“They Had Dwelt There from That Time Forth”

W. Cleon Skousen

In this new region, Mosiah and his people discovered a whole new civilization which came to be known to them as the people of Zarahemla. It is rather amazing but the people of Zarahemla did not fight the Nephites as they came into their territory. They somehow felt that God was responsible for this body of Nephites finding their way into the land of Zarahemla. In fact the Nephites had brought with them the precious brass plates, and the people of Zarahemla considered this a great treasure.

As these two peoples learned to communicate with each other, Mosiah found that the originators of the people of Zarahemla had come from Jerusalem also at about the time Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive to Babylon. This would have been about 13 years after Lehi left Jerusalem, or 587 B.C. We have only a hint as to which way the people of Zarahemla may have traveled to reach America. At this point, we are simply told that they journeyed in the wilderness and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great deep and into the territory where Mosiah and his band of Nephites discovered them. That they were brought "by the hand of the Lord" is the significant thing to be remembered.

Treasures from the Book of Mormon

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