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Alma 53-63 | Book of Mormon Insights: Revisited · Scripture Central

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Throughout the Book of Mormon, you have the phrase and it came
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to pass. In fact, if you turn to page 350
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and just look at the beginning of many of the verses, you'll
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see the phrase and it came to pass.
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Now, we could have talked about this at the beginning of the
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Book of Mormon year. We just decided to talk about
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it. Now I want to share several
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perspectives of why this is one of the most important phrases in
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the Book of Mormon. First of all, just the literal
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perspective. And it came to pass not, and it
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came to stay not, and it came to linger forever.
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It just came to pass. Whatever suffering you're
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dealing with right now, it comes to pass.
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It comes for the purpose of passing everything we
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experience. Since life will pass on by
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eventually, we will be brought back into God's presence.
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All of our suffering will be but for a moment.
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So when I see this phrase, I take comfort that this too shall
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pass. Another thought the phrase and
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it came to pass. If you translate it back into
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the ancient Hebrew, that phrase is actually the engine of the
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narrative. So imagine you want a car to go
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a little faster. You put your foot on the pedal
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and Rev off. How in a narrative does a
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storyteller tell you that the action is moving forward and not
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just to linger on anyone single scene?
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In ancient Hebrew, they would use this phrase today.
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If you think about a good action film, one of the ways you know
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it's fast action is there's lots of editorial cuts.
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Like every couple of seconds there's a different angle or a
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different view of what's going on.
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In some ways, this is what the phrase and it came to pass does.
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It pushes the narrative forward. It tells you, I got to keep
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reading, there's more that's happening.
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It's intended to encourage you to realize there's a lot of
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action going on in the narrative to drive you forward in the
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storytelling. OK, now this other idea may be a
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little bit speculative, but here's another thought I'd like
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to share. The underlying Hebrew phrase,
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and it came to pass, comes from the same Hebrew word that makes
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up the Hebrew word for God. We know that word as Jehovah.
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More appropriately in Hebrew, it's Yahweh.
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And why I think this is significant is the word Yahweh
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is the present tense of the Hebrew verb to be.
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The word to be is never used in Hebrew in the present tense
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ever, except the name God. You can use the future tense of
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to be or the past tense, but only present tense is fully
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occupied only by God, the self existing one, the one who brings
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about all things. And how this connects is and it
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came to pass is kind of like the past tense of the verb to be,
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which basically what I see it as meaning is it is Jehovah our
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God, Jesus Christ of the Old Testament, who brings to pass
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all things, even our salvation. So whenever you happen to see
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this phrase, you might think of it literally like everything in
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life will pass on by. Or you might realize this is
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helping to drive for the narrative.
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And it's a very powerful way to tell a story, at least in the
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ancient world. But significantly, it can remind
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us that God is the self existing one who brings to pass all that
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is good in our salvation. All right, let's just use the
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map for a minute to paint a picture of where we are as we
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open up Alma 53. So if you notice on the map,
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we've lost all of the cities on the eastern seacoast of
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Zarahemla, and we've lost four of the cities on the southern
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border with the the Lamanites. You've lost Manti, Zezaram,
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Qumani, and Antipara. Pretty rough situation for these
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Nephites to be facing as you analyze this struggle.
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Captain Moroni, Like we mentioned last week, Captain
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Moroni doesn't focus on every single city at once.
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He focuses on one. Once he has retaken Mulich, he
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then uses all of the prisoners that he's acquired in those
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battles, and at the beginning of Chapter 53, he puts those
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prisoners to work in fortifying the city of and the the land of
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Bountiful. In those first three or four
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verses of chapter 53, they're causing this huge breastwork of
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Timbers in the big ditch round about the land or the city of
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Bountiful to be built. Then he makes an interesting
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comment. Look at verse five.
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This city became an exceeding stronghold ever after.
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And in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites.
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Isn't that fascinating? It's Lamanite prisoners who
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build up this city and make it this exceeding stronghold ever
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after. Now look at the second-half of
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verse 5. Now Moroni was compelled to
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cause the Lamanites to labor because it was easy to guard
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them while at their labor, and he desired all his forces when
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he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.
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I could be dead wrong on this, but it seems to me that if we
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apply the Book of Mormon to our own life as a handbook for how
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to wage our own battles against the forces of darkness and the
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forces of evil, both in the unseen and in the same world,
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that if we spend less time being idle, then it's easier to guard
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those forces that are part of our character.
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Those enemies within, if we stay active, it's easier to guard the
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natural man and the natural woman when we're actively
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building fortifications of faith and serving people than it is
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when we're sitting idle. So notice verse eight.
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It came to pass that the armies of Lamanites on the West Sea S
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while in the absence of Moroni, on account of some intrigue
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amongst the Nephites which caused dissensions among them,
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had gained some ground over the Nephites in so much that they
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had obtained possession of a number of the cities in that
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part of the land. We talked about that before,
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those four cities on the South that are listed later on.
