A Choice Land

One of the messages of the Book of Mormon that we don’t really get in any of the other standard works is that the place where the Jaredites and the Nephites lived—the Americas—is a “choice land.”  For example, Nephi was told by the Lord from the beginning, “And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands” (1 Nephi 2:20).  Again in his vision he was told by the angel, “Thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands, which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance” (1 Nephi 13:30).  Lehi told his sons at the end of his life the same message, “Notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands” (2 Nephi 1:5).  The Lord told Jacob the same thing: “I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands” (2 Nephi 10:19).  Lehi and his sons clearly had the same understanding about the land of their inheritance and sought to help their peoples understand that this brought with it a responsibility of righteousness by the people. 

                The other place in the Book of Mormon where we get this same message is in the story of the Jaredites.  The Lord told the Brother of Jared, “For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off….  It shall be a land choice above all other lands.” (Ether 2:10, 15).  Later on in Moroni’s commentary of the Jaredites in a time of righteousness he wrote, “And thus the Lord did pour out his blessings upon this land, which was choice above all other lands” (Ether 9:20).  He also summarized the words of Ether saying, “After the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof” (Ether 13:2).

                The word “choice” here to describe this land is an interesting one and I think it has double meaning.  The most obvious meaning when looking at dictionary definitions is “something that is preferred or preferable to others.”  Clearly one of the major messages from these verses in the Book of Mormon is that it is in some way a preferred land, and that because of that he Lord expects that the people will honor and worship Him on the land.  I wonder, though, if we can’t think of the use of the word “choice” in these descriptions as it relates to agency as well.  Another verse in Ether states, “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land” (Ether 2:12).  Right after the declaration of it being a “choice land” we see a description of how the people would be free and able to govern themselves.  In other words, it will be a choice land because people will have choice or the power to choose. That both interpretations might be valid is evidenced in other translations of Ether 2:12: the Spanish version, when translated back to English, says “Behold, this is a chosen land” but the French version when translated back to English says, “Here, this is a country of choice.”  The Spanish sides with the choice = preferred definition; the French seems to suggest that choice = the power to choose.  I think both are valid and should remind us who live here that one of the evidences of it being a special land is that we have so much freedom to choose and use our agency.  The message of the Book of Mormon is that we must use that agency to serve the God of the land, even Jesus Christ.