Warren P. Aston discusses various aspects of the Liahona, including the presence of two spindles; argues that, while it may have parallels with other technologies, the Liahona was provided by divine means.

Date
2015
Type
Book
Source
Warren P. Aston
LDS
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Warren P. Aston, Lehi and Sariah in Arabia: The Old World Setting of the Book of Mormon (Xlibris, 2015), 52-54

Scribe/Publisher
Xlibris
People
Warren P. Aston
Audience
Reading Public
PDF
Transcription

While we are not given more than the above description of the Liahona, there are interesting possibilities as to its operating principles. In the first place, the ball was made of brass, an excellent choice of metal for a non-magnetic compass housing. It is worth noting that simple magnetic iron compasses were well known before Lehi’s day in both the Old and New Worlds. As to the two spindles, one may therefore have retained a normal compass function by pointing to magnetic north as a directional reference, with the second spindle indicating the direction to travel.

An intriguing possibility for the Liahona’s operation comes from a modern engineering principle called the “voting of redundant strings.” Used today in everything from telephone and railroad switching to aircraft and spacecraft systems, this principle requires two identical systems operating at the same time. If both systems perform exactly the same, it is assumed that they are correct, as the probability of two failures is statistically insignificant. While additional systems can enhance reliability further, two-way voting is the minimum required to indicate failure. Although Nephi stated that “one” spindle pointed the direction of travel, this principle may help us understand why the Liahona had two spindles, not one or many. As a single spindle always points in some direction, inspired directions may have been indicated by both spindles pointing together, as one. Thus, when they pointed in different directions, they were not therefore in operation.

The divinely sent Liahona, functioning according to the Lehite’s faith rather than purely on natural magnetism, was to play a key role from the time of its appearance while they were encamped in the Valley of Lemuel on the borders of the Red Sea (16:10, see also Doctrine and Covenants 17:1). It directed Nephi to a place where he could hunt game (16:30-31), detoured them to the “more fertile parts of the wilderness” (16:16), and functioned as more than a compass in the ordinary sense; it also provided written instructions from time to time. The writings seem to have appeared both on the ball itself (16:27) and also on the “pointers” (16:28-29); presumably in the Egyptian characters used by Lehi and his successors.

The Liahona’s “curious” workmanship (16:10 and Alma 37:39) refers to its striking, highly skilled construction, not that it was “strange.” In fact, Laman had initially complained that it had merely been made by Nephi’s “cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes, thinking, perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness,” (16:37-38), which is a revealing commentary about Nephi’s perceived skill in metallurgy. However, the appearance of divine writing on the ball and on its pointers soon made it evident to everyone that the Liahona was divinely sent.

The primary function of the device, however, was always to point the direction of travel. The 37th chapter of Alma has the clear statement that one of the purposes of the Liahona was to show Lehi’s group “the course which they should travel in the wilderness” (39), something that would not have been necessary had they merely been following a trade route. T is conclusion is strengthened when Alma points out that the Lehites “did not progress in their journey” and that they “tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course” (vs. 41-42) because of their lack of faith. Although it is not stated, it seems probable that the Liahona later indicated the turn “nearly eastward” at Nahom, and pointed the way to water sources en route to Bountiful.

The Liahona is not mentioned again until the incident where Nephi is bound during the sea voyage, a story illustrating its directional function and that its operation was faith-based, not simply mechanical (18:12-22). With its fine workmanship judged as being beyond anything man could create (Alma 37:39), the Liahona and the writing upon it became a vivid symbol for future generations in the New World as a type of “the word of Christ,” (Alma 37:43-46). It remained in Nephi’s possession (2 Nephi 5:12) and was apparently passed on, with the sword and breast-plate of Laban, through the line of Nephite leadership (Mosiah 1:16), thus preserving it for more than a millennium, until the days of Mormon and Moroni. In 1829, the Three Witnesses to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, were promised that in addition to the plates, the breastplate and sword of Laban, and the Urim and Thummim, they would see:

. . . the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea. (Doctrine and Covenants 17:1)

The location where the Liahona was given to Lehi is here confirmed in modern revelation. However, the accounts of those who saw and possibly handled it in our day fail to add to our knowledge of this remarkable device.

Other peoples before and after the Lehites used various techniques and tools for navigation on land and sea. Simple magnetic compasses gave the ancients basic directions long before Lehi’s time. More complex systems also developed; an example being the “Sun Compass” and “Sunstone” used by Viking sailors to plot directions around the clock. Using simple but effective techniques, including light polarized through natural crystals, Atlantic crossings year-round in any weather were made possible. The scale of the Lehite journey, however, clearly required something more substantial, perhaps something that would also be a constant reminder of the need for faith; hence the Liahona.

With its miraculous provision, Lehi and Sariah’s group had done all they could do to prepare for what lay ahead. This sacred instrument, offering directional but also spiritual guidance, must be ranked among the greatest of all blessings recorded in scripture, a tangible, daily reminder of God’s awareness of them and of God’s desire to continually bless them. With this direction available, a journey of unknown duration into regions of which they had no knowledge could begin.

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