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Lesson 22: Have Ye Received His Image in Your Countenances?

This lesson covers chapters 5-7 of Alma. Alma “began to deliver the word of God unto the people, first in the land of Zarahemla, and from thence throughout all the land.” (Alma 5:1).

The scriptures don’t say that he started in the city of Zarahemla, but we infer he did because verse 2 relates what he taught the people there. In Chapters 6-7, Alma crosses the river to teach in in Gideon. The text implies this city/land was at some distance from Zarahemla because Alma could not visit when he was serving at the judgment-seat. The people of Gideon had different issues from those living in the city of Zarahemla. Generally they were more faithful in Gideon, which I infer means they were not as divided over issues of wealth. 
In 5:27, Alma asks the people if they have been sufficiently humble. Next he asks “are ye stripped of pride?” Then, in verse 29, “Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy?” Later, in verse 54-55, Alma focuses on the “wearing of costly apparel” and “supposing that yea are better one than another,” “turning your backs on the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them.”
These questions suggest the people in the city of Zarahemla considered themselves wealthy. A look at the Iowa location of Zarahemla might help explain why the people there would have been wealthy.
First, if (as I think) the Mulekites sailed up the Mississippi River, they would have had to stop at the Des Moines rapids, which are just south of the Nauvoo area.
 When we look at the river bed, we see that these rapids near Keokuk, Iowa, are the first place where the shallows make passage of a large ship impossible. It makes sense that the Mulekites would have disembarked here and “dwelt there from that time forth.” At this point of the Mississippi River, you can cross on foot much of the year. It would make an excellent trading area.  

When Joseph Smith purchased the land for Nauvoo, he actually purchased far more land across the river in Iowa, as this map from the Joseph Smith papers shows.

If this area–designated in the 1800s as the “half-breed trace”–was the location of the ancient city of Zarahemla, the location could explain why the people were wealthy and why they had problems with pride, etc. (Of course, every human society has problems of pride, envy, etc. However, Alma focuses particularly on this when he’s in the city of Zarahemla.)
People ask if there is archaeological evidence for a city in this area. There is archaeological evidence of settlements along the river, north and south of this site, that date to Book of Mormon times, but nothing that can be identified as the city of Zarahemla, per se. 
The city of Zarahemla and its inhabitants were burned (3 Nephi 8:8). Later, the city was built again (4 Nephi 1:8) but the city is not mentioned afterward. It could have been destroyed again, of course. The river could have flooded the city, deposited sand over it, or any number of other possibilities. For now, I note that it’s a location that seems to fit the text nicely.
Another consideration is that D&C 125 hints at this site as the location of ancient Zarahemla.
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Another interesting aspect of Alma 5 is the mention of sheep, shepherds, and wolves. There must have been sheep in the city of Zarahemla. We’ve already stipulated that, because the Nephites “strictly” observed the Law of Moses, but Alma emphasizes the point is repeated here.
v. 37: ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, 
v. 38: ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.
v. 39: And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye?
v. 59: For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? 
v. 60: if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.
These metaphors would be ineffective if the people living in Zarahemla did not have sheep. In verse 59, Alma abandons the metaphorical use and speaks directly to actual shepherds. 
Some species of sheep that are indigenous to North America have survived to the present day, including the Bighorn and Dall. Anciently, their populations were in the millions. Although confined mainly to the western US, Canada, and northern Mexico.
Wolves are indigenous to North America and were ubiquitous throughout North America before the Europeans arrived. They were part of Native American Indian legends and mythology. Their devastating impact on domesticated animals led to federal government programs to eradicate wolves from grazing areas. See this article.
Because Alma discussed wolves in this sense, I think it’s possible that whatever domesticated sheep the Nephites had–whether related to the other indigenous North American species or species Lehi brought with him–were killed off after the destruction of the Nephite society. The situation could be similar to that of horses, where recent research has shown the traditional explanation for horses–that the Spanish brought them all–is not consistent with the actual records. See excellent article on horses: https://byustudies.byu.edu/system/files/pdfs/54_3JohnsonHard.pdf. 

