The Nature of a Land Cursed by the LordWhat should we expect would happen to a land cursed by the Lord? There are numerous references from the Book of Mormon, including the prophecies of Isaiah, portraying the land being cursed by “pestilence,” “famine” and “briers and thorns.”
A Land Cursed with Pestilences One could suspect that pests of some kind, such as a swarm of devastating grasshoppers, are described by the word pestilence, but “pestilence” in older English refers to “a fatal epidemic disease, especially a plague like the bubonic plague.” Pestilence also denotes a pervasive situation that is “morally corrupting” or “socially pernicious,” such as “evil conduct, wickedness, or sin.” In other words, “pestilence” describes a wide range of conditions, from a morally corrupting environment to a devastating condition such as a plague that could beset the land. The record is not clear as to which specific pestilences would smite the Book of Mormon lands. In the following references, note that destruction by pestilence, famine, and sword (bloodshed) often appear together in a triad when characterizing a “cursed land.” Jacob quoting Isaiah: And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel. (2 Ne. 6:15) Jacob: Wherefore, because of their iniquities, destructions, famines, pestilences, and bloodshed shall come upon them; and they who shall not be destroyed shall be scattered among all nations. (2 Ne. 10: 6) Abinadi quoting the Lord: And it shall come to pass that I will smite this my people with sore afflictions, yea, with famine and with pestilence; and I will cause that they shall howl all the day long. And they shall be smitten with a great pestilence—and all this will I do because of their iniquities and abominations. (Mosiah 12:4, 7) Amulek: Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword. But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand except ye repent. (Alma 10:22-23) Alma: Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct— (Alma 45:11) The Lord: Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with famine, and with pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people. (Hel. 10:6) Nephi, son of Helaman: O Lord, thou didst hearken unto my words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them. Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them. (Hel. 11:14-15) Mormon: And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. (Hel. 12:3) Samuel the Lamanite quoting the Lord: And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. (Hel. 13:9) Moroni describing the cursed condition of the Jaredite lands: And they hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord, because of their wicked combinations; wherefore, there began to be wars and contentions in all the land, and also many famines and pestilences, insomuch that there was a great destruction, such an one as never had been known upon the face of the earth; and all this came to pass in the days of Shiblom. (Ether 11:7) A Land Cursed with Famine by Lack of Rain
Creating the environmental conditions that lead to a famine is a common way for the Lord to humble a people, decimate a population and curse a land. A famine is a condition of “extreme scarcity of food with its accompanying privations.” The shortage of food is most often the result of lack of rain or reduced rainfall upon a land, and a shortage of food from lack of rain for a prolonged period can keep a land from being resettled by the former inhabitants or by others. Famine can also be described as a “dearth” in older English, that is, a “shortage and dearness of food.” In the King James version of the Bible, the words “dearth” and “famine” are translations rendered from the same Hebrew root word (Gen. 41:54; Isa. 51:19). The concept of famine or dearth being caused by the lack of rain is illustrated in the words of Moroni concerning the Jaredites: And it came to pass that there began to be a great dearth upon the land, and the inhabitants began to be destroyed exceedingly fast because of the dearth, for there was no rain upon the face of the earth. (Ether 9:30) In another example, Nephi, the son of Helaman, faced a serious problem of “wickedness” among his people (19 B.C.) and asked the Lord to humble them by causing a “famine in the land to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto [him]” (He. 11:4). The Lord had earlier told Nephi:
Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with famine, and with pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people. (Hel. 10:6) The conditions surrounding the withdrawal of rain by the Lord and the resultant famine are described by Mormon:
And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine. And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was dry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land. And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to remember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi. And the people began to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they would say unto Nephi: Behold, we know that thou art a man of God, and therefore cry unto the Lord our God that he turn away from us this famine, lest all the words which thou hast spoken concerning our destruction be fulfilled. And it came to pass that in the seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that rain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain. And behold, the people did rejoice and glorify God, and the whole face of the land was filled with rejoicing; and they did no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a great prophet, and a man of God, having great power and authority given unto him from God. (Hel. 11:5-8, 17-18) This famine at the time of Nephi, the son of Helaman, was caused by a three and a half-year drought upon the land. This span of time with no rain can be calculated by noting the sequence of a six-month season of fruit (normally a dry season) with the six-month season of grain (normally a wet season) during this period of prolonged drought (see also, Hel. 11:13). Mormon in his recording of this famine observed:
And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. (Hel. 12:3) As expected, there are numerous references in the Book of Mormon describing famine because of the transgression of the people, not only during their long one-thousand year history but especially describing the prophesied conditions at the end when they are swept off the land. Lehi envisioned the long, extended cursing that would come upon his descendants after their destruction:
My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever; Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil. (2 Ne. 1:17-18) A “generation” in the Book of Mormon record is a period of about a hundred years (1 Ne. 12:11-12; 2 Ne. 26:9; Alma 45:12; Hel. 13:10; 3 Ne. 27:32; 4 Ne. 1:14, 18, 22). This cursing “for the space of many generations” in Lehi’s prophecy extended from the time (about A.D. 385) when his descendants would be “visited by sword, and by famine,” and then hated and led “according to the will and captivity of the devil,” until the present day.
Jacob explaining the words of Isaiah: And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel. (2 Ne. 6:15; see also, 2 Ne. 7:2 and Isa. 50:2) The Lord: And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. (2 Ne. 15:6 and Isa. 5:6) The Lord: Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. (2 Ne. 15:13 and Isaiah 5:13) Abinadi quoting the Lord: And it shall come to pass that I will smite this my people with sore afflictions, yea, with famine and with pestilence; and I will cause that they shall howl all the day long. (Mosiah 12:4) Amulek: Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword. But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand except ye repent. (Alma 10:22-23) Alma’s prophecy to his son Helaman: Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct— (Alma 45:11) The Lord: And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. (Hel. 13:9) Climatologically it is not difficult to anticipate a situation of reduced rainfall in a Mediterranean or semi-arid climate like in Baja California where during the summer months of the year the normal pattern of dry air with little or no rain already exists. The orographic and cyclonic winds bringing moisture-laden clouds to the land during the wet winter months could be easily nudged to a drier condition by slightly altering the locations of the subtropical high pressure cells over the nearby oceans to the West.
This irregular reduction of rainfall in the normally wet winter season already happens from time to time bringing temporary draught conditions upon the land. And these same meteorological mechanisms that often bring a short-term draught could be readily extended for hundreds of years without substantially upsetting the general pattern of global wind circulation, or as the Lord said to Isaiah, “I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it” (2 Ne. 15:6 and Isa. 5:6; for a discussion of Book of Mormon climates, see “A Choice Land Prepared by the Lord” in our main article, An Approach to the Book of Mormon Geography: A Land Choice Above All Other Lands). On the other hand, in tropical and subtropical climate areas of the world the primary source of rainfall is convectional precipitation caused by air rising from the heated surface of the earth. This form of precipitation is difficult to change from a normally very high rainfall amount to an acute dry condition without somehow altering the tilt of the earth and changing the locations of the earth’s poles and the equatorial zone, and in the process unduly modifying climate regimes throughout the earth. A Land Cursed with Briers and Thorns As a result of severely reduced rainfall over a prolonged time, the natural vegetation comes under stress, and this deteriorating environmental transformation favors a succession of cactus and other succulents and plants that consist of briers and thorns. The term “briers” refers to “a number of prickly scrambling shrubs.” Not unexpectedly, several references in the Book of Mormon, especially the prophecies of Isaiah, describe the degenerative natural vegetation of a cursed land by the phrase, “briers and thorns”: Isaiah quoting the Lord: And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. (2 Ne. 15:6 and Isa. 5:6) Isaiah: And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. And it shall come to pass in that day, every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, which shall be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briers and thorns. And all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and the treading of lesser cattle. (2 Ne. 17:19, 23-25 and Isa. 7:19, 23-25; a “mattock” is a type of hoe and “lesser cattle” in Hebrew refers to goats and sheep) A Land not “Pruned nor Digged” but Hunted with “Arrows and Bows”
