Ye Shall Prosper in the Land

I have always been intrigued by the chronology given in the books of Jacob through Omni in the Book of Mormon which suggests that the Nephites were living a very long time. When Jacob started writing he said this: “For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem” (Jacob 1:1). This means that it was about 545 B.C. assuming Lehi left in 600 B.C. If Jacob was born about five years after Lehi left Jerusalem (it was sometime in the first eight years during the wilderness voyage), then Jacob would have been fifty years old at this time. That’s the only date we have from Jacob, but his son Enos who wrote next in the record said this at the end of his life: “And it came to pass that I began to be old, and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi left Jerusalem” (Enos 1:25). So this was around 421 B.C., and if Enos was born when Jacob was 75 years old it would still put Enos at 99 years old at this time. His son Jarom took the record next, and he wrote this at the end of his brief account: “And it came to pass that two hundred and thirty and eight years had passed away” (Jarom 1:13). This was then about 362 B.C., and if Jarom was also born when his father Enos was 75 years old, in 445 B.C., he would have been about 83 years old when he wrote this. His son Omni wrote this: “Yea, and in fine, two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away, and I had kept these plates according to the commandments of my fathers” (Omni 1:3). If Omni was born when his father was 50 years old, then he would have been at least 71 years old. His son Amaron wrote this: “Yea, and in fine, two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away, and I had kept these plates according to the commandments of my fathers” (Omni 1:3). So if his father was also 50 years old when he was born, then he would have been at least 65 years old.

These are the only dates we have from the small plates, and here is a summary of what this would mean given my assumptions of how old their fathers were when they were born:

So what is the point? The intriguing part for me is just how long they were living in the beginning of their society and how old they must have been while still having children in the beginning. As I have pondered this it seems to me that the reason was that the Lord was raising up a posterity and blessing them to grow rapidly. We know that the Nephites were commanded to not practice plural marriage, a way that sometimes the Lord used to “raise up seed” to Himself, so perhaps this was another way He raised up seed (Jacob 2:30). The first few generations may have had unusually long lives and were able to bear children well into their old age. This would then fit with the statement of Jarom: “And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land.” The Lord had promised them, “Inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land” (Jarom 1:8-9). Perhaps their ability to live longer lives and continue to have children well past the normal child-bearing years was an indication of this promise being fulfilled. By the time Omni and Amaron came along, though, the Nephites were quite wicked and this blessing was perhaps no longer upon them. And so Amaron emphasized to us the corollary: “Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall not prosper in the land. Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment” (Omni 1:6). Ultimately most of the Nephites were destroyed because of their wickedness, and we can see that the promises of the Lord to Lehi were indeed fulfilled. The message for us is clear: though the means might be different, if we keep the commandments the Lord in our day we too will be blessed.