The records at that time were being kept by a descendant of Nephi's brother, Jacob, a man named Amaleki. He had been born during the reign of Mosiah and lived to see the king's death and the installation of Mosiah's son, Benjamin, as king over the land.
One of the important things that happened during this time involved a group of Nephites under an austere and bloodthirsty man (Mosiah 9:2), a man whom Amaleki referred to as stiffnecked - which was an ancient Hebrew reference to someone too proud to bow before God. Limhi and his followers, like Laman and Lemuel of old, felt like they should not have left their homes in the Land of Nephi where they had prospered. They also went looking for tillable land. Remember, the farm land along the Sidon was very narrow and, as the population of Zarahemla grew, that became a problem. That being said, this man led his group out into the mountainous wilderness in an attempt to reclaim the Land of Nephi. There was a rebellion within the group and all were slain, save it were fifty. These people returned to Zarahemla and after resupplying their group, set out again under the leadership of a man named Zeniff. One of Amaleki's brothers was in that second group. Amaleki never heard from him again. What happened to Zeniff's people is a story for another day.
There are some people who try to tell me that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. One argument I've heard is that the places mentioned - cities, rivers, mountains - are not there. The truth is, they are, if you know where to look for them. A second argument is that the Book of Mormon is a simple story line, most of it copied from the Bible. In truth, it is a very complex story line covering a huge swath of history with hundreds of named people, information about money, weights and measures, culture, art, religion, and warfare - in great detail. The story lines are interwoven - such as the people of Zarahemla/ Mulekites, the people of Zeniff, and other people with other stories. Those story lines weave in and out of the main story thread. A casual reader would get lost - I know because I have been such a reader. A serious student would find the complicated story internally consistent to the smallest detail- I know because I have been this student as well. I am also a writer. I would be challenged to keep such a complex storyline consistent. It would take me years to do it, if I could do it at all. Think of how long it took J.R.R. Tolkien to create Middle Earth and he was a college professor of linguistics with multiple degrees. Joseph, with little if any formal education, did not write that book: he translated it from the ancient records of the prophets who did write it. More on this topic next week.
Text copyright July 2013, Gebara Education
Picture of Mosiah interpreting the great stone from www.rationalfaith.com
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