The war begins! –the robbers march out of their mountain
hiding places and attack the Nephites full-force. The Nephites are prepared,
and through their faith in God they win the battle—although not without a great
and terrible loss.
And the Gadianton robbers aren’t giving up. Their next plan
of attack is to camp outside the fortifications of the Nephites (remember how
all the Nephites have gathered together to one city) and lay siege outside the
walls until the Nephites have to come out and fight because they are out of
provisions.
Well, this is just stupid of the robbers, because the
Nephites are prepared with years and years' worth of provisions, and the robbers
have nothing. So the robbers—who are laying siege outside the city—begin to
starve to death, and “the Nephites were continually marching out by day and by
night, and falling upon their armies, and cutting them off by thousands and by
tens of thousands.” (vs 21)
So the robbers abandon the siege plans pretty quickly, and
their leader Zemnarihah orders them to retreat northward. The Nephite armies
chase after them, surround them, and conquer them – this is the battle to end
the war. Every last robber is either killed or taken prisoner.
33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction.
3 Nephi 5
It is a time of celebration and peace
among the Nephites, and “there was not a living soul among all the
people of the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy
prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be
fulfilled.” (vs. 1)
The Nephites take all the robber-prisoners and preach the gospel to them, and before long the “secret
combinations” of the robbers are eradicated from among the people. Hurrah!
Then the second half of the chapter can get a little
confusing, because Mormon starts talking. Remember that Mormon is basically the
“historian” who is writing a summary from piles and piles and years and years of
Nephite historical/religious records. That's why this is called the Book of Mormon (get it?). He isn’t just a historian. He is a man of God: “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been
called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have
everlasting life.” (vs 13)
In the next chapter he returns back to the story he has been summarizing-- right after this great war between the Nephites and the
Gadianton Robbers.
