The Big Picture of the Book of Mormon
Part 4 - Where Did Lehi Really Land?
The Lost Location of the First Inheritance
Part 4 — The Lost Location of the First Inheritance
What if Mormon left enough geographical clues for us to identify the very place where Lehi first stepped onto the promised land?
For nearly two hundred years, readers have wondered where the Book of Mormon actually began in the New World.
If you've watched the first three videos, you've probably noticed a pattern.
In this series, we're not trying to fit the Book of Mormon to a modern map.
Instead, we're allowing the Book of Mormon's own geographical descriptions to build the map for us.
As each location is identified from the scriptures, another piece of the puzzle falls into place.
Today we're going to investigate two important pieces of that puzzle:
Where was the Land of First Inheritance?
And perhaps even more importantly...
Where did Lehi actually land?
Rather than starting with a proposed location and trying to make the scriptures fit, we're going to follow the clues and see where they lead us.
And once we identify these locations, several other Book of Mormon locations begin to fall into place.
Hi, welcome to the Mormon Mann Channel.
Yes, you guessed it. I am Kendall, the Mormon Mann.
Welcome to this fourth video in my series called:
"The Big Picture of the Book of Mormon."
This series places the Book of Mormon's own geographical descriptions onto modern maps for us.
As each piece falls into place, an amazingly consistent picture begins to emerge.
As I mentioned in Part One, Moroni invited every reader to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true.
Many people receive that spiritual witness first.
Others begin by examining the historical and geographical evidence.
Both paths can strengthen faith.
As we begin Part 4, remember our Big Picture Method.
We are going to follow Mormon’s geographical clues and see where they lead us.
So let's begin our investigation.
CLUE #1 — "LAND OF FIRST INHERITANCE"
Why was this area called the "Land of First Inheritance"?
Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord gave covenant lands to His people.
Those promised lands became their inheritance.
The Book of Mormon uses similar language.
The area where Lehi first landed was called the promised land and the Land Bountiful.
After Lehi's death, Nephi was warned to leave.
And throughout the years that followed, the Nephites referred to that original area as the Land of First Inheritance.
Lehi arrived in the promised land and settled in the Land of First Inheritance.
And just as Old World Bountiful provided everything Lehi needed to build a ship, this New World Bountiful provided fertile land where their seeds "did grow exceedingly."
That's what 1 Nephi 18:24 tells us.
But now we need to stop talking about the name...
and start looking for the location.
So, here's our first major question:
Where does Mormon actually place the Land of First Inheritance?
Let's slow down and look carefully at what he tells us.
PAUSE
Look at the geographical description.
Mormon tells us that the Land of First Inheritance was along the seashore...
on the west.
That's our first major geographical marker.
But Mormon gives us something even more interesting in that same verse.
WHERE DID LEHI LAND?
So where was the First Landing?
The answer is found in the very same verse.
PAUSE
Mormon connects Lehi's first landing with this same western seashore.
So now we have two pieces of information:
The Land of First Inheritance was on the west.
And...
Lehi's First Landing was there.
That's an important clue.
But we're not finished.
We need to see what happens next.
After Lehi died, Nephi was warned by God to leave that area. Nephi took his followers and traveled "for the space of many days" to a place they called Nephi.
But here's the interesting part.
Nephi never tells us the direction they traveled.
So where do we get that information?
We have to look much later in the record.
In Alma 22:27–34, Mormon gives us one of the most detailed geographical descriptions in the entire Book of Mormon.
So, let's follow his clues.
CLUE #2 — WHERE DID NEPHI GO?
First, Mormon tells us that the Land of First Inheritance was on the west, in the Land of Nephi, bordering the seashore.
Then he tells us that the Land of Nephi was separated from the Land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness running from the east sea to the west sea.
Now look carefully at the map.
The First Inheritance was on the western side of the Land of Nephi.
And the Land of Zarahemla was to the north of that dividing wilderness.
So, when we put these geographical relationships together, what direction did Nephi travel after leaving the First Inheritance?
The clues point eastward and southward, into the region that became the Land of Nephi.
Another piece of the map has just fallen into place.
I encourage you to read Alma 22:27–34 for yourself.
See if you can follow Mormon's descriptions and place these locations on your own map.
You might even have some fun doing it.
Clue #3 - ANOTHER MIGRATION
But there's another migration we need to investigate.
Two years later, the Mulekites had their “first landing”, but in a different location.
While Nephi's people moved south of the mountains, another group was arriving from across the sea.
Two years after Lehi landed on the west sea, Mulek, a surviving son of King Zedekiah, landed in the land north of the mountain range.
That gives us another important geographical clue.
Mulek arrived north of the mountain range.
Now we have people occupying both sides of the mountain divide.
Nephi's people are south.
Mulek's people are north.
And that becomes very important as the story develops.
THE MULEK QUESTION
Some people wonder how Mulek could have survived when the Bible records the deaths of Zedekiah's sons.
Rather than interrupt this geographical investigation, I'm going to recommend an excellent presentation by Scripture Central that examines the evidence in detail.
On YouTube, look for:
Jasmine does an excellent job of explaining the evidence and the possibility that Mulek actually existed.
But for our investigation, we're going to stay focused on geography.
So, let's get back to the map.
CLUE #4 — THE LAND OF ZARAHEMLA
After Mulek arrived in the land north of the mountain range, his descendants eventually established themselves in that area.
Their king was named Zarahemla.
And the land became known as the Land of Zarahemla.
So now look at what we have discovered.
We have the Land of First Inheritance/Land of Lehi along the western seashore.
We have Lehi's First Landing in that same area.
We have the Land of Nephi to the east and south of the mountain range.
We have Mulek’s First Landing in the north.
And we have the Land of Zarahemla north of the mountain range.
PAUSE
Look at how the pieces are beginning to connect.
We didn't begin by choosing locations on a modern map.
We began with the Book of Mormon's geographical descriptions.
And then we followed the clues.
But now we've reached a much bigger question.
THE NEXT INVESTIGATION
What exactly was the "Narrow Neck of Land"?
This geographical feature is mentioned repeatedly throughout the Book of Mormon.
And if we can identify it...
something remarkable happens.
It connects the northern and southern portions of the entire map.
In many ways, the Narrow Neck of Land may be the geographical key that unlocks the entire Big Picture.
That's where we'll go next in Part 5.
If this video has helped you better understand the geography of the Book of Mormon, I'd appreciate it if you'd click Like and Subscribe.
Every Like helps YouTube recommend these videos to others who are sincerely searching for answers.
In the next few videos, we're going to continue following the Book of Mormon's geographical descriptions and placing them onto modern maps.
Thanks for watching.
I'm Kendall, the Mormon Mann.
And I hope you have a great week ahead of you.