PROMISED DESTRUCTION

When  Samuel the Lamanite Prophet spoke of Christ's coming birth, he promised light - a day and a night and a day with no darkness - and a new star; good tidings of great joy.  When he spoke of Christ's death, he foretold complete and palpable darkness, accompanied by great destruction and much sorrow.  8th and 9th chapters of the Book of 3 Nephi, we read of the literal fulfillment of this destruction and sorrow.

Here are a few excerpts of what occurred:

• A great storm, such as never before seen
• Thunder and lightening with no rain
• Shaking of the earth
• Zarahemla, burned
• Moroni sunk into the sea
• Moronihah covered by a great mountain of earth
• Tempests
• Whirlwinds that carried people away, never to be heard of again
• 
  In this diagram, you can see how a volcanic eruptions can bring down earth upon a city such as Moronihah and cause a tsunami to sink another city, such as Moroni, into the sea.  Volcanic "bombs" are quick to cause fire and devastation on areas such as Zarahemla. The great volcano on the island of the Minoans in 1600 B.C. likely accounts for Plato's tale of Atlantis sinking into the sea. Some think these seismic events may have triggered Egypt's 10 plagues.

• Level roads broken up and smooth places made rough
• Buildings of cities falling to the earth, killing people and leaving the city desolate
• Cities that were not totally destroyed were damaged almost beyond recognition
• Entire geographical region was deformed
• Broken rocks found everywhere, and seams and cracks upon all the face of the land

These things lasted about the space of three hours or more.  Earthquakes don't last that long.  But earthquake storms do and volcanic eruptions do.  After everything quieted, there was a darkness so vaporous that it could be felt; fires could not be kindled; stars, moon, and sun could not be seen for three days.

The Heart of Timpanogos

I once hiked to the cave in Mt. Timpanogos with my family.  When they turned off the lights, I experienced absolute darkness for the first and only time in my life.  I lifted my hand in front of my face and could not see it.  The Book of Mormon tells us that during the darkness following the destruction that there was great mourning and howling and weeping among the people continuously.  (v. 8:23)  I can well imagine.  

Do we have physical evidence that any of that happened in the Americas around 33-34 A.D.? In at least one place, we do, according to geologists and other scholars.  Their understanding comes from the science of plate tectonics.

After the death of my second husband, I did what I often do when grieving, I took a college class.  In this case, I took two, including one in the science of geology. One of the most interesting things I learned was the concept of plate tectonics.  According to this theory, developed only in the 1960s, the crust of the earth is not one solid piece but a group of plates that move with the movement of the heat of the magma beneath them.  Because of this, they are prone to collide with each other. When that happens, one of two things happen: they pull away from each other; one will pass under the other; they will slide back and forth in opposite directions.  This is called a strike-slip fault. This simple diagram shows the differences among these three types of faults.

You can see from the map that there are several places on earth where the area is honeycombed with strike-slip faults.  One of these is in Central America where the Caribbean plate interacts with the Cocos plate, the Nazca plate, and the North and South American plates. This part of the world is a disaster waiting to happen. Do we have a similar strike-slip fault today?  

We do. San Andreas.  Makes me wonder if these fires in California, Washington, and Oregon are a foreboding warning of other possibilities? 

If they are a warning, what would God tell American's to do to avert disaster? The same thing He told the Nephites:

Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. . . . therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved. 

Is anybody listening? Too many have lost, not only the Spirit, but the innate Light of Christ.  It stops their eyes so they can't see and their ears that they can't hear.

© Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson September 2020