600 Years in The Book of Mormon

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The devil is in the details

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“For the space of many days”

PART I

2 Nephi 5:7 wrote:And we did take our tents and whatsoever things were possible for us, and did journey in the wilderness for the space of many days. And after we had journeyed for the space of many days we did pitch our tents.

Nephi indicates they collected everything they could carry and took off into the wilderness. The Nephites fled to assume a separate existence away from their enemies but Nephi does not account for the time traveled but merely says, “for the space of many days”. This makes it difficult to calculate distance in order to maintain a tactical strategy to protect themselves from their distant enemy. This simple omission seems to suggest that the story isn’t being told by a real person facing real circumstances -- to keep track of distance with regard to location and proximity of one’s enemies.

Compare this to another critical example earlier in the Book of Mormon when Lehi and his family fled Jerusalem and the number of days *was* recorded:

1 Nephi 2:6 wrote: And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his tent in a valley by the side of a river of water.

Another important journey documents the time spent traveling:

1 Nephi 16:13 wrote: And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days, nearly a south-southeast direction, and we did pitch our tents again; and we did call the name of the place Shazer.

Then, inconsistency settles in as if the characters were so tired that they lost track of all sense of time:

1 Nephi 16:15,17,33 wrote: And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, slaying food by the way, with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings.

And after we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families.

And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning; and after we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.

Now it seems the writer is reminded that it’s best to be consistent with the stories and keep better track of time lest they get lost and grow unaware of their surroundings:

Mosiah 7:4,5 wrote: And now, they knew not the course they should travel in the wilderness to go up to the land of Lehi-Nephi; therefore they wandered many days in the wilderness, even forty days did they wander.

And when they had wandered forty days they came to a hill, which is north of the land of Shilom, and there they pitched their tents.

But now, the writer during a critical time returns to being inconsistent and loses track of time when lost in the wilderness:

Mosiah 8:8 wrote: And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel.
Mosiah 9:4 wrote: Nevertheless, after many days’ wandering in the wilderness we pitched our tents in the place where our brethren were slain, which was near to the land of our fathers.
Mosiah 22:13 wrote: And after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla, and joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects.

Now the writer returns again to being consistent by keeping track of time:

Mosiah 22:16 wrote: And after they had pursued them two days, they could no longer follow their tracks; therefore they were lost in the wilderness.
Mosiah 23:3 wrote: And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness.
Mosiah 24:25 wrote: And after they had been in the wilderness twelve days they arrived in the land of Zarahemla; and king Mosiah did also receive them with joy.
Alma 8:6 wrote: So that when he had finished his work at Melek he departed thence, and traveled three days’ journey on the north of the land of Melek; and he came to a city which was called Ammonihah.

Only to be inconsistent yet again:

Alma 17:9 wrote: And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness . . . .

The phrase “for the space of many days”, is mentioned a total of eleven times in the Book of Mormon, almost all of them during the early history. Nine utterances are given by Nephi, one by Nephi’s brother Jacob, and one several hundred years later by Ammon:

1 Nephi16:15,17,33 wrote: And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, slaying food by the way, with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings.

And after we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families.

And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning; and after we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.
1 Nephi 17:7,52 wrote: And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Arise, and get thee into the mountain.

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren, insomuch that they were confounded and could not contend against me; neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days
1 Nephi18:9, 23 wrote: And after we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days

And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.
2 Nephi 5:7 wrote: And we did take our tents and whatsoever things were possible for us, and did journey in the wilderness for the space of many days. And after we had journeyed for the space of many days we did pitch our tents.
2 Nephi 7:15 wrote: And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days.
Mosiah 8:8 wrote: And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days

It could be argued that the most critical circumstances when the phrase “for the space of many days” should have given the *number* of days was when Nephi was gathering his people to flee into the wilderness and escape persecution from the Lamanites -- seeking their own autonomy. Time was of the essence and calculated decisions involving their journey away from their enemy was vital if they were to secure their personal safety. Nephi’s very life was threatened by his older brethren and the Lord warned him that he was to depart immediately and flee into the wilderness, and all those who would go with him. There was no time to waste but in their haste they left. It’s unthinkable that the story does not record the number of days in which Nephi journeyed in the wilderness to separate himself from his murderous brethren. This is the one time when it should have been recorded and it wasn’t!

