The Story Behind the Book of Mormon

About 930 B.C., the nation of Israel divided into two kingdoms. Though the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrian empire about 700 B.C., the Southern Kingdom of Judah was miraculously delivered because they had heeded the words of the prophet Isaiah. A century later, however, Judah fell into idolatry and wickedness, losing divine protection. The Book of Mormon begins at this point in Hebrew history, about 600 B.C., authored initially by Nephi, son of Lehi. Father Lehi was among those called to warn to warn Jerusalem of her impending doom. It was thirteen years later when Jerusalem was leveled by the ruthless Babylon, but Lehi would not see the fulfillment of his prophecies; his family, including the young Nephi, would never see the ruins of their ancestral home; for they were by that time on the other side of the world. The Book of Mormon is their story. It is the abridgement of hundreds of years of history; a panoramic overview detailing the rise and fall of magnificent civilizations; an account painstakingly maintained by a people dedicated to record keeping and to their God. And it all began at the hand of one man…