WHO WERE THE MULEKITES?

It was about 600 B. C.  Judah had been a vassal state of Assyria. After the fall of Assyria, Judah became a vassal of Babylonia.  When Josiah was king, Judah was somewhat stable.  But when Josiah was killed in battle with the Egyptians, things fell apart quickly.  Josiah's son, Jehoahaz was crowned the king.  He reigned for less than a year.  He was followed by Jehoiakim, who reigned until 598.  Zedekiah became king under Babylonian rule.

Some of the brightest young men in Judah were taken captive into Babylon at that time, men like Daniel who was of royal lineage.  Many prophets saw what was coming and knew it was just a matter of time before Babylon would take them all.  Lehi was one of those prophets. We know that it was when Zedekiah was King of Judah, that Lehi and his family left Jerusalem as directed by the Lord. In that way, the Lord preserved the line of Joseph.

Olmec sculpture of a young child.

There were others who could see what was coming, but the king and his counselors wouldn't listen.  They ultimately paid the price of their wickedness when Nebuchadnezzar' army destroyed Judah and the temple and took the Jews to Babylon, including their king, Zedekiah.  Zedekiah had several sons. In the Old Testament, we hear only about his older sons who were all slain by the Babylonians.  Zedekiah was forced to watch before they blinded him and took him away in chains. However, we learn from the Book of Mormon that not all of Zedekiah's sons were killed.  He had one son who was most likely a young child or even an infant who was not in the public eye. He survived because trusted escorts were able to spirit him out of Judah before the conquest.  Their goal was  to preserve King David's line.  

That boy's name was Mulek.  These Jews saved the kingly line, but they left in such haste that they weren't as prepared as Lehi and his family had been.  Most importantly, in the chaos, they didn't take any scriptures with them.  As a result, their language became corrupted, they lost the Law of Moses and the value system of the Jews.  

An archeological find in Central America seems to link the Olmecs to Mulek. It was found in 1997 and bears the name, in ancient Hebrew of a man name Malkiyahu, son of the king.  LDS scholars believe this is a reference to Mulek. 


Fast forward to about 200 B.C.  The people of Mulek left the place of their first landing and settled in a fertile Valley that may have been located in what is now Central Mexico.  They were led by a man named Zarahemla, who may well have been a descendant of Mulek.  The central city and all of the land round about it was called Zarahemla.

The Nephites under King Mosiah I. found the Mulekites in their city.  The Book of Mormon tells us there was great rejoicing. The Nephites were able to teach the Mulekites their language and much of their culture.  They also returned to them their worship and scriptures.  Ultimately, because they had no prophets of prophecy, they named the Nephite King, Mosiah I. King over all of the land.

© March 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson