Stirred up emotions

The Book of Mormon has many instances of using the phrase “stirred up” to describe the process of raising up emotions in order to push individuals or crowds to action. It’s useful to look at these instances to see what we can learn.

Probably most notable of instances of stirring and stirring up is when people are stirred up to anger. 

Some larger principles about stirring to anger

Jesus declares that stirring people up to anger is no part of His doctrine, but declares such things should be done away. (3 Nephi 11:30)

Nephi says those who are part of the devil’s kingdom must be stirred up to repentance, or the devil will stir them up to anger and they’ll perish. (2 Ne. 28:19)

Mormon declares the wicked stir people up to bloodshed. (Mormon 4:5)

Nephi prophesies of how Satan will stir people up to anger against that which is good. (2 Ne. 28:20) We can find many instance of this in the Book of Mormon.

Stirred against good

Laman stirred up Lemuel with suspicions that Nephi lied to them about spiritual experiences in order to usurp power over them. (1 Ne. 16:38)

The priests of Noah stir up the king to anger against Abinadi with charges that Abinadi reviled the king, and King Noah orders Abinadi be slain. (Mosiah 17:12)

King Noah accuses Alma of stirring the people to rebellion as a pretext of sending his army against him and his people. (Mosiah 18:33)

The charity of the Anti-Nephi-Lehites for the poor Zoramites who were cast out stirs up the anger of the elite Zoramites. They mix with the Lamanites and stir them up to anger against the Anti-Nephi-Lehites as well. (Alma 35:10)

The Nephite chief judges stir up the people to anger against the prophet Nephi when he calls them to repentance. (Helaman 8:7)

Satan stirs up the Nephites to do iniquity continually, spreading rumors and contentions everywhere to harden people’s hearts against goodness and prophecy. (Helaman 16:22)

Instances of Kings/authority figures stirring up the people to anger

King Laman stirs his people up to contend with Zeniff’s people (Mosiah 9:13)

King Laman’s son (now king) begins to stir up his people against Zeniff’s people (Mosiah 10:6)

King Noah accuses Alma of stirring the people to rebellion as a pretext of sending his army against him and his people. (Mosiah 18:33)

Amlici stirs up his followers to anger against those who opposed his bid for kingship. (Alma 2:8)

Amalickiah stirs up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites. (Alma 47:1, Alma 48:3, Alma 51:9) [Captain Moroni knew this would happen far ahead of time. (Alma 46:30)]

Tubaloth (king of the Lamanites) stirs up his people to anger against the Nephites, and they go to battle the Nephites. (Helaman 1:17)

The Nephite chief judges stir up the people to anger against the prophet Nephi when he calls them to repentance. (Helaman 8:7)

Zarahemnah intends to stir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites to usurp power over them and use them to bring the Nephites to bondage. (Alma 43:8)

After Zarahemna loses his scalp, he stirs up the rest of his soldiers to fight more powerfully. (Alma 44:16)

People stirring up people to anger

The Lamanites are stirred up to anger against the Limhi’s Nephites, and they start coming into the land to harass them. (Mosiah 21:2) (Cause is unstated, but it can’t be an authority figure, otherwise battle would have resulted.)

The Amalekites and Amulonites stir up the Lamanites against the Anti-Nephi-Lehites. (previous to their attack on Ammonihah) (Alma 24:1)

The Amalekites stir up the Lamanites against the Anti-Nephi-Lehites because they can’t get revenge on the Nephites. (Alma 27:2)

The peoples of Coriantumr and Shiz are stirred up to anger against each other and go to battle. (Ether 15:6)

Dissenters from the Nephites stir the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites (Alma 63:14, Helaman 11:24)

Nephite dissenters try to stir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites and don’t succeed. (Helaman 4:3) The next year, they do succeed. (Helaman 4:4)

People stirring up leaders

The priests of Noah stir up the king to anger against Abinadi with charges that Abinadi reviled the king, and King Noah orders Abinadi be slain. (Mosiah 17:12)

Seeing others sorrow & pain stirs to anger

The cries of the widows and orphans stir up the people of Limhi against their Lamanite taskmasters and they go to battle and lose. (Mosiah 21:11)

Amulonites martyring new Lamanite believers stirs up other Lamanites to anger against the Amulonites. (Alma 25:8)

Motives of gain stirring to iniquity

The lawyers of Ammonihah stir up the people to riotings, disturbances, and wickedness in order to have more work and to get gain. (Alma 11:20)

Satan stirs up the Nephites to unite with the bands of robbers and enter secret combinations. (Helaman 6:21)

Satan stirs up the people to do iniquity, puffs them with pride, and tempts them to seek for power, authority, riches, and worldly things. (3 Nephi 6:15)

Can there be good emotional stirrings?  There are some instances in the Book of Mormon of this too.

