For My Profit and Learning

In contrast to the murder, corruption, and deception employed by Amalickiah, in chapter 48 we read about the virtues of Moroni, and the pains he took to prepare his people to defend themselves.  Amalickiah had consolidated his control of the Lamanites, and now set his sites on conquering the Nephites. His first step was a propaganda campaign to stoke Lamanite animosity toward the Nephites. "He did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites" (Alma 48:1), and "he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous host to go to battle against the Nephites" (Alma 48:3). Through his fear mongering, Amalickiah manipulated the Lamanites into pursuing an unjustified war of aggression.  "Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God" (Alma 48:7). Prophets of God, even

Chapter 47 details how Amalickiah executed his cunning strategy to take control of the army, murder the king, and ascend to the throne. He incited the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites, but not all of the Lamanites were willing to go to war. The king of the Lamanites sent Amalickiah with the soldiers that supported the king to compel the dissenting Lamanites to fight. Instead, Amalickiah used it as an opportunity to take control of the army.  "Now it was not Amalickiah’s intention to give them battle according to the commandments of the king; but behold, it was his intention to gain favor with the armies of the Lamanites, that he might place himself at their head and dethrone the king and take possession of the kingdom" (Alma 37:8). After multiple entreaties, Amalickiah persuaded the leader of the dissenting soldiers, Lehonti, to meet with him, and  "Amalickiah desired him to come down with his army in the night-time, and surround those men in their camps

A man named Amalickiah sought to be king and manipulated the lower judges of the land  "that  were seeking for power"  in order to overthrow the government (Alma 46:4).  In response to sedition among the Nephites, the military leader Moroni led a movement to protect the values and political integrity of the Nephite nation.  The account of Amalickiah and Moroni highlights the power of leaders, good and bad, to save or destroy entire peoples.  As a result of Amlickiah's avarice, "the affairs of the people of Nephi [were] exceedingly precarious and dangerous, notwithstanding their great victory which they had had over the Lamanites ... Yea, and we also see the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men" (Alma 46:7, 9). I am intrigued by the motivations of the lower judges of the land and the people who supported Amlickiah. They followed him because "t hey had been led by the  flatteries  of Amalickiah, that if th

Alma commands his son Helaman to keep the records of their people, and prophesies that after Christ comes, the Nephites will become wicked and be destroyed. Before entrusting Helaman with the task of keeping the sacred records of the Nephites, he interviewed him. Believest thou the words which I spake unto thee concerning those records which have been kept? (Alma 45:2) And Helaman said unto him: Yea, I believe. (Alma 45:3) And Alma said again: Believest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come? (Alma 45:4) And he said: Yea, I believe all the words which thou hast spoken. (Alma 45:5) And Alma said unto him again: Will ye keep my commandments? (Alma 45:6) And he said: Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart. (Alma 45:7) Then Alma said unto him: Blessed art thou; and the Lord shall prosper thee in this land (Alma 45:8) Alma asked him if he believed the scriptures, if he believed in Jesus Christ, and if he was willing to keep the commandments, and promised Helaman th

In the course of a fierce battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Moroni's forces surrounded the Lamanites and entrapped them in and on the banks of the river Sidon. Moroni offered the Lamanites a truce if they would put down their weapons and promise not to attack the Nephites again in the future. Zerahamnah, the leader of the Lamanites refused, and the Nephites proceeded to destroy the Lamanite forces.  While extending this truce to the Lamanites, Moroni testified that their faith in God had given them a military advantage and that the Lord supports those who follow Him in righteousness. " Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are  faithful  unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith" (Alma 44:4). It is important to note that God did not prevent the Lama

Chapter 43 transitions from Alma's instructions to his sons and their missionary work to recount the war that broke out between the Nephites and the Lamanites. These chapters, loosely referred to as the "war chapters" have always been a struggle for me as I try to glean spiritual lessons from the detailed account of their battles and strategies. I always come back to the question "Why would the Lord command that this record be made and preserved?" Given the difficult task of abridging the record of the people, and the challenges of engraving it on metal plates, what about these war stories met the threshold? I don't have an answer to these questions or understand why they were recorded when only a small fraction of the records of the people were preserved in the Book of Mormon, but these questions help keep me curious and engaged to try to understand their purpose.  For me one helpful but hackneyed approach is to draw large parallels between the "

Alma concludes his conversation with Corianton by teaching about justice and mercy, and encouraging his son to repent.  He prefaces his comments by talking about the fall of Adam and Eve. Because they partook of the forbidden fruit,  " our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own   will " (Alma 43:7-8). As fallen man, we are separated from God. We all sin and we will all die. While uncomfortable and even dangerous, this mortal state is essential for us to grow.  Alma described this process of growth as becoming "subjects to follow after [our] own will ."  Usually when we think of "subjects" we think of subordinates of a king or queen; people who are subjected to the rule and authority of a monarch. In other contexts, we could be subject to inspection, subject to change, subject to approval, or subject to availability. This is not how Alma