The Book of Mormon narrative maintains an internal chronology making use of an annual calendar throughout the entire history. Therefore, accordingly, the number of days from the time Nephi departed the original land where Lehi died and then settling into the land of Nephi, had to have been counted in order to keep the chronology up to date. I can’t think of a single reason why Nephi didn’t record the number of days it took to set out, find, and establish the land of Nephi, and start anew. All we are told is that it was many days whereby they carried their tents and journeyed into the wilderness in search of a place they called the land of Nephi.

It makes me wonder if the number was in fact recorded in the missing 116 page Manuscript and Smith simply wasn’t able to recall the number of days in which the same story or similar thereto would have been recorded in the Martin Harris Manuscript. I propose that the original Manuscript penned by Harris contained a similar story and the number of days was recorded but Smith couldn’t remember the number when retranslating with Cowdery and was concerned that the people who had the missing Manuscript might alter the number to read differently than a new number in the second translation through Cowdery. Therefore, Smith did not provide a number for the event of this particular story!
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Re: The devil is in the details

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“For the space of many days”

PART II

In (Part I), I made quite an issue that the duration of time (days) was not included in Nephi’s account when fleeing into the wilderness in search of a new land. I found it telling that the number of days was omitted and substituted with the oft casually repeated and wordy expression: “for the space of many days” which presumably would take more space to etch on gold plates and fails to take into account the chronology necessary to keep track of time. The gold plates were ultimately Nephi’s permanent calendar and dating system!

I mentioned earlier that the number of days may have been recorded in the first translation given to Martin Harris and subsequently lost with the 116-page Manuscript consisting of the Book of Lehi. I suspect that Smith was not able to remember the number of days when he retold a similar story to Cowdery for the second translation. But all this is rather vague and somewhat weak in proving my point; therefore I will present stronger evidence to show that Joseph Smith was covering his tracks in using “for the space of many days” when it becomes blatantly obvious that the actual number of days should have been stated in the context of the story.

Let’s now consider the Nephite transoceanic crossing in which Nephi neglects to record the number of days for the voyage to the promised land. I think it can be safely assumed that a similar account of the voyage was mentioned and probably described in some detail in the 116-page lost Manuscript. It would have been impossible to tell the story of Lehi coming to the promised land without mentioning Nephi building a ship and voyaging across the ocean. No one knows what Smith may have originally said pertaining to the voyage in the 116-page Manuscript. That will ever remain a mystery. But the Book of Mormon seems to suggest that Smith originally intended to keep track of the time pertaining to the whole of the voyage although the final tally was omitted and substituted with “for the space of many days.” The passing of time for the voyage is indicated or marked as follows:

1 Nephi 18 wrote: 9. And after we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days, behold, my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and also their wives began to make themselves merry

13. Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days

14. And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore

23. And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land

And there you have it, no number of days to mark the whole of the voyage and keep track of time! It’s hard to fathom how Nephi could have recorded this majestic event of arriving at the promised land and not state the number of days for the record. In contrast, the story of the Jaredite voyage which came later during Smith’s translation with Cowdery was recorded to include the number of days (344) the barges were at sea. A marked difference between the telling of the two sea voyages in the Book of Mormon is the Nephite story is told in the first person (“I”) and the story of the Jeradite voyage is told in the third person (“they”). Either way, you’d think that someone speaking in first person (Nephi) would be able to say how long he was at sea!

Nonetheless, the number of days for Nephi’s voyage is not recorded by Cowdery. I believe this is because Smith couldn’t recall what he originally told Martin Harris during the first translation. He had forgotten the number of days and it was too risky to record a number that won’t match the missing Manuscript should it somehow resurface and come to light. The original manuscript surely told of the voyage and recorded the number of days it took to cross the ocean. I’m afraid, it seems, the original number given to Martin Harris could not be retranslated by revelation from Smith to Cowdery.

Taking all this into consideration, it becomes glaringly obvious that the number of days spent voyaging was intentionally left out of the record for good reason. I think Smith was afraid to record a number that differed with the missing 116-page Manuscript.
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Re: The devil is in the details

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Shulem wrote:
Wed May 26, 2021 9:13 pm
I think Smith was afraid to record a number that differed with the missing 116-page Manuscript.

Which required some quick thinking on Smith’s part in order to dig himself out of a hole, hence D&C 10.

D&C 10:10 wrote:And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands.

