Mormon reiterates the Book of Mormon’s function as a harbinger of the last days. The believers in Bountiful had been concerned about the last days’ timing, and Mormon reassures: “Ye need not say that the Lord delays his coming unto the children of Israel.” Apparently, their implied question about being reunited with the larger house of Israel was about why six hundred years had already passed. Ironically, another eighteen hundred years would pass before the “beginning of the end,” as marked by the Book of Mormon’s coming forth. Twenty-four centuries passed between Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem until Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon. Furthermore, we stand at a point nearly two more centuries beyond that coming forth. Clearly we are dealing with God’s definition of time, not ours.