Book of Mormon 2020 - Alma 43-52

Alma 43 to 52 are referred to as the War Chapters. I wrote about these chapters four years ago, in a post located at: https://gospeldoctrine2016.blogspot.com/2016/09/. I made an attempt to go through each of these chapters and locate a spiritual lesson. I managed to do this with the help of a wonderful talk by Brother John Bytheway called Righteous Warriors: Lessons from the War Chapters (2006 Ed Week). I have, once again, included this talk below, as it contains such a wealth of information and doctrine. Brother Bytheway also has a book by the same name – a wonderful resource for this week’s Come Follow Me.

One reason for including the War Chapters in the Book of Mormon is that the ancient Book of Mormon prophets saw our day, they saw the warfare between and within countries, and they knew we needed to know how we should feel about war and how we needed to rely on the Lord, stay obedient,  and have faith in his protection and guidance. Sister Kathleen S. McConkie (Defending against evil, Ensign, 1992) mentioned a second reason, i.e. “Satan is waging an all-out war against truth and righteousness”. We are faced with this war today.

We are all fighting the war against Satan, but there are those who must also literally fight wars for their countries. The following video from Knowhy (Book of Mormon Central) provides an interesting insight into how the Book of Mormon can provide peace and meaning to those in military service.

 

All the water in the world,

However hard it tried,

Could never sink the smallest ship

Unless it [gets] inside.

And all the evil in the world,

The blackest kind of sin,

Can never hurt you the least bit

Unless you let it in.

(Anonymous. Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People, 1996, p. 302)

I know I sometimes feel like the smallest ship in the biggest ocean. I love the scriptures in Alma 44:3-4 that read, “But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith. Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith”. In these two verses Moroni is speaking to Zerahemnah, who led the Lamanites in an attack on the Nephites. Zerahemnah had joined the Lamanites but had been a Zoramite who professed to know that there was no Christ. The testimony of faith given by Moroni is compelling. It is this testimony of faith that helps me to realise that I will be strengthened by the Lord if I do not waver and stand strong in my faith. “Faith is a decision that we get to make and choose to hold on to. No attack or argument or adversary can ever destroy it unless we give it up. And in the words of that mighty captain, the reason we cannot be destroyed is because we have the Lord with us—the Captain of our souls. Our Captain will not let evil in. He gives us authority and courage to look our enemies in the eyes and tell them they have no place here. They are not welcome here. They have no power here” (David Butler and Emily Freeman, 2019, Don’t miss this in the Book of Mormon).

This is an informative video from Knowhy (Book of Mormon Central) that answers the question, Why did God support the Nephites in battle?

In Alma 45, Alma shares a prophecy regarding the future of the Nephites with his son Helaman, and then, in verse 7 we read, “he departed out of the land of Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of Melek. And it came to pass that he was never heard of more”. Helaman continued to preach despite the wars and contentions that had been so traumatic in the lives of the people. We are told in verse 18, “it became expedient that the word of God should be declared among them”. There is never a time when spiritual well-being should not be the most important requisite in the lives of the people. Our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, under the direction of the Lord, initiated the Come Follow Me home-study programme before the turmoil of the Covid 19 pandemic. The Lord wanted us all to have this spiritual health and well-being, even in the midst of so much physical sickness and death.

 

The account of Amalickiah deceiving Lehonti is found in Alma 47. This is a riveting plot of cunning, deception, and murder. In the briefest outline, Amalickian wanted to be made King of the Nephites. He failed and was cast out. He went to the Land of Nephi and stirred up anger in the hearts of the Lamanites. The King of the Lamanites sent a proclamation that they would once again attack the Nephites. Many of the Lamanite army were terrified to go against the Nephites, so disobeyed the King. Amalickiah was given command of the part of the army who were prepared to obey the proclamation. The larger part of the army escaped to Mount Antipas under the leadership of Lehonti. Amalickiah had no intention of following the King’s orders. He stationed his smaller army at the base of Mount Antipas. He sent three messages to Lehonti to come down the mount to speak to him. Lehonti would not. Eventually Amalickiah went up the mount and asked Lehonti to come down just a little way. Lehonti obliged. Amalickiah made a pact with Lehonti that he could bring his men down the mountain and surround the smaller army. Lehonti would then be in control of the whole army, if he agreed to make Amalickiah second in command. Lehonti did this. With malice and cunning, Amalickiah arranged for a servant to poison Lehonti slowly. When Lehonti died, Amalickiah had complete control of the army. He then went back to the King of the Lamanites. He arranged for the King to be killed and made it look as if one of the King’s own servants had committed the murder. He then succeeded in becoming King of the Lamanites and marrying the murdered King’s wife.