Isaiah quoting the Lord: And I will lay [my vineyard] waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. (2 Ne. 15:6 and Isa. 5:6; see also, Jacob 5:47) Isaiah: And it shall come to pass in that day, every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings [pieces of silver], which shall be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briers and thorns. (2 Ne. 17:23-24 and Isa. 7:23-24) Before the Book of Mormon lands were cursed by the Lord they contained areas of cultivated fields and domesticated animal husbandry. In a cursed condition, with less rainfall and a vegetative cover with briers and thorns, the altered land in Isaiah’s words “shall not be pruned nor digged” and men shall come “with arrows and with bows.” Thus any people upon the land would not typically cultivate fields of crops and pastures but merely occupy the land as hunters and gatherers. As we have noted, this debased and desolated condition would continue, according to the Lord, until “the fulfilling of the covenant to [their] fathers,” which began with the restoration of the gospel in 1830 (3 Ne. 10:7; see also, D&C 66:2)
Cursing of Jaredite LandsWe should not forget that there was nearly complete decimation of the people and destruction of their civilizations both at the end of the Jaredite record as well as the end of the Nephite account. It was prophesied that the lands of both groups would become “cursed” and destroyed and the inhabitants would be “swept off” the land. Thus the Jaredite story provides an example of the wickedness of a people leading to a “cursed land”:
Mormon: Now Lachoneus did cause that [the Nephites] should gather themselves together in the land southward, because of the great curse which was upon the land northward [the land previously occupied by the people of Jared]. (3 Ne. 3:24) Moroni: And also in the reign of Shule [a Jaredite king] there came prophets among the people, who were sent from the Lord, prophesying that the wickedness and idolatry of the people was bringing a curse upon the land, and they should be destroyed if they did not repent. (Ether 7:23) And there came prophets in the land again, crying repentance unto them—that they must prepare the way of the Lord or there should come a curse upon the face of the land; yea, even there should be a great famine, in which they should be destroyed if they did not repent. (Ether 9:28) And there was great calamity in all the land, for they had testified that a great curse should come upon the land, and also upon the people [of Jared], and that there should be a great destruction among them, such an one as never had been upon the face of the earth, and their bones should become as heaps of earth upon the face of the land except they should repent of their wickedness. (Ether 11:6) And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people [of Jared], in which, if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land. (Ether 14:1) The Jaredite Lands were Cursed by lack of Rainfall leading to Famine
Moroni: And there came prophets in the land again, crying repentance unto them—that they must prepare the way of the Lord or there should come a curse upon the face of the land; yea, even there should be a great famine, in which they should be destroyed if they did not repent. And it came to pass that there began to be a great dearth upon the land, and the inhabitants began to be destroyed exceedingly fast because of the dearth, for there was no rain upon the face of the earth. And it came to pass that when they had humbled themselves sufficiently before the Lord he did send rain upon the face of the earth; and the people began to revive again, and there began to be fruit in the north countries, and in all the countries round about. And the Lord did show forth his power unto them in preserving them from famine. (Ether 9:28, 30, 35) And it came to pass that Shez, who was a descendant of Heth—for Heth had perished by the famine, and all his household save it were Shez—wherefore, Shez began to build up again a broken people. (Ether 10:1) And they hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord, because of their wicked combinations; wherefore, there began to be wars and contentions in all the land, and also many famines and pestilences, insomuch that there was a great destruction, such an one as never had been known upon the face of the earth; and all this came to pass in the days of Shiblom. (Ether 11:7) Updated: Saturday, 8 October 2011
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Geography
Cursing and Blessing
Civilizations Destroyed
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