Christ in the Book of Mormon

[Hemidakota]

So I decided a while ago to read the Book of Mormon, since I've become very interested in Mormonism and Joseph Smith. I just finished Jacob, so I've got a ways.

Anyway, what has struck me is how explicit the text is in prophecying the coming of Christ. It's different than the Old Testement, where the Messiah is prophecied, but in a much less specific way. If the BOM were true, it would mean that God revealed Christ's coming very explicitly to the Jews in America, but the Jews in Israel didn't recieve such explicit instructions. How do you interpret this difference?

And tell me if my timeline is correct, I thought that the Nephites left Israel after the books of the Old Testament were written.

Also interesting to note the description of Mary that is not given in the NT.

[rameumptom]

Yes, the description of Mary in Nephi's dream of the Tree of Life is intriguing. She is compared to the Tree of Life, and Jesus is the fruit thereof. This is confusing to many people today, if they even notice it. But Nephi understood it immediately as the love of God shed forth upon man.

Why? Because in 600 BC, most Jews believed that God had a wife, Asherah. While the Deuteronomists of the day were trying to destroy her, because many were trying to worship her rather than Elohim, she was still honored by many. Asherah was viewed as Wisdom, Knowledge, Fertility, etc., and was represented by the tree.

When Nephi saw the tree and birth connected, he saw the symbolism immediately.

[Hemidakota]

Mosiah 3:8 - And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

Alma 7:10 - And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.