War meant to stir people to remember God

The Lord tells Nephi that the Lamanites will scourge the Nephites, as a means to stir the Nephites up to remember God. (1 Nephi 2:24)

Elsewhere, the Lord tells Nephi that if the Nephites don’t get stirred up to repentance by the Lamanite scourge, they will be destroyed. (2 Ne. 5:25)

Battle losses stir up the Lamanites to remember the words of Aaron and his brethren and they begin to disbelieve their Lamanite traditions. (Alma 25:6

The depredations of the Gadianton robbers stir up the Nephites to remember the Lord. (Helaman 11:34)

Afflictions and famine can stir to remembrance of God

King Benjamin tells Mosiah of how their fathers were smitten with afflictions to stir them up to remember their duty. (Mosiah 1:17)

The prophet Nephi prays that a famine will be used to stir up the Nephites to repentance. (Helaman 11:4)

Preaching meant to stir us to remember God

Enos tells that the prophets had to stir up the Nephites continually with preaching of war, contention, destruction, reminding them of death, judgment, and the duration of eternity, to fear the Lord. (Enos 1:23)

Jarom tells of the prophets stirring the people up to repentance by pricking their hearts with the word. (Jarom 1:12)

King Benjamin appointed priests to teach the people and stir them up to remember the oath they had made to serve God (Mosiah 6:3)

Alma goes to preach among the people to stir them up to remember their duty. (Alma 4:19)

Captain Moroni says Pahoran should have stirred himself more diligently for the welfare and freedom of the people. (Alma 60:10) He threatens Pahoran that if he doesn’t get reinforcement, he will stir up any remaining spark of freedom into insurrection and fight against those who usurp power and authority. (Alma 60:27)

All of this is particular important to know these days because of the prevalence of incivility and anger out in the world today and attempts to manipulate with stirring strong negative emotions. Not only do we need to work to keep from being affected by it, but we will face the temptation to use it ourselves.

A Story about Taking Something Away

I was reading in Alma 55 recently about the story of the Lamanite guards of the city of Gid who are lulled to sleep with wine provided by Nephite-aligned Lamanites. There was a verse in the story near the beginning that suddenly stuck out to me.  Laman has told the guards about the wine he’s stolen from the Nephites in his daring escape, and the guards get excited to try some.

But Laman said unto them: Let us keep of our wine till we go against the Nephites to battle. But this saying only made them more desirous to drink of the wine; (Alma 55:10)

Since we know what happened in this story, it is pretty obvious to us that the wisest thing for the Lamanite guards to do would be wait.  But for some reason, the guards don’t want to be prudent; they want to indulge themselves. They want it now, not later. This made me think that learning to self-impose deferred gratification is an important skill.

But then I thought about what Laman had done in the story. He showed them the wine, and then he essentially attempts to pull it away. If we have troubles imagining the effect this has, we can substitute cookies or ice cream instead….   Laman showed them the tasty-looking cookies, and then he pulled them away and said, “Let’s keep it until just before battle.”   The Lamanite guards have seen the cookies, they’ve smelled the cookies, they now have cookies on the brain. What Laman has done here is essentially to target-lock the guards’ brains on the cookies. They want the cookies NOW!  If the cookies are taken away, they’re going to get resentful and mad.

Not only has Laman put wine on the guards’ brain, he has gotten them laser-focused on the very thing that will be their undoing. (We know the wine is extra powerful stuff.) As a result of getting drunk, they lose all the prisoners they were supposed to guard, and they lose their own freedom.

So we can see two different spiritual life lessons about strategy here when we look at things from the Lamanite guards’ perspective.

Lesson #1: Train your ability to defer gratification.

Lesson #2: Look out for when something is offered and then pulled away. Realize that this will cause you to fixate on the thing being pulled away. (Try not to do this to others too.) It will take extra work to think about whether it is a good thing to want in the first place.

The Five Kings Joshua Conquered: A Type of Christ

16 But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.

17 And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.

18 And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:….

22 Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.

