Long Long Ago

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. So begins the mega-blockbuster Star War series with an interesting intrigue about time. As one of the original fans of Star Wars in 1979, I recall the fascinating pull that concept had on us teenagers. “Wait, you mean it all was supposed to have taken place a long time ago?” was the talk in the hallways at school. Passage of time within The Book of Mormon is also a fascinating activity to track. It did in fact happen, yet not quite so long ago. But a close observation of the passage of time in the book points to interesting chronological complexity which, in and of itself, adds to the structural testimony of it. For instance, the book of Omni contains year markers that jump from 276 to 282, and then to 320 (all referenced from when Lehi left Jerusalem). There are then three more subsequent writers in Omni, who apparently take the reader (though not documented in years) past the point of year 476. The last writer in Omni, Amaleki, introduces us to the reign of King Benjamin and Mosiah (which by then is a foregone event) by giving an introductory mention of it. The events of Mosiah are documented in the sixth chapter of Mosiah to be 476 years since Lehi. Sandwiched between these two books is the short “looking back” chapter by Mormon, the final author and abridger of The Book of Mormon. His reflection chapter is dated to have been written in approximately 385 B.C., for in other words, almost 1,000 years after Lehi.

 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.

LESSON LEARNED: The events in The Book of Mormon are often tracked with year markers, giving an marvelous and complex overview of their chronicity. This complexity further attests to the structural truth of The Book of Mormon.

FEEDBACK: HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO MAP THE EVENTS BY TIME IN THE BOOK OF MORMON?