Moroni and Military Matters
Book of Mormon Notes - Monday, October 16, 2023, Alma 43 (Continued)
How did Chief Captain Moroni become the chief captain of the Nephite armies? He didn’t usurp power to get there or work his way up through the ranks, flattering his superiors along the way. He didn’t get promoted because he published many articles in the most prestigious Nephite periodicals. He was appointed:
Now, the leader of the Nephites, or the man who had been aappointed to be the bchief captain over the Nephites—now the chief captain took the command of all the armies of the Nephites—and his name was Moroni; (Alma 43:16)
How was he appointed?
Now, Moroni being a man who was appointed by the chief judges and the voice of the people, therefore he had power according to his will with the armies of the Nephites, to establish and to exercise authority over them. (Alma 46:34)
By both the democratic process of obtaining the voice of the people and the more aristocratic process of appointment by the chief judges, Moroni was appointed as the chief captain of the Nephite armies. Even though Moroni was only 25 years old, his courage, strength, and character made him the obvious choice. This was not a position that Moroni had sought after in order to gain power, prominence, prestige or filthy lucre. Both the people and the chief judges knew that Moroni’s sole aim was to preserve their liberty, their lands, the homes, and their families.
I see in this appointment a reflection of our meek and humble Savior Jesus Christ, who was prepared from the beginning and chosen by our Father to accomplish the mission that only He could accomplish. On a much small scale, though still a type of Christ, Moroni had been prepared to deliver the Nephites from Lamanite aggression, oppression, and bondage. Mormon must have loved Chief Captain Moroni and admired him greatly because he has handed down to us not only an abridgment of the record of his mighty deeds, but he also sired a son who bears the name of that great Chief Captain.
Chief Captain Moroni prepared his soldiers so well with such great defensive armor and weapons that the opposing armies were terrified just by the sight of them. Moroni followed the prophet Alma’s inspired direction and by the intelligence that he had gathered from his spies, Moroni was able to lead his armies in a successful defensive campaign against the encroaching Lamanite armies, under the command of the fierce Zerahemnah. Moroni also rallied other troops into the cause of freedom. The Nephites were prepared to confront and resist their enemies.
The Lamanites desired power and domination, and to set up a kingdom. The Lamanites were monarchists, or rather, totalitarians under the rule of a dictator. Mormon sets the stage with the directly opposing motivations of Moroni and the Nephites on the one hand against those of Zerahemnah and the Lamanites on the other hand:
And now, as Moroni knew the aintention of the Lamanites, that it was their intention to destroy their brethren, or to bsubject them and bring them into bondage that they might establish a kingdom unto themselves over all the land;
And he also knowing that it was the aonly desire of the Nephites to preserve their lands, and their bliberty, and their church, therefore he thought it no sin that he should defend them by cstratagem; therefore, he found by his spies which course the Lamanites were to take. (Alma 43:29)
These are the words of one warrior and military strategist at the end of Nephite civilization to describe the mind and strategy of his noble predecessor who had fought to preserve Nephite civilization. Think of Churchill writing descriptions of Washington or Lincoln, for example. Chief Captain Moroni reminds me of General Washington, or even Simon Bolivar.
I find the phrase “he thought it no sin that he should defend them by cstratagem” very interesting. It appears that there were some rules of warfare, but Moroni understood the cunning and the treachery of the Nephite adversaries. Mormon knew that Moroni was not a bloodthirsty warmonger. In fact, Moroni was just the opposite. He did everything in his power to preserve and defend the Nephites with as little bloodshed as possible. But Moroni was no fool. With every ounce of his intelligence, with the benefit of revelation from Alma, and with the information that his spies had gathered, Moroni developed a successful military strategy from which Mormon may have learned many things as he conducted his own military campaigns to defend his people against the Lamanites.
But why would Mormon include all of these details about war and military strategy? Mormon knew that the last days would be a time of wars and rumors of wars. There is a tradition of interpreting the so-called “war chapters” of the Book of Mormon symbolically so that average, non-military members of the Church can benefit from the symbolism and the spiritual metaphors for application in our own lives. This is all fine and good, and even President Nelson has interpreted these war chapter in this way for our benefit. But did Mormon wish for his latter-day readers to think of his record of Moroni’s military exploits solely in terms their application to spiritual warfare in the last days?
While the symbolism for spiritual warfare and the lessons to be drawn from such symbolism are true and important, what other reasons might there be for Mormon’s detailed record of these wars? Remember the purpose of the Book of Mormon, and Nephi’s commandment that only the most plain and precious things should be preserved and recorded. Remember too that it was difficult work to inscribe on metal plates, and that Mormon was abridging from many records.
I would just like to pause for a moment to acknowledge the impossibility that farm-boy in his early twenties could have come up with such an intricately detailed story with such amazing internal consistency, including the names of places and landmarks: The hill Riplah, the river Sidon, the land Manti, etc… and on top of that it is a record of advanced military strategy with spies, splitting of armies, concealment, and detailed descriptions of weapons and armor. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and the power of God.
To return to the question of Mormon’s purpose for including so many details about the wars, perhaps we will find more answers as we continue to study the Book of Mormon because this was not the first war, nor was it the last war that is described in the Book of Mormon. One answer that comes immediately to mind, however, is that Mormon knew that many latter-day students of the Book of Mormon would suffer from the ravages of war. The Civil War in the United States of America began not long after the publication and distribution of the Book of Mormon, and there have been many wars since then. One author has speculated that Abraham Lincoln read the Book of Mormon while in office and that it changed the course of Lincoln’s presidency and the war. Whether or not Lincoln read the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon is a book that provides great inspiration and comfort to the many military men who have read it during their service, as well as to the people who have suffered in war torn countries.
Mormon also introduces us to another mighty Nephite military leader and friend of Moroni, Captain Lehi. We will learn more about this courageous leader as well.
Again Mormon sharpens the contrast between the motivations and the actions of the Nephites and the Lamanites:
Now in this case the Lamanites did fight exceedingly; yea, never had the Lamanites been known to fight with such exceedingly great strength and courage, no, not even from the beginning.
And they were inspired by the aZoramites and the Amalekites, who were their chief captains and leaders, and by Zerahemnah, who was their chief captain, or their chief leader and commander; yea, they did fight like dragons, and many of the Nephites were slain by their hands, yea, for they did smite in two many of their head-plates, and they did pierce many of their breastplates, and they did smite off many of their arms; and thus the Lamanites did smite in their fierce anger.
Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a abetter cause, for they were not bfighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their cliberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.
And they were doing that which they felt was the aduty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: bInasmuch as ye are not guilty of the cfirst offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.
And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall adefend your families even unto bbloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion. (Alma 43:43-47)
As we have recently witnessed war break out in Israel, and as we consider the volatility of so many countries like Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, Venezuela, and so forth, could it be that Mormon was preparing us for much more than just the Civil War, World War I and World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Clinton, Bush, and Obama wars, and so forth? Whenever we see enraged Lamanites lead by bloodthirsty tyrants in order to invade and reduce the Nephites to slavery, I don’t think that these are just metaphors or problems of the past. When the Chinese communists, or the Putin’s Russians, or radical Jihadists, or other enemies start attacking the United States of America, maybe we’ll read these war chapters more literally and not just figuratively.