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Notice also verse 9. Thus, because of iniquity
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amongst themselves, Yeah, because of dissensions and
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intrigue amongst themselves, they were placed in the most
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dangerous circumstances. Brothers and sisters, the
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message here to me is the the enemy to really watch out for is
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not the Lamanites. Yes, that you've got to, you've
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got to be aware of those external forces.
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But the real enemy in these war chapters consistently is the
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enemy within. It's the enemy that is leading
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to dissensions that allows this weakening of my defenses that
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then makes me susceptible to those outward influences.
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Hence the need to stay on guard at the inner vessel before we're
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worrying about what everybody else is doing wrong or or how to
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protect ourselves from everybody else.
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Perhaps the best question to ask is what is in my character that
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I need help with from the Lord to fortify to make sure that it
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doesn't weaken my outer forces and make me susceptible?
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People might think this sounds a little simplistic, but there is
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deep power and wisdom in simple things.
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As we learn in the Book of Mormon.
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The 10 commandments can be summarized by two statements.
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Love God, love your neighbor. If these two things were taking
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place here in the Book of Mormon, would all these wars
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have happened? No.
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And these are actually the fundamentals.
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And so when we, as Tyler's talking about, look at ourselves
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and say, how well am I doing it seeking to love God and how well
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am I doing at loving others? And to make it a little
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personal, I think I'm usually pretty good at this.
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But this one I've often talked to God like, you know, if you
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could just change my neighbors a bit more, it would be easier to
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love them. And usually the change that I'm
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expecting my neighbors is actually first change in my own
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heart. We can look at our own society
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today, and the problems we have in our society fundamentally
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come down to how well are we as individuals loving God and
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loving our neighbor. And we see the consequences in
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the Book of Mormon of what happens when people don't do one
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or don't do both of those things.
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Now you have this group of anti Nephi Lehigh's, the, the people
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of Ammon, they've been called, who were formerly Lamanites, who
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now had been moved from Gershon over to Milek.
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Captain Moroni at the beginning of this war saw the the struggle
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coming. And so he he relocated them to
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Milek. Let me just set the stage here
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for a minute. It was roughly, we don't have an
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exact time, but it's give or take one year.
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It's been about 13 years ago when the entire group for the
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first time back in Alma chapter 24, buried their weapons deep in
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the earth and made a covenant to God saying we will never pick up
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these swords again. 13 years previous and over 1000 of the
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men died. Which means now you have the
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next generation, these boys that have grown up who did not enter
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into that covenant. They were too young at the time
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or perhaps some have been born after.
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We don't know their exact ages of the people who made
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covenants, and we don't know the exact ages of the stripling
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warriors. What we know, that is in chapter
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53, starting in verse 16, it gives us some descriptions of
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these boys. It came to pass that they had
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many sons who had not entered into a covenant, that they would
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not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their
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enemies. Therefore they did assemble
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themselves together this time as many were as were able to take
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up arms, and they called themselves Nephites and they
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entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites
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yet to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives.
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Yeah, even they covenanted that they would never give up their
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liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the
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Nephites and themselves from bondage.
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You'll notice the generation before them had covenanted.
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We will not fight now this generation covenants, we will
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fight. We will lay down our life.
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This generation hasn't been raised in in war, in learning
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how to fight and learning how to kill and learning how to delight
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in the shedding of blood like generations before them had in
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their genealogy charts. These boys come from a long line
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of ferocious and bloodthirsty people based on their own
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descriptions of themself. The question is how many of them
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have spent any time with their dads or their brothers, their
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older brothers or their uncles or grandpas, learning all of the
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insides and outsides of how to fight and how to kill and how to
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be violent. Chances are some of these boys
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have never really been trained at all because this just isn't
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part of their culture. And with 1000 plus of the men
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having been killed, there's, there's got to be at least a
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number of these boys who were raised without a doubt, in a
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single parent home by only a mother.
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We don't know that for sure, but they sure put a lot of emphasis
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on their mothers, as we're going to see later on in the lesson.
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Notice verse 20. They were all young men and they
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were exceedingly valiant for courage and also for strength
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and activity. But behold, this was not all.
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They were men who were true at all times and whatsoever thing
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they were entrusted. And they were men of truth and
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soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments
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of God and to walk uprightly before Him.
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That is what our world is missing today is people who
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learn the basic all of the commandments of God, like Taylor
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said, can be summed up in these two.
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Jesus did that. This is the law and the
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prophets, the heavens looking down at this earth.
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Oh, how refreshing it would be if if more and more and more
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they could see people who are exact in keeping these
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commandments of God true at all times, exceedingly valiant for
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courage and strength to stand up for for what is right.
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And so then in verse 22 it says it came to pass.
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The human did March at the head of his 2000 Stripling soldiers
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to the support of the people in the borders of the land on the
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South by the West Sea. On the map that puts us down in
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this southern southwest corner of the land of Zarahemla.