Or in other words:

And, behold there are words on the original Manuscript that will differ with words on the new one if you attempt to record what can’t be recalled with certainty and the original manuscript can be perfectly examined by experts using a magnifying glass and thus prove you wrong.

Section 10 mentions the altering of words a total of 10 times! It seems that Smith was worried that key words such as the number of days for the Nephite voyage would prove that he was incapable of translating the same thing again and thus his ability to translate would be disproved. So, Smith pretended to switch stories from the so-called Book of Lehi and replace it with the so-called abridgment of Nephi, thus pretending to tell the story from another account contained on the gold plates without having to worry about dates or days he can’t remember -- oh the devil in those little details.
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Re: 600 Years in The Book of Mormon

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Church enthusiasts and Book of Mormon defenders have a long history of claiming how amazing it was for the prophet Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon in such a short period of time. I propose that Smith had a preconceived idea of what he was going to dictate in producing the Book of Mormon and had a ready-made timeline at his disposal. Take into consideration the 600-year timeline and the idea that Smith was following it closely during the dictation or so-called translation process in which he rambled off sentences while his head was buried in a hat. Smith stayed on que and followed his timeline carefully. He was familiar with every paragraph of the manuscript and was keeping track of the dates. The object of the game was to get from year 600 to the birth of Christ and keep an accurate count based on the markers of his timeline.

I will continue to take you on this ride. I will reveal how Smith did it. It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t divine inspiration. It was honest to goodness creativity and the ability to stick to the plan and develop scenarios on the fly and roll with the punches. Go with the flow and improvise.

Thank you for being here. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
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Re: 600-year Timeline Revealed

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Shulem wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 11:53 am
Are you ready for a fun ride through the Book of Mormon 600-year timeline? I’m going to take you on a joyride and I want YOU to enjoy it. I provide the following string of numbers as the base reference which serves to show how the years were counted in consecutive order. Smith was absolutely careful to keep track of the numbers in his stories and this timeline is the very framework in which he dictated his story -- step by step until he reached the 600-year mark. Yes, Smith was keeping count, you can be assured of that! There are twelve numbers in the base timeline:

8
30
40
179
200
238
276
320
476
509
595
600


The following references cite the actual dates listed in the above timeline which was the basic framework in which Smith worked to build his story:

1. 1 Nephi 17:4 And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.

2. 2 Nephi 5: 28 And thirty years had passed away from the time we left Jerusalem.

3. 2 Nephi 5:34 And it sufficeth me to say that forty years had passed away, and we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren.

4. Enos 1:25 And it came to pass that I began to be old, and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi left Jerusalem.

5. Jarom 1:5 And now, behold, two hundred years had passed away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land.

6. Jarom 1:13 And it came to pass that two hundred and thirty and eight years had passed away

7. Omni 1:3 And it came to pass that two hundred and seventy and six years had passed away, and we had many seasons of peace; and we had many seasons of serious war and bloodshed. Yea, and in fine, two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away

8. Omni 1:5 Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.

9. Mosiah 6:4 And Mosiah began to reign in his father’s stead. And he began to reign in the thirtieth year of his age, making in the whole, about four hundred and seventy-six years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.

10. Mosiah 29:46 And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.

11. Helaman 14:2 And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

12. 3 Nephi 1: 1 Now it came to pass that the ninety and first year had passed away and it was six hundred years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; and it was in the year that Lachoneus was the chief judge and the governor over the land.

Now it’s time to introduce the chronological data in a fully comprehensive view. This page will serve as an important reference and you should retain it for your records and when referencing details about the timeline.

Are you ready for some sweet surprises and amazing new discoveries which will be brought to you live by SHULEM right here on Discuss Mormonism? Will I bring the house down and cause a great shout! Hold on to your seat and buckle up!

My friend, you are about to take a ride on a roller coaster that will thrill you as I reveal secret makings of the Book of Mormon.

THANK YOU for being here!



SMITH’S WORKING CHRONOLOGY

Asterisk = base timeline date
Parentheses = chronological data within the timeline

* Lehi leaves Jerusalem = 600 BC
* Lehi “eight years in the wilderness” = 582 BC
(Voyage across ocean [X “days”] supposedly in 116-page lost Manuscript = 58? BC)
* Nephi rules Nephites “thirty years had passed away” = 570 BC
* Nephite & Lamanite wars persist “forty years had passed away” = 560 BC
(Jacob (at least) age 47 receives plates “fifty and five years had passed away” = 545 BC)
(Jacob age 91 begat Enos = 501 BC)
(Jacob nearing the “grave”, “said unto my son Enos: Take these plates”)
* Enos age 80 as “179 years had passed” = 421 BC
* Jarom says, “two hundred years had passed away” = 400 BC
* Jarom says, “two hundred and thirty and eight years had passed away” = 362 BC
(Thus, Jarom retained the plates for 59 years)
* Omni says, “two hundred and seventy and six years had passed away” = 324 BC
(Omni says in the same sentence: “two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away” = 318 BC)
(Thus, Omni retained the plates for 44 years)
(Amaron receives the plates from his father Omni = 318 BC)
* Amaron says, “three hundred and twenty years had passed away” = 280 BC
(Thus, Amaron retained the plates for 38 years)
(Chemish receives the plates from his brother Amaron = 280 BC)
(“I, Abinadom, am the son of Chemish….And I make an end”)
(“I am Amaleki, the son of Abinadom....concerning Mosiah....flee out of the land of Nephi”)
(“I, Amaleki, was born in the days of Mosiah [king Mosiah I]; and I have lived to see his death”)
(“I, Amaleki....Benjamin, his son, reigneth in his stead”)
(“I, Amaleki....I began to be old; and, having no seed”)
(“I, Amaleki....deliver up these plates unto him [king Benjamin]”)
(“I, Amaleki.... make an end of my speaking”)
(“king Benjamin….waxed old….he had Mosiah [his son Mosiah II] brought before him”)
(“king Benjamin” by coronation proclaims his son Mosiah II the new king)
(Mosiah II is given the “plates of brass”, “plates of Nephi”, “sword of Laban”, and “the ball”)
* Mosiah II “began to reign in the thirtieth year of his age”....“four hundred and seventy-six years” = 124 BC
(“King Benjamin lived three years and he died” = 121 BC)
(Mosiah II reigns in peace “no contention among all his people for the space of three years” = 118 BC)
* “Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old....five hundred and nine years” = 91 BC
* “five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God” = 5 BC
* “ninety and first year had passed away and it was six hundred years” = 0 BC
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King David & King Mosiah II

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Here is a clip from the timeline concerning king Mosiah II. Does anything in particular jump out at YOU? Do you see something familiar in which Joseph Smith sought to legitimize his story by linking it with biblical numbers? Look closely and think about the Bible, more especially, the Old Testament. Do you see something going on here that raises a red flag? If Dr. Shades will *please* permit me in this instance, I will color the writing red in order to help see the numbers:

* Mosiah II began to reign in the thirtieth year of his age”....“four hundred and seventy-six years” = 124 BC
(“King Benjamin lived three years and he died” = 121 BC)
(Mosiah II reigns in peace “no contention among all his people for the space of three years” = 118 BC)
* Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old....five hundred and nine years” = 91 BC

The Book of Mormon narrative suggests that king Benjamin was ruling in a coregency with his son Mosiah who was ready to take the reins at the appointed time whereby Benjamin would consecrate him as the new king. Now, allow me to explain what Smith did in connecting his story with the Bible. Smith borrowed from the Bible in order to provide a sense of familiarity to make his story seem credible on a subconscious level. Smith was blessing his story like a good fairy sprinkling Old Testament fairy dust into the Book of Mormon to give it a secret life known only to him.

Mosiah II

1) Began his reign at age 30
2) Reined for 33 years
3) Died at age 63

Now, let’s consider king David. The Bible tells us that he reined for 7 years in Hebron as a minor king or the king of Judah. Joseph Smith was not interested in David’s lesser reign which was small potatoes but was interested when David became king of all Israel and reigned in Jerusalem for the next 33 years! Hence, David lived to the age of 70 and his total reign as a king was 40 years but his reign over all Israel was for 33 years in which he then died.

King David

Look at the numbers and do the math and see how these numbers have been plugged into Mosiah II:

1) David began his reign in Hebron as king of Judah at age 30
2) David began his reign in Jerusalem as king of Israel at age 37
3) David reigned over all Israel for 33 years
4) David reigned as a king for a total of 40 years
5) David died at age 70 after a 33 year reign as king of Israel

Let’s now plug it in to the Book of Mormon and see what Smith did:

1) Smith borrowed David’s age of 30 and gave it to Mosiah II.
2) Smith borrowed David’s major reign of 33 years and gave it to Mosiah II.
3) Smith subtracted David’s 7 year minor reign from Mosiah’s lifespan wherein David lived to age 70 but Mosiah only 63.

