Mormon 3-4

Mormon 3

The Nephites have 10 years of peace, after which the Lord tells Mormon to give them one more chance, and to “Cry unto this people—Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be spared.” (vs. 2)

But Mormon’s preaching is in vain, and the people refuse to recognize God’s role in their success. Before long, the Lamanites come again to battle, and the Nephites are successful again and beat them back 2 years in a row. 

Because of the Nephites’ victories, they become proud, and boastful, and blood thirsty. They swear sacrilegiously by the throne of God that they will seek vengeance by wiping their enemies off the face of the earth.

11 And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination.

12 Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

13 And thrice have I delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and they have repented not of their sins.

14 And when they had sworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that they would go up unto their enemies to battle, and avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren, behold the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying:

15 Vengeance is mine, and I will repay; and because this people repented not after I had delivered them, behold, they shall be cut off from the face of the earth.

16 And it came to pass that I utterly refused to go up against mine enemies; and I did even as the Lord had commanded me; and I did stand as an idle witness to manifest unto the world the things which I saw and heard.

Whenever I read about Mormon, it makes my life seem like a piece of cake. We live in a harsh world and frightening times, where evil is growing and faith is diminishing. It can often feel lonely and uncomfortable being a member of my church - or a member of any faith, I'm sure! - when most of the world doesn’t understand or support what I believe. But then I remember Mormon, and how he was the ONLY ONE of his people who stayed true to God. I have lots and lots of friends and neighbors who live great lives of faith. They may be small compared to the general population, but when we get together the numbers feel great. Mormon didn’t have that.

He pleads at the end of this chapter:

20 And these things doth the Spirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;

21 And also that ye may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which ye shall have among you; and also that the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, shall have other witness…that Jesus, whom they slew, was the very Christ and the very God.

Mormon 4

The Nephites wage war against the Lamanites to seek revenge, and this is the “final straw” that leads to their downfall. Throughout the Book of Mormon, the Lord makes it clear that it’s OK to defend yourself against your enemies, but He will not help out when you aggressively initiate an attack on an enemy, no matter how just revenge may seem. 

4 And it was because the armies of the Nephites went up unto the Lamanites that they began to be smitten; for were it not for that, the Lamanites could have had no power over them.

5 But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.

And from here, things get ugly. Awful. Unimaginable. These all seem like understatements. Here, let’s just read Mormon’s own words:

11 And it is impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites; and every heart was hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually.

12 And there never had been so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor even among all the house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord, as was among this people.

Gratefully, Mormon spares us most of the details, but you can learn a little more if you read the chapter. Mormon also says that “from this time forth the Nephites did gain no power over the Lamanites, but began to be swept off by them even as a dew before the sun.”(vs. 18)

Sorry. I told you this was not going to be a happy book.