Exceedingly Valiant for Courage
Book of Mormon Notes - Friday, November 3, 2023, Alma 53
Mormon interrupts his narrative about Moroni, Lehi, Teancum and their battles in the southeast to share an account of how the Nephites dealt with the problems that had arisen in the southwestern territories. Even though it would have been difficult for Mormon to improve upon his portrait of courage in the example of Moroni and his valiant brothers in warfare, such as Lehi and Teancum, Mormon rises to the task in his descriptions of the sons of the people of Ammon, the two thousand stripling warriors.
If love of God, of fellowmen, and of country, and if courage and noble character find the pinnacle of expression in Chief Captain Moroni, and if Mormon desired that all men had been, were, and ever would be like unto Moroni, then the task still remained for Mormon to communicate the manner in which such principles might be instilled in young men in his latter-day audience. As wonderful as Chief Captain Moroni was and is, and as valiant and as noble as he and he compatriots were and are, what good would these Nephite heroes accomplish merely as ancient heroes on a pedestal? After everything that Mormon did to inspire courage and faith in Christ through the examples of Nephi and Abinadi, and after everything that Mormon did to inspire latter-day missionaries through the examples of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah, what could Mormon do to further instill the principles of truth and righteousness in the rising generations in the last days? If ever there were noble and valiant youth, these were the sons of Helaman. If ever an author praised noble and valiant youth in such a way as to inspire emulation of their noble characteristics , this was Mormon.
Mormon demonstrates how such noble and and valiant youth are formed, beginning with the story of their parents:
And now behold, I have somewhat to say concerning the apeople of Ammon, who, in the beginning, were Lamanites; but by Ammon and his brethren, or rather by the power and word of God, they had been bconverted unto the Lord; and they had been brought down into the land of Zarahemla, and had ever since been protected by the Nephites.
Helaman’s valiant sons were the offspring of a truly converted and truly penitent parentage, and we can trace their spiritual heritage through the converted sons of Mosiah and Alma the Younger, through Alma the Elder, to the great Abinadi. In terms of their conversion and strength in their youth, we might consider these sons of Helaman as the spiritual great-great grandsons of Abinadi. Each one of them was a kind of miniature Moroni. Even though their fathers could not fight because of the oath that they had taken, the two-thousand stripling warriors were prepared to defend their country in a miraculous way:
But behold, it came to pass they had many asons, who had not entered into a covenant that they would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together at this time, as many as were able to take up arms, and they called themselves Nephites.
And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the alaying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their bliberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage. (Alma 53:16-17)
Thus the many sons of the people of Ammon covenanted to do that which their parents could not do. These valiant young men were willing to lay down their lives in defense of liberty. Their parents were willing to do the same, because of their love for the Nephites who had received them and protected them, but Helaman urged them not to break the oath that they had made. Thus their noble sons rose to the challenge:
Now behold, there were two thousand of those young men, who entered into this covenant and took their weapons of war to defend their country.
And now behold, as they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites, they became now at this period of time also a great support; for they took their weapons of war, and they would that Helaman should be their leader.
And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for acourage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.
Yea, they were men of truth and asoberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to bwalk uprightly before him. (Alma 53:18-21)
What kind of young men were these sons of the people of Ammon? They were like Moroni, Lehi, and Teancum:
They loved their country
They were a great support to their country
They were young men
They were valiant and courageous
They were strong and active
They were trustworthy
They were sober
They were true
They were obedient
They were men of integrity
Mormon’s praise for these young men does not veil his praise for their parents, nor does Mormon neglect that the success of these great parents was due to their deep conversion to the Lord through the missionary efforts of Ammon and the sons of Mosiah, and particularly to “the power and word of God” by which “they had been bconverted unto the Lord”.
These powerful and thumotic young men were eager to defend liberty and their country, and they loved Helaman. They wanted Helaman to lead them into battle. Rembmer that Helaman was the son of Alma the Younger, the same son upon whom the plates and sacred objects had been conferred. This was a major risk, because Helaman was the prophet and the custodian of the records and the sacred objects. Were he to lose his life in battle, what would happen with those sacred items?
But it was necessary for Helaman to become a military leader as well as the ecclesiastical leader. While Moroni, Lehi, and Teancum were busy thwarting Lamanite attacks in the west, Helaman marched at the head of his atwo thousand stripling soldiers, to the support of the people in the borders of the land on the south by the west sea.