (2 Nephi 5:16).
At this point in the history of the fledgling Nephite nation, after
building a ship beyond anything man could have built, and after duplicating
Solomon’s temple with the native materials in the Land of Nephi, with these
same available workers, Hunter and Ferguson claim “that no great building
program was possible.”
Solomon’s First
Temple. A magnificent edifice that drew attention from around the surrounding
world
After describing two very extensive building programs (the ship and
Solomon’s temple), these theorists turn around and say they could not do any
more. Why?
Because nothing more existed in their model in Mesoamerica.
Thus, they claim that “Manpower was so limited during the first 400
years, according to the data contained in the Book of Mormon,” that no such great building program was possible.” What they should have written is
“Because no additional building program is evidenced in Mesoamerica, Nephi and
his people must have lost their number of workers and the knowledge of how to
build after that.” That was certainly their meaning (Also, 400 years is
actually closer to 350 years: settling in Nephi about 575 B.C. and Mosiah
leaving for Zarahemla about 225 B.C., equals about 350 years).
However, why would skills be lost in the next few generations? Nephi
tells us “that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor
with their hands” (2 Nephi 5:17). After all, Nephi became their ruler and their
teacher, in fact, the people wanted him to be their king, which he refused the
title (2 Nephi 5:18).
In addition, why would these theorists think that “Some of the skills
and some of the knowledge of the original company may have been lost because of
not having been put to use by succeeding generations”? Why would their building
skill not have been put to use?
We are told that Nephi “did take the sword of Laban, and after the
manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now
called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us” (2 Nephi 5:14). In fact,
so concerned was Nephi about this likelihood that he wrote: “for I knew their
hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people” was so
great that such defenses would be necessary—so necessary, he lists having done
this before building anything else and before teaching his people to build
anything else.
Between 420 and 399 B.C., Jarom, Jacob’s grandson, gives us three very
important clues to suggest a very different circumstance in the Land of Promise
than what Hunter and Ferguson claim.
1. God was exceeding merciful unto the Nephite and there were many
among them who have many revelations, for they were not all stiffnecked (Jarom
1:3-4);
2. Two hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem, the Nephites had waxed
strong in the land, they observed and kept the law of Moses, and they were
scattered on much of the face of the land (Jarom 1:5-6);
3. The Nephite kings and leaders were mighty men in the faith of the
Lord and taught the people the ways of the Lord.
This hardly sounds like a people who had lost direction from the Lord
and who had lost the skills of their previous generations, dating back about
150 years to Nephi. In addition, the next statement also flies in the face of
the lack of building Hunter and Ferguson claim:
“And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land,
and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and
in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron
and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to
till the ground, and weapons of war” (Jarom 1:8).
Jacob preaching in the
temple to the Nephites who were gathered for a two-day conference
This somewhat “golden age” of the Nephites evidently continued from the
time Nephi settled in the land they called after him, built the temple of
Solomon, built the city of Nephi, built the city of Shilom and the city of
Shemlon, which were both standing in the time of Mosiah, and perhaps other
cities as the Nephites spread across the face of the land, down until the time
of Jarom gave the records to his son Omni in 361 B.C. (Jarom 1:13-15).
It can also be suggested that this period of expansion and growth
continued for quite some time, for at least the three major cities of Nephi,
Shilom and Shemlon existed when Zeniff returned to the Land of Nephi around 200
B.C. to reclaim the Land of their Inheritance, for it was around this time,
even as late as 130 B.C., that Amaleki speaks of his brother having joined
Zeniff in returning to the Land of Nephi (Omni 1:30).
(See the next post, “350 Years
of Nephite Development – Part II,” for more on the discrepancy of Hunter and
Ferguson claiming the Nephites were not involved in much building and expansion
during the period between Nephi’s arrival in the Land of Nephi and Mosiah
leaving that land to discover Zarahemla—a period of about 350 years)
Continuing from the last post, which ended with that
last, great battle Moroni mentions, and about how many died in the
process, and the unknown number that survived.
However, we can suggest that for an incensed army to wipe out more than
230,000 men-at-arms in a final series of battles (Mormon 6:12-15), including,
perhaps, as many as half a million or more non-combatants (wives, children, widows
and old men), and still hunger for bloodshed, that the results of the civil war
which followed would have been both devastating and unending between the
remnant of Lehi’s seed.
Mormon, himself, in the final
two decades of the war said that “it was
impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect
description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the
people, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites; and every heart was
hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually” (Mormon
4:11), adding that there “never had been
so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor ever among all the
house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord, as was among this people”
(Mormon 4:12).