23 And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon….

26 And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.

27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day. (Joshua 10:16-18, 22-23, 26-27)

In Joshua 10 is told of the five kings that combined to fight against Joshua and Israel. The kings’ forces were discomfited and the kings fled and hid in a cave, and the Israelites were commanded to put stones over the mouth of the cave to keep them in there until the battle was over.  Once the battle was done, Joshua had the kings brought out, and he staged a foot-on-the-neck demonstration to show the Lord would help Israel conquer the land of Canaan. Then he had the five kings killed, hung in the trees until sundown, then thrown back in the cave and great stones laid in the cave mouth.

It seemed to me that what happened to the five kings was a sort of twisted type of Christ, though slightly out of order and in two parts.

First part:  Kings. Kept in a cave (like a tomb), with great stones to prevent them from getting out. With men set by to keep them there. And then they are brought out alive.

Second part: Kings hung on trees until sundown, then put in the cave with great stones over the cave’s mouth.

As you can see, the parts are out of order, so it isn’t a perfect type, but it is still recognizable how it anticipates the crucifixion, the entombment, and resurrection of Christ. And too, Joshua as the high priest orders all of this to happen, taking the part of the Jewish and Roman authorities who condemned Christ.

Israelites attempt to recapture land back from Philistines in 1 Sam. 4:1-5

1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.

2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

3 ¶ And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. (1 Sam. 4:1-5)

Just some background on this—In the chapter before this, Samuel has his first encounter with God, and is told that the Lord will punish Eli the priest because he didn’t restrain his sons and the Lord will do something in Israel that makes everyone’s ears tingle.

Now, in the situation of these verses, it is possible the Israelites were attempting to reconquer the land or finish the job Joshua started. Some of the things they do echo Joshua’s campaign against Jericho—calling for the ark of the covenant to go with the army. Later verses say they also shout, which reminds me of the shout that had once leveled the walls of Jericho.

However, if this was the case, these Israelites did not go spiritually purified and prepared like Joshua’s army had. Joshua’s army purified themselves, circumcised those not yet circumcised (which was a sign of entering the covenant), and celebrated Passover. Further, they got their battle plan from the prophet, who got it from God.

These Israelites all knew Samuel was to be a prophet, but they didn’t consult him. Maybe they got Eli’s blessing and thought that was enough. I get the impressing that with Eli and the corruption of his sons, there was not much chance they would have been prepared in the first place.

This campaign ultimately fails, and they lose the ark for a time. The failed campaign underlines to them the uselessness of trusting in religious objects to save them, so in 1 Samuel 7, once they are suitably chastened, we see Samuel persuading the people to put away their idols and to prepare to serve God only. The people fast and confess their sins, they ask Samuel to pray for them continuously, and Samuel offers sacrifice…and then the Lord helps the Israelites win against the Philistines.

This becomes another religious tradition of battle to have the prophet offer sacrifice and pray for the people, and sadly this becomes misunderstood by King Saul, who becomes so anxious for the pre-battle sacrifice that he offers it himself, usurping authority because Samuel is not present “in time.”

Hopefully we can learn from this that it isn’t just the religious ritual that is efficacious, but the practice paired with sincere repentance and purity. Without the broken heart and contrite spirit, without the consistent obedience to the commandments, religious ritual is empty, even if done the right way with proper authority.

If we rouse ourselves to fight any kind of obstacle, make sure to repent and seek sanctification first and be anxious to keep the commandments.

Iniquity leads to danger

There are these verses as Mormon describes how Nephites lost some ground:

8 And now it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites, on the west sea, south, while in the absence of Moroni on account of some intrigue amongst the Nephites, which caused dissensions amongst them, had gained some ground over the Nephites, yea, insomuch that they had obtained possession of a number of their cities in that part of the land.

9 And thus because of iniquity amongst themselves, yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among themselves they were placed in the most dangerous circumstances. (Alma 53:8-9)

Now, this may seem like the most obvious principle, but it is worth pointing out, just in case we need to be bonked on the head – sin puts people in danger.

We can see that because the Nephites allowed dissension instead of keeping unified, and because they engaged in intrigue and deception instead of plain-dealing, they allowed the Lamanites too close, and then Nephite lands got taken over.

Maybe they thought they could be secret buddies with the Lamanites and still retain independence, but that was obviously not so. You let the Lamanites close, and they take over. Or they threaten you next. And suddenly…you’re in danger.

Once again, iniquity puts you in perilous circumstances. It puts you in danger.

Illustration of the Need for Endurance

50 The army of Antipus being weary, because of their long march in so short a space of time, were about to fall into the hands of the Lamanites; and had I not returned with my two thousand they would have obtained their purpose.

51 For Antipus had fallen by the sword, and many of his leaders, because of their weariness, which was occasioned by the speed of their march—therefore the men of Antipus, being confused because of the fall of their leaders, began to give way before the Lamanites.

