The Rampage of Shiz

Book of Mormon Notes - Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Ether 14

If Ether prophesied such great and marvelous things, why did the Jaredites reject him, persecute him, and try to kill him? What happened to the Jaredites that caused them to descend ever further into chaos? The simple answer is that the Jaredites hardened their hearts because of sin. The same problem afflicted the Jaredites that now afflicts too many people in the last days:

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; (JST-Matthew 1:10)

The love of the Jaredites waxed cold and they rejected the man who most wanted and who had the greatest capacity to help them. Conditions worsened to the point that there was a great curse upon the land. No one would lend or borrow anything, and everyone clutched their weapons and their property because otherwise they would easily slip away. A similar curse afflicted the Nephites in the time of Mormon and Moroni according to the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite. I imagine that a similar curse will be upon the land of the United States of America unless we repent. It was a truly Hobbesian society, a war of all against all.

Predictably, after Shared’s death, the brother of Shared, a man named Gilead, rose up against Coriantumr. Even after the fall of one tyrant, the tyrant’s brother will almost always retaliate (remember, for example, the tyrant Amalickiah and his equally treacherous brother Ammoron). Coriantumr beat Shared and drove him into the wilderness of Akish (remember Akish and his secret combinations?). There was a terrible battle in the wilderness of Akish in which thousands of Jaredites were slaughtered. Coriantumr laid siege to Shared in the wilderness, but Shared’s armies retaliated during the night and slew a part of the drunken army of Coriantumr. Then Shared went into the land of Moron (remember the wicked Moron?) where he placed himself upon the throne of Coriantumr.

How did Ether observe all of these things? He must have been an excellent spy, or perhaps he had an ally or two among the Jaredites who provided him with intelligence. It seems to me that Ether was very much alone. He was the lone Jaredite that had not abandoned the Spirit of the Lord.

Meanwhile, Coriantumr dwelt with his army in the wilderness for two years, during which time he received great strength to his army. Gilead, the brother of Shared, also received great strength to his army because of secret combinations. But as is so often the case, secret combinations backfire against those who live by them. Shared’s high priest murdered him as he sat upon his throne. (Remember when Akish sought the life of his father-in-law, and through a secret oath of the ancients they beheaded Jared as he sat upon his throne, giving audience to his people? Jaredite history repeated itself.)

The high priest murdered Shared, and then, if I understand Moroni’s record correctly, a man named Lib used a secret combination to murder the high priest. Then Lib took command of the kingdom. Lib was gigantic. He was a man of great stature, more than any other man among all the people. He must have been like Shaquille O’Neil or perhaps even taller, like Gheorghe Mureșan or Manute Bol.

But Lib’s great stature didn’t intimidate king Coriantumr. Coriantumr came into the land of Moron to fight against Lib. Lib wounded Coriantumr’s arm, but Coriantumr’s army forced Lib to flee to the borders upon the seashore. Despite his wounded arm, Coriantumr pursued Lib again and fought with him upon the seashore. Lib smote the army of Coriantumr and drove them back into the wilderness of Akish. Back and forth, back and forth the battles raged.

Coriantumr received many wounds during these battles. Moroni has already shown us that Shared wounded Coriantumr’s thigh, and that Lib wounded Coriantumr’s arm. Corinatumr will receive even more wounds. But even these terrible battle wounds failed to move Coriantumr to repentance. Instead, Coriantumr was even more enraged.

Wounded and enraged, Coriantumr battled against and killed the humongous Lib in the plains of Agosh. Can you guess what happened next? Did Coriantumr’s supposed victory over Lib end the battle? Of course not. Lib also had a brother who was furious with Coriantumr. Lib’s brother rose up against Coriantumr and forced him and his army to flee once again.

Lib’s brother was a ferocious man with a name that I too often use as a substitute swear-word: Shiz. Shiz went on a terrible rampage. As he pursed Coriantumr, Shiz and his army slew women and children and burned their cities. Shiz caused great fear and panic among the Jaredites:

And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land—Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him! (Ether 14:18)

I just need to pause and mention the unlikelihood, even the impossibility, that a farm-boy from Vermont in his early twenties made up this story, let alone came up with a name like Shiz.

