The statement in 4 Nephi 1:34 that the people "were led by many priests and false prophets" is culturally at home in Mesoamerica. According to John Sorenson, prophecy among the Maya was a well-established cultural institution termed "bobatil." . . . Their prophecies were written down in books called "huunob." All these features were normal in Post-Classic Maya life, and thus Munro Edmonson cautiously concludes: "It would be surprising if they had not had books of historical prophecy" in the Classic era (A.D. 200-800).
The Maya governed their lives by their prophetic outlook. Dennis Puleston maintains that changes in Maya civilization were "triggered by an internal mechanism" consisting of Maya assumptions about the power of prophetic time. When change was to come, it would "inevitably come." [John L. Sorenson, "Prophecy Among the Maya," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, p. 263]
“They Were Led by Many Priests and False Prophets”
According to Joseph Allen, in Mesoamerica, the priests controlled the religious, social, and commercial activities of the people. The book of 4 Nephi describes the situation as follows:
. . . they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness (4 Nephi 1:27).
And again, there was another church which denied the Christ; and they did persecute the true church of Christ . . . (4 Nephi 1:29).
. . . they did exercise power and authority over the disciples of Jesus who did tarry with them, and they did cast them into prison . . . (4 Nephi 1:30)
. . . the people did harden their hearts, for they were led by many priests and false prophets . . . (4 Nephi 1:34)
. . . the wicked part of the people began again to build up the secret oaths and combinations of Gadianton (4 Nephi 1:42; A.D. 260).
[Joseph L. Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, p. 393]