Helaman 5

Helaman 5

This is one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. I believe that anyone whose foundation is built on Christ will not fall, no matter what happens to them. The big question is, what does it mean to build your foundation on Christ?  To me it means that Christ is your priority. You make time for Him every day, you learn His words from the scriptures, you pray to God often, you consult God for help in the challenges you face each day, and you care more about what God thinks than what people think. I think it means you do the things God has asked you to do. What does it mean to you to build your foundation on Christ?

The rest of the chapter tells us of the great missionary adventures of Nephi and Lehi—sons of Helaman. Nephi gives up the judgment-seat in order to devote the rest of his life to preaching the word of God with his brother. They are a powerful missionary pair. So powerful that 8,000 Lamanites are converted and baptized. So powerful that many Nephite-dissenters are convinced of the error of their ways and “immediately return to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.” (vs. 17)

A miraculous conversion occurs in one particular city of the Lamanites. I don’t know how to summarize the story, so I’ll just let you read it:

22 And after [Nephi and Lehi] had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they went forth into the prison to take them that they might slay them.

23 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire, even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned.

26 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did stand forth and began to speak unto them, saying: Fear not, for behold, it is God that has shown unto you this marvelous thing, in the which is shown unto you that ye cannot lay your hands on us to slay us.

27 And behold, when they had said these words, the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison did shake as if they were about to tumble to the earth; but behold, they did not fall.

28 And it came to pass that they were overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them.

29 And it came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.

30 And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—

35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.

40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?

41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.

42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.

44 And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them; yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.

46 And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying:

47 Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world.

48 And now, when they heard this they cast up their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them.

 50 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and did minister unto the people, declaring throughout all the regions round about all the things which they had heard and seen, insomuch that the more part of the Lamanites were convinced of them, because of the greatness of the evidences which they had received.

Two important points I want to highlight from this story:

The voice of the Spirit of God was powerful enough to pierce their hearts… but it didn’t shout. The Spirit doesn’t shout. It gently whispers. And you have to be listening to hear it.

Second, the Lamanites in the prison were engulfed with an awful darkness, and it was only by calling upon the Lord that the darkness was lifted. I have experienced the Lord lifting gloomy darkness from me, in various different ways. This can apply to any sort of dark times we are going through.

Helaman 3-4

Helaman 3

Mormon skims over 10 years of Nephite history in one chapter. Helaman is the author of most of the book of Helaman, but remember that Mormon compiles a summary of all the Nephite records, so this chapter is an insertion (written a couple hundred years down the road) in his voice. And he lets us know that “a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work.” (vs. 14)

Mormon tells us that the people of Nephi are multiplying and spreading across the land. They have some years of pride and contention amongst themselves and even in the church, and some years of great prosperity and peace. One of the themes of the Book of Mormon is warning against the “Pride Cycle.” The Price Cycle looks like this:

The Nephites demonstrate this cycle over and over again in the Book of Mormon, and they even go through a mini-cycle during the 10 years covered in Helaman 3. The way to break the pride cycle is to remain humble and obedient to the Lord even when you are prosperous and richly blessed. Most people aren’t very good at that.

I love a short passage in this chapter that talks about the goodness of a small portion of the church, who humbly respond to the pride and persecutions of the rich people in the church who are turning rotten:

33 And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church—not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God—

 34 And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction.

 35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.

I learn a deep lesson from these humble people. In the middle of unfair persecution from people who knew better (their own brethren/sisters in the church!), they could have turned bitter…

Instead they chose to be humble and to pray more.

As a result, their faith in Christ became firmer and firmer.

As a result of firmer faith, their souls were filled with joy and consolation.

The joy and consolation purified and sanctified their hearts.

And ultimately this beautiful transformation in the midst of persecution and sorrow occurred because the people chose to yield their hearts to God, rather than turn bitter, angry, or prideful themselves.

