Allegory Symbolism Repeated: As a harmonic or echo of the allegory of the olive tree, Enos reminds us that records can help future generations, even if the future generations descend from present unbelievers. Again, in a lesson of faith in the Lord, he knows that the records of the Nephites and the Lamanites would be saved.

Parallels of Ancient/Modern Israelites: In Jarom, written by Enos’ son, I find an interesting parallel to modern Israel. Jarom’s reminder that, notwithstanding the "hardness of their hearts," the Lord is exceedingly merciful. Israel’s people do not remember who their Lord Jehovah is (even so, they keep the Sabbath day better than most peoples I know). They are surrounded by proclaimed enemies, yet they are protected. They are becoming prosperous and definitely fine in their workmanship (and weaponry). At the same time, a growing society of "believers" is apparent with an estimated thirty-thousand "Messianic" Jews among the more than five million inhabitants in Israel. For both, the believers and others, a growing expectance of the Messiah is also evident.

The words of Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom and Amaleki also seem to be echoed in Israel’s modern times. These are men who have valiantly fought to preserve Israel’s independence and freedom. These officers unabashedly say that they are not "observant" in keeping religious laws yet, like Omni, they keep connected to "God’s line." They, as these Book of Mormon writers, may be more religious than they openly express. A case in point is a story of General Moshe Dayan. When asked if he believed in miracles, he responded, "No, we just count on them!"

Finding Scattered Israelites: Israel’s high interest in its scattered relatives is another parallel to Mosiah finding a lost part of those who left Jerusalem. There are close to thirty-thousand Ethiopian (black) Jews who did not know of the existence of other Jews (white) in the world. An effort to have them "catch up" with Jewish history is similar to the discovery of the people of Zarahemla.

Limits/Advantages in Technology of Written Texts: The discovery of the "plates" and their subsequent reading reveals something of the technology used to prepare them. As mentioned in a previous lesson, plates of various metals, preferably gold, were prepared by pounding them into book-like sheets. They were fastened and their blank sides waited for some future use. There was only a certain amount of capacity in the "book." On the other hand, scrolls, like the forefathers of the Nephites and Lamanites used, were prepared from skins of animals. If one needed more space to continue an account, another skin would simply be sewn onto the existing scroll. This became obvious in the Dead Sea Scrolls where one document was about twenty-seven feet long and another was twenty-one feet in length. Some of the plates that Mormon was editing had sufficient space that he could add other writings to those that had been passed on to him from the past.