52 And it came to pass that the Lamanites took courage, and began to pursue them; and thus were the Lamanites pursuing them with great vigor when Helaman came upon their rear with his two thousand, and began to slay them exceedingly, insomuch that the whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman. (Alma 56:50-52)

When I read these verses, I notice the difference between the energy levels in the different armies. Antipus and his men are weary because of the long march in such a short time. The Lamanites are apparently still vigorous after the chase, and the stripling warriors have no comment made about weariness or vigor, so they seem to have had adequate energy.

I think we can draw a lesson from this about the importance of building physical endurance and give that lesson all kinds of spiritual applications as well. We need endurance in energy to deal with physical demands placed on us. We need endurance of patience and long-suffering to deal with setbacks and pain and opposition. We need endurance of faith to deal with extended uncertainty and times when the Lord’s promises don’t seem to be fulfilled when we think they should. We need endurance of moral courage to deal with temptation and opposition.

The tricky thing about endurance is you have to be practicing it all along in order to have it when it is most needed. That means diligence and even looking for opportunities to stretch ourselves when we don’t really need to. And of course there is always the option of praying for strength to endure.

Today let’s think about the kind of endurance we need in our lives and commit to practicing building our endurance so that when the crisis of need comes, we will be prepared. Or, if we’re in a situation when we need endurance, let’s pray for it and hang onto our faith.

Conquer or Die

15 And these are the cities which they possessed when I arrived at the city of Judea; and I found Antipus and his men toiling with their might to fortify the city.

16 Yea, and they were depressed in body as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day and toiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had suffered great afflictions of every kind.

17 And now they were determined to conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well suppose that this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons of mine, gave them great hopes and much joy. (Alma 56:15-17)

From this block of verses, it sounds like Antipus and his men were burning the candle at both ends, fighting by day and toiling by night. It is no wonder they were depressed and beat down; accumulated fatigue will do that.

But I love their attitude—“we will conquer or die.” That kept them going. And it was no idle threat. If they couldn’t conquer, they would be overcome by the Lamanites.

The spiritual analog is also true—if we can’t conquer Satan, we will die spiritually, so we must be just as determined as Antipus’s men.

Introduction of "To Defend Them By Stratagem"

I thought I'd post the introduction to my new book To Defend Them By Strategem so you could get a sense of how I approached the topic and whether you might find this book helpful or not.

Introduction

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I have always loved the war chapters in the Book of Mormon. Growing up, when my family read the Book of Mormon around the dinner table, I listened with breathless interest to the stories of Captain Moroni, Teancum, and Helaman’s stripling warriors. I reveled in Captain Moroni’s cleverness, Teancum’s intrepidity, and the stripling warriors’ sheer heroism and courage. Every Nephite victory was cause for celebration; every Lamanite victory brought disappointment. 

Multiple reads through the Book of Mormon embedded these stories of victory and defeat deep in my consciousness, and as I grew older I started to wonder why Mormon had decided to write in such detail about the wars when the purpose of the whole book was to testify of Christ’s divinity.

Eventually, I began to understand how the Lord meant for us to learn from those battles. Just as Captain Moroni thought it no sin to defend the Nephites by stratagem, the Lord thought it no sin to use war stories in the scriptures to teach His people strategies to help them recognize and defend against the ugly temptations and sins of world, especially during times when temptations would abound in both blatant and subtle ways.

In the Church, we have a lot to say about the sterling character of Captain Moroni and the stripling warriors, but as a people, we have not yet collectively discovered the wonderful array of battle strategies presented throughout the whole Book of Mormon. So why is this? 

The Church’s Sunday School curriculum calls for the Book of Mormon war chapters, Alma 43-62, to be treated in the space of two lessons. Only 90 minutes every four years is spent to study 19 chapters spanning 52 pages, giving us less than two minutes per page. There is not enough time to cover the material in the manuals, and the manuals only cover a fraction of what could be discussed. The Church focuses on teaching fundamental gospel principles while trusting and encouraging members to learn more through focused individual study. 

Still, because of the cursory attention of the church manuals, it is tempting to treat the war stories lightly. Some members see the derring-do only as thrilling entertainment, while other particularly peace-loving members are disgusted with all the violence and struggle to find any redeeming qualities in the chapters beyond the heroes of Captain Moroni, Teancum, Helaman, and the stripling warriors.