Helaman 4

Mormon is brief in his summary of big events. The Nephites are becoming more and more wicked, and drifting further and further from God. The worst of the Nephites rebel, fleeing to the Lamanites, and convincing them to attack the Nephites. The Nephites are nearly completely taken over by the Lamanites and Nephite-dissenters, and it is only through a few righteous leaders who encourage repentance and humility and that little ground is re-gained:

14 But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.

 15 And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper.

 16 For when Moronihah saw that they did repent he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands.

Notice how Moronihah waited to fight back to regain their land until he had witnessed some repentance among his people. He knew they would not be successful otherwise, because they would not have the help of the Lord. As Mormon goes on to summarize, the people begin to realize that without the Lord, they are not strong enough to survive against their enemies.

24 And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—

25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their God they must unavoidably perish.

 26 For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.

I think the most important lesson from this chapter comes from applying it to our normal-life battles, not just a time when our nation is at war. It certainly applies in war-time that we need the strength of God, but I have needed the strength of God in my daily battles at work, at school, at home, and in helping family and friends with their personal battles. If I had to face my battles “man for man” with only my own strength to rely on, that prospect terrifies me. I need the Lord. 

One more thought: sometimes people think that bad things happen as a result of God punishing us. Most of the time, I think the case is that God has simply withdrawn his support and protection, which He doesn't want to do but has to because He can't be with people who are not living as they know they should (see verse 24 above). And when God's protection is withdrawn, harmful forces or even the consequences of our own bad choices have full access to attack us, and we now stand without protection.  It was our own choice. 

Helaman 1-2

Helaman 1

Conflict arises over the election of a new chief judge after Pahoran dies. Three of his sons—Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni—are all running for the position. When Pahoran wins the election, Paanchi and his supporters are so upset they plan to launch a violent rebellion, but Paanchi is arrested and condemned to death before the rebellion erupts. This doesn’t stop Paanchi’s supporters from plotting, and they sent a hit man—Kishkumen—to secretly murder Pahoran while he is sitting on the judgment seat. Yikes! This secret band will grow to cause deep and significant problems among the Nephites.

So now Pacumeni (the brother who didn’t win the election, and didn’t start a rebellion) becomes the chief judge. But then the Nephites are attacked by a giant army of the Lamanites, now led by a ex-Nephite named Coriantumr. The Lamanites audaciously march to the center of the Nephite lands, right to the capital city, and attack. They kill Pacumeni, take over the city, and then begin marching to the next city nearby to continue their take-over. No!!!

But by now the new captain in town—Moronihah—has sprung into action. He and captain Lehi are able to easily surround the Lamanites because of their foolhardy attack into the center of the land, and the Lamanites are conquered and Coriantumr is killed. The Lamanite captives are permitted to return home in peace.  

Helaman 2

Helaman, the son of Helaman (who, if you remember, is the one who is writing this record now) is appointed to be the new chief judge. But Kishkumen and his secret band (remember, the ones who murdered Pahoran the chief judge) are still actively plotting. Their goal is to get their leader—named Gadianton—to be the chief judge. So Kishkumen sets out in the night to murder Helaman just like he did Pahoran. But Helaman has a clever and brave servant who has secretly learned of Kishkumen’s plans, and even knows the secret signals of Kishkumen’s group, so Kishkumen thinks this servant is on his side and helping him. But as the servant is taking Kishkumen to Helaman, the servant stabs him in the heart, then runs to tell Helaman all that has happened.

Unfortunately, Gadianton and his secret band escape into the wilderness before the government is able to capture and prosecute them. This group, which is known as the “Gadianton Robbers” will cause big trouble—nearly the entire downfall of the Nephite nation (see vs. 12-14).

Alma 62-63

Alma 62

Moroni marches with a portion of his army to help Pahoran take back the city of Zarahemla from the rebellion group. And they win, of course... It’s Moroni against a little rebellion group! They didn’t stand a chance.

Once Pahoran has regained control of the capital city and his judgment seat, food and men are finally sent to strengthen the armies of Helaman, Teancum and Lehi.

Moroni and Pahoran then take their strengthened army and begin to hit the surrounding cities the Lamanites have captured and take them all back, one by one. In the city of Nephihah they repel over the walls of the city in the night, and are all inside the city when the army wakes in the morning. The Lamanites try to run away but most of them are taken prisoner by the Nephites. All the prisoners join the people of Ammon and live in peace. This greatly reduces the army of the Lamanites, and relieves the Nephites of having to guard or feed prisoners.

They continue to conquer armies of the Lamanites until they meet up with Lehi and Teancum, and all the Lamanite armies are gathered together in one place, in the land of Moroni.

During the night, everyone sleeps except Teancum. “He was exceedingly angry with Ammoron, insomuch that he considered that Ammoron, and Amalickiah his brother, had been the cause of this great and lasting war between them and the Lamanites, which had been the cause of so much war and bloodshed, yea, and so much famine (vs. 35).” So Teancum sneaks over the walls of the city Moroni, where all the Lamanites have gathered, and silently searches until he finds Ammoron sleeping. He casts a Javelin in his heart, but Ammoron wakes his servants before he dies, and they pursue Teancum and kill him.

 37 Now it came to pass that when Lehi and Moroni knew that Teancum was dead they were exceedingly sorrowful; for behold, he had been a man who had fought valiantly for his country, yea, a true friend to liberty; and he had suffered very many exceedingly sore afflictions

 38 Now it came to pass that Moroni marched forth on the morrow, and came upon the Lamanites, insomuch that they did slay them with a great slaughter; and they did drive them out of the land; and they did flee, even that they did not return at that time against the Nephites.

 39 And thus ended the thirty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; and thus they had had wars, and bloodsheds, and famine, and affliction, for the space of many years.

The war is over - after all this time! Moroni retires and his son Moronihah becomes the leader of the Nephite armies. Pahoran returns to his judgment seat. Helaman returns to preaching the word of God. The Nephites are humbled and grateful and remember the blessings of the Lord, and they begin to prosper. Helaman dies of old age.

Alma 63

We learn in this chapter that many of the Nephites build ships and sail northward to settle a new land. Multiple waves of people leave, but after the last group leaves, the Nephites never hear from those people again. They assume they all drowned in the ocean. Mormons believe those people did not actually drown, but became the first settlers of Polynesia. A significant percentage of Polynesians are Mormon (in the neighborhood of 30% but don’t quote me on that). 

Helaman died in the last chapter, and so his brother has been keeping these records, but now he is about to die so he passes them on to Helaman’s son, whose name is also Helaman.  So now as we end the book of Alma, guess what the next book is called… Helaman! We made it! It took me over a year just to get through the Book of Alma. But Alma is the biggest book in the Book of Mormon, and I just know we are going to pick up momentum now and finish the rest of the Book of Mormon in 2015!

Alma 60-61

Alma 60

Moroni writes again to Pahoran, the governor of the land, who still has not sent any support to Moroni or Helaman and their armies. This time, his letter doesn’t pull any punches. Check out the fire and passion in a few of these excerpts from this man who has given his life to his people and their freedom:

 7 Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren...
10 And now, my beloved brethren—for ye ought to be beloved; yea, and ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people; but behold, ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance... 23 Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also. 24 And now, except ye do repent of that which ye have done, and begin to be up and doing, and send forth food and men unto us…behold it will be expedient that we contend no more with the Lamanites until we have first cleansed our inward vessel, yea, even the great head of our government... 27 And I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that has a desire for freedom, yea, if there be even a spark of freedom remaining, behold I will stir up insurrections among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct. 28 Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my God whom I fear; and it is according to his commandments that I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss... 30 Behold, I wait for assistance from you; and, except ye do administer unto our relief, behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword, insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our freedom... 36 Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country.

Alma 61

Moroni finally hears back from Pahoran, and he discovers things are not as he assumed. Pahoran has been run out of town by a large rebellion group who has taken over the capital city of Zarahemla, and the rebellion group is planning to hand the city over to the Lamanites. Pahoran has been building up support to fight back, but has been hesitating at the idea of attacking his own people.

Pahoran is my hero. Most people who receive misplaced criticism become very defensive and offended. And to call Moroni’s letter “misplaced criticism” is an understatement. It is a scathing rebuke, accusing him of lounging in gluttony while his entire nation perishes, and threatening him with hell fire and the mutiny of his own army, when in reality Pahoran has been a victim to perilous circumstances just like Moroni and his armies. But how does Pahoran react to Moroni’s letter?

