Observing the Law of Moses
“…It appears indubitable from the two records, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, that the intent and true meaning of the Law of Moses, of its sacrifices, etc., were far better understood and comprehended by the Nephites than by the Jews. But in this connection, it must not be forgotten that a great many most plain and precious things, as the Book of Mormon states, have been taken from the Bible, through the ignorance of uninspired translators or the design and cunning of wicked men.” – John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co. [2002],
In order for Lehi’s family to keep the commandments and covenants of God, they were required to live the Law of Moses. Throughout the history of the Nephites, those keeping the records will indicate that they did observe the law (see Jarom 1:5, p. 122; Mosiah 13:29-30, p. 170; and Alma 30:3, p. 261), and was seen by them as both symbolic of Christ and a means of coming unto Him (see Jacob 4:5). The Nephite record is a witness that observing the law would bring them to Christ. Even “…the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God according to the Law of Moses.” – Helaman. 13:1; and Annotated Book of Mormon p. 369.
The Law was engraven upon the Plates of Brass.
1 Nephi 4:14-16 “And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which He spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: “Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep My commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise.” Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the Law of Moses, save they should have the Law. And I also knew that the Law was engraven upon the Plates of Brass.
Nephi recounted when commanded to obtain the Plates of Brass: “Yea,and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the Law of Moses, save they should have the Law. And I also knew that the Law was engraven upon the Plates of Brass” – 1 Nephi 4:15-16. The Law of Moses was instituted to bring the children of Israel to Christ, “And for this intent we keep the Law of Moses, it pointing our souls to Him” – Jacob 4:5. The Law provided for seasonal holy ceremonial assemblies whereby specific items were symbolically used to focus the people’s actions and thoughts on the role the Holy One of Israel (Jesus Christ) had on their salvation (see Annotated Book of Mormon pp. 15, 142, 144, 169 and 300).
“Lamanites are the Indians that now inhabit this country”
The Prophet and Historian Mormon, when reviewing the history on the Large Plates of Nephi, noted that “…the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God according to the Law of Moses.” (Helaman. 13:1; p. 369). Joseph Smith wrote in his Church History to Mr. John Wentworth, “The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant [the conquering Lamanites] are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” (See p. 551.) Mordecai M. Noah (1785-1851), a prominent Jewish lay leader published his, “Discourse of the Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel,” New York, James Van Norden, 1837. He based his discourse on their religious beliefs and seasonal ceremonies, “In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of flowers [Feast of Weeks; see p. 300], the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other religious holydays,” and, “By their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages; ceremonies in war and peace, the prohibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions.” (p. 8.) He writes, “The most sacred fast day uniformly kept by the Jews is the day of Atonement, usually falling in the month of September or in early October…Precisely such a fast, with similar motives, and nearly at the same period of the year, is kept by the Indian natives generally…[James] Adair (see p. 544) stat[ed] the strict manner in which the Indians observe the revolutions of the moon, and describing the feast of the harvest, and the first offerings of the fruits, gives a long account of the preparations of putting their temple in proper order for the great day of atonement, which he fixes at the time when the corn is fully eared and ripe, generally in the latter end of September.” (p. 14.)
Law of Moses in Moroni’s America
“Lehi and his people diligently kept the law of Moses. Nephi affirmed… that they did ‘keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled’ (2 Nephi 25:24)…. The Nephites were to continue to keep the law of Moses until it was fulfilled.”
The Book of Mormon people did not casually observe the Law of Moses. They “were strict in observing the ordinances of God, according to the law of Moses.” Alma 30:3. It was obedience to the law of Moses that Korihor criticized:
“Korihor said unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.” (Alma 30:23)
When groups failed to observe the law of Moses, they “had fallen into great errors.” Alma 31:9.
The law of Moses and its implications for Book of Mormon geography deserve an entire book, but this filter can serve its purpose with just a few of the key points.
Architecture
One major difference between the Mesoamerican and American settings is visible in architecture. Mayan architecture is typified by large stone temples, made of cut stones and featuring steps by which one ascends to altars or the tops of the temples. By contrast, Hopewell architecture relies on uncut stone and ramps to ascend. Altars and ramps of earth are also common.
According to the law of Moses, observers of the law must use ramps and uncut stones. “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, . . . And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon” (Exodus 20:24-26). Ramps were also important for leading animals to be sacrificed.