While I know that sooner or later members of the Church will individually be led to understand the treasures hidden in the stories of war, I also believe that I can do a service by speeding up the process. The battle strategies are of key importance; they are a big part of what made the Book of Mormon heroes the mighty men they were, and unless we can learn to recognize and master the strategies they used and defend effectively against attacks the way they did, we can never hope to reach their stature.

The events of the war chapters in Alma 43-62 are filtered through the eyes of not just one prophet-general, but two—Helaman and Mormon. In his record, Helaman featured events he found important in his day, and then centuries later, Mormon made his abridgement from Helaman’s record. The years between Helaman and Mormon probably gave Mormon valuable perspective, allowing him to better interpret for our edification the events Helaman recorded.

Many have observed that we are not in a war of physical violence; we are in a spiritual war for souls in which no holds are barred. Satan has had all of human history to learn the most effective ways to attack. We need to make a tactical science of spiritual survival in these last days, and there is no better way to do it than to learn from history by studying the war strategies in the Book of Mormon. Every tactic and strategy of field warfare has its spiritual equivalent, so we don’t have to be a member of the military to apply them in life. 

In this book, you will learn about tactics that Satan uses against us. You will learn about tactics you can use to defend yourself. You also will learn strategies that will allow you to go on the offensive. 

You may begin this book with the notion that Nephite tactics are always good and Lamanite tactics are always bad. This notion is comforting, but it effectively halves the usefulness of the war accounts. We can easily compare how the Nephites defend themselves to how we should defend ourselves against Satan, but we can also examine how the Lamanites’ failed defenses show us where our weak spots are. Also, we are used to comparing Lamanite attacks to Satan’s attacks, but we also can learn how the Nephites’ successful attacks to regain cities might be similar to ways Satan attacks us today.

Structure of the book

We will begin where war starts to appear in the Book of Mormon record—at the Words of Mormon as Mormon describes some of the struggles of King Benjamin. The chapters are in the order that the stories and incidents appear in the Book of Mormon, so if you are fairly familiar with the sequence of events as you read from front to back in the Book of Mormon, you will be able to follow fairly well. 

This book is broken up into chapters, each of which talk about important strategies we can learn from war in the Book of Mormon. Some of them start out by examining features of battles or incidents that seem a bit puzzling or that don’t seem to make sense. Most of the chapters are fairly short and can be read quickly. The very last chapter is a longer, detailed examination of how the war chapters reveal ways we can defend ourselves against the increasing threat of pornography.

Assumptions and Speculation

There are some times when I will make assumptions or speculate about how things were in Book of Mormon times. It is my attempt to “fill in the holes,” so to speak. You will recognize that I have made some speculative assumptions when I say something “may have” or “probably” happened a certain way. In each case, I will explain how I arrived at each conclusion. Caveats and provisos aside, ONWARD, Christian soldiers! (Author waves sword above head)

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Pushing forward like Lamanites + MY NEW BOOK!

The Lamanites are busy little beavers in these verses:

33 And now it came to pass that it was expedient for Moroni to make preparations to attack the city Morianton; for behold, the Lamanites had, by their labors, fortified the city Morianton until it had become an exceeding stronghold.

34 And they were continually bringing new forces into that city, and also new supplies of provisions. (Alma 55:33-34)

At this point in the text we get an interruption of Helaman’s letter with the story about the stripling warriors, which causes us to lose the thread. But it is picked back up in Alma 59:

5 And it came to pass that while Moroni was thus making preparations to go against the Lamanites to battle, behold, the people of Nephihah, who were gathered together from the city of Moroni and the city of Lehi and the city of Morianton, were attacked by the Lamanites.

6 Yea, even those who had been compelled to flee from the land of Manti, and from the land round about, had come over and joined the Lamanites in this part of the land.

7 And thus being exceedingly numerous, yea, and receiving strength from day to day, by the command of Ammoron they came forth against the people of Nephihah, and they did begin to slay them with an exceedingly great slaughter.

8 And their armies were so numerous that the remainder of the people of Nephihah were obliged to flee before them; and they came even and joined the army of Moroni. (Alma 59:5-6)

Here we are told that while Moroni was making preparations, the city of Nephihah was attacked and overwhelmed, and the inhabitants (including refugees from cities Moroni, Lehi, and Morianton) were forced to flee.

What this tells us strategically is that there was a reason the Lamanites kept bringing more men and provisions into the city Morianton and fortifying it; they meant the city Morianton to become the next jumping off point for their next invasion into Nephite territory. There are reinforcements for maintenance and there are reinforcements for imminent invasion, and the Lamanites intended invasion. The Lamanites made Morianton a great stronghold so they could store more supplies there and strengthen their supply chain.