9 And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.

That is why Pahoran is my hero. It takes a strong man to lead armies and cities. But it takes an even stronger man to humbly forgive, and choose to see the good intentions of a friend who made a big and harsh mistake. 

Alma 58-59

Alma 58

Helaman and the armies in his quarter of the land aren’t receiving help from the government despite their desperate requests. They begin to fear they will be outnumbered and destroyed, but their faith in God keeps them afloat.

11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

Meanwhile, Helaman and the other leaders devise a clever strategy to re-capture the land of Manti. They camp in the wilderness just outside the city, and successfully entice the large Lamanite army inside to prepare to come out and attack them. The Lamanites think they can easily squash Helaman because his army isn’t very big. Secretly Helaman divides his army into three parts. Gid splits to the left and hides in the wilderness with his men. Teomner splits to the right and does the same. And Helaman stays where the Lamanite spies initially found them in the middle. When the large Lamanite army comes to attack, Helaman and his men turn and run deeper into the wilderness and the Lamanites chase them, passing unaware through the middle of Gid and Teomner and their men. After the Lamanites have passed Gid and Teomner, they unite and take over the city Manti which only has a few Lamanite guards left behind. Re-capture successful!

The Lamanites are still chasing Helaman and his men in the wilderness, but Helaman is getting closer and closer to the city Zarahelma, and the Lamanites begin to panic that they are walking into a trap, so they stop and turn back toward their city of Manti. But it is night time now, so they camp for the night. In the middle of the night, Helaman and his men sneak around the Lamanites and travel all the way back to the city of Manti to join with Gid and Teomner.

When the Lamanites make it back home, they discover it is no longer “home” and the Nephites have outsmarted them.

Alma 59

All the stories we have been reading about Helaman and his armies have been in a letter he wrote to Captain Moroni updating him on the affairs of that part of the land. After Moroni finishes reading Helaman’s letter, he shares the good news with the people in his part of the land and writes a letter to the governor in Zarahemla requesting that they send more provisions and support to Helaman. Moroni’s part of the land also needs more support, and an important city called Nephihah is captured by the Lamanites. Moroni is getting increasingly angry with the government for their neglect and indifference toward their armies.

Alma 56-57

Alma 56

It’s time for the story of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors! Remember, they were introduced back in Alma 53 and now they are entering the field of battle!

Helaman is the captain of the little band of 2,000 Stripling Warriors, and they are assigned to strengthen Antipus and his army in the city Judea. The Lamanites have captured many cities in that part of the land, and Antipus is trying to figure out how to get some back, but it is too difficult to attack the Lamanites inside the fortified cities, and the Lamanites refuse to come out. So Antipus and Helaman develop a strategy.

Helaman and the little band of Stripling Warriors march past the city Antiparah, which has the largest Lamanite army, pretending they are carrying supplies to a nearby city of Nephites. Because their group is so small, and the Lamanites are stressed about the Nephites receiving any more strength or supplies, the Lamanites in Antiparah decides to chase after the Stripling Warriors. Just what the Nephites wanted to happen! As soon as the Lamanite army is out, Antipus’s army (who has been hiding) chases after them from behind.

For two days there is a 3-player chase. Helaman and the Stripling Warriors (who were basically the bait) are in the front, marching their hearts out to not be caught by this huge Lamanite army. And next, the Lamanites are being chased by Antipus and his Nephite army.

Then on the third morning the Stripling Warriors wake up, and the Lamanites are nowhere to be seen. Did Antipus catch up to the Lamanites, and now they are fighting and need the Stripling Warrior’s help? Or did the Lamanites stop and hide, and they are waiting to ambush the Stripling Warriors if they turn around and go back? This is a dangerous and tense situation.

Helaman asks these 2,000 young men what they want to do. Can you see why these boys are my heroes?

46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus. 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

Not only are the warriors my heroes for their faith and courage, but their mothers are my heroes. I love this story that shows the power and influence a good mother can have on her children, which in turn influences an entire nation.