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We'll pick up the Stripling warrior story in Chapter 56.
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We put it aside for a moment to talk about this interim of
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what's happening between Ameron and Moroni, because in Chapter
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54, you open up with Ameron having sent a message to Captain
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Moroni saying, hey, let's exchange prisoners.
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And Moroni then says, yeah, I'll write a letter.
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So he writes this letter to to Ameron, the brother of Malachiah
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in here. He basically says it like it is
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from his view of this world and of the injustice that's happened
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with a Malachi coming in and destroying so many lives.
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He has no patience for what Amaran's trying to do.
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There's nothing good in Amaran's cause here and Captain Morano
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makes that very clear. Look at verse seven.
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Yeah, I would tell these things if you were capable of
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hearkening unto them. Yeah, I would tell you
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concerning that awful hell that awaits to receive such murders
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as thou and thy brother have been, except you repent and
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withdraw your murders purposes. You can sense some some sarcasm
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and some frustration in in Moroni's words here.
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I would tell you these things if you were capable of hearkening
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unto them. But it's almost like you're so
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far gone. I, I'm probably just wasting my
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time here, but I'll try. Look at verse 11.
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But behold, it supposeth me that I talk to you concerning these
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things in vain, or supposeth me that thou art a child of hell.
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Therefore I'll close my epistle. Verse 13.
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Behold, I am in my anger and also my people, you have sought
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to murder us. The reality is, is Captain
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Maroni has been fighting for his life and for freedom and for his
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religion and for his people and for his land, and he's watched
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thousands dying around him. He's probably wounded.
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He's going to die at age 43. This is a rough life.
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And he's calling it like it is when he's when he's writing this
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letter. Well, Amron gets the epistle
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shocker, verse 15. He was angry.
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Look at verse 16 part way through.
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Behold, I will avenge his Amalekaya, his brother's blood
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upon you. Yeah, I will come upon you with
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my armies, for I fear not your threatenings.
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Now check out 17 For behold, your father's did wrong their
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brethren, insomuch that they did rob them of their right to the
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government when it rightly belonged to them.
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That's odd. Your father's robbed the right
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of leadership and the government from their brothers to whom it
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did rightly belong. If you look at the date for
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Chapter 54, it's somewhere around 63 BC.
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So once again, Ameron here is calling up perceived wrongs that
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occurred 530 some odd years ago. That's interesting.
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His brother Amalekaya, just a few years previous to this, went
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down to the land of the Lamanites and through intrigue
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and devilish deception, killed the Lamanite king and stole the
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ruling of the Lamanite people from him.
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Verse 17. For behold, your father's did
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wrong their brethren 540 years ago.
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But my brother went and robbed the right of the government when
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it rightly belonged to the Lamanites.
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My brother took it. Now I've got that very same
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throne. The irony's thick.
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Evil leaders often make it hard for people to see the truth by
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blaming others for what they, the wicked leaders themselves,
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have done. Welcome verse 18.
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Now behold, if you will lay down your arms and subject yourselves
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to be governed by those to whom the government does rightly
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belong, then will I 'cause that my people shall lay down their
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weapons and shall be at war no more really.
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So if you just, if you just surrender and, and let the
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government be controlled by the Lamanites, AKA me Amron, who in
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verse 23, I'm a descendant of Azorum.
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He's not a Lamanite. He's calling himself a Lamanite,
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then then we won't be at war anymore and we'll just all live
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in peace together. Really.
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Notice verse 24. Now behold, I am a bold
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Lamanite. Behold, this war has been waged
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to avenge their wrongs and to maintain and to obtain their
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rights to the government. And I close my epistle to
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Moroni. Just be careful as we move
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forward that we stay focused on seeking truth from good sources,
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AKA inspired sources. The scriptures, the living
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prophets, inspired leaders, and trusted people around us.
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There are a lot of voices out there, and there are a lot of
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people making claims of truth and promises for what will
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happen if you do certain things. We need to be careful.
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You'll notice that when there are these big differences of
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opinion that sometimes our solution is to fight.
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Now in Captain Moroni's case, in human and the stripling warriors
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case, they have to fight. That is the world they're living
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in. That is their solution is call
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upon God's help to strengthen them in fighting, physically
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pushing back. But in a lot of our cultural
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battles today, listen to these wise words from Martin Luther
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King Junior. Returning violence for violence
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multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night
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already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out
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darkness. Only light can do that.
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Hate cannot drive out hate, only love and do that.
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This idea that when you see darkness, when you see hate,
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when you see conflict in relationships around you, the
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solution isn't to return darkness for darkness, or hate
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for hate, or conflict for conflict.
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It's to try to resolve, try to understand and try to move
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forward. We all deal with frustrating
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experiences in life, and we all deal with people with whom we
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disagree. OK, the world is full of people
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who have disagreements, and it's OK to have disagreements.
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But it's important to learn how to communicate well.
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And let me just share with you something I read in a book
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recently about how to communicate in really difficult
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circumstances. First of all, there's four
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rules. You have to 1st restate what the
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other person's thoughts are like what what do they actually
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think? What they've communicated
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something, restate it to them. And then you have to identify
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where you guys have agreement. In most cases, you can find
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something to agree with. You don't agree with people on
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everything, but there's probably something you agree on.
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So you have to identify what that agreement is, then state
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what you've learned from that person.
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Now that's hard, because that takes a lot of humility.
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I would rather state what people should learn from me, but that's
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not how the rule works. You have to state what you've
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learned from the other person. Then only after you've done all
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that can you then identify and describe where there's still
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disagreement. So if you're dealing with
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difficulties in interacting with other people, maybe over
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disagreements, try this approach, be thoughtful about
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it, restating what they've said, identifying where you have
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agreement, expressing gratitude for what you've learned from
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them, and being clear about that, and then describing what
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the disagreement is. Now let me just finish with one
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other thought. Well, if you read Alma 54 again,
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you can see a lens through which to see the modern world,
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particularly the adversaries, attack against us, the
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adversaries like Amron, he wants to fight.
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The adversary wants to fight this eternal war to 'cause our
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extinction. And like Moroni, we have to be
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willing to defend the truth against the onslaught of the
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adversary. So if you're looking for a
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handbook for how to stand against the devil who would lie
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to you, this is way to do it. And then finally, I want you to
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look at how people have identified themselves in this
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text. As Tyler pointed out, Ameron is
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making all these claims. He's a Zoramite, he's a
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Lamanite, and he he, he identifies himself in certain
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way and therefore he has to act a certain way.
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Sometimes the problems we get into in this world is because of
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the identities that are forced upon us or that we take upon
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ourselves. And ultimately, what is the only
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identity that truly should define who we are, that we are
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children of God and followers of Christ, Christians.
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All other identities really should be ancillary, secondary,
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and definitely should not be the driving force for our actions.
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The identity that should drive forth our actions, our
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decisions, is the identity of being a child of God.
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Now, Chapter 55, Captain Moroni says I'm not exchanging
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prisoners anymore with this guy. I know where they're keeping the
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prisoners. And so he does something
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different in 55 and ends up freeing all of the Nephite
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prisoners anyway. It's beautiful how he does that
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as you read through that one on your own.
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Now we go to 56 and pick up this story from the Stripling
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Warriors. Let's go to the map.
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So what you have here to give the lay of the land, you have
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the Stripling Warriors and their families have been relocated
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over to Melek. There's this city called Judea
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that seems to be a protection point for Minan and Zarahemla,
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all of the the lands and regions to the north and below Judea.
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You have these four cities that have been taken over in the
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South. So if you go to chapter 56,
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verse 14, it says the land of Manti or the city of Manti and
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the city of Zezran and the city of Cumini and the city of
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Antipara. Now these are the cities which
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they possessed when I arrived at the city of Judea.
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So he finds Antipas, the leader of the Nephite forces at Judea,
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and his men are stressed out because they're looking at these
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four cities to the South and realizing we're in trouble.
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So Antipas, together with Kilaman, they come up with this
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great plan. They say, OK, let's use a
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strategy. So in verse 31 it says we're
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going to March near the city of Antapara as if we were going to
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the city beyond in the borders by the seashore.
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We don't know the name of that city, so I've simply labeled it
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city by the sea over here on the the West.
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So this was a pretty simple strategy that they came up with.
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We're going to take the stripling warriors.
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We're going to March them close by, close enough to be clearly
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seen by the people in Antapara, and they're going to go by as if
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they're headed out to that city by the sea.
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The large army, the biggest army of the Lamanites in that part of
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the land are in Antapara. They're going to see this, and
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they're going to say, hey, there goes all those young men, let's
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go get them. Easy Pickens, right?
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So they're going to take this whole group, we're going to run
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away, and then Antspus, you bring your bigger army behind.
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Hopefully we'll be able to get this huge army away from the
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city where we can then somehow circle back and take the city.
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Everything works exactly as planned and they turn northward
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right now look at verse 36. It came to pass that we did flee
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before them northward, and thus we did lead away the most
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powerful army of the Lamanites yet, even to a considerable
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distance. And so now they're running and
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they're looking back, and here comes this huge army, and behind
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them is Antipas, and everybody's just running northward That
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night. They camp in the morning, they
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wake up, the Lamanites are pursuing them.
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So the stripling worries wake up and they run northward again.
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And we run all that day. It's just a big cross country
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event. They just keep running, running,
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running, running. They camp that night.
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The next morning they wake up, the Lamanites are upon them.
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They take off running again. They're in the morning of the
25:19
third day when all of a sudden, part way through the morning,
25:23
they stop and they look behind them, and the Lamanites aren't
25:26
chasing them anymore. And thus begins one of the most
25:30
amazing sections of the war chapters, in my opinion.
25:33
For, for, for my from my perspective, look at verse 43.