When a huge army delights in the
shedding of blood continually, and then turns against itself in a civil war
between factions, it should be understood that the constant shedding of blood
would continue for some time. And, too, since this crazed, blood-thirsty army
sacrificed women and children in their lust for more killing (Mormon 4:14),
that no one would be spared from the conflict.
While Lamanite women and children are never mentioned in connection with
wars and battles, it might be assumed that the blood-thirsty civil war included
everyone.
Certainly, the power and
influence of the surviving Lamanites, both waned and waxed within tribal
groups, with one faction in an area achieving supremacy and authority for a
time, only to be replaced by another controlling band. This evidently went on
for a thousand years until the final culture of the Inca rose to power around
1400 A.D. and began to build an empire through conquest and subjugation of
other tribes. In this case, the Inca did
not build or create, though they have been given much credit for doing so.
Instead, the Inca occupied the
towns and villages, the buildings and cities, the Nephites left behind, reinforming where necessary, but with far less ability than what had preceded them. Even
when the Inca tried to build upon those old structures, their inferior workmanship
is quite noticeable.
Later Inca workmanship shown on the left of stacked rocks; Early
Nephite workmanship shown on the right of cutting and dressing stones for an earthquake
proof, solid wall with angles so tight a razor blade could not slip between the
mortarless stones
Still, through power and might, and
administrative insight, they conquered the Andes from Ecuador to northern
Chile, close to encompassing the entire extent of the original Land of Promise.
Some have asked why the
Lamanites were allowed to destroy the Nephites?
After all, the Nephites had been the chosen people, carrying the
priesthood lineage, and such a delightsome people for hundreds of years,
achieving the epitome of righteousness in their Golden Age during the 200 years after Christ’s
appearance among them. However, as Mormon saw in his day that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and
spiritually (Mormon 2:15), the Nephites were beyond redemption, having
fallen into extreme wickedness, rebelling against their God, being led about by
Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind (Mormon 5:18). In such a state of open rebellion, God
visited his long-promised destruction upon them, because the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the
wicked that the wicked are punished (Mormon 4:5).
Thus ended the one-thousand-year-old
Nephite nation, and the annihilation of all its people, spurring on the
Lamanite civil war that lasted evidently, for the next thousand years. Obviously, by the time the Inca rose to
power, the land was filled with separate, independent tribes, few of which were
willing to unite against the common threat.
However, the Inca, for all their reported magnificence, lasted just
under 100 years, and were ultimately destroyed as were the Aztecs and the Maya,
by ridiculously small numbers of Gentile forces as Nephi had seen in his vision two thousand years earlier.
The 54-year-old Francisco Pizarro
led but 167 soldiers against hundreds of thousands of Inca warriors, not only
wiping out the Inca as a nation, but literally destroying the Inca people, and
all the natives of the Andes, the remnant of Lehi’s seed. In the 15th Century, some thousand
years after their annihilation of the Nephites, God’s judgment on the Lamanites
was about to be fulfilled. And this
judgment has no parallel in human history for the total and complete subjugation
and ruination of a people that has lasted for nearly the past 500 years.
“I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of
promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my
brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten”
(1 Nephi 13:14)
The discovery of America was the
occasion of the greatest outburst of reckless cruelty and greed known in
history. Spain has the unenviable credit
of having destroyed two great civilizations, that of Mexico and Guatemala and
that of the Andes, making their conquest the most inglorious in all human
history. The ignoble defeat of a native people, whose achievements and society
were far superior to that of Spain, not only ruined a people for all time, but
drowned and destroyed all the past of their culture, heritage, and
history. History has written of this: "The Spaniards made
accursed the name of man and thrice-accursed the name of God.”
This people of the Western
Hemisphere, which had accomplished so much in their thousands of years of
history, were first discovered, then exterminated by a newer and upstart race
arrogating to themselves the right to do so. Tens of thousands were starved to
death, outright murdered, or in other ways killed, their royalty and nobles
reduced to beggary and slavery.
Once the Spanish conquest was
accomplished, the Indians’ future was behind them. Many were captured and burned to death,
becoming withered leaves clinging to a dead tree. As has been written of their fate—time for
them only reaches backward. There never was such a state of moral degradation
as existed in South America after the conquest. Nor could any such conquest
ever be made again—no such destruction of a race is today conceivable unless in
some future age aliens from space were to swoop down upon our then effete
civilization and wipe it out.