How does this help us today? Can we learn something positive from the Lamanites here, even though we’re used to thinking about them as the bad guys?  I think it helps us to think about where we are putting most of our energy and focus. The Lamanites put emphasis on amassing supplies and men at Morianton in anticipation for starting their invasion.  So, we could ask ourselves where we are putting our energy and preparation, and to what end? What do we expect to be able to do because of it? Are we simply maintaining things as they are, or are we preparing for progress? Are we preparing for new things, new goals, new growth?

The Lamanites knew how to grow their territory—they received strength from day to day, and then they PUSHED into new territories. What would happen if we followed that example spiritually in good ways? Can we receive strength from God from day to day? Yes. Can we prepare for new things? Yes. Can we push into new spiritual territories? I think so, if we are sufficiently prepared.

Today, let's press forward with faith in Christ.

Postscript NEWSFLASH 

I got my rear in gear recently, and pushed forward to finally publish my book To Defend Them By Strategem: Fortify Yourself with Book of Mormon War Tactics. (The audience goes wild, slings roses in all directions, and moshes enthusiastically with the orchestra while the world rejoices!)  This book contains many ideas about how the stories of war in the Book of Mormon teach us how we can defend ourselves against Satan. 

I’m very excited to have this book finally out, after all the work I’ve done on it. It contains some of my best thoughts and insights from this blog, which have been polished and reworked to focus specifically on spiritual strategies that can protect us. I think that you’ll really enjoy it and learn a lot.

This book will not be in Deseret Book…unless you decide to ask for it specifically by ISBN # (978-0-9968730-0-0, if you’re interested).  So, if you want to see it there, request it. ;-) 

Alternatively, you can get it Amazon, as it is available in both paperback and as a Kindle book.

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Knowing Intentions

29 And now, as Moroni knew the intention of the Lamanites, that it was their intention to destroy their brethren, or to subject them and bring them into bondage that they might establish a kingdom unto themselves over all the land;

30 And he also knowing that it was the only desire of the Nephites to preserve their lands, and their liberty, and their church… (Alma 43:29-30)

Knowing the enemy’s intentions is important. When we contend for the truth, it is important to know the stated and the underlying intentions of those we face.

When we find ourselves in a situation of temptation, it is also helpful to remember that Satan always intends to destroy us, weaken us, subvert our efforts and morals, and subject us to bondage in sin. That’s his intention every time, and he may use people with different intentions to try to do his work.

Compare that to Christ’s intentions—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man—and how He goes about that in ways that preserve our agency.

I think it is also important for us to examine our intentions and whether they are good or not. This scripture in particular struck me at a time when I wondered about someone else’s intentions toward me, and when I turned the question back on myself, I realized my intentions are not as good as they could be, so I had to do some repenting myself.

A few insights about temptation from Nephite strategy in Alma 55

6 Now Moroni caused that Laman and a small number of his men should go forth unto the guards who were over the Nephites.

7 Now the Nephites were guarded in the city of Gid; therefore Moroni appointed Laman and caused that a small number of men should go with him.

8 And when it was evening Laman went to the guards who were over the Nephites, and behold, they saw him coming and they hailed him; but he saith unto them: Fear not; behold, I am a Lamanite. Behold, we have escaped from the Nephites, and they sleep; and behold we have taken of their wine and brought with us.

9 Now when the Lamanites heard these words they received him with joy… (Alma 55:6-9)

In Alma 55, Captain Moroni regains the prisoners in the city of Gid by offering the Lamanite guards wine by one of their own.  We prefer to consider everything Captain Moroni does as good, but I can’t help but point out some things about this strategy that echoes what Satan does.  If it helps us made better choices, I think it’s worth pointing out.

First, I notice the Lamanite guards saw these tricksters coming, and yet Laman and his small group of men still managed to lull them into a false sense of security.  How often do we actually see temptation coming, and yet when we initially refuse, the temptation (or those who present it) push back and try to convince us that we are wrong and it isn’t dangerous?  We have to stick to our guns there and not give in.  It can be particularly difficult if we’re presented with something we like. In the Lamanites' case, it was wine.  It's worth thinking about what things we individually like that might be used to lure us into temptation.

Next insight comes from a later part of this story. Once the Lamanite guards found out there was wine immediately available, they say, “We are weary, and by and by we shall receive wine for our rations, which will strengthen us to go against the Nephites.”

They are tired now, and they anticipate being stronger later.  But there isn’t going to be any opportunity to fight later if they can’t be strong now. 