What can we learn from this grave plot? Firstly, don’t come down from the mountain! Lehonti said ‘No’ three times but was finally tempted when he knew he only needed to go down a little way. This is the way Satan works. He cannot persuade good people to commit major sins straight away. So he chips away at the little sins with little temptations. Once we commit a little sin, it is easier to move on to a bigger sin and then an even bigger sin. We come down our mountains just a little way! The second thing we learn is that we need to avoid being poisoned by degrees (Alma 47:18). This reminds me of how to boil a frog. If you try to put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out immediately. But if you put a frog into a pot of cold water and slowly heat it to boiling point, the frog will be cooked. He will not jump out. We need to be aware of this ploy of the adversary. We cannot look on sin with the least degree of allowance. 

These words from President Spencer W. Kimball summarise the messages of this story:

The arch deceiver has studied every way possible to achieve his ends, using every tool, every device possible. He takes over, distorts, and changes and camouflages everything created for the good of man…so he may take over their minds and pervert their bodies and claim them his.

He never sleeps—he is diligent and persevering. He analyses carefully his problem and then moves forward diligently, methodically to reach that objective. He uses all five senses and man’s natural hunger and thirst to lead him away. He anticipates resistance and fortifies himself against it. He uses time and space and leisure. He is constant and persuasive and skillful. He uses such useful things as radio, television, the printed page, the airplane, and the car to distort and damage. He uses the gregariousness of man, his loneliness, his every need to lead him astray. He does his work at the most propitious time in the most impressive places with the most influential people. He overlooks nothing that will deceive and distort and prostitute. He uses money, power, force. He entices man and attacks at his weakest spot. He takes the good and creates ugliness…He uses every teaching art to subvert man.

The adversary is subtle. He is cunning. He knows that he cannot induce good men and women to do major evils immediately, so he moves slyly, whispering half-truths until he has his intended captives following him.

(The Teachings of President Spencer W. Kimball, Chapter 10)

 

The question I thought about was, What can we do to protect ourselves? The answers appear in these War Chapters. Here are some of the answers I found:

• Wear figurative armour. The Nephites were prepared with armour (Alma 43:19). This armour is discussed in Ephesians 6:13-17 (see diagram below).

• Be faithful. See the paragraph above on faith (Alma 43:23-24; 44:3-4).
• Be grateful, worship joyously, fast and pray (Alma 45:1). Even when trials bring us down, we can gain great joy from our participation in the gospel. There is no experience that can parallel the joy of temple service.
• Follow the example of the Title of Liberty (Alma 46:11-20). Surround ourselves with reminders of the covenants we have made.
• Follow the example of Captain Moroni. In Alma 48:17 we are told, “if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men”. In Alma 48 we can identify some of Captain Moroni’s characteristics: he had respect for others (verse 11); he understood the importance of free agency in the gospel (verse 11); his “heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God” (verse 12); he was prepared to labour for the “welfare and safety of his people” (verse 12); he was firm in the faith of Christ (verse 13); and he gloried in doing good, preserving his people, keeping the commandments of God, and resisting iniquity (verse 16). In the April, 2015 General Conference, Elder Ulisses Soares said, “All of Moroni’s attributes stemmed from his great faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ and his firm determination to follow the voice of God and His prophets. Figuratively, all of us need to transform ourselves into modern Captain Moronis in order to win the wars against evil”. The following Knowhy video (Book of Mormon Central) descrives the reasons why Mormon viewed Captain Moroni as a hero.

  

• Be prepared and fortify ourselves. Alma 49 is the Preparation Chapter as it mentions preparation in many places. Moroni had prepared the Nephites to defend themselves against the Lamanites. He had prepared fortifications around cities that astonished the Lamanite armies. We can fortify ourselves by standing in holy places, by creating strong gospel-centred homes, and by wearing our armour of righteousness. We must also prepare ourselves continually. In Alma 50:1 we read, “Moroni did not stop making preparations for war”.  Our battle against Satan continues every day. As we survive one temptation or trial, there is another just around the corner. The following YouTube video (Knowhy, Book of Mormon Central) examines the nature of Nephite fortifications).

• Avoid contention. In Alma 51: 1-12, the rise of the Kingmen introduces internal contention. They demand law change and desire a king be appointed. Moroni’s attention is forced to handle the up-rising of the Kingmen. It is while he is distracted by internal contention that the Lamanites attain some success in capturing Nephite cities. We need to increase unity in our families and in our wards and stakes to avoid the wiles of Satan.

 

In the War Chapters we see the wonderful example of Captain Moroni. We learn to have faith, to fortify ourselves, and to be upright and watchful to avoid Satan’s temptations. We learn to be prepared and to keep the commandments. President Harold B. Lee was once asked which of the commandments was the most important. He answered that it was whichever commandment that was causing us the most trouble. We need to make weak things become strong. We need to continually remind ourselves of our covenants. We need to be grateful for our blessings and find joy in worship. We need to avoid contention and be unified. If we are vigilant and obedient, Satan can have no power over us.