This distinction is apparent in Israel, where archaeologists can use the distinction between ramps and stairs to determine whether an ancient site was built according to the law of Moses. One archaeologist describing the discovery of Joshua’s Altar on Mt. Ebal, Israel, explains it this way:
Hebrew altars can be distinguished from pagan altars in 5 respects:
1. They are made of uncut natural stone.
2. Ramps, never stairs.
3. Hebrew altars are square.
4. Hebrew altars have their sides oriented to the 4 points of the compass (NSEW), as we see in the orientation of the tabernacle.
In Mesoamerican sites, there are no ramps; in the American setting, sites have no steps. In Mesoamerica, stones are carved; in the American setting, they are unhewn. Whoever created the Hopewell structures complied with this aspect of the Law of Moses, intentionally or not. Whoever created the Mesoamerican structures did not comply with the Law of Moses, even in the Nephite time period.
Calendar
Another aspect of the Law of Moses was determining the time for various religious events. The ancient Hebrews used a lunar calendar. Psalm 81:3-6 notes that the moon determined the time for feasts: “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.”
Sorenson [John Sorensen, leader in the Mesoamerican Theory] notes that “A lunar-based calendar was apparently basic to Nephite/Mulekite calendrical calculations (Omni 1:21). That being the case, a systematic record of moon phenomena would have been an element in their astronomy/calendar knowledge system… The moon-based calendar of the Jews of Jerusalem surely was carried forward by the Lehites and Mulekites when they emigrated from the near East to the New World.” He notes that some scholars believe the Mayans used lunar months at one time, but their primary calendar was solar. In fact, the Mayan lunar series was not incorporated until the 3rd Century AD. The best-known calendar, used by the lowland Maya, used 13 numbered days in connection with 20 named days, producing a 260-day cycle. Another version of Mayan calendars was based on the Haab’, a roughly solar calendar consisting of eighteen 20-day months plus five days at the end of the year. This resembled the Egyptian solar calendar.
Like the Hebrews (and presumably the Nephites), the Hopewell culture also used a lunar calendar to schedule feasts. The largest geometric earthworks complex in the world is near Newark, Ohio, and is around 2,000 years old. The site’s “lunar alignments precisely encode the orb’s very complex cycle, with moonrises and moonsets rotating north and south over an 18.61-year cycle.”
To summarize, Mesoamerican culture was based primarily on a solar calendar, while the ancient American (Hopewell) culture, like the culture of ancient Israel, was based primarily on a lunar calendar.
Plants and Animals
Proof of the existence of species at the time and place mentioned in the Book of Mormon requires first, determining what species were mentioned, and second, where the species were encountered. Consideration of the Law of Moses is important because it filters out species that would not, and could not, be used as part of strict observance of the law. Specific species of plants and animals are essential for observing the law of Moses. Strict obedience to the law of Moses does not allow substitutions; for example, for a peace offering, the law specifies “a bullock, a sheep, or a goat,” (Leviticus 22:27). When he arrived in the land of promise, Nephi indicated that he found the animals they needed to observe the law of Moses. He wrote “we did find upon the land of promise… that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat.” 1 Nephi 18:25.
One unnamed animal pertains directly to the law of Moses. The Book of Mormon has sixty-six references to “flocks.” Mosiah 2:3 explains the significance: “And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses.” The flocks were so important that when Limhi prepared his people to escape from the Lamanites, he “caused that his people should gather their flocks together…the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness with their flocks and their herds.” Mosiah 22:10-11. When Alma led his people out of bondage, he “and his people in the night-time gathered their flocks together.” Mosiah 24:18. Presumably the reason they took their flocks when they escaped, despite the evident complications and the pursuit by the Lamanites, was because they needed them for their offerings and sacrifices.
The Hebrew term translated as “flock” ordinarily applies to sheep, but when used as the plural “flocks” it can include other kinds of domesticated animals. “Book of Mormon terminology fails to clarify what species composed Nephite ‘flocks’ and ‘herds,’” according to John Sorenson.
Editors note: Since the turkey, and dogs are the only known domesticated animals in Mesoamerica, they have forced the word “flocks” to mean a flock of turkey “For those intrigued with some of the issues of plants and animals in the Book of Mormon, a recent news item from the University of Florida offers some interesting information. The possibility that turkeys may have been part of references to “flocks” in the Book of Mormon is strengthened by recent discoveries of Mayan remains showing that domesticated turkeys were present much earlier than previously realized… “Very interesting. Was Ammon risking his life to vigorously defend King Lamoni’s turkey flocks? Food for thought. And thanksgiving. The relationship to religious rites (animal sacrifice) and religious sites is especially interesting. The turkey, though, is mentioned as Mesomerica’s only indigenous domesticated animal.” Jeff Lindsey blog at Mormanity and is a Mesoamerican Theorist
Moroni’s America continues, “However, Alma defines the term flock as meaning sheep. “For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock?” (Alma 5:59) Other uses of the term, such as “flocks of sheep” in 3 Nephi 20:16, could be interpreted as purely metaphorical, but if the people did not have sheep, what sense would the metaphor make? Christ is referred to as the Lamb of God throughout the text, from 1 Nephi through Ether.
