Alma 45-46

Alma 45-46

Summary of Events:

Alma is old now, and he passes the sacred records to his son Helaman to keep, blesses all his sons, and then disappears from the land. The people speculate that he was taken up by God, like Moses was. So now we won’t hear from Alma anymore (even though we are still in the book of Alma) and will hear from his son, Helaman, instead.

Helaman and the other leaders of the church need to clean things up, because order and adherence seem to have gone by the wayside during the war. Their regulation efforts are not received happily by all, and “there arose a dissension among them, and they would not give heed to the words of Helaman and his brethren.” (45:23) And it gets bad… real bad. So bad that the dissenters gather together and want to wage war against the Nephites in order to get their leader—a big, bad dude named Amalekiah—crowned as king. Remember there are no kings of the Nephites anymore. They have a system of judges (more like a democracy) put in place by King Mosiah before he died. Having a king—especially a bad and greedy king like Amalekiah—would be really bad news. He has convinced all the “lower judges” of the land to support him because he has promised them positions of power if he becomes King. 

Amalekiah’s destructive influence infuriates Captain Moroni. God had just helped the Nephites win a dangerous war, and so quickly they are rebelling, and this group of dissenters is threatening the liberty of the Nephites. So Moroni takes action:

12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren…

19 And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

I’ve always thought this would make a really great scene in a movie. Go Moroni!—rallying the people to remember what is important and what is right. He succeeds in gathering together a large army to defend against Amalekiah’s Army, and Amalekiah gets scared and his army turns on their heels and runs toward the land of the Lamanites to join forces.

Moroni won’t have any of that! The Lamanite army is much bigger than the Nephites’, and he knows Amalekiah will succeed in riling them up to come to war against the Nephites again.  So Moroni chases Amalekiah and his men, and succeeds in stopping them… except Amalekiah and a few of his men escape (and you can bet this isn’t the last time we hear from Amalekiah). But for now, Moroni's men and Amalekiah’s men who are willing to truce and rejoin the cause of liberty, return home and maintain peace in the land for 4 more years.

Spiritual Application

• “Thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one (46:8).” Anytime the Book of Mormon says “thus we see…” it is essentially highlighting a spiritual application. This one is kind-of a downer, but it’s reality and we will see it over and over again in the Book of Mormon. People have a tendency to forget miracles, answered prayers, and other spiritual experiences, and then they backslide into old ways. It is preventable, but it takes consistent work and nurturing, like regularly praying, reading scriptures, and yes even going to church.
• “Yea, and we also see the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men (46:9).” Who are the individuals you allowing to influence your life?—and are they a good influence or a destructive influence? Beware, because one person can powerfully affect your life in ways you might not recognize.
• Moroni takes a hard edge with these dissenters. We could accuse him of being mean or unloving, but we know Moroni isn’t either of those things. Moroni saw the bigger picture—how the dissenters would destroy the liberty and happiness of all the other people if they were left unchecked. So he took a stand, even though I’m sure it made him wildly unpopular with the dissenters or the sympathizers of the dissenters. I believe it is possible to be a loving person while standing strong against popular movements in society that you believe are harmful.

Alma 43-44

THE WAR CHAPTERS

Alma 43 marks the beginning of what is known as the “War Chapters” of the Book of Mormon. Through the rest of Alma we will read about a long and destructive war between the Nephites and the Lamanites. 

These chapters tell history more than they teach doctrine, and sometimes people have a hard time seeing their spiritual value. However, I think every chapter contains symbolic lessons we can apply toward our personal “wars” in life. As the New Testament says, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) 

So for the war chapters, I will summarize the events in the chapter, and then will highlight some of the spiritual applications that I can see.

Ok, here goes!

Alma 43

Summary of Events:

The Lamanites launch an attack on the Nephites! Led by a man named Zarahemnah, their motive is hatred toward the Nephites and a desire for power. The Nephite armies, on the other hand, are led by one of the greatest heroes in the Book of Mormon—Captain Moroni. He is only 25 years old, but he is a big guy, a smart guy, and a good guy. So good, actually, that in Alma 48 it says, “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.”

The Lamanite army outnumbers the Nephite army by more than 2 to 1, but Moroni has prepared his men with armor, whereas the Lamanites are basically in leather loin clothes. Strengthened by their armor, their God, and their righteous desires for liberty, the Nephites are able to surround and overwhelm the Lamanites, and Moroni orders his men to hold their fighting… (the suspense! Keep reading chapter 44...)

Spiritual Insights:

• The first place the Lamanites attacked was “upon the weaker part of the people (v 24).” But Moroni had sent messengers to the prophet asking for tips, so he was warned ahead of time and was prepared with his armies when the Lamanites came. Satan works in the same way—he will strike our weaknesses first. If we can be aware of our weaknesses—and especially turn to the prophets, scriptures, and people we trust for advice and warning—we can be prepared against spiritual attacks and temptations when they come.
• Protect yourself with spiritual armor! You may be outnumbered by bad influences, but if you have on the armor of God, you can handle it.

Ephesians 6: 11-17

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day... 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Alma 44

Summary of Events:

The Nephites have surrounded the Lamanites, and Moroni tells Zarahemnah they will let the Lamanites leave in peace if they will give up their weapons and covenant to never attack the Nephites again. Zarahemnah willingly gives up his sword but refuses to make a promise he knows he won’t keep. Moroni is angry and returns Zarahemnah’s sword saying, “We will end the conflict (vs 10).” 

Zarahemnah is ticked, and rushes forward with his sword to try to kill Moroni, which is pretty stupid
if you ask me because Moroni is surrounded by his men, all of whom are decked-out in armor. One of Moroni’s soldiers strikes Zarahemnah’s sword to the ground and swipes off the top of his scalp. Eeweew! Zarahemnah retreats back to his army, and the soldier lifts up the scalp piece on top of his sword and displays it for the Lamanite army, threatening they will all fall to the ground like the piece of scalp unless they surrender and covenant never to attack again. 

Many of the Lamanites come forward to surrender and covenant, and they are allowed to leave in peace, but many Lamanites remain stubbornly with Zarahemnah. And so the battle resumes, and the Nephites dominate as predicted. Eventually Zarahemnah and the rest of the men surrender and make the promise to leave the Nephites alone. So everyone goes home…. For now.

Spiritual Insights:

• Always give credit to God for your victories, like Moroni did. God will always be on your side as long as you are on His.
• 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. 4 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.(vs. 3-4)

• Even though Zarahemnah is greedy, stubborn, and hateful, the man at least has honor. I’m impressed that he refused to make a promise he knew he wouldn’t keep, even though it would have saved his life. Ok, so he gives in when it gets really bad later on, but still I think there is a lesson of honor and integrity here.
• Never attack a really good guy who has God on his side, plus a whole lot of armored soldiers.