To me this shows that sometimes we give in to temptation now when we’re tired, thinking that we’ll be stronger later. But that’s a lie.  If we can’t be strong now to resist temptation, how will we get the strength later?   Our strength accumulates with good choices and dissipates with bad ones.  It dissipates incredibly fast and actually give Satan the advantage over us that he wouldn’t have had otherwise.

So, lessons from this story are:

--Keep refusing the temptation, even when it tries to push back.

--Giving in now will make it even harder to be strong later.  (So be strong now to stay strong later.)

Treasure Up Wisdom to Not Fear

29 Ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land.

30 I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. (D&C 38:29-30)

Apparently the brethren were very much interested in the international situation at the time and speculating about the possibility of foreign wars a bit and praying about it. The Lord warned them that war was in the hearts of men nearby them as well. I think He wanted them to know so that it wouldn’t be so much of a shock when violence and mobbing broke out.

I think there is a principle here that still stands true today. We hear stories of wickedness in faraway places or other towns or other neighborhoods and we tsk-tsk over that, but we don’t know the hearts of people nearby. The same things can happen nearby. If we realize that, we won’t be so shocked when it does happen. A shooting can happen at our schools. Murders and thefts and all kinds of awful crime can happen on our streets. Our families can be affected. Our country can be attacked.  

If we don’t realize this, when it happens it is as the Lord says, --it “shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth.”  It’s worse than an earthquake because it destroys all mental-emotional sense of security and stability.

Realizing it could happen here or close by helps us not fear when it does. Not that we go around expecting awful things to happen, but retaining the sense that the awful can occur prepares us just enough to cope better if it does.

Why did the Nephites have confidence in Mormon as a commander?

And it came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath which I had made that I would no more assist them; and they gave me command again of their armies, for they looked upon me as though I could deliver them from their afflictions. (Mormon 5:1)

It is interesting that the Nephites thought Mormon could deliver them from their afflictions. It is hard to know whether they thought he could make everything better, or whether they thought military victory was the be-all-end-all of success, or whether they hoped victory could give them breathing room they needed to fix other things.

Another question came to me too here: What evidence is there that the Nephites’ confidence in Mormon’s military leadership was well-placed? There is so much written about Captain Moroni in the Book of Alma, so what record is there of Mormon’s skill as a commander? The Nephites would not have resorted to him if he didn’t have some skills.

As I looked for the answer to this question, I realized that Mormon really downplays his own role as a military leader and any credit in Nephite victories. While he went into great detail as a historian on the clever tactics and practical hows of Captain Moroni and Helaman and Teancum in the past, he is very self-effacing about his own victories. Here and there he might drop a few words about fortifying or gathering or protecting key points or hint at a motivating speech, but otherwise he’s very brief, saying simply, “we beat them” or “we withstood them” or something of that sort, preferring to wrap his efforts in with the army at large.  And usually at the same time that he notes a victory, he also makes mournful spiritual observations about the wickedness of the people.

Considering the pride of the Nephites, Mormon’s style of leadership would have been hard to take. They probably felt he was a bit of a downer. It is extraordinary he was given command by these people in the first place; he wasn’t the type to draw attention by tooting his own horn.

Now here’s an odd thought: Mormon observed the Nephites put him in charge of the armies at the beginning because he was “large in stature” (Mormon 2:1) in his sixteenth year. The way he puts it, we get the sense that the Nephites were incredibly shallow to put that much trust in Mormon’s callow youth just because he was a big guy.  You also get the idea that Mormon wasn’t qualified for the position, but did his best anyway. This angle takes a dim view of both Mormon and the Nephites.

But if we take into account Mormon’s humility, it might be he was downplaying it. Turn it around and we could easily imagine a proud Mormon saying, “The Nephites cleverly chose me to lead their armies when I was only 16 years old—younger than Captain Moroni—because my observations suggested I would be excellent at military strategy and my large stature made me a poster child for men of war.”

It is probable that Mormon downplayed himself deliberately to keep himself humble when he could have let his position go to his head.  In the end, his humility allowed him to see the impending doom of the Nephites coming closer, even while that doom may have seemed sometimes on occasion to be masquerading as triumphant victory.

This suggested me that humility is a skill to practice even in victory or opportunity. Mormon’s life essentially proves to me it is necessary to spiritual survival. It will enable us to see the truth, piercing the comfortable illusions of society. It will also put us out-of-step with those around us, and we have to accept that.

The Battle after the Millennium

These verses describe some interesting conditions and happenings about the end of the Millennium, which I find fascinating to think about:

110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be time no longer; and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years.

