Alma 43-52: Come Follow Me Book of Mormon with Sam

Welcome to come follow me with Sam! Mormon changes from talking mostly of the ministry and teaching to talking politics and war. In some ways that means we miss a some of the back story (although I'm not convinced Mormon himself sees it that way) and that means that we get rapid-fed background information on the largest Nephite/Lamanite conflict recorded up to that date. I'm going to bring out some of big lessons learned, hopefully with an eye to how they manifest themselves.

If you want to see like the Savior, be a missionary.

Before I go on, I realize that the Temple of Missionary Work has many mansions and some are filled with missionaries that could use the good word a good deal more than the people they are supposed to be serving. I get it. I mean here that if you want to see like the Savior, be a real missionary. May take 10 years+ (or a lifetime)

I think, with the wrapping up of the missionary chapters, it is important to recount this fascinating manner of being that the missionaries had.

Mosiah 28:3-4 - ...they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. And thus did the spirit of the lord work upon them.

Alma 17:23 - And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.

Alma 26:all of it but especially 37 - Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.

Alma 29:2 - Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

Alma 43:1 - And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth.

I know that during my own experience as a missionary, I felt these same things from time to time. I felt like I would do anything I could to help people who were really suffering. I felt like I should do anything in my power to bless people I had never met before. I felt incredibly connected to everyone, even many people who rejected the message I gave or treated my poorly. I can't think of a better way of seeing people like the Savior does than becoming one of His missionaries.

Why the war chapters?

I seem to hear this question more the older I get. When I was younger, I didn't need to think twice about it. It was to get boys and young men to read their scriptures obviously.

I have thought about it over the last couple years, and here are some of the reasons I believe this part was included.

1. We need to know how much the Nephites were willing to sacrifice for their freedom.

    I was in a discussion with a lady from Africa, and one of the participants asked her what the biggest thing she wished Americans would understand about her culture. Her response cut me all the way through: 

I wish Americans would understand how hard we fight for our freedom.

I'm still not entirely convinced I know what she meant by that. I feel that Mormon is pleading with us to understand the same thing she was trying to communicate to me that night.

2. We need to learn how to hold fast in hard times.

     I think most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struggle to relate the war chapters to their lives (and in a way, thank goodness for that!) The more I think about it, the more I think that these chapters are the easiest to relate to our lives because it tells the struggle of a people beset beyond their means to handle. Chaos within, chaos without, destruction, hardship, embarrassments and fears... The war chapters can help us understand how to withstand evil and even jut hardship in dark times. 

3. We can see how the spirit of righteousness of the people is more powerful to determining the outcome of wars than weapons or men.    

We see patterns across the Nephite civilization during this time of wickedness and righteousness and how it affects the outcomes of the war. If there was general righteousness among the people, they could have headed off Amalekiah, stopped the Zoramite dissension, stayed strong when the giant Lamanite armies attacked... The ties come together in this story.

4. We can get a glimpse of how bad evil can get.

    I think it would surprise most that we are only getting glimpses of the full war. Mormon abbreviates the events quite a bit. One event that he focuses on more than almost any other is how Amalekiah came to power. It is sometimes difficult for members of the church of Jesus Christ to picture how far bad men (or women) are able to go. The War chapters are a stark reminder that, as Joseph Smith said, 'ye know not the hearts of men in your own lands'.

The power of the citizen army - and a lesson in responsibility and agency

In chapter 43, Mormon has this to say about the Nephite Army:

45 Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a ^abetter cause, for they were not ^bfighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their ^cliberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.

There is a certain advantage of a volunteer citizen soldier army of free men that is hard to duplicate in other forms of armies. Stephen Ambrose pays homage to this concept in his book on the WWII western front by the title 'Citizen Soldiers' and makes references to a similar concept when he recounts the success of the Normandy Landings. I discovered reading another book, I believe it was 'How the West Won' that many of the American Sorties against the Japanese fleet in the battle of Midway were initiated from the rank and file squadrons, not from the commanders. This was the battle that fundamentally changed the balance of power by sinking four of the Japanese carriers, a loss they never recovered from.

Both the German and the Japanese command suffered from an austere unquestionable hierarchy that made it more difficult for the soldiers on the field to respond, adapt, or maneuver of their own initiative. While Nephite battles were arguably less complex, I believe that the Nephites benefited from the same advantage. The Lamanites appear motivated mainly by anger/vengefulness, gain, and in the end, desperation to not die. Mormon writes that the Nephite cause was even better, and that as the Lamanites became more desperate, Captain Moroni encouraged them with this reminder so that they over came even the desperation of a cornered army.

I'm currently reading 'Strategy' by Liddell Hart in which he ascribes the dominance in outcomes being psychological rather than physical and quotes Napolean Bonaparte as saying "In war, moral is to the physical as three to one". It is also from the French that we have the concept of "esprit de corps" the spirit of the army being a force itself. I believe that the Nephites felt like they really owned the things mentioned by Moroni (and Mormon). They had tamed them like St Exupery's little prince tamed the fox. They also took their power and strength from these things. When Captain Moroni has his epic show-down with Zerahemnah in the next chapter, he basically makes this very point. He says that the Nephites have conquered because of their belief. Zerahemnah says they have conquered because of primarily their physical preparation. It would seem as though Zerahemnah was wrong both in the power of God and in the power of the non-physical forces that determine a battle.

 Elder Bednar gave a talk in 2013 where he said 'It is better to not shrink than to survive'. The Nephites did not shrink from their duty. In verse 46, it says 'and they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God'. The Lamanites were surrounded by men who were better armored and began to fight for their survival (it says that they fought in their fierce anger but it seems pretty clear that it is from a feeling of desperation).

Could this be an example where Elder Bednar's words literally play out? Maybe not shrinking is a better cause not only in good vs evil but literally in the power you wield in outcome to survive.

One last note. Did you notice that 'rites of worship' is not spelled to mean constitutional or protected rights, it is spelled to mean the ceremonial acts? And it says that the Nephites fought for 'their all, yea, even their rites of worship and their church.

Talk about taking covenants seriously.

What does it take to make a 25 yr old 5 star general?

One thing that strikes me about the Book of Mormon is the number of young leaders there were. Captain Moroni, Mormon, Nephi... Every time I read this, I wonder how someone this young could be that good. I don't have an answer other than to ascribe it to the miraculous connection they had with the divine.

We have one close-to-modern example we an compare this to. Before Joan of Arc turned twenty, she was put in charge of the armed forces of a nation and turned the tide of the hundred years war. her single qualification? Connection to the divine.

In that selfsame hour

Isn't it interesting that the Nephites, according to vs 50, were delivered from the Lamanites in that self-same hour? This doesn't always happen. Limhi and Alma are good examples. I think the lesson we can learn is that there is a way to get deliverance in the self-same hour, and that is something we can strive to be worthy of.

Ye are angry with us because of our religion

Moroni, in his epic show-down with Zerahemah, says the Lamanites are 'angry with us because of our religion'. The Church of Jesus Christ through all ages has been 'a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense'. That is never going to go away, not before the millennium. That's okay that it won't go away. It doesn't make it okay for people to be angry because of someone else's religion though. You need to choose friends carefully and find those who will build you up. It is not okay for your friends to drag you down for seeking the best in you and for you to take it because 'they are your friends'. And in this case, it is not okay for people to kill you because you are seeking the best thing you know.

In some ways, it is very strange that this is the case. Notice how the Zoramites and Amulonites are the most embittered, and the Lamanites wouldn't go to war if it wasn't for them.

There are a lot of really amazing things that are happening in these chapters. I need to get this out so I'm going to cut it off here, but I would love to hear your comments on all the things that happen in these chapters, especially in the attitudes and motivations of these people.