The Ancient American Red Dawn
Book of Mormon Notes - Saturday, December 16, 2023, 3 Nephi 3
It was time for another great showdown.
This time, instead of the epic battles between the great Chief Captain Moroni and the wicked tyrants Zerahemnah, Amalickiah, and Ammoron, the new epic battles were between the great Chief Captain Gidgiddoni and the leader of the Gadianton robbers, Giddianhi. And what an epic battle it was.
Giddianhi was as bold, or bolder, than all of the previous tyrants combined. He was so audacious in his demands, in fact, that his epistle astonished Lachoneus, the chief judge or governor of the land of the Nephites. After everything that the Nephites had endured during the time of Alma and Moroni, how could they have forgotten so soon and so easily how the Lord had delivered them? Mormon’s laments in the Book of Helaman help us to understand why such a thing was not only possible, but inevitable for unstable and foolish mortals who reject the counsel and commandments of God.
Mormon quotes Giddianhi’s letter verbatim, a letter that was much like the letter that Moroni had received from Ammoron. But Giddianhi’s letter was dripping with even more flattery and mendacity. Giddianhi pretended to praise Lachoneus, addressing him as the “most noble and chief governor of the land,” “most noble Lachoneus,” and praising him for his “firmness” (and also the firmness of his people), and his “noble spirit in the field of battle.” Lachoneus was astonished, however, because Giddianhi audaciously demanded that Lachoneus and the Nephites surrender themselves to his bands of Gadianton robbers and join them in their secret works. Giddianhi knew that he was lying, but he was bold in his lies because he and his bands of robbers had joined the ranks of the devil, the father of lies.
I am trying to think of a possible modern equivalent for such a letter. This would be like the head of the CIA or the intelligence community writing a letter to Trump (if he is elected president again), and demanding that he and all American citizens surrender to and become subjects of the deep state. The analogy is imperfect, because Trump may very well be one of the modern Gadiantons. But imagine if President Nelson, or the next prophet received a letter like Giddianhi’s letter, demanding that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints surrender to and become subjects of the deep state. In a way, this has already happened when the New World Order, the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization and other such nefarious organizations forced everyone in the world to surrender to and become subjects of their cruel masking, distancing, quarantining, and jabbing protocols. Maybe Bill Gates or Klaus Schwab or Yuval Noah Harari is a kind of modern Giddianhi. It’s hard to tell who is the real leader of the modern Gadianton robbers. But whoever it is, his intention is the same as Giddianhi’s intention was, namely to subjugate, kill, and rule over everyone as a cruel tyrant and dictator.
Giddianhi’s letter is also sickening because he mocks the liberty, the faith, the religion, the government, and the goodness of the Nephites while claiming that one of the most evil organizations of all time - his Gadianton robbers - was good:
And behold, I am aGiddianhi; and I am the governor of this the bsecret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be cgood; and they are of dancient date and they have been handed down unto us. (3 Nephi 3:9)
This reminds me of the description of the Alfalfa Club, because the members of this club of elite and corrupt politicians believe that it is the oldest club in existence, with roots that go back to ancient Egypt. Of course these insidious societies are not good, but they are ancient because they began with Satan’s plots with Cain. Giddianhi also knew that he was lying when he wrote to Lachoneus about recovering rights and agovernment, and avenging the wrongs that the Nephites had supposedly done to the robbers. These were all classic tactics of a tyrannical leader: intimidation, threats, lies, flattery, and blame. Lachoneus was astonished, but he didn’t put up with any of Giddianhi’s nonsense.
Giddianhi threatened to exterminate Lachoneus and his Nephites if they would not deliver up their lands and their possessions. The way that things are unfolding right now, I can imagine Xi Jinping making similar kinds of threats to the United States. Why else would the Chinese own and buy up so much land in the United States and send so many military aged men over our borders? And where will our Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni come from to organize us and defend us from invasions and attacks?
Mormon records that Lachoneus was a just man and that he could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a arobber. Lachoneus is a good example for us. We, like Lachoneus, can be just and refuse to be frightened or intimidated by the demands and the threatenings of those who are, like Giddianhi, basically robbers. Lachoneus also commanded his people to turn to the Lord and to cry unto Him for bstrength against the time that the robbers should come down against them. Lachoneus sent out a proclamation to his people in order to agather them together into one place and to erect afortifications in preparation for defending themselves against the attacks of Giddianhi and his bands of robbers. The armies of the Lamanites and the Nephites combined forces, and the people gathered together in the land of Zarahemla, ready to take what could have been their last stand against the invaders. It was like the ancient American version of Red Dawn.
But Lachoneus didn’t just gather and prepare his people to defend themselves. He made sure that they understood the reason that they were being attacked, and that only the Lord could deliver them:
Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be adelivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.
And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus. (3 Nephi 3:15-16)
Repentance and fervent prayer precede deliverance. No amount of defenses, military or otherwise, will be sufficient.
Lachoneus wasn’t just the chief judge and political leader of the Nephites. He was a just man who was inspired by the Lord to lead his people to repentance. Lachoneus didn’t just give powerful and memorable speeches, like a mighty statesman. He prophesied and delivered the word of God to the people. Mormon doesn’t record these terrible prophesies of Lachoneus, but his descriptions of Lachoneus’ terrible prophesies stir our own imaginations and remind us that Mormon was writing for us, his latter-day audience, to prepare us for things to come. Let me rephrase Lachoneus’ speech in order to apply it directly to us now:
As the Lord liveth, except you repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, you will in nowise be adelivered out of the hands of the deep state and the Chinese (or whoever combines forces with the modern Gadianton robbers to destroy our liberty).
After preaching, prophesying, and gathering his people, Lachoneus organized the Nephite military forces, and appointed the great Gidgiddoni as the chiefest of the chief captains. Mormon then provides us with this crucial insight into the Nephite manner of appointing such captains:
Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the aspirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge. (3 Nephi 3:19)
This Nephite custom goes all the way back to Nephi himself, but it was also followed in the appointment of the great Chief Captain Moroni.
The people wanted to hunt down and attack the robbers in their hiding places, but Gidgiddoni received revelation that the people who had gathered in the land of Zarahemla would be destroyed if they went on the offensive. Gidgiddoni received revelation that they should prepare themselves in the center of their land, gather their armies together, and wait until the robbers came against them. Therefore, thousands of people gathered together in the center of the land and did as they were commanded by the great Gidgiddoni and the great Lachoneus. They prepared all of their provisions and their weapons of war. The people feared the words of Gidgiddoni and Lachoneus, and they repented and prayed unto the Lord for deliverance. They were also exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. The people prepared as best they could, but the day of battle was great and terrible.