25:39
And now whether they were overtaken by Antipus, we knew
25:43
not. But I said unto my men, Behold,
25:45
we know not but that they have halted for the purpose that we
25:48
should come against them, that they might catch us in their
25:52
snare. Therefore, what say ye, my sons?
25:55
Will ye go against them to battle?
25:57
By the way, I just have to say this.
25:59
Here's Heelman, a Nephite. Here are all of these Lamanite
26:03
descendants who now consider themselves Nephites, and he's
26:07
calling them my sons. I love that.
26:10
We don't know what all the implications of the Lamanite
26:13
Nephite race were for sure, but Heelman doesn't see that.
26:18
He sees sons of God sitting in front of him and he's claiming
26:22
them as his adopted sons. I love that.
26:27
Notice his question. Will you go against them to
26:29
battle? Verse 45.
26:31
And now I send to you, my beloved brother Moroni, that
26:34
never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all
26:37
the Nephites, for as I'd ever called them my sons, for they
26:40
were all of them very young. I don't know their exact ages,
26:44
but they're stripling warriors. They could be 12/13/14.
26:50
Imagine deacons or teachers here and stripling comes from the
26:53
word like a strip. Imagine a strip of bark off of a
26:56
tree. It's thin, it's not filled out.
26:58
What's interesting is King David, shepherd boy David, after
27:02
he defeats Goliath, Saul tries to figure out who it was and he
27:06
says go find the stripling. So even young David, who went
27:11
forth and courage to fight against the enemies of God is
27:14
described with the same word. And so we might think of these
27:18
men, both in body and in spirit, like the young shepherd boy
27:22
David. So picking back up in 46 for
27:25
they were all of them very young Even so they said unto me,
27:30
Father, notice he called them my sons.
27:33
They're reciprocating. Father, behold, our God is with
27:38
us, and he will not suffer that we should fall.
27:41
Then let us go forth. We would not slay our brethren
27:46
if they would let us alone. Therefore, let us go, lest they
27:49
should overpower the army of Antipas.
27:51
One thing I love doing in my scripture reading and scripture
27:55
study is to pay close attention not just to what the Scriptures
27:59
say, but to pause and reflect sometimes on what the Scriptures
28:03
don't say. What these stripling warriors
28:06
didn't say was let us go forth. We would not fight our brethren.
28:13
They didn't say that. What they said here was we would
28:16
not slay our brethren. That's pretty bold, these boys
28:22
who have never fought before, saying we wouldn't kill our
28:25
brothers if they would leave us alone, but they won't.
28:27
So we have to go and kill him. We're going to go kill him,
28:29
Healman. We're not just going to struggle
28:31
with them. We're going to go kill him.
28:33
That is faith. That's trust in God.
28:38
They're not trusting in the in the, the arm of flesh or in
28:41
their skill with the bow and the arrow and the the sword and the
28:45
scimitar in the shield. They don't have a lot of
28:48
experience with that, but they trust God.
28:50
And so they intend to go back and slay their brethren.
28:54
Look at verse 47. Now they never had fought, yet
28:57
they did not fear death. And they did think more upon the
29:00
liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives.
29:03
Yeah. And they had been taught by
29:04
their mothers that if they did not doubt God would deliver
29:07
them, notice that God would deliver them.
29:12
It's not the strategies, it's not their strength, it's not
29:16
their their leaders, it's God is going to be doing the
29:20
delivering. And now why do they have such
29:22
faith? Verse 48, they rehearsed unto me
29:25
the words of their mothers, saying we do not doubt our
29:30
mothers knew it. Years ago I watched an
29:34
incredible production called Saints at War about members of
29:37
the church fighting in World War Two.
29:39
There was one particular story in that in that series that has
29:44
never left me. It's one that was told by Elder
29:47
Neil A Maxwell, who fought in World War 2 on the island of
29:51
Okinawa. And he told the exam the
29:53
experience of when his group had taken a high position on that
29:58
island And the enemy forces had a couple of mortar launchers
30:07
firing shells trying to triangulate and get the exact
30:11
location of this group of of American soldiers.
30:16
And he said the shells were landing closer and closer and
30:20
closer until one hit just outside of camp.
30:22
And he said they all knew it. They all knew, OK, they know
30:26
right where we are and now they're going to the next shells
30:30
in are going to destroy us. We're done, He said.
30:33
They all hunkered down in their foxholes and nothing happened.
30:39
It was odd, great miracle, but they survived.
30:45
Elder Maxwell tells the story that after the war, his aunt
30:49
pulled him aside once and said, Neil, did you ever hear the
30:52
story of what happened one night with your mother when you were
30:56
off at war? And he said no.
30:59
And she then said, well, on one particular night, your mother
31:03
and father said their prayers, as was customary here in Utah,
31:07
and went to bed. A little while later, she said,
31:10
your mother sat up up in bed, grabbed your father by the arm
31:16
and said, Clarence Neil is in grave danger.