Source: 2016 Gospel Doctrine Resource

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Lesson 21: Alma-Did Judge Righteous Judgments

This lesson covers Mosiah 29-Alma 4. These chapters address the question of what system of government is most likely to preserve peace and righteousness, a topic covered well in the lesson manual.

Alma 2 discusses Amlici’s attempted insurrection. Alma leads the Nephite armies across the River Sidon to battle against Amlici and his army (the Amlicites). Although Alma’s men prevail, the Amlicites who survive flee southward. Alma’s spies follow them until they see the Amlicites join with a Lamanite army. Then the spies hurry back to camp, alert Alma, and a battle ensues.

You may be surprised to know that Alma 2 has generated a tremendous amount of discussion about Book of Mormon geography. The question is whether the Amlicites–and Alma’s spies after them–crossed the River Sidon. Many people think they did, although the text doesn’t say so. I disagree: I think the Amlicites and the spies stayed on the eastern side of Sidon.

The text frames the battle as part of a race to the city of Zarahemla: “except we make haste they obtain possession of our city, and our fathers, and our wives, and our children be slain.” (Alma 2:25)

Verse 27 describes how the battle took place:

27 And behold, as they were crossing the river Sidon, the Lamanites and the Amlicites, being as numerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea, came upon them to destroy them.

I think this verse means Alma and his men were crossing the river from east to west, and the Lamanites came upon them from behind. Others think this verse means the Lamanites were already on the western bank. I’ve had numerous discussions on this point, and I think both interpretations are plausible, depending on what assumptions you make.

I adopted the first one because it makes more sense to me conceptually, and because the text specifies that Alma crossed the river initially to attack the Amlicites, and then crossed it again to defend Zarahemla, but it never mentions anyone else crossing the river.

In a way, this is geography minutia. You can read the debates online. For me,the point of this account is how much effort Alma exerted to protect and save the liberty of his people.

Still, here’s how I envision the battle taking place:

Source: 2016 Gospel Doctrine Resource

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Lesson 20: My Soul Is Pained No More

This chapter covers Mosiah 25-27. In Chapter 25, king Mosiah causes the people to gather together. I find this interesting because I infer the people came in from throughout the land of Zarahemla; this was not only a gathering of the residents of the city of Zarahemla.

Alma relates the story of the people of Limhi. Then Limhi and all his people desired baptism. The text doesn’t say where this took places except “into the water,” but I infer the people were baptized in the river, much as the early LDS were baptized in the Mississippi River.

I also think it’s interesting that Mosiah 25:23 says “there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla.” We can’t tell if a “church” in this sense was like a stake or a ward, but here is the description:

20 Now this was done because there were so many people that they could not all be governed by one teacher; neither could they all hear the word of God in one assembly;
 21 Therefore they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches; every church having their priests and their teachers, and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma.

This leads me to conclude that the term “church” refers to a “congregation” or “assembly.” A congregation would be more like a ward than a stake, IMO. This means the population of Zarahemla may not have been as great as is sometimes proposed. True, there were nonbelievers as well, and for all we know, there were many more nonbelievers than believers. I mention this to suggest that maybe these Nephite cities were not all that large–at least not as large as we often think.

This reminds me of small branches of the Church I’ve visited throughout the world. No matter how small the congregation, the principles of the Gospel apply equally.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20.

Source: 2016 Gospel Doctrine Resource

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Lesson 19: None Could Deliver Them but the Lord

This lesson covers seven chapters in Mosiah–a lot to cover in one lesson. Most of this discussion is from Moroni’s America.

