Limhi quotes three scriptures concerning what the Lord said he would do to people who fall into bondage because of iniquities and abominations. He is apparently quoting things originally recorded on the plates of brass, but that are not identifiable in the present Old Testament. However, the same concepts are taught therein.
The message of the first quote (v. 29) is that the people will not prosper. Their lack of success is because the Lord will not bless [succor] them, and their own efforts, causing them to stumble. The closest present-day biblical quote is from Zechariah (not the prophet of the book by that name; a priest in the days of Joash, king of Judah in the eight hundreds B.C.) who, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God said: “Thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you” (2 Chronicles 24:20). Jeremiah, the prophet at the time of Lehi’s leaving Jerusalem in 600 B.C. also warned: “Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish” (Jeremiah 6:21).
The message of the second quote (Mosiah 7:30) is that people will reap as they sow. Paul, in the New Testament, is known for the same teaching. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7–8). Paul is probably quoting from the Old Testament, and possibly from the same source as Limhi. The closest present-day Old Testament quote refers to the tribes of northern Israel being taken into Assyria and dispersed among the Gentiles.
7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. [Hosea 8:7–9]
The text suggests Hosea may be quoting from an earlier source. The Lord uses the same symbolism in modern revelation several times in the Doctrine and Covenants.
3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap, let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.
4 Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God.
33 Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. [D&C 6:3–4, 33; see also D&C 11:3–4, 27; 12:3–4; 14:3–4]
The ancient method of harvesting was to cut and stack the grain shocks on the threshing floor, a large level rock on the surface of the earth. The animals would then walk on the shocks to shell the grain. After removing the straw, there would be a pile of grain and chaff, which was the smaller non-grain fragments. Workers would then throw the grain and chaff into the air (winnowing) and the wind would blow away the chaff leaving the grain on the ground to be sacked or stored in bins. A whirlwind would sometime come up and return the chaff into the faces of the workers causing great discomfort. Because of the filthiness that caused the bondage, the analogy is that it would be blown back into the midst of the people and would poison their culture collectively.
The third message (Mosiah 7:31) resulting from the iniquities causing bondage is that the Lord withdraws his blessings through the east wind. In the Middle East, the west wind brings in the life-giving rain from the Mediterranean Sea. The east wind comes off of the desert and brings the heat and drought of destruction or crop failure. While there are no exact quotes like Limhi’s (v. 31) in the present Old Testament, the east wind is used in the same context. Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream of “seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind” as seven years of famine (Genesis 41:23, 27). The Lord, through Jeremiah, said: “I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy” (Jeremiah 18:17). The wrath of God (Mosiah 7:28) includes no prosperity, a poisonous environment, and destructive weather conditions mainly because of the withdrawal of his Spirit leaving the people in their natural state of fallen man.