Nothing Without Adversity - Book of Mosiah, Chapter Nine (Mosiah 9)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/9?lang=eng

Now that we have been introduced to King Limhi and his people, our narrator/abridger Moroni takes us back to how Limhi’s grandfather Zeniff brought a group of Nephites and settled in this Lamanite-controlled land. The story of the three generations that follow span the next 14 chapters, 16 if you count the follow-on story of the prophet Alma (the Elder) and the group of people who fled the larger group because of its wicked leadership before Limhi. Apparently a record was kept by Zeniff’s family line (with a separate one kept by Alma) and was ultimately given to King Mosiah, to combine with the larger record handed down from Nephi and his descendants over—at this point—about 500 years.

So as we rewind to Zeniff’s time, we go back from about 120 B.C. (the time of Limhi and Ammon) to 200 B.C. Zeniff starts as a spy on the first expedition to reclaim the land of Nephi, and when he sees good among the Lamanites, he tries to convince the expedition leader not to fall upon the Lamanites in violence, but to seek negotiations with them. The resulting disagreement leads to conflict among the Nephites who were together on the expedition, and after many are killed, Zeniff and the other survivors regroup at their homes in Zarahemla (verses 1-2).

Zeniff still wants to possess the land of Nephi, so he recruits those who are like-minded, and himself leads the next expedition. A telling remark in verse 3 admits that the people are slow to remember the Lord, and therefore meet with famine and other afflictions on their journey.

Once they reach the same place, Zeniff takes a few of his men and goes into the city to meet the Lamanite king, whose name is Laman. The king agrees to let Zeniff’s people possess some of the land and orders his own people on that land to relocate (verses 5-7). We don’t hear about anything King Laman requires in exchange for allowing these Nephites to come in. That should give us an immediate clue that this might be “too good to be true.”

We then learn that King Laman had a plan all along to bring the Nephites into bondage. After 12 years, they have made the lands that they received prosperous. Before the Nephites get to the point where they are also too strong and numerous for the comparatively lazy Lamanites to overpower, Laman stirs up his people to make war with them. The Lamanites’ main objectives are (first) to ensure that they always have the upper hand in strength, and (second) to enrich themselves at the Nephites’ expense by taking the fruits of Nephite prosperity (verses 12-14).

But initially, even though the Lamanites have superior strength and numbers, they cannot overtake the Nephites’ defense of their cities, because the strength of the Lord bolsters the Nephites. The Nephites gather from their farms into the two stronghold cities of Shilom and Lehi-Nephi, Zeniff arms them for battle, and they proceed to inflict on the Lamanites more than ten times the casualties (3,043) that they suffer (279) (verses 15-19). The Nephites successfully fend off the Lamanites—for now. But they still have cause to mourn great loss.

The Nephites’ illusion of being able to live in a world without serious adversity has been rudely overthrown. It sets the scene for the action that will take place between Nephites and Lamanites for the rest of the book. Because of their proximity, they can’t ignore each other. So, for the next 600 years, either they fight one another, or they find a way to transform their relationships from that of enemies to friends. War will be the rule, and transformation the exception, with transformation only possible through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to hearts open enough to receive it. 

The Nephite Reunion Continues: Sharing Records - Book of Mosiah, Chapter Eight (Mosiah 8)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/8?lang=eng

After Limhi has gathered his people, given them hope, and reminded them of the need to avoid wickedness, he invites Ammon to catch them up on the history they’ve missed of their brothers and sisters in the land of Zarahemla. This includes the heavenly address made to the people three years before by King Benjamin (in Mosiah 1-5) about the power of Jesus Christ and the ability of the people to be transformed in His name (verses 1-3).

Once the people return home, Limhi shares his people’s record with Ammon to catch him up on their history. Additionally, Limhi tells Ammon about a 43-person expedition Limhi previously sent to find Zarahemla (in hopes of getting help to deliver his people from Lamanite bondage). This expedition did not locate Zarahemla, but instead came upon a vast land of desolation and destruction. Limhi regales Ammon with the account: bones of men and animals of innumerable scope scattered everywhere, ruins of buildings, and interesting metal artifacts (verses 4-8).

Among these artifacts, in addition to armor and weapons, there were 24 gold plates with an engraved record (verse 9). Limhi presumes that this record will tell the tale of this unknown civilization and their destruction (verse 12). Limhi has a keen sense for the value of such a record, given the fact that he and his people have learned hard lessons from the wickedness of his father’s reign. He seems to instinctively grasp that the translation of this record will have great importance for the Nephites. Limhi may be especially desirous to benefit from this record because it appears possible that when his grandfather (Zeniff) left the main body of Nephites, he and his people may not have been diligent in taking copies of the then-existing sacred records with them.

Limhi asks Ammon if he is able to interpret languages in order to translate the 24 plates, for none of his people had been able to. Ammon says that he can’t, but tells Limhi that King Mosiah can because he is in possession of something he calls “interpreters.” According to Ammon, a seer can be directed by God to look into the interpreters to translate any kind of ancient record (verses 12-14).

When Limhi responds that a seer is even greater than a prophet, Ammon follows by saying that a seer is, by definition, also a prophet and a revelator. By him, “secret things shall be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light.” There is no greater gift among men (verses 15-17).

From other passages in the Book of Mormon, we get a better understanding of what these interpreters actually were. In Mosiah 28:11-14, we learn that they are two stones fastened into the rims of a bow. In the record eventually translated from the 24 plates, known as the Book of Ether, we learn (in Ether 3:23-28) that the Lord provided a promise to the long-destroyed civilization that the Book of Ether would come forth by the aid of the same interpreters they had, which were known by the name of Urim and Thummim. (See here for a brief Internet description of the Urim and Thummim in the Bible.)

We don’t know how the Urim and Thummim went from the people in the Book of Ether (whom we will later know as Jaredites) to King Mosiah, but it is possible that these interpreters came to Mosiah’s grandfather (the first King Mosiah) when the Nephites learned of this past civilization from an inscripted stone that they brought to Mosiah’s grandfather for translation (perhaps the Urim and Thummim were found along with this inscripted stone) in Omni 1:20-21. The Urim and Thummim are ultimately packed in with the sacred record (the plates) along with some other objects by the final Book of Mormon recordkeeper Moroni around 400 A.D., to be found 1400 some years later (in 1827) by Joseph Smith.

The chapter ends with King Limhi expressing a contrast between the marvelous nature of the Lord’s workings and the tragic foolishness of men and women who reject wisdom and understanding, and thus deny themselves the benefits of the miracles that the Lord accomplishes (verses 20-21).