Mosiah 18. 
When Alma “fled from the servants of king Noah” (Mosiah 18:1), he didn’t go far. He “went about privately among the people” to teach the gospel. Those who believed him went to the “place which was called Mormon, having received its name from the king, being in the borders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons by wild beasts” (Mosiah 18:4).
The place of Mormon has unusual characteristics, being close enough to the city of LehiNephi for Alma to go about privately teaching, yet also in the borders infested by wild beasts. It was notable enough that the King named it, another indication of its proximity. One possible location for the “infested” land is the mountain ranges east of Chattanooga, which are natural borders and would harbor migrating or hibernating animals such as bears or wolves.
Verse 5 offers more description of the place Mormon:  
“5 Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the king.”
You can get an idea of the general geography by looking at this map of the City of Nephi and surrounding areas:
There are plentiful natural springs in this area of Tennessee, some of which are tourist attractions today. The “thicket of small trees” suggests this particular fountain had been cleared, possibly to be developed as a water source.
It turns out there is a particular spring in Tennessee that has healing properties and has played important roles in history. Plus, the area was inhabited around 500 B.C. We’re still working on the archaeological details so I won’t name it specifically yet, but hopefully we will soon.
The text explains that the king sent spies and found out where Alma was assembling with his followers. [I think the spies took names and told the king, who sent his army to round up Alma’s people from their homes in the city and surrounding areas.]
The Lord warned Alma that the king’s army was coming, so he alerted the people (about 450 of them) and they “departed into the wilderness” (Mosiah 18:34) with their tents and families, as well as their flocks and grain (Mosiah 23:1).

Mosiah 23-24

Although the text does not give us directional information, it seems likely that Alma would move in the direction of Zarahemla—north and west—instead of deeper into Lamanite territory.
They “fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness and they came to a land, yeah even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water” (Mosiah 23 3-4). They called the land Helam and “they built a city, which they called the city of Helam” (Mosiah 23: 19-20).
There are many places in Tennessee that fit this description. Most ancient sites have been destroyed, of course. There used to be hundreds of sites along the Tennessee River. The few that remain can give us an idea of what once existed. We also have records from some early explorations of ancient sites that no longer exist. 
One candidate that has been preserved and can be visited today is Pinson Mounds, located approximately 200 miles northeast of Chattanooga and 28 miles from the Tennessee River. The 400-acre site is elevated above wetlands and a river that form its southern border. Over 30 mounds were constructed here over a long period of time. The probable age of some features is between about 100 B.C. and A.D. 260,[i] a reasonable fit for Alma’s early development in about 145 B.C. As is typical of many sites, mounds were added and developed in later years. The site includes the “second-tallest mound in the United States (Sauls Mound, at 72 feet) and a circular earthen enclosure similar to earthworks found in the Ohio Valley.”[ii]