Before 1492, Lehi’s seed enjoyed
the separation from other nations, as the Lord promised that eminent
prophet. However, following Columbus’
discovery of the New World, this
mysterious race of beings who were born apart and lived apart in a world of their
own, their land their own undisputed possession, as by divine gift, were
unknown to the world. But since the conquest, the Lamanite has been a slave,
yet unlike the African, he made a poor one.
Too deeply had the iron of independence entered his soul.
By the 20th century,
the remnant of Lehi’s seed had become a byword and a curse to all those
societies around them. In the American
West a century earlier, they were considered much like animals, hunted down and
butchered.
Today, they mostly live on
reservations in hovels with little or no hope.
Most while away their days in servitude or extreme poverty. In the Andes, the natives have few rights and
absolutely no ambition to change their horrible plight. Even today, they are little more than slaves
in their own countries.
However, there is a bright
side. The Lord has promised the remnant
of Lehi’s seed that He would not forget them.
Today, these natives by the thousands are finding new lives in a modern
world, achieving greatness among themselves and among the countries of the
world—especially in the U.S. The
promised Day of the Lamanite is
apparently upon us, and thousands are flooding into the United States to
eventually gain citizenship and share in the American Dream. Others are beginning to emerge in the Andean
area, forming or becoming part of governments, their voices finally beginning
to emerge and be heard. The near
ruination of an entire people numbering in the millions, by an entire nation
bent on world domination (or that part of it they could eventually control) for
the purpose of wealth, power and dominion, is beginning to be rectified. With the good graces of the Lord and within
his own time frame, the remnant of Lehi’s seed is and will continue to flower,
perhaps to regain some of the prominence and status they once held in the Land
of Promise.
It all began soon after Lehi left Jerusalem. Within
days, they stopped in the wilderness to camp, in a secluded valley beside a
flowing stream. Both were significant in their existence for Lehi had been
traveling along the Wadi Arabah, a long, comparatively narrow rift or
depression from six to twelve miles wide and 118 miles long, beginning just
south of the Dead Sea and running to the northern edge of the Gulf of Aqaba,
which in Lehi’s time was simply considered an arm of the Red Sea.
The
dry, arid, desert path to the south—the Wadi Arabah is actually a continuation
of the Great Rift Valley separating Jordan from Israel, and known from ancient
biblical times as simply “The Arabah”
Beginning at 1292 feet below sea level just beyond the
Dead Sea, the valley gradually ascends as it goes southward for 67 miles to a
watershed, which rises 660 feet above sea level. From here it quickly descends
until 45 miles further southward it reaches the Gulf of Aqabah at Ezion Geber.
In ancient times, there were a number of villages (only ruined remains are left)
and many copper and silver mines from which ore was dug in the time of Solomon
(1000-900 B.C.) About 300 years after Lehi passed through here, the Nabateans
reached the area of the Negev from Arabia in the slow nomadic manner of the
period. Their capital became Petra (City of Rock), which is now Jordan’s most
famous tourist attraction.
Lehi
passed down this barren, desolate and dry rocky sand route toward the Red Sea—a
hot and parched area that is virtually without rain
After about five or six days travel along the Wadi
toward the Red Sea, then three more days “along
the borders which are nearer the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 2:5), he stopped and “pitched his tent in a valley by the side of
a river of water” (1 Nephi 2:6). Once in the secluded valley, of course,
after some eight days suffering in the heat of the Wadi, the temperature and
climate was immediately and noticeable reduced. It was here, after giving thanks to the
Lord for their safe travel out of Jerusalem, Lehi drew attention to his two older
sons and their wayward and rebellious tendencies.
Nephi records: “And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied
into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou
mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all
righteousness!” (1 Nephi 2:9). Lehi then turned to Lemuel, and said, “And he
also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and
steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!”
(1 Nephi 2:10).
Not finished, Lehi added, “Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel;
for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was
a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the
land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious
things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of
the foolish imaginations of his heart. And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the
eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew
not the dealings of that God who had created them. Neither did they believe
that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of
the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who
sought to take away the life of my father. And it came to pass that my father
did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the
Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that
they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them” (1 Nephi 2:11-14).
Nephi, in an excited state of the
Spirit, intervened for his brothers with the Lord, who told him, “Blessed art thou,
Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness
of heart. And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and
shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for
you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands” (1 Nephi 2: 19-20). Then the
Lord sealed the fates of the Lamanites, when he said, “And inasmuch as thy
brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of
the Lord” (1 Nephi 2:21).
Long
before they even reached the Bountiful, built the ship, and sailed to the Land
of Promise, Laman and Lemuel set the groundwork for their eventual destruction,
through their disobedience.
Even upon their father’s errand to
retrieve the brass plates, Laman and Lemuel attack Nephi and Sam, requiring an
angel to intervene for the safety of the younger brothers
For
Lehi’s sake, the Lord had set aside a land, a promised land, that was choice above all other lands,
that was to remain uninhabited after the Great Flood until the Jaredites landed
(Ether 13:2) and the land to which Lehi would eventually come (Ether
13:5). This land was set aside for those
who would serve the Lord (Ether 13:2), and be a land of promise for Lehi’s seed
(2 Nephi 1:5; Jacob 2:12) if they were faithful (1 Nephi 7:13). The land’s existence would be kept from the
knowledge of all other nations (2 Nephi 1:9) and would be a land of their
inheritance (1 Nephi 1:9; 3 Nephi 15:13), provided they kept the Lord’s
commandments (2 Nephi 2:20; 4:14).
However, if Lehi’s seed did not
keep the commandments and became unrighteous, the Nephites would be utterly
destroyed (Alma 9:24; Helaman 7:24). At
the same time, the Lamanites would be scattered and smitten (1 Nephi 13:14) and
visited by the Lord with judgement (1 Nephi 13:34), but they would not be
entirely destroyed (2 Nephi 4:9; 9:53) nor would those Nephites who had mixed
with the Lamanites be completely destroyed (1 Nephi 13:31). The Lord also promised Joseph, the last born
of Lehi’s sons, that his seed would not utterly be destroyed (2 Nerphi 3:3).
Thus we have a situation where
the righteous did not remain so and were wiped out (Mormon 8:2,7,9; Moroni
1:2,5), and those who did not have the pure knowledge the Nephites possessed
(Alma 9:19-23), were spared from utter destruction (Mormon 8:9) because they
did not have the promise (Alma 9:24)., and were allowed to destroy their once
more righteous brethren (D&C 3:18). Even so, the Lamanites were to suffer
greatly because of their wickedness (1 Nephi 13:14) and even after the
destruction of their enemy, they knew no peace (Mormon 8:8; Moroni 1:2) and
were involved in one continual round of murder and bloodshed, with no one
knowing when the civil war among them would cease (Mormon 8:8).
From
approximately 385 A.D. onward, the remnant of Lehi’s seed in the Land of
Promise were at constant war. No sooner
had the Lamanites defeated and annihilated their long-time, hereditary enemy,
the Nephites, with whom they had been at almost constant war for a thousand
years, than they fell into a civil war among themselves that was so harsh and
bloodthirsty that Moroni would not discuss it.
Obviously, this civil war was Lamanite against Lamanite (Mormon 8:8,
Moroni 1:2), but we are not told directly what part the Gadianton Robbers had
in this war, for those are the only two groups Moroni claims were left in the
land (Mormon 8:9). It seems probable
that the Robbers were among the Lamanite forces fighting one another. The civil war evidently involved all of the remaining
military forces that had been marshaled to wipe out Mormon’s army, for Moroni
tells us that the whole face of the land was one continual round of murder and bloodshed (Mormon 8:8).
(Image D – The Lamanite Civil War began at the conclusion of the last Nephite
battle at Cumorah and was still raging when Moroni closed out his record 36
years later with the war having no end in sight
How long this civil war lasted
we are not told, but more than thirty-six years after it started, Moroni tells
us it was still going on and that it was exceedingly
fierce among them, and that they had completely put to death any Nephite
survivors that had escaped the battle at Cumorah or that existed in the land (Moroni 1:2).
While history gives us
no direct clue as to how long this civil war continued, an epic poem about an
Incan King, Inca Rocca, which we have covered in these posts over the years and
which suggests that the wars continued for a thousand years and that there was
no peace in the land during all that time—which time would take us to about
1400 AD when the Inca began to expand their kingdom and eventually create an
Andean Empire that covered a larger area than Europe.
On the one hand, we have those who see nothing but evil in
the two older of Lehi’s sons; and on the other hand, we have those who feel
that these two rebellious sons were justified in their actions, being taken out
of their security, away from their wealth, and taken into the wilderness on an
extended camping trip that evidently would have tried the patience of a Saint.
Honor thy
father and they mother that thy days may be long upon the Earth (Exodus 20:12) 
