Alma 43-52
for Sunday August 14th
A little over a year ago, a war was being waged in our neighborhood...or at least in my backyard. The victim? My vegetable patch. The enemy? Rabbits. Hundreds of thousands of rabbits...or at least that’s what it felt like. In any case I was severely outnumbered and over my head. They would dig their way under the fence, in between the bars of the fence, and even hop all the way around the neighborhood to enter into our yard in a less fortified area. I wish my kids were as crazy about vegetables as these rabbits were. I learned a lot about fortifications that year. I learned that surface level protection is not enough, the enemy will always find the areas that are least protected, and that you have to continually refortify and watch your fortifications so that you can prevent further problems. But other than rabbits or other such vermin, most of us have blessedly never lived in times of war. Yes, there are wars in our day and rumors of war. Wartorn countries, refugees, and terrorism flood our newspapers and our world. But somehow, we can know of such things and mostly be spared of them. This week’s scripture block is mostly about war.
Why do you think Mormon included so much information about war in the Book of Mormon?
How does learning about war in these chapters strengthen our faith in Christ? Why war?
I’ve been pondering this a lot. How is this going to apply into the lives of my students and friends? It then hit me. Is there any massive trial that we could go through that isn’t manifest in times of war? Think about it. Economical hardship, famine, corrupt leaders/government, busy schedules, children suffering, not being able to get married, not enough priesthood leadership in the home or in the ward, broken homes, death of loved ones, family and friends leaving the church as things get hard, feelings of safety being demolished and the struggles and fears of evil being allowed to enter into our neighborhoods and homes without a hope of being able to stop it.
In a strange way, war times are a perfect teacher for helping us apply the scriptures into our lives through our trials. These chapters are like a little How to pamphlet entitled:
“How to believe in God when everything around you seems to lack him” or “How to be Christlike in dangerous times when you don’t know what or who to trust.”
We live in a very tumultuous battlefield. Arrows of pornography are continuously flying past our eyes. Spears of apostate beliefs are being hurled towards our hearts. Our spirits are tempted at every turn as we are completely outnumbered. And yet, we can find joy.
It’s amazing to me how righteous Nephites were successful and even happy in times of war. How can we find peace and happiness even during times of terrible wickedness?
What are some promises the Lord has made to the faithful that make happiness possible even when trials come? (John 16:33;Romans 8:18; Hebrews 12:11; D&C 58:3–4; 121:33;122:1–2, 7–9.)
This wartime section included in the Book of Mormon is extremely applicable as we apply it to the war waged right now on our spirits. When viewing these chapters in that light, what spiritual symbolism can you see in the different aspects of war? (specifically in regards to: Fortifications and preparations, Armor [individual defense], Weapons [individual offense], Being outnumbered, Victory and Defeat, Fighting in the Lord’s strength or in our own strength)
President Harold B. Lee explained the application of these chapters in this way:
“We have the four parts of the body that the Apostle Paul said or saw to be the most vulnerable to the powers of darkness. The loins, typifying virtue, chastity. The heart typifying our conduct. Our feet, our goals or objectives in life and finally our head, our thoughts.
“… We should have our loins girt about with truth. What is truth? Truth, the Lord said, was knowledge of things as they are, things as they were and things as they are to come [D&C 93:24]. … ‘Our loins shall be girt about with truth,’ the prophet said.
“And the heart, what kind of a breastplate shall protect our conduct in life? We shall have over our hearts a breastplate of righteousness. Well, having learned truth we have a measure by which we can judge between right and wrong and so our conduct will always be gauged by that thing which we know to be true. Our breastplate to cover our conduct shall be the breastplate of righteousness.
“[By] what shall we protect our feet, or by what shall we gauge our objectives or our goals in life? … ‘Your feet should be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’ (Ephesians 6:15). …
“And then finally the helmet of salvation. … What is salvation? Salvation is to be saved. Saved from what? Saved from death and saved from sin. …
“Well, now the Apostle Paul … had his armoured man holding in his hand a shield and in his other hand a sword, which were the weapons of those days. That shield was the shield of faith and the sword was the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. I can’t think of any more powerful weapons than faith and a knowledge of the scriptures in the which are contained the Word of God. One so armoured and one so prepared with those weapons is prepared to go out against the enemy” (Feet Shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [Nov. 9, 1954], 2–3, 6–7; see also Ephesians 6:13–17; D&C 27:15–18).
“The Lamanite campaign was directed by Amalekite and Zoramite officers, whose knowledge of Nephite military secrets and methods would have given them an enormous advantage over any commander but Moroni. Right at the outset his foresight had robbed them of their first and logical objective—the buffer land of Jershon (Alma 43:22). He had taken up his main defensive position there, but when the messengers returned from consulting the prophet he learned that the Lamanites were planning a surprise by directing their push against the more inaccessible but weaker land of Manti, where they would not be expected (Alma 43:24). Immediately Moroni moved his main army into Manti and put the people there in a state of preparedness (Alma 43:25–26).
“Informed of every Lamanite move by his spies and scouts, Moroni was able to lay a trap for the enemy, catching them off-guard as they were fording the river Sidon (Alma 43:28–35)” (Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 297–98).
Moroni was a talented leader who was humble enough to seek the Lord’s will and guidance through a prophet of God. He understood this principle taught by President Spencer W. Kimball:
“Let us harken to those we sustain as prophets and seers, as well as the other brethren as if our eternal life depended upon it, because it does!” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1978, 117; or Ensign, May 1978, 77).
Captain Moroni realized that his earthly life also depended on it! But Moroni wasn’t the only hero here. President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) taught that all righteous service is equally important:
“Even though Helaman was not as noticeable or conspicuous as Moroni, he was as serviceable; that is, he was as helpful or useful as Moroni. …
“Not all of us are going to be like Moroni, catching the acclaim of our colleagues all day every day. Most of us will be quiet, relatively unknown folks who come and go and do our work without fanfare. To those of you who may find that lonely or frightening or just unspectacular, I say, you are ‘no less serviceable’ than the most spectacular of your associates. You, too, are part of God’s army.
“Consider, for example, the profound service a mother or father gives in the quiet anonymity of a worthy Latter-day Saint home. Think of the Gospel Doctrine teachers and Primary choristers and Scoutmasters and Relief Society visiting teachers who serve and bless millions but whose names will never be publicly applauded or featured in the nation’s media.
“Tens of thousands of unseen people make possible our opportunities and happiness every day. As the scriptures state, they are ‘no less serviceable’ than those whose lives are on the front pages of newspapers.
“The limelight of history and contemporary attention so often focuses on the one rather than on the many” (“No Less Serviceable,” Ensign, Apr. 1992, 64).
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