Up To Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem sits upon “a plateau in the Judean Mountains” and therefore is above the surrounding land.  According to one source, the city is on four hills and the eastern, western, and southern sides have steep valleys.  There is surely a lot of symbolism in the fact that it is above the surrounding areas.  Jerusalem was the center of the Israelite people, the place of the temple, and where many of the prophets spoke from.  In ancient days truly “the word of the Lord [came] from Jerusalem,” and it makes sense symbolically that this physical location would be above all that surrounds it (Isaiah 2:3).  Perhaps when the Savior said, “A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” He had Jerusalem in mind (Matt. 5:14).  The city itself should be a reminder to us that we should be the kind of person that people can look up to.  We have to be “standing on higher ground” if we want to be able to “lift another soul” (see here).    

An interesting aspect of the Book of Mormon that reflects this geography is, as I once heard someone remark, that the references to Jerusalem in the first part of the book always speak about going “up” to Jerusalem.  This matches exactly as the geography is.  There are several such references, and they appear in the first part of the book as Lehi and his family go back and forth between Jerusalem and the valley of Lemuel.  Here are some of the references:

·       “And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness, with our tents, to go up to the land of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 3:9).

·       “And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another” (1 Nephi 3:10).

·       “Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands” (1 Nephi 3:29).

·       “Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord” (1 Nephi 4:1)

·       “While we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews” (1 Nephi 5:6).

·       “And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that I, Nephi, and my brethren, should again return unto the land of Jerusalem, and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 7:2)

·       “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did again, with my brethren, go forth into the wilderness to go up to Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 7:3).

·       “Now behold, I say unto you that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them. And now, if ye have choice, go up to the land” (1 Nephi 7:15)

Clearly Nephi knew what he was talking about as he described their journeys to and from Jerusalem—it was always up to it as they had to travel.  This detail is one more witness of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.  It was not written by Joseph Smith but by the people it claims who clearly knew the geography of their own land.