31:21
We need to pray now. You can picture this mother half
31:26
a world away, time zones away, who's pouring her heart out to
31:33
God in behalf of her boy, Elder Maxwell then emotionally said.
31:40
I did not doubt my mother knew it.
31:44
I don't think it was weather. I don't think it was a lack of
31:47
armaments. I don't think it was pure
31:51
mechanical misfunction of the weapons that caused this group
31:58
to not be bombed. It's possible that it was the
32:01
faith of one woman half a world away and others like her.
32:07
Which brings us back to our story of the stripling warriors.
32:10
Their mothers had sent these young men, these striplings, off
32:14
to war. Mothers who knew that these
32:16
young men had never fought before.
32:18
They've never been trained in war, they've never seen battle,
32:21
and they send them off to war. You'll notice looking at the
32:25
map, if you've been on a three day journey leaving Judea and
32:30
then you're on the morning of the third day running for your
32:33
life that whole time, That puts you somewhere up here fairly
32:37
close to M and I hop across the the wilderness area from Milek
32:44
where all these moms and these families are.
32:47
I don't know and we can't prove this, but something, something
32:51
in my soul says that those mothers in me like this morning
32:56
of this battle, that there were a lot of moms that morning
33:00
pouring their heart out to God in behalf of their young sons,
33:04
pleading with Him to strengthen them.
33:07
Something also tells me that many of their fathers and
33:12
grandfathers and uncles and older brothers who maybe have
33:15
passed on are possibly part of that battle as well.
33:19
Because the Old Testament is filled with stories of help from
33:23
the other side, from people who do know how to fight.
33:26
There seems to me that this, that the numbers and what
33:30
happens here, it's beyond mortal explanation.
33:35
It has to be miraculous because they come down into this battle
33:39
and sure enough, Antipus is dead, many of the chief captains
33:43
of the Nephite army is dead, and the Lamanites are are winning
33:47
when all of a sudden here come these 2000 stripling warriors
33:50
from behind. Turn that Lamanite army around
33:53
and they fight with fury. And you'll notice at the end,
33:58
once they've won and the Lamanites have surrendered.
34:01
Verse 56 Behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of
34:06
them fallen to the earth. Yeah, and they had fought as if
34:10
with the strength of God. You never were men known to have
34:14
fought with such miraculous strength and with such mighty
34:17
power did they fall upon the Lamanites that they did frighten
34:21
them. And for this cause, did the
34:22
Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war?
34:25
These are young men who've never fought.
34:27
And you've got grown veteran men who've lived their whole life
34:32
entrenched in warfare who are saying, whoa, I give up.
34:36
I give up. I've never seen this kind of
34:38
strength. There's something miraculous
34:40
happening there. Now, there are a lot of
34:44
different kinds of battles going on today, most of which don't
34:48
involve swords and Shields and bows and arrows.
34:51
But we have family members, we have loved ones, we have people
34:55
on this planet who are engaged in all kinds of battles as we
35:00
turn to God to plead with Him to help us win those battles in
35:07
All, in all of their formats. And as mothers and fathers plead
35:13
for heaven's power to be called down for angelic help to be
35:19
brought into the lives of their children, their grandchildren,
35:23
siblings, and in some cases even parents and grandparents.
35:28
As we pray for this divine aid to come, I believe that this
35:32
story can become more reflective of our worlds around us today.
35:38
So as we finish one miraculous battle and turn the page over to
35:41
chapter 57, we see another coming our way.
35:45
We get 60 more of the younger brothers of these 2000 stripling
35:51
warriors. So now we're at 2060.
35:54
And in chapter 57 you get this, this additional battle.
35:58
Look at verse 19. But behold, my little band of
36:03
2060 fought most desperately. Yeah, they were firm before the
36:07
Lamanites, and they did administer death unto all those
36:09
who opposed them. Look at verse 21.
36:12
Yeah, they did obey and observe to perform every word of command
36:16
with exactness. Yeah, and even according to
36:19
their faith, it was done unto them.
36:21
And I did remember the words which they said unto me that
36:23
their mothers had taught them. Don't ever underestimate the
36:27
power of what takes place in a mother child relationship.
36:34
Those words of faith that infuse those children, even if those
36:38
children struggle for years or even decades, that mother's love
36:42
and that mother's faith is real and it's powerful.
36:45
Jump down to verse 27. Now this was the faith of those
36:50
of whom I have spoken. They are young and their minds
36:53
are firm and they do put their trust in God continually.
36:59
Have you ever noticed in scriptures the contrast between
37:05
talking about a mind being firm and a heart being the opposite?
37:12
A hard heart, a firm heart is never a good thing in
37:16
scriptures. It's always a soft heart, but
37:20
it's never a soft mind. It's never a completely open to
37:25
every idea and every wind of doctrine that blows kind of a
37:28
mind. I think Heelman has described
37:32
for us here through these stripling warriors what it means
37:35
to have a firm mind. Back in verse 21, they observed
37:39
to perform every word of command with exactness.
