This post is related to my post Why Mormonism shouldn't be tolerated in Utah (HERE), but now I'm expanding it to the whole American continent. If you've read the Utah post linked above, we can use that same principle to see what is fundamentally wrong with the Mormon mindset when it comes to Salvation History. That's what we will cover in this post.
One cornerstone of the Mormon religion is that a small group of Israelites back at the time of the Books of Kings were told by God to leave Jerusalem before the Babylonian exile and have this small group of Israelites sail on a ship to arrive somewhere near Mexico. Here's what the LDS "Guide to the Scriptures" (HERE) says about the prophet Lehi:
In the Book of Mormon, a Hebrew prophet [Lehi] who led his family and followers from Jerusalem to a promised land in the western hemisphere about 600 B.C. Lehi was the first prophet among his people in the Book of Mormon. Lehi fled Jerusalem with his family at the command of the Lord (1 Ne. 2:1–4). He was a descendant of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt (1 Ne. 5:14). The Lord gave him a vision of the tree of life (1 Ne. 8:2–35). Lehi and his sons built a boat and sailed to the western hemisphere (1 Ne. 17–18). He and his descendants became established in a new land (1 Ne. 18:23–25).Recall that the ancient Israelite mindset was such that there is only one Promise Land, which was promised to Abraham originally, and which Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to attain it, where the Twelve Tribes would finally settle down, where David's throne was established and the Temple was built. The land of Israel was the only Promise Land they ever envisioned. Now notice from the above quote how this is framed, Lehi "fled" Jerusalem due to the incoming Babylonian exile and was sent to establish himself and his descendants in "a" new Promise Land. This is the Mormon view and it fits perfectly with the American pioneer-fronteer mindset, but it is flatly against the Biblical theme of having one home and being temporarily removed from it due to punishment. So the accepted Mormon notion of just leaving Jerusalem to come to America for good, with no intention to return, runs completely contrary to the Biblical narrative.
Moreover, the Israelites were in a covenant with God to keep the Mosaic Law, which means Lehi and his descendants would be required to keep the Mosaic Law. But how do you keep the Mosaic Law when you're nowhere near Jerusalem, without the Levitical Priesthood, no Temple, etc? How do you celebrate the Jewish holy days? You can't, which again runs completely against the grain of Scripture but which Mormon/Protestant views of Scripture completely miss.
Equally problematic is the Biblical theme wherein the "Ten Lost Tribes" were originally chastised for separating from Judah's authority, yet somehow Lehi separating from Judah's authority (even establishing a kingdom in America) is suddenly a good thing? And from an Old Testament prophetic perspective, you are being sent into exile for sin on a national level, even if you're relatively innocent as an individual like Daniel, and yet Lehi is instead told to "flee" instead of getting chastised with the rest of the Israelites? Or what about the great theme of "Returning Home" after the Babylonian Exile, how does that fit with a narrative where you just leave with no intention or yearning for home? Again, this Mormon-Protestant mindset is completely inconsistent with the Biblical narrative.
I understand that what I'm saying above will fall on deaf ears for many Mormons, because they either don't get it or have cognitive dissonance, but to those of us who have eyes to see, the Mormon narrative is plainly an American pioneer/pilgrim mindset, which is completely at odds with the Biblical narrative of the Israelite history. Realizing this debunks Mormonism on a "meta-narrative" level, which is essential to better direct your apologetics energy with Mormons, rather than the typical approach which implicitly concedes their foundational (erroneous) presuppositions.