Sheep, of course, are one of the animals required under the law of Moses, along with goats, bulls, and oxen. Enos reiterated that the people of Nephi did raise “flocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats, and also many horses.” Enos 1:21. Mosiah emphasized that the people grew wheat and barley, both needed for the law of Moses. Mosiah 9:9. None of these species are found in Mesoamerica, which is why Mesoamerican advocates suggest the small Mexican brocket deer might be a goat and the tapir an ass. By contrast, there is evidence of each of these species in the American setting.
Pre-Columbian wheat and barley have both been documented in North America (but not in Mesoamerica). Wade E. Miller and Matthew Roper have noted, “beginning in the 1980s, discoveries of pre-Columbian barley started to be made, substantiating the Book of Mormon claim.” The Fort Ancient State Memorial Museum in Oregonia, Ohio, has this ancient barley on display. Miller and Roper also note that the Vikings claimed to find wheat in North America when they arrived in the year 1000 A.D. Despite this evidence in North America, because they are defending the Mesoamerican setting, Miller and Roper write, “while the Book of Mormon makes reference to wheat (e.g., Mosiah 9:9), it might have been another grain translated as ‘wheat.” Sorenson explains: “Exactly what species Nephite ‘wheat’ referred to is unclear, but it apparently was not the wheat familiar to us, which was unknown in Mesoamerica; presumably the name was applied to one of the aforementioned grains.” But if the Nephites were using a different grain, how did they comply strictly with the Law of Moses?
Animals that match the terms used in the Book of Mormon apparently existed in North America before Columbus. Nephi claimed he found “the goat and the wild goat.” (1 Nephi 18:25). These species were permitted as food under the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 14:4-5). It’s interesting that Deuteronomy also specifies “the hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer… and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois,” but Nephi listed none of these. Early French explorers noted the presence of “wild goats” along the Mississippi River, in Indiana and Illinois, and in Florida. Miller and Roper suggest the “goat” may have been a species of domesticated deer that resembled a goat. They note that men accompanying De Soto observed “herds of tame deer” in Ocale, a town in northern Florida. Another Spanish historian recorded a similar observation in Apalachicola—right in the area where Lehi landed, according to the American model.
As evidence that ancient people in Ohio had goats, the Mound City Group Visitors Center, a Hopewell Culture National Historic Park near Chillicothe, Ohio, features a copper goat horn that dates to Book of Mormon times.
Sheep and lambs are mentioned 77 times in the Book of Mormon. Many references are figurative, but as Alma 5:59 indicates, the people were familiar with sheep and did tend to them. William Richie, an archaeologist, reported that he found remains of domestic sheep in western New York dating to 100 A.D., about 30 miles east of the Hill Cumorah. At least one Hopewell sculpture of an animal that looks like a sheep has been found.
Enos referred to “all manner of cattle of every kind,” a description similar to that of French explorers who described seeing “wild bulls, wild cows, wild cattle, and vaches sauvages” that are now considered to be terms used “as the designation of both the moose and the elk.” Buffalo, or bison, were often described as cattle. There are several accounts from the 1500s of buffalo-like creatures in Florida, but it is not known what species the explorers were describing.
Evidence of the specific animals required by the Book of Mormon is far more abundant in the American setting than it is in the Mesoamerican setting. Sorenson notes that there is evidence of other Book of Mormon animals from the right time period that fit the American model, such as the horse, mammoth and mastodon remains at St. Petersburg, Florida, that date around 100 B.C.
Regarding Mesoamerica, Sorenson concludes that “there are plausible creatures to match each scriptural term.” He suggests that the deer or tapir may qualify as horse, ox, ass and goat, while the paca or agouti may qualify as sheep, his theory being that Joseph Smith didn’t know a more accurate term to translate the original word on the plates. But “deer” and “pygarg” (the term for antelope) were both terms used in Deuteronomy that presumably could have been used in the translation of the Book of Mormon and would have been better fits to the species in Mesoamerica. It is inconceivable that a paca or agouti, both of which are rodents and therefore unclean under the law of Moses, would have been considered “sheep” by the Nephites and used for their sacrifices.
At any rate, calendars, architecture, plants, and animals all tend to show that this important aspect of Nephite culture was feasible in America, but not in Mesoamerica.” Jonathan Neville Moroni’s America Page 330-335
