A total of 15 years pass in this chapter. Many of the
Nephites stop believing the signs they had seen of Christ’s birth, and the
Gadianton Robbers who live in the mountains are gaining a lot of power and
influence. The Nephites and Lamanites team up against the Gadianton Robbers,
but the war is intense and “the sword of destruction did hang over them,
insomuch that they were about to be smitten down by it, and this because of
their iniquity.” (v19)
The governor of the Gadianton Robbers, Giddianhi, writes a
letter to Lachoneus, the governor of the combined Nephites/Lamanites,
telling him that if the Nephites/Lamanites join the robbers they will be
equal like brothers, but if not then the robbers will attack and wipe them out.
The letter is manipulative and subtly
condescending. Notice how Giddianhi attempts to get Lachoneus to question his
motives, his abilities, and his beliefs. I’ve highlighted some of his
manipulative wording
2 Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be your right and liberty; yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by the hand of a god, in the defense of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so.3 And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them...5 Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in the field of battle...9 And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the secret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto us.10 And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.
This is a great example of how anything can be twisted to be
“good” or “bad” to suit someone’s purposes. We have an important responsibility to
analyze and determine what is truly right and pleasing to God, and what is wrong
and only motivated by the selfish desires of man.
Lachoneus was a strong and “just man, and could not be
frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did
not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he
did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the
time that the robbers should come down against them.” (vs. 12)
I think there is a key phrase in here teaching us how to
handle people who try to persuade us to do or believe contrary to what we know
is right – “he did not hearken.” And secondly, he "[cried] unto the Lord for strength."
And so Lachoneus and his people stuck to their
guns (kinda literally) and prepared to be attacked. Lachoneus sent a
proclamation to all his people to gather together in one city—all together—so they
could entrench and defend themselves.
