I am in the middle of developing a lot of information that answers the question, ‘Does understanding the Book of Mormon geography really matter?’ The short answer is Yes! It matters because Mormon used geography to help tell his whole story. He claimed that he could only write 1/100 of what he wanted to write, yet he dedicated about 550 verses of the Book of Mormon to describing geography. Once you learn the geography, you’ll start to learn the lessons Mormon was teaching by writing where people were at what time. For example, Alma 45:18 states that Alma departed out of the land of Zarahemla and went towards the land of Melek. An entire discourse could be written about the significance of the prophet going to the people of Melek at the time he went to Melek. First, you need to understand who was in Melek. To do this, you need to put 3 seemingly unrelated pieces of information regarding Book of Mormon geography together. Once you know who is in Melek, you then need to look at the timeline of the Book of Mormon to understand what future event Alma might have gone to prepare these people for. By understanding the the geography, Mormon was able to use one simple verse (Alma 45:18) to teach an important lesson to us! What he taught in this verse was not only intended for us, but to help us, and to guide us toward Jesus Christ! Look for an upcoming video for the answer as to why it is so important to your daily life to know that Alma departed toward the land of Melek.
Check out the dates and prices for upcoming LDS Church History tours, and the upcoming Book of Mormom cruises. During the Book of Mormon cruise, you will not only learn the proposed locations of the Book of Mormon events, but you’ll learn how Mormon used geography to teach important lessons for your daily life.
Maps, books, videos, and articles are just about ready to be introduced.
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Tom Pettit