Helaman and the Stripling Warriors turn around and go back, and it turns out to be the right decision. Antipus had indeed caught up to the Lamanites, and they have been fighting with all their might and strength, and are getting exhausted and starting to lose. Antipus and many of the leaders have been killed.

The Stripling Warriors jump into the battle with all their courage and strengt. They are so strong that the entire Lamanite army turns around from fighting Antipus’s army and focuses on the Stripling Warriors. This gives Antipus’s remaining men enough time to re-group and get back in the fight. And with the Lamanites surrounded by the Stripling Warriors on one side, and the Nephites on the other side, they soon surrender. The Nephites have just conquered the largest Lamanite army!

Are you ready for the best part? Not one of the Stripling Warriors was killed in battle. Loads of Lamanites and Nephites were killed, but not a single Stripling Warrior. The power of faith! I love this story.

Alma 57

The Nephites succeed in re-capturing two of their cities that had been taken over by the Lamanites. One of them, the city Cumeni, they capture by camping outside the city and preventing the Lamanites from receiving any supplies or provisions. They capture a large delivery of supplies (and take the delivery-army as prisoners), and eventually Cumeni surrenders because they can't survive any longer without outside food and supplies.

By now the Nephites have a lot of prisoners of war, and they are getting difficult to handle, so they send a troop to escort the prisoners to Zarahemla where it will be easier to guard them. But the next day the Lamanites attack the city Cumeni to try to win it back, and the delivery troop miraculously returns to help the Nephites fight (they find out later that the prisoners had revolted and many escaped, but it was good the troop had returned to help fight). The Stripling Warriors—who are now 2,060 strong—fight along with the Nephites in a fierce and bloody battle, and manage to beat off the attacking Lamanites and keep the city Cumeni. Miraculously, for the second time, none of the Stripling Warriors are killed, even though over 1,000 Nephites are killed and even more Lamanites.

These verses help me to understand why the Stripling Warriors had such power.

20 And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted.
21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them…
26 And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.
27 Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.

Alma 53-55

Alma 53

We are entering one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon. But to understand the story we need to rewind. Remember Ammon and his brothers who went on a mission to the Lamanites? They were the sons of King Mosiah who used to be trouble-makers until an angel appeared to them and told them to shape up, and then they totally turned their lives around and had incredible success in converting thousands of Lamanites to the Lord, including their king. Then those Lamanites—who called themselves the people of Ammon—made a covenant with God to never fight or kill again, so they buried all their weapons deep in the earth, and moved in with the Nephites for protection because the not-converted Lamanites now hated them (see Alma 17-25 for a refresher). 

Well, the people of Ammon are now second-guessing their covenant to never fight again, because the Nephites and Lamanites are engaged in this big war, and the people of Ammon want to help the Nephites. They consider breaking their vow, but Helaman and other church leaders convince them not to.

But there is an alternative solution! The people of Ammon now have sons who are old enough to fight, and the sons never made the vow with God not to fight. So these young sons sign up for the army—2000 of them in total—and become known as the 2000 Stripling Warriors. These boys are my heroes. You’ll read about their heroic acts later, but this chapter gives us a glimpse into their heroic hearts.

20 And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

21 Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him

We will learn later that the young warriors' faith is so great because their mothers taught them

Alma 54

If you were to write a letter to a man who was causing a war against your people—an unjust war for the sake of power and greed—what would you say?? Captain Moroni writes to King Ammoron (brother of the late King Amalekiah who started this war) about exchanging prisoners of war. Neither of these men are softies, and they don’t sugar-coat.  Give it a read! What insights into the characters of these men do you gain from reading their letters?

Alma 55

Moroni decides not to exchange prisoners with Ammoron because he doesn’t want the Lamanite army to have any more power. Instead, he devises a plan to free the Nephite prisoners. First, he finds a small group of converted Lamanites within his army. These Lamanites pretend they have escaped from the Nephites, and approach the city Gid (where the Nephite prisoners are guarded) during the night, carrying “stolen” wine. The Lamanite guards are excited about their escaped comrades, and especially about the wine, and they drink up! The wine is strong, and quickly knocks the Lamanites out in a drunken stupor. 

Cue Moroni, who quietly enters the city with his army, and they pass weapons into the prison to all the Nephite prisoners, including the women and children. Then the army retreats and surrounds the city. When the Lamanites wake up in the morning, Moroni’s army has them surrounded on the outside, and all the prisoners on the inside are armed. Naturally, the Lamanites surrender and Moroni takes over the city Gid, and most importantly he frees all the Nephite prisoners.

An important insight to Moroni’s character and motivations is given in verses 18-20 when the Nephite army is secretly handing weapons to the prisoners while the Lamanites are drunk:

 18 But had they awakened the Lamanites, behold they were drunken and the Nephites could have slain them.

 19 But behold, this was not the desire of Moroni; he did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction; and for this cause he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness.

Alma 51-52

Alma 51

Summary of Events:

The Nephites experience an internal fall-out as a portion of the people want the law to be changed to incorporate a king. These “kingmen,” however, are outnumbered by the majority of the people, who classify themselves as “freemen,” and vote to keep the judges system as it is. Even though freedom in the law prevails, this is a bad time for an internal conflict, because Amalekiah and the Lamanites wage war again. The kingmen see this as an opportunity to boycott in revenge, and they refuse to fight. Moroni’s armies are weakened enough that the Lamanites take over at least 7 cities, “all of which were strongly fortified after the manner of the fortifications of Moroni; all of which afforded strongholds for the Lamanites (v. 27).” Bad news—very bad news. Amalekiah would have succeeded in taking over even more cities, except he is stopped by Teancum and his army, who are basically super warriors, and they stop Amalekiah’s army in their tracks. In the middle of the night, when both armies are camped after an intense day of battle, Teancum covertly sneaks into the Lamanite’s camp and puts a javelin to the heart of Amalekiah, killing him on the spot. Teancum successfully sneaks back to his camp and wakes up his army so they will be ready in the morning when the Lamanites wake up and discover their king is dead. 

Spiritual Insights:

I think the story of the kingmen is a powerful illustration of the destructive consequences that can come from a lack of unity. Our modern society really values individualism and personal rights and the freedom to rebel against the majority, and in many cases that is a good thing, but it can also go too far and be damaging to everyone. I believe there is a line at which personal freedom should not trump the freedom of the whole.

Alma 52

Summary of Events:

Moroni creates a clever strategy to reclaim one of the cities taken by the Lamanites—Mulek. The city’s fortifications are too strong for the Nephites to attack it directly, so they need to somehow coax the Lamanites out onto the open plains to fight. 

There are 3 different players on the Nephite team: (1) Teancum’s army, which is stationed in the part of the land where Mulek is, (2) Moroni’s army, which secretly travels from a different part of the country to join Teancum, and (3) Lehi’s army, stationed in the land Bountiful. 

So the strategy plays out like this: first, Teancum’s little army marches past the land Mulek. The Lamanites just can’t resist coming out of their fortifications to squash this little army, and they start chasing Teancum’s men, who start running toward the land Bountiful. Meanwhile, once the Lamanites are out of site, Moroni and his army have been hiding in the wilderness, and they emerge and attack the few Lamanites who are left to guard the city Mulek and easily take it. Moroni leaves half his army in Mulek, and takes the other half to chase after the Lamanites who are pursuing Teancum.

Teancum’s men reach the city Bountiful, and the Lamanites realize that Lehi is there and his men are strong and fresh, whereas the Lamanites are exhausted from their chase, so the Lamanites turn on their heals and rush back toward Mulek. Lehi’s men chase them until the Lamanites collide with Moroni’s men who have been chasing from behind, and the Lamanites are surrounded on both sides by Nephites and are forced to surrender. So the Nephites reclaim their city Mulek and also take an army of Lamanite prisoners.

Spiritual Insight:

I'll admit the spiritual insight isn't as obvious to me on this one, although the episode is very clever and intriguing. I suppose there is a lesson here on the power of teamwork in the battle against evil. You could also say that it's easier to defend/maintain moral ground than it is to regain it after it has been lost... but it IS possible. Do you have any insights to add? 

