Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 8, 2018 - 2 of 12)

From: Jason Kemp
jasonmkemp@hotmail.com


Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 8, 2018 - 2 of 12)

An Overview of Book of Mormon History
What’s the book about?

Bible history tells us that Zedekiah began his eleven-year reign over Judah about 600 BC.
For years the prophets of the Lord warned God’s people to repent or surely the Lord would destroy Jerusalem.

Because of their failure to heed the warnings, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians about 588 BC.
The temple was destroyed, the walls torn down, and the people were either killed or taken captive into Babylon.

The story in the Book of Mormon begins here—in Jerusalem during the first year Zedekiah was king of Judah, about 600 BC.

The book is a collection [abridgement] of ancient sacred writings—telling the accounts of three groups of people who came from the East to the New World.
It is named after the LAND of Mormon where Alma established the church among his people.
Or more specifically, where Alma re-established covenant relationships by baptizing church members.
That happened in the land of Mormon. And these saints entered into a covenant with one another and with God (Mosiah 9:41, 44, 174-179; Alma 5:27).
To quote Ray Treat, "…The land of Mormon to the Nephite believers meant the land where the covenant was restored; therefore, "Mormon" means restoration of the covenant.
And spiritually speaking, the Book of Mormon means "Book of the Restoration of the Covenants."

Mormon (310-385 AD) was the "chief editor" of the record.

The book begins its narrative by centering on the Prophet Lehi and his family.

In Jerusalem, during the reign of King Zedekiah, there lived a man named Lehi.
Lehi, a prophet, took his family and left Jerusalem in 600 BC, just prior to the fall of the city to the Babylonians. He had been warned of God to flee.
Traveling south, making their way eastward, the family eventually came to the shores of the sea.

Lehi and his wife, Sariah, had four sons: Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. God had commanded Lehi to bring with him brass plates on which was written a record of the Jews and their forefathers. The brass plates contained the writings of Isaiah and much of what is now known as the Old Testament.

While leaving Jerusalem, Lehi and his family were joined by another family whose father was named Ishmael.
Ishmael had five daughters, besides two sons who had families of their own. Both families were descendants of Joseph, the son of Jacob [Israel]—that same Joseph who ended up in Egypt a slave. These two families intermarried and gave birth to children, which eventually became two great nations.
Lehi’s son, Nephi, was given instructions by the Lord on how to build a ship—of which carried the two families to the Americas, a land "…choice above all others."
The families landed up and down the coasts of Central and South America. By revelation they realized they had come to the Land of Promise.
The land called "Joseph’s Land." They arrived about 589 BC and began establishing their culture and colonies.

The father, Lehi, died and his sons split into two factions: Laman and Lemuel sided together and Sam went with Nephi.
Followers of Laman became known as Lamanites and followers of Nephi became known as Nephites.
The Lamanites were wicked warriors; prophets of God led the Nephites.
They were the more righteous group and their story is contained in 14 of 15 books making up the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon tells of the struggles, the wars, and the interrelationships between these two groups.

Approximately 320 years later, the people of Zarahemla were discovered. They were the Mulekites.
Mulek was the son of King Zedekiah of Judah and left Jerusalem for the New World around 586 BC.
His people also journeyed in the wilderness and were directed of the Lord across the ocean to the Americas.
The Mulekites, as a people, merged with the Nephites around 200 BC.

There are many prophecies in the Book of Mormon concerning the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of the Savior. On the day of our Savior’s death, the Nephites living in Central America experienced tremendous volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

One of the most moving portions of the Book of Mormon is the record known as Third Nephi (the fifth gospel). Written by Nephi, one of the twelve disciples chosen by the Lord during his visitation to the Land of Bountiful, the book covers the time from the birth of Christ to 34 AD.
Jesus comes to the New World!

Twenty-five hundred people gather at the temple in the Land of Bountiful to see Jesus descending from heaven.
All people feel the wound in Jesus’ side and the nail prints in his hands and feet. The place? The land Bountiful.
Today known as Mesoamerica. (The Land of Mormon, today known as Mesoamerica, covered two-thirds of Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.)

It’s a moving scene.

The Book of Mormon stands as a powerful witness of the Savior’s redeeming love for mankind in both the old and new worlds.

Many "…plain and precious" truths lost throughout the centuries via translations are captured within.
During the few years following Jesus’ visit to the people in the land Bountiful, the disciples went among the people, baptizing and forming churches in all the lands.
There was peace and prosperity between the two nations (Nephites and Lamanites) for more than 200 years.

However, wickedness returns. During the 200 years the people had become very wealthy and proud.
As the Book of Mormon draws to an end, great wars broke out between the Nephites and Lamanites.
The Nephites, who previously were the more righteous of the two, became more wicked than their brothers.

The final battle occurs in 385 AD. Mormon, the great Nephite warrior/leader, wrote a letter to the Lamanite king asking him to give them time to gather all the Nephites together by a hill which was called Cumorah where they would do battle.
The results were more than dismal. Approximately one million men, women and children were slaughtered in one day! Only twenty-four Nephites survived the slaughter.
Included were Mormon and his son, Moroni.

The twenty-four surviving Nephites escaped into the land to the south, but were hunted by the Lamanites until, one by one, they were killed—except Moroni.
To Moroni had been given the task of recording the conclusion of the story of the once great Nephite nation, a branch of the House of Israel who came from Jerusalem.

Mormon had given the brass plates to his son, who eventually buried them on top of Hill Cumorah so that they could come forth in the last days.

And in 1827 Joseph Smith discovered them [directed there by the angel Moroni]. It was destined in the plan of God.