Those are the numbers and that is how Joseph Smith plugged the life of biblical king David into Book of Mormon king Mosiah II.


Biblical references: 2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Kings 2:11; 1 Chronicles 29:26,27; 1 Chronicles 3:4
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Re: Merging lineages into the timeline

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There are two genealogical lines so far discussed in this thread with regard to the 600-year timeline:

1) Kings descending from the loins of Nephi
2) Record keepers descending from the loins of Jacob

Merging both lines down the timeline is not too difficult so long as we stick to the dates that Smith gave and keep track of the lines as they intersect within the story about halfway through the timeline.

Let’s recap:

JACOB'S DESCENDANTS

501 BC Jacob begat Enos
421 BC Enos age 80 gave plates to his son Jarom
362 BC Jarom gave plates to his son Omni
318 BC Omni gave plates to his son Amaron
280 BC Amaron gave plates to his brother Chemish
280 BC Chemish receives plates from his brother Amaron
? ? ? BC Abindom receives the plates from his father Chemish
? ? ? BC Amaleki born in the days of king Mosiah I
? ? ? BC Amaleki flees to Zarahemla
? ? ? BC Amaleki grew old and was childless “no seed”
? ? ? BC Amaleki witness the coronation of king Benjamin
? ? ? BC Amaleki give plates to king Benjamin
? ? ? BC Amaleki live to see the death of king Mosiah I


NEPHI'S ROYAL LINE OF SUCCESSION

570 BC Nephi rules Nephites
? ? ? BC Nephi began to be old and anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people
? ? ? BC People of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts
? ? ? BC Unknown succession of Nephite kings (Omni 1:11; Words of Mormon 1:10)
? ? ? BC King Mosiah I fled the land of Nephi
? ? ? BC King Mosiah I is made king of Zarahemla
? ? ? BC King Mosiah coronates his son Benjamin as king of Zarahemla
124 BC Benjamin waxes old and coronates his son Mosiah II
124 BC King Mosiah II age 30 receives plates
91 BC King Mosiah II dies at age 63


Now let’s merge and intersect the lineages:

* 421 BC Enos age 80 gives the plates to his son Jarom
* 362 BC Jarom retained the plates for 59 years and gives them to his son Omni
* 318 BC Omni retained the plates for 44 years and gives them to his son Amaron
* 280 BC Amaron retained the plates for 38 years and gives them to his brother Chemish.

It’s reasonable to assume that Chemish was a younger brother whereby Amaron kept the plates in the family by giving them to a sibling because he didn’t have a son in which to pass them down. Accordingly, Chemish held the plates for an unknown number of years before giving them to his son Abinadom. We don’t know anything about that time frame so it will be necessary to interpolate and make an educated guess. Assume Chemish was Amaron’s younger brother and that he held the plates for 10 years before handing them to his son Abinadom who held the plates for an unknown number of years before handing them to his son, Amaleki. Therefore, let’s make another educated guess and assume that Abinadom held the plates for 38 years which is the average time the plates were held by his four predecessors. At this point the two lineages merge on the timeline and intersect: Abinadom hands the plates to his son Amaleki who was born during the reign of Mosiah I and who eventually migrated to Zarahemla where he gave the plates to king Benjamin. If this be the case the theoretical year at this point is:

∩ 232 BC Abinadom hands the plates to his son Amaleki who was born during the reign of Mosiah I

Again, we are faced with the situation of not knowing dates within Amaleki’s timeline but we do know the following details and can extrapolate a good estimate based on everything we know so far:

1) born in the days of king Mosiah I
2) flees to Zarahemla
3) witness the coronation of king Benjamin
4) witness wars during king Benjamin’s reign
5) live to see the death of Mosiah I
6) grew old and was childless “no seed”
7) give plates to king Benjamin
8) Speaks of two expeditions of men who went to the land of Nephi including his brother

Obviously, Amaleki lived a very full life and was certainly given the plates from his father while a mature adult, likely at the age of 30 which is an important age in Old Testament times with regard to responsibility and service. I think it’s safe to assume that Amaleki possessed the plates for the average duration of 38 years based on his predecessors. In any case, he grew old and passed them on into the hands of king Benjamin in the theoretical year of:

∩ 194 BC Amaleki hands the plates to king Benjamin

Now, with the theoretical year of 194 BC for the coronation of Benjamin under the hands of his father Mosiah I, it’s reasonable to assume or theorize that Benjamin was age 30 when this important event took place and that’s also when Amaleki handed him the plates. That does make perfect sense! I’m confident that even Joseph Smith would have approved the date! Therefore, the following may be assumed:

∩ 194 BC Benjamin is crowned king and handed the plates at age 30

NOW we can really intersect the two lineages and see if they properly lineup! Isn’t this exciting? The next known FIXED date recorded in the Book of Mormon is when Mosiah II “began to reign in the thirtieth year of his age” which is dated as 124 BC. So, if Benjamin was made king in 194 BC at the age of 30 then this means he would have been age 70 when his son Mosiah II was coronated at age 30 under his hand. It also means that Benjamin at age 40 begat Mosiah II.

All this seems like a perfect fit -- or it fits like a glove. It seems like a bullseye in bridging the gap between the two family lines as they intersect in the middle of Smith’s timeline that he was carefully cognizant of and maintained accuracy in keeping his timeline in order.

Congratulations are in order to JOSEPH SMITH for an amazing accounting of keeping track of so many details as they are interwoven into his stories. Of course, I believe all this was already pre-planned and scripted as he went along developing his stories when he dictated them to Oliver Cowdery.
Last edited by Shulem on Sun May 30, 2021 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mystery of the Book of Mormon!

Post by Shulem »

Who was Alma? Who was Abinadi? What did it really mean in the mind of Joseph Smith?

And now, I wish to take this thread into a whole new place where readers can better understand what Joseph Smith was really doing in creating and inventing his Book of Mormon using imagination coupled with secret symbolic representation. Smith was interested in melding the Bible into his Book of Mormon in a secret and inventive way in which to make it seem authentic and genuine in every respect.

My friends, you will learn the mystery here, live on Discuss Mormonism! Are you ready? Are you buckled in your seat? Let Shulem take you for a ride you’ll never forget! Prepare to be thrilled.

Now for the mystery!

Buckle up, the ride will thrill you to no end. All aboard! The Book of Mormon train is now boarding and ready to go to the next destination -- The Twilight Zone.
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Shulem
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The Key

Post by Shulem »

And now, without further ado, I will reveal a great mystery pertaining to Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon -- a mystery that was known only to him as he prepared his ideas and stories and readied them for the dictation process in which Cowdery wrote what Smith mumbled while his head was buried in a hat. This is the key and those who know the Book of Mormon will recognize it and understand what has been in front of them all this time and they didn’t realize it until NOW:

1) Prophet Abinadi = John the Baptist (Jesus Christ)
2) Alma the elder = Peter
3) King Noah = Pilot & the Jews
4) Alma the younger = Saint Paul
5) Sons of Mosiah = apostles of the Christian church


NOW, do you understand?
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Woe & Wo

Post by Shulem »

Shulem wrote:
Sat May 29, 2021 5:18 am
1) Prophet Abinadi = John the Baptist (Jesus Christ)

Jesus’s “Woe”

1. “Woe unto thee . . . at the day of judgment”
2. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . these things shall come upon this generation.”
3. “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge”
4. “in sackcloth and ashes”

Abinadi’s “Wo”

1. “Wo be unto this people . . . will visit them in mine anger.”
2. “Yea, wo be unto this generation!”
3. “I say unto you, wo be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord!”
4. “in sackcloth and ashes”

I don’t think it necessary for me to compare the message and teachings of Jesus with that of Abinadi’s ministry in order to show the amazing parallels between the two accounts. Suffice it to say, Abinadi’s message and sermon is like a plagiarizing shadow having an eerie familiarity that seems to parallel Christ’s ministry. Joseph Smith wrote those things into his script in order to bring his Book of Mormon character to Christian life! You’re welcome to read Abinadi’s words and while doing it think about the gospels of the New Testament. That’s what Joseph Smith did! (Mosiah 11-17)

“And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.” Mosiah 16:6 (Cowdery wrote what Smith dictated!)

The above is somewhat reminiscent of king Benjamin’s address when he said, “whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.”

Joseph Smith was walking a tight line while authoring his stories. There is a fine line between then and now. I’m afraid that Smith tripped up in Mosiah 16:6 and seems to have corrected himself in mid-sentence.
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