I would also like to pause for a moment to imagine what would happen to everyone in their comfortable homes in Utah Valley, the Salt Lake Valley, and the regions round about if a man like Shiz started to plough through neighborhoods with his armies, tanks, planes, and weapons. Perhaps there is already a Shiz - a large Chinese, Russian, or other foreign leader - who is ready to go on the rampage and plough through American neighborhoods, taking no prisoners. A fear of the new modern Shiz might go throughout the land, and people would cry “Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him!”

How did the Jaredites respond to Shiz?

The people flocked together in armies throughout the land, a part of them joining with the terrible Shiz, and the other part joining with the relentless Coriantumr. Moroni depicts the terrible scenes of warfare and slaughter in these memorable words:

And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was covered with the bodies of the dead.

And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh.

And the scent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all the face of the land; wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof. (Ether 14:21-23)

Moroni was already too familiar with such horrific scenes. Under his father’s command, many soldiers in the Nephite armies, thousands upon thousands, were slain, hewn down, and heaped up as dung upon the face of the land. (See Mormon 2:15) Moroni may have also remembered the destruction of the people of Ammonihah. (See Alma 16:9-11). One of the most terrible and disgusting things about the carnage and destruction of both the Jaredites and the Nephites was the stench of rotting human flesh. Of course all of this reminds me of John Taylor’s gruesome vision of the last days as recorded in Wilford Woodruff’s journal.

Nevertheless, the stench and the carnage did not stop Shiz from continuing to pursue Coriantumr. Shiz was filled with wrath and the spirit of vengeance for the death of his brother Lib. Shiz was also determined to make void the word of the Lord to Ether that Coriantumr should not fall by the sword.

Like his father Mormon who drew lessons from Nephite history, Moroni drew a lesson from Jaredite history and he employed his father’s patented “thus we see” formula to highlight this lesson:

And thus we see that the Lord did visit them in the fulness of his wrath, and their wickedness and abominations had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction. (Ether 14:25)

The Lord visited the Jaredites in the fulness of His wrath, and Ether kept a record. The Lord visited the Nephites in the fulness of His wrath and Moroni kept a record. Will the Lord not visit us in the fulness of His wrath if we follow the same course of wickedness and abominations of both the Jaredites and the Nephites? I hope that we will choose to repent instead. But if not, I have kept a record, and I hope to continue to keep a record.

Shiz pursued Coriantumr eastward and battled against him for three days on the borders by the seashore. In these final war passages, Moroni shares a significant amount of geographical details. Coriantumr’s armies beat Shiz’s armies so badly that they began to flee in terror to the land of Corihor, sweeping off the inhabitants before them unless they would join their armies. Shiz and his armies camped in the valley of Corihor, whereas Coriantumr and his armies camped in the valley of Shurr, near the hill Comnor. Shiz, Coriantumr, Corihor, Shurr, Comnor? Who could come up with such names, let alone such as story?

From the hill Comnor, Coriantumr’s armies sounded a trumpet to invite the armies of Shiz to battle again. The sounding of trumpets from the hill to call for battle reminds me of something right out of Tolkien’s tales. Three times the armies of Shiz came against the armies of Coriantumr, and there was great destruction and devastation. Moroni informs us that the battle became exceedingly sore. As a great military leader himself, Moroni knew the meaning of sore battle.

Once again, Shiz wounded Coriantumr severely, with many deep wounds, so much so that he fainted because of the loss of blood. Coriantumr was carried away from the battle as if he were dead. But according to the word of the Lord, Coriantumr did not die yet.

These battles were especially horrific because women and children fought together and against each other. Can you imagine the carnage of these battles between the armies of Shiz and the armies of Coriantumr, all because Coriantumr and his household refused to repent? Even the bloodthirsty, murderous tyrant Shiz could hardly fathom the devastation:

Now the loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great that Shiz commanded his people that they should not pursue the armies of Coriantumr; wherefore, they returned to their camp. (Ether 14:31)

Sadly, things only got worse for the Jaredites.