Could Alma and his people travel 200 miles in 8 days? That’s an average of 25 miles per day, or about 8-10 hours of walking (or canoeing) at 2.5 to 3 miles per hour. Because they were fleeing from the Lamanites, this seems a reasonable estimate, even for a large group with animals. Alma’s people settled in for two decades.
About 20 to 24 years later, though, the army of Lamanites that was chasing Limhi’s people (and had found the priests of king Noah in the land of Amulon) came across Alma’s land of Helam. Alma surrendered to the army. An initially strange thing about this account is that this army chased the people of Limhi for two days before losing their tracks, at which point “they were lost in the wilderness” (Mosiah 22:16). How could they become lost after two days when they were following the tracks of a group of people? Even if they got lost, couldn’t they have simply turned around and made their way back to LehiNephi?
One possible answer is they feared being killed by the king of the Lamanites if they returned empty-handed. We learn in Mosiah 23 that they “had followed after the people of king Limhi” and “had been lost in the wilderness for many days” (Mosiah 23:30). This suggests they did not stop the pursuit of Limhi when they lost the tracks. Maybe they continued down the river. Every fork in a river must be explored, a laborious process.
At some point, the Lamanites stumbled upon the priests of king Noah, led by Amulon. Amulon and his brethren joined the Lamanites, but for some reason, Amulon also didn’t know the way back to the land of Nephi.
Continuing with the proposed geography, if the Lamanites had chased king Limhi’s people to the Duck River, they would have eventually reached the Tennessee River at a point about 30 miles downriver from a point due east of Pinson Mounds. They could have found Amulon in that area, a successful discovery that would have made it possible to return to their king. Hence, they “were traveling in the wilderness in search of the land of Nephi when they discovered the land of Helam” (Mosiah 23:35).
This sequence suggests they didn’t recognize the Tennessee River—the way back to the land of Nephi. Maybe they followed tributaries into the land of Helam. Alma had no problem showing them “the way that led to the land of Nephi” (Mosiah 23:37), which suggests the “way” was obvious, even though the Lamanites had missed it. What obvious “way” could there be other than a river? Alma would simply have to lead the Lamanite army to the Tennessee River and explain they needed to go upriver.
Of course, this is merely one of many scenarios possible in this area of the country. There are many other rivers and archaeological sites in Tennessee where the events described in the text could have taken place. Pinson Mounds is plausible, based on the text, and I like it because it can be visited today. Most ruins from this time period have been destroyed. Other plausible alternative settings for the land of Helam would likely be about the same distance northwest from the city of Nephi.

[i] Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., Pinson Mounds: Middle Woodland Ceremonialsim in the Midsouth(University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, 2013),  p. 197.

[ii] Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., and Mary L, Kwas, “Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park,” The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, online at http://bit.ly/Moroni72. 

Source: 2016 Gospel Doctrine Resource

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Lesson 15: Eternally Indebted to Your Heavenly Father

This lesson covers Mosiah 1-3. There is a lot of material in here relevant to historicity and geography, but I’m only going to mention two things.

First, again from Moroni’s America, “King Benjamin taught his sons the importance of language, but apparently the writing system was difficult. Lehi could read the engravings on the brass plates because he “had been taught in the language of the Egyptians” (verse 4), and yet the plates contained the Hebrew Torah. One needed to understand the “learning” of the Jews and the “language” of the Egyptians (1 Nephi 1:2). Brother Sorenson explains this:

“King Benjamin wanted his three sons to become ‘men of understanding,’ so he ‘caused that they should be taught in all the language of his fathers, . . . that they might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken by the mouths of their fathers.’ (Mosiah 1:2). The expression “in all the language” can only mean that different degrees of mastery were possible. He wanted the princes to master the system to the maximum degree, not to have just a superficial knowledge… The substantial time investment required to attain mastery of the texts explains the later observation that “some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches” (3 Nephi 6:12). Unlike Benjamin’s princes, the Nephite poor could not afford the years of study, nor the mentors, needed to master full literacy.” [i]
Without a written language, “even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things or even do not believe them when they are taught them because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct” (verse 5).
Benjamin’s declaration indicates that the Lamanites, like the Mulekites before Mosiah taught them, did not have a written language. This is consistent with the experience in North America, where there is little evidence of written language, and inconsistent with Mesoamerica<!–[if supportFields]> XE "Mesoamerica" <![endif]–><!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>, where there is abundant evidence of written language.
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The second thing King Benjamin taught is very relevant to questions of historicity and evidence. Look at verse 6:
 6 O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true. And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes.
The last clause was no doubt important for Joseph Smith; he had the plates sitting on the table, under a cloth. He didn’t translate directly from the plates, but their presence gave him and Oliver the assurance–the surety–that the words they were recording were true.
Likewise, in our day, we have the physical evidence of the Book of Mormon civilization before our eyes, helping us know of the surety of the words in the text.

[i] John L. Sorenson<!–[if supportFields]> XE "Sorenson, John L." <![endif]–><!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>, Mormon’s Codex, p. 216-218.

Source: 2016 Gospel Doctrine Resource