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158 Years: A Type for Our Day
by Ray and Mary Lee Treat

From the beginning of the reign of King Mosiah 11 in 124 B.C. to the coming of Christ in A.D. 34 is a period of 158 years. This 158 ears is only 15.5 percent of the total Nephite history of a thousand years, yet 65 percent of the pages (473) covering the Nephite history in the Book of Mormon are devoted to this period. That's four times more pages per year than for any other year in the rest of the Nephite history.

If you're aware of the purpose principle you must ask yourself, "Why is there four times more information per year during this short period of 158 years than in the remainder of the Nephite history?"

There is reason to believe that the 158 years are a type and a shadow for the second coming of Christ. It is possible the Lord is giving us a pattern to apply to our present day. If so, the increased detail would then be extremely beneficial to help us in discerning types and shadows for our day.

With that possibility in mind, let us look closer at this section of the Book of Mormon which includes the books of Mosiah, Alma, Helaman and Third and Fourth Nephi.