Alma 49-55 - The War Years of Moroni

Most of the rest of the Book of Alma deals with a series of wars between the Lamanites and the Nephites. These aren’t the only wars between the two peoples. In fact, their history is filled with them. So why did Mormon spend so much time on these wars if he wanted to deal with war and its effect on a society? He was involved in a lot of wars himself so he could have spoken with greater effect had he used his own stories. So, again, why?

I think it’s because they are more like us than any other culture in the Book of Mormon. They had “elected” judges and we have democratically elected politicians. They had a society where religion and politics were separated some what, while ours is much more so. Their biggest down falling was pride, so is ours. In their day, the religious were in the minority as it is today. The threats to their religious liberty and lifestyle were closest to the ones we face. And so he wrote about their wars for our benefit.

I also think this section of the book has more to say about our role as religious citizens of a country than any other in the Book of Mormon. We read about the terrible threat of internal dissension. The invading Lamanites weren’t as dangerous as were the Kingmen and Amalikiah or his brother Ammoron. They were such a great risk, Moroni gets special dispensation from the people to take draconian steps to crush the dissent. (Support us or die!) It was blunt and brutal and effective. It gives a clear lesson that the greatest enemies are the ones from within.

It also talks about keeping covenants in the face of great adversity. The Ammonites were about to renounce their covenant of peace to help the Nephites fight. It took a lot of persuading by Helaman and others to get them to change their minds. But it also led to the advent of the stripling warriors. These two thousand young men became the lynchpin of the Nephite defenses on a different front. I’ll write about them in more detail later.

The bottom line is, this is what God thinks your involvement in civic affairs and politics should be. He covers the spectrum from civic involvement all the way to direct combat with enemy forces.

Helaman 2 - 3

In Helaman chapters two and three, a lot of territory is covered but not to a great depth. Here is where Mormon makes another reference to being able to tell just a small fraction of the whole story. He mentions in passing the reign of Helaman 2 as Chief Judge and the entrenchment of the Gadiantons in society in the more settled parts of the land. I read that and I think of cities which fits my expectation that in cities, for whatever reason, it’s easier to get disconnected from God which gives rise to these secret combinations.

Mormon writes how there are great migrations of people away from the lands, including the Ammonites yet almost as just a footnote mentions it was wars and dissensions which are behind these. He goes into no detail about them: all they get is a single sentence.

In chapter three, he spends time on the growth of the church and how tens of thousands of people join the church. He elaborates on the astonishment of the people at the growth and how Heaven is freely open to all who want it. He then observes that because of this and the general prosperity of the people, pride enters into the church, then he clarifies… probably because you can’t undo engraving in metal plates, that what he meant was the church wasn’t proud, but people who professed membership in the church were. He goes on to explain how they begin persecuting the humble followers and as in Alma’s day, they resort to fasting and prayer that they might be blessed by God with more faith and the ability to endure the times.

This is a lesson for us today… we live in times where persecution will increase against those who sincerely strive to live Christlike lives. As it was for them, so it will be for us: to endure the time we must fast, pray and lean on God.

Helaman 1: Cultural Observations

Helaman chapter one at first glance is the rather unremarkable telling of yet another war precipitated by dissident Nephites who stir up the Lamanites and persuade them to go kill those nasty, evil Nephites. In fact, the main event in this chapter is the rise of THE secret combination which becomes the Gadiantons and one Kishkumen who murders the legally elected governor, Pahoran.

But tucked into the narrative is one of the little comments Mormon inserts which show, the Nephite and Lamanite cultures are nothing like 1820 United States. (Yes, there will be a touch of apologist in this blog: deal with it.)

In particular is a little nugget I've never noticed before which is hidden in verse 13:

"And now behold, Pacumeni was appointed, according to the voice of the people, to be chief judge and a governor over the people, to reign in the stead of his brother Pahoran; and it was according to his right...."

He had a right to be chief governor? Really? That's amazing! Back in Mosiah 26, when King Mosiah sets up judges to rule the country who are appointed by the voice of the people you get the idea these are elections like we have today where "anyone" with the money and backing can run for the office. A closer read of the scriptures, show this isn't really the case with the Nephites and this little verse, hammers the idea home that there was a ruling class, an aristocracy if you will, which controlled not only the government but the religion too.

Think about it. There was no "Quorum of Apostles" in which leadership was based upon a seniority system as we have today. Instead the role of High Priest went from father to son for many generations, right down to the coming of Christ in fact. I'm not discounting the personal righteousness of these leaders, merely making the observation that they lived in a different culture and time and God, in His matchless wisdom and grace, worked within it to lead, bless and teach His children.

But, I digress...

Can you imagine anyone in Upstate New York shortly after the War of 1812, with grandparents who fought in the War for Independence and steeped in the tradition of unalienable rights and a democratically elected Republic to come up with a culture where it's okay to have the political and religious leadership be a right belonging to an aristocracy? I can't. Nevertheless, there it is, hiding all these years in plain sight.

The point of all this is the Lamanite and Nephite cultures were far different from ours and presented with a richness of detail an uneducated farm boy would likely think of or even consider including in a story.

There's more in this chapter to talk about, but that's for another time.

Enjoy the day!