King Limhi is explaining to Ammon about the terrible tax placed on them by the Lamanites. He tells Ammon about the prophet Abinadi, and he also bears his testimony that they got what was coming to them. "Look, who wonders that they're in bondage and have really crappy trials? Didn't the Lord say:
I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them.
If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.
If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction.
So, where did he say these things?
WordCruncher to the rescue!
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
15 ¶ Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
Answer: It seems possible that King Limhi was quoting Hosea and Isaiah. He may have also been quoting other unknown Old Testament prophets whose writings were lost, or others like Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
To me, this is the kind of uncanny detail that is a witness of the veracity of the Book of Mormon. How would Joseph Smith (or Sidney Rigdon, another purported author of the book; we believe the book was a translation by the power of God, not thought up by Joseph Smith) have had the presence of mind to have King Limhi quote only from Old Testament prophets, not New Testament prophets? Rigdon and Smith were steeply immersed in the King James Bible language. They knew it well. If they had authored this work, wouldn't their characters have been less likely to be consistent with the claims of being descendants of Jews who left Jerusalem around 600 BC? Not only does King Limhi quote only Old Testament prophets here, and not any New Testament ones, but only those who were contemporary or lived prior to 600 BC.
To me, this is the kind of uncanny detail that is a witness of the veracity of the Book of Mormon. How would Joseph Smith (or Sidney Rigdon, another purported author of the book; we believe the book was a translation by the power of God, not thought up by Joseph Smith) have had the presence of mind to have King Limhi quote only from Old Testament prophets, not New Testament prophets? Rigdon and Smith were steeply immersed in the King James Bible language. They knew it well. If they had authored this work, wouldn't their characters have been less likely to be consistent with the claims of being descendants of Jews who left Jerusalem around 600 BC? Not only does King Limhi quote only Old Testament prophets here, and not any New Testament ones, but only those who were contemporary or lived prior to 600 BC.
I don't base my faith on these kinds of details. That is not where the power of the Book of Mormon lies. The power rests entirely on the promise that if you read this book and pray to God to know whether or not it is true, you are promised to receive an answer for yourself. If the book is true, then that means God's church exists today on the earth, and that you have the opportunity to be part of it. If the book is not true, there are 15 million totally duped, happy, people who believe they are walking somewhere on the Covenant Path. You have nothing to lose by trying this experiment yourself except a bit of time and potentially a lot of pride. To the former: in my experience, all of the time I have spent in the scriptures has been well spent. To the latter: we can all stand to lose more of that. I challenge you to read this book and find out for yourself whether or not its central message - that Jesus is the Christ - is true. I testify that it is true.
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