111 And then he shall be loosed for a little season, that he may gather together his armies.

112 And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven.

113 And the devil shall gather together his armies; even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies.

114 And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at all.

115 For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb. (D&C 88:110-115)

Verse 110 tells us Satan will be bound and not loosed again for 1000 years. One of the things that binds Satan is when he and his temptations are completely ignored. If no one listens, he has no power.

Verse 111 tells us that Satan will be loosed for a little season and allowed to gather together his armies. That means that people start giving into temptation again, which is sad. So there will be some apostasy similar to that described in 4 Nephi.

However, Satan will not be unopposed.

Verse 112 tells us that Michael the seventh angel (or archangel) will gather his armies, the hosts of heaven. We know that Michael is also Adam. So we’ll have the resurrected Adam and all the first-fruits of the resurrection still living on the earth since they were resurrected at the beginning. 

It seems absolutely incredible to me that people would apostatize even with resurrected beings—prophets, Saints, and once-martyrs—still living among them!  It’s insanity!  But it seems to be the case.

Verse 113 tells us the devil will gather the hosts of hell and come up to battle against Michael and his armies. I notice it is the wicked who initiate the attack, not the righteous.

Verse 114 says there will be “the battle of the great God” and the devil and his armies will be cast away to their own place and have no more power over the Saints.  

Now, I have to wonder what idiot will have decided it is a good idea to fight against godly, resurrected beings who can’t die any more.  Obviously mortal apostates can’t win against that!  But maybe they would be deceived into thinking that the resurrected are defenseless because of the profound concern for life they exhibit. Maybe the apostates will think the resurrected will choose to suffer anything rather than defend themselves by taking any life. (Because after all, if you take life, you’ve just ended someone’s probationary period and they might have repented.)  Still, the battles have to be fought for the sakes of those mortals who are still righteous.

Verse 115 says Michael will fight the Saints’ battles. This is an interesting modification on the usual assurance that the Lord would fight our battles.  From the perspective of righteous immortals, it would make sense to have a policy of choosing just one resurrected person to do all the fighting (since one immortal is more than a match for any number of mortals).  No overwhelming show of numbers is necessary. 

I found myself asking why this was all made known so far in the future if we wouldn’t have the change to see it happen in our lifetime. I think it is part of the way that God proves He knows the end from the beginning and prepares the way for various generations to build and exercise their faith in Him. We look at prophecies made far in the past about the gathering of Israel and we see them being fulfilled, so we exercise faith that God will continue to fulfill what He has said will happen in the near future and in the far future.  It will also give future Saints just as much reason to read our modern scriptures to see what has been said of them.

Alma 60: Captain Moroni’s letter to Pahoran may be less rash than we think

Captain Moroni’s letter to Pahoran is pretty well-known in the church for its blunt language and anger in which Captain Moroni demands to know why Pahoran hasn’t sent more troops or supplies to the Nephite army’s support. We’ve heard in general conference that Pahoran’s response is a model of self-restraint in the face of Captain Moroni’s accusations.

Recently I was reading through this letter again, and it struck me that Captain Moroni’s letter is also has certain marks of self-restraint as well.  Verse 6 shows us this—“we desire to know the cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of your thoughtless state.”   Captain Moroni wants to know WHY this is happening, rather than rushing in with an army right off.

Also, he asks a number of questions starting with “do you suppose” or variants.

“could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you?” (v11)

“Do ye suppose that, because so many of your brethren have been killed it is because of their wickedness?” (v12)

“we know not but what ye yourselves are seeking for authority.” (v18)

“We know not but what ye are also traitors to your country.” (v18)

“Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies?” (v19)

“Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?” (v21)

“Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things?” (v23)

It looks like Captain Moroni is trying to think of all the reasons why Pahoran might withhold supplies and men. I have not quoted what comes afterward, but you can look yourself and see that he shows why these are not good reasons.  By doing this, he shows that he understands the inner obstacles that leaders face when they have to resolve on strenuous action to curb evil. Again, the fact that he asks for an explanation first before charging in with the army is evidence that he is not rash.

What this teaches me is that if I have to chastise someone as part of my responsibilities, it would be a very good thing if I spend some time thinking up a list of plausible good faith reasons why they might have done or omitted to do something. This helps me to understand them better and think up ways to help them overcome their internal hang-ups (because everyone has hang-ups someplace). Then, even if I am still wrong, as Captain Moroni was, at least they will know that I did the preliminary work of trying to understand and feel the difficulty of their situation.  People want to be understood.