Alma 49-50

Alma 49

Summary of Events:

The war begins! Amalekiah’s army of Lamanites marches to the Nephite city of Ammonihah. They are decked out with armor (they learned their lesson from the last battle), and they expect to easily conquer their target because they easily destroyed it in the past (see Alma 16). 

8 But behold, to their total astonishment, [the Nephites] were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni.

Under Moroni’s leadership, the Nephites have erected walls and dug ditches around their entire city (like the picture), making it nearly impossible to enter the city except by the narrow entrance gate. The Lamanites have never seen anything like it! They are scared to attack (as they should be), and decide to attack a different city first.

 13 For they knew not that Moroni had fortified, or had built forts of security, for every city in all the land round about; therefore, they marched forward to the land of Noah with a firm determination; yea, their chief captains came forward and took an oath that they would destroy the people of that city.

 14 But behold, to their astonishment, the city of Noah, which had hitherto been a weak place, had now, by the means of Moroni, become strong, yea, even to exceed the strength of the city Ammonihah.

 15 And now, behold, this was wisdom in Moroni; for he had supposed that they would be frightened at the city Ammonihah; and as the city of Noah had hitherto been the weakest part of the land, therefore they would march thither to battle; and thus it was according to his desires.

Clever Moroni! He also placed Lehi in command at the city of Noah, and the Lamanites are afraid of Lehi because he walloped them in the last battle. But because the Lamanite commanders had promised each other to attack at this next city, they give it a try. And they fail miserably! No one succeeds in getting over the walls of the city or through the narrow passage. Over 1000 Lamanites are killed, and not a single Nephite is killed.

Spiritual Insights:

The time to prepare to defend/protect yourself against spiritually destructive forces is BEFORE they attack. Identify your biggest weaknesses, and defend those the most, because you can count on them being attacked first.

Alma 50

Summary of Events:

Moroni’s armies continue to strengthen the fortifications of all their cities, and the Nephites build many new cities. These are happy and prosperous times for the Nephites, even though they know the Lamanites could come to war again any day.

The biggest conflict the Nephites deal with during this time is internal. The people in the city Morianton claim land that belongs to a new city named Lehi, and they are ready to fight for it. “But behold, the people who possessed the land of Lehi fled to the camp of Moroni, and appealed unto him for assistance; for behold they were not in the wrong (v. 27).” Morianton’s army is obviously scared of Moroni’s army because they are no competition for them, so they plan to take off and possess the land northward. But before the plan occurs, Morianton loses his temper with a maid and beats her, and she flees to Moroni and tells him all about Morianton’s plans. 

Moroni sends an army led by an awesome guy named Teancum (we will hear more about him in future battles) to intersect Morianton’s people in their flight, and of course Teancum’s army wins. Morianton is killed, and the rest of the people return to the city of Morianton in peace.

Spiritual Insights:

One of the reoccurring themes of the Book of Mormon is that you will prosper in life if you keep God’s commandments, and your life will eventually fall apart if you don’t. This point is illustrated in the lives of the Nephites and Lamanites throughout the Book of Mormon, and this is one time in which the Nephites exhibit prosperity due to their righteousness and the Lord’s blessings:

 17 And in these prosperous circumstances were the people of Nephi in the commencement of the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

 18 And they did prosper exceedingly, and they became exceedingly rich; yea, and they did multiply and wax strong in the land.

 19 And thus we see how merciful and just are all the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi, saying:

 20 Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

 21 And we see that these promises have been verified to the people of Nephi; for it has been their quarrelings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations, which were among themselves, which brought upon them their wars and their destructions.

 22 And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, whilst thousands of their wicked brethren have been consigned to bondage, or to perish by the sword, or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites.

Another important point—if you are faithful in following the Lord and keeping His commandments, it is possible to be happy and to thrive in life even in non-ideal circumstances. The Nephites know that the Lamanites are preparing for war and could attack at any time, and yet they seem to be the happiest they have ever been.

 23 But behold there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni, yea, even at this time, in the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges.