Zarahemnah Takes a Stand

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 8

And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his sword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an oath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer.

The Comments:

Zarahemnah takes a stand.

They guy knows that he and his armies are beaten, but he is still willing to fight. He says that they (the Lamanites) will give their weapons of war to Moroni, but that they will NOT take an oath that they know they will break.  An oath…it’s obviously a very powerful thing, and not to be taken lightly.

In our world today, most (if not all) aggressors would simply lie about the oath and attack the Nephites later.  That thought may not have crossed the Lamanites minds, because in their society an oath meant that you did exactly what you said you would.

Zarahemnah then gives his solution—take our weapons (but no oath) and let us go, or they will stay and fight—perish or conquer.

I wonder what Zarahemnah thought Moroni would do.

Thing Before You Act

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 7

And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and inflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.

The Comments:

A promise that if the Lamaintes do not take this deal, that the Nephites will kill them. (Extinct is a really strong word.)

Interesting that Moroni brings up bondage after he informs the Lamanites that they will be destroyed if they don’t take the deal.

Could  Moroni be talking spiritual bondage?

Moroni's Offer

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 6

Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.

The Comments:

Moroni’s offer-

He calls upon the Lamanites very will to live in this verse.

This is a pretty sweet deal. Surrender, give up you weapons of war, don’t come against us again and not only will we not kill you, but we will let you go.

Wait, I wonder…when Moroni asks the Lamanites to deliver up their weapons of war, was he talking just “hand them over” or was he talking in a people of Ammon way—give up war forever?

Moroni does say, “come not again to war against us.” Did he mean EVER? See verse 8 for what could be clarity on this.

What would everyone do with all of the spare time?

Bearing Testimony on the Battlefield

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 5

And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—

The Comments:

I’m not sure I can dissect that.

First off, Moroni commands Zarahmenah in the name of God…can he do that? And what does it mean?

At what point can/should we command our enemies in the name of God?  I’m not entirely clear on that—haven’t really thought about it before. Perhaps it’s a “when the Spirit strikes you” sort of thing. Or a Priesthood thing. Huh.

The rest of this is an awesome decree about why the Nephites are fighting. Relly, I don’t feel that I have much to add, so I will simply point out a few things that I liked.

God strengthened their arms—the part of them that must have gotten the most tired during a battle. We should pay attention to how the Lord strengthens us. I’m sure that it is similar.

The sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children. I find the wording on this one quite interesting. Sacred support—sounds intense and feels like it runs deep. Covenants perhaps? Or the fact that our families are potentially eternal.

Liberty which binds us to our lands.  Is this a step beyond patriotism?  Something to think about.

Owe all happiness to the word of God. Not just God, but to the word of God. Our happiness comes through obedience and faith.

Pretty cool that Moroni stands on the battlefield and bears his testimony to his enemies. Could we do that if we were called upon? Not sure I could. Go Moroni!

The Big Why

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 2

Behold, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the yoke of bondage. But this is the very cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.

The Comments:

Moroni tells Zarahemnah about the cause of the Nephites. He points out the differences between the motivations of each side.  He ends with the comment that the Lamanites are angry with the Nephites because of their religion.

If you look back, you’ll recall that this whole war started because the Lamanites want the people of Ammon back. The people of Ammon converted and came to join the Nephites because they couldn’t live in the lands of the Lamanites—the Lamanites were too wicked and they wanted to kill the people of Ammon.

So all of this goes back to religion, and more specifically, the choices that a group of people made because they learned about Christ and His teachings.

Destruction Sounds Bad

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 4

Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.

The Comments:

Moroni goes on to utter words that can guide us through our trials.

“The true faith of God”

God will look out for us if we are righteous. That’s the condensed version.

So is this a promise? A covenant?

God=Support, keep and preserve us

Us=Be faithful unto God and our religion

Interesting that the next bit says that they Lord won’t allow us to be destroyed unless we fall into transgression and deny our faith. He doesn't say hurt or stressed out or sick or sad. He says destroyed.

Which, in my opinion, can mean in war (physical) and our daily spiritual battles with Satan and temptation.

My Patriarcle Blessing states that Satan cannot destroy me without my consent. I guess this means that the above promise applies to me too. Which means it probably applies to you as well.

Every Member a Missionary

The Content

Alma 44

Verse 3

But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

The Comments:

Two thoughts came into my mind right away as I read this verse:

1-Did Moroni just bear his testimony to the Lamanites…in the middle of a battlefield?

2-Did Moroni try to use this as a missionary moment? Remember…battlefield.

Let’s go through this:

Moroni testifies that the Lord was with them (the Nephites) and delivered the Lamanites into their hands.  That’s credit given where credit’s due.  Not only a declaration against the Lamanites, but a witness for the Nephites that were there.

Moroni says that  this was done because of their religion and their faith in Christ.

See, witness. It’s very clear!

“…and now you see that ye cannot destroy our faith.”

I wonder if this was a testimony solidifying moment for many of the Nephites that fought in this battle. Did they know these things for themselves before? Did this boost their faith into knowledge?

In addition to this eventually being a decisive victory for the Nephites (spoilers, sorry), I feel like the Lord used it to stir, bolster and solidify faith into testimony.  A lot of war comes after this, the Nephites maybe needed to be prepared.