37:42
There's firmness. They're connected with God, they
37:45
know the commandments, and they're firmly rooted in the
37:48
rock of our Redeemer. As opposed to saying, hey, I
37:52
don't have to just trust in God consuming.
37:54
I can trust in the arm of flesh. I can trust in the philosophies
37:57
of the world. Every wind of doctrine that
37:59
blows is not a firm mind. It's interesting if you do a
38:04
word search in your scriptures on the word mind and then look
38:07
at the words that the scriptures and the prophets associate with
38:10
mind. It's never soft, it's never open
38:14
in the same way as the world would preach it.
38:18
It's a firmness, it's a steadfastness, it's an exactness
38:21
in being obedient to the commands of God.
38:24
Yeah, this is a really powerful insight.
38:27
So we work at the university, and it is true we often tell
38:30
students you want to have an open mind.
38:31
But I think what we're really trying to encourage our students
38:34
is to have an open heart. Because if you have the firm
38:39
foundation, if you are solid in the truth of God, you can have
38:46
an open heart to empathize with other people and understand
38:50
their circumstances, to at least understand how they view the
38:54
world. But the idea to have an open
38:56
mind means that you actually no longer have a center.
39:00
We're talking from the scriptural standpoint.
39:02
And there's this false idea in the world today that all
39:06
opinions are created equal, and it just isn't true.
39:11
There are some things that are true and there's some things
39:13
that aren't, and there's actually some gradations of
39:15
things that are mostly true and somewhat false.
39:18
But if you center on what you know to be true, that Jesus
39:21
Christ is our Savior, that God loves us, that we should love
39:26
God, love our neighbor, we can have an open heart to understand
39:31
other people who may be struggling with those truths.
39:34
But we would hope that in this time of world where there's just
39:38
so much information in the world that you remember the most
39:42
important saving truths and hold on to those and don't simply be
39:47
LED away by every wind of doctrine.
39:50
Sure, it's great to learn power and I spend a lot of time
39:53
teaching and learning, but make sure that you are founded on
39:57
truths that matter, the values that matter.
40:00
And again, loving God, loving your neighbor.
40:04
And if you keep those at the center, Jesus Christ.
40:07
It's pretty hard to be LED away by the false philosophies of men
40:11
that are quite flattering. And if they're spoken enough,
40:14
and loudly, many of us feel like we they must be true.
40:17
But the still small voice recommends to us that we stay
40:21
with Jesus. OK, so as we finish up Chapter
40:25
57 and the miraculous deliverance of these stripling
40:30
warriors in that chapter, you open up 58 and you'll notice
40:36
that their problems and their struggles don't go away.
40:39
Kind of like life, you miraculously overcome one
40:43
challenge, one adversity, one trial of your faith, only to
40:47
then get ready for whatever's coming next.
40:51
And in this case, the struggle is here, the stripling warriors
40:56
with far too few people and far too few provisions to defend all
41:01
of the cities that they've taken back.
41:04
And they're watching the Lamanites in the the opposing
41:08
cities here getting reinforced and filled with provisions.
41:14
And it's frustrating, and they know it's just a matter of time
41:17
before they're going to be overrun.
41:18
What do you do when you're looking at opposition mounting
41:22
in front of you and you feel hopeless?
41:26
You, you, you don't have anywhere to turn.
41:28
Nobody's helping you. Look at verse 10.
41:31
Therefore, we did pour out our souls in prayer to God that he
41:36
would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our
41:39
enemies. Yeah.
41:39
And also give us strength that we might retain our cities and
41:42
our lands and our possessions for the support of our people.
41:45
Their prayer isn't about their own life alone.
41:48
It's in support of the people. Look at verse 11.
41:50
Yeah. And it came to pass that the
41:52
Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver
41:56
us. Yeah, in so much that he did
41:58
speak peace to our souls and did grant unto us great faith and
42:03
did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.
42:07
This verse is so relevant, so applicable today in our world,
42:14
as much as it ever was for these stripling warriors back then or
42:19
anybody else in the history of time.
42:22
God is powerful. He will speak peace to our mind.
42:26
You can be in the midst of incredible opposition and still
42:29
feel OK, still feel the peace that only comes from heaven and
42:34
that hope for deliverance. So verse 12, we did take courage
42:38
with our small force which we had received, and we're fixed
42:41
with the determination to conquer our enemies and to
42:44
maintain our lands and our possessions and our wives and
42:47
our children in the cause of our liberty.
42:50
And they went forth in their might against the Lamanites.
42:53
So that chapter finishes with success.
42:57
There are many wounds. There are a lot of people who
43:00
get killed on all sides. But miraculously, these
43:04
strippling warriors, their faith and their trust is just
43:08
miraculous in the way that the Lord is delivering them.
43:11
Now to finish off these stories, Chapter 59, Moroni is finding
43:17
out from Helaman that they're not getting the reinforcements
43:20
from the governments as needed. So Moroni's pretty upset.
43:24
And in chapter 60, he writes a letter to Pahoran, the chief
43:28
judge. And in that letter, he, he gives
43:31
reasons for why he's angry and why he's he's condemning the
43:36
government. So read verse three and four and
43:40
five in chapter 60 so you can see the context of why he uses
43:45
such bold and forceful language in his letter to Pahorn, who
43:51
then responds in 61 with a statement.
43:55
That's totally fine. I don't glory in all of the
43:59
things that you're suffering through.
44:01
But I've been displaced. I'm now in the land of Gideon.
44:04
I had to leave Zahrahemlah because they've put a king on
44:08
the throne. Look at chapter 61, verse eight.
44:11
They have got possession of the land or the city of Zahrahemlah.
44:14
They've appointed a king over them, and he has written under
44:17
the king of Lamanites, in which he has joined an alliance with
44:19
him, in the which alliance he hath agreed to maintain the city
44:23
of Zarahemlah, which maintenance he supposeth will enable the
44:26
Lamanites to conquer the remainder of the land.
44:29
And he shall be placed king over this people when they shall be
44:32
conquered under the Lamanites. Huh, that's odd.
44:36
Somebody who actually thinks that the devil likes sharing his
44:41
power. Do you think for a minute that
44:43
Emeron's going to let somebody be the king over the Nephites if
44:47
that person will help him win this battle?
44:51
Not very likely. Then in chapter 62, we have to
44:57
go and fight against these king men in the center of the land
45:01
again. And after that we then go and
45:04
we're fighting against all the people or all of the Lamanites
45:08
in the rest of the region. And let's cut to the end.
45:11
Go to chapter 62, verse 41. We've pushed all the Lamanites
45:15
finally out of all these cities that they've taken, and now you
45:18
get this. But behold, because of the
45:21
exceedingly great lengths of the war between the Nephites and
45:24
Lamanites, many had become hardened because of the
45:27
exceedingly great lengths of the war.
45:29
And many were softened because of their afflictions and so much
45:33
that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of
45:37
humility. So you've got people who have
45:39
this major trial that lasted many years.
45:43
This war was terrible, and you had this separation.
45:47
Many chose to become more softened in their hearts, while
45:56
others became hardened in their hearts.
46:01
This is the decision point. Trials and tribulations and
46:07
hardships don't determine our response, they just provide an
46:13
opportunity for us to make a response, to use our agency to
46:18
act and in the process either grow or shrink.
46:23
Either become more humble and submissive to the Lord and and
46:27
fill of his power and see of his strength, or to get more angry
46:32
and bitter. Notice verse 42.
46:35
It came to pass that after Moroni had fortified those parts
46:37
of the land which were the most exposed to Lamanites until they
46:40
were sufficiently strong, he returned to the city of
46:42
Zarahemla and also Heelman returned to the place of his
46:45
inheritance, and there was once more peace established among the
46:48
people of Nephi. So that war did come to pass.
46:53
It's gone. But the real question is, once
46:56
the wars are passed, once they're over, once the the
47:00
battle cries have died down, has it left us a better person or a
47:06
bitter person? Have we become closer to God or
47:10
have we grown more distant from God?
47:13
My recommendation would be using the Book of Mormon as a handbook
47:17
for my life to look at this and say, what are the battles that
47:22
are raging that cause me to want to be angry or frustrated with
47:26
heaven? And how can I shift that and now
47:30
call in more faith and in more hope upon the Lord to bless me
47:36
so that I can see his hand and those miracles in my battles,
47:41
things that are happening that I could have never done alone that
47:45
would then cause me to love the Lord more and become more like
47:49
him. Chapter 63 after the war has
47:52
ended, he tells us that Moroni died in chapter 63, verse three.
47:58
And he gives you the date, it's in the 30 and sixth year of the
48:02
reign of the judges. And we can do the math.
48:04
Or when I somewhere 43 years old.
48:07
He's young when he dies. It was a hard life for him and
48:11
for all these people. And at that point there are a
48:14
whole bunch of people who leave. Verse four, there were 5400 men
48:19
with their wives and their children departed out of the
48:21
land as Erehimlich into the land northward.
48:23
Verse 5 Hagoth builds a ship up in the borders of the land
48:27
bountiful by the land desolation.
48:29
He leaves, comes back, it's more ships built, leaves again and
48:32
they all go northward. These war chapters come to a
48:35
close as we'll then turn our attention to human know that
48:40
when you came to this earth, I don't think you left heaven
48:45
thinking, oh I'm going to go down into a garden like Eden.
48:50
This life was intended to be a test, which means it's a fallen
48:55
world and you're in a body that has mortal problems, mortal
49:02
tests and trials. Our prayer is that we'll turn to
49:07
God, trust him more fully and love the Lord and be more exact
49:13
in our obedience, more soft in our heart, more firm in our
49:17
mind, and we'll move forward. And I leave that with you.
49:20
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.