Where is God in War?

Book of Mormon Notes - Sunday, October 29, 2023, Alma 52 (Continued)

With the ideas from the last several posts in mind, and looking back to the beginning of my study of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon timeline and parallel with the Restoration timeline becomes even more interesting.

This is all speculation, of course, but if we see that the First Vision corresponds in a way with the visions of Lehi and Nephi at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, and the migrations of the early Saints from New York and other regions to Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and eventually to the Salt Lake Valley corresponds in a way with the migrations of the Lehites and the Nephites, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land, and eventually to Zarahemla, and the mission and martyrdom of Abinadi corresponds in a way with the mission and martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, and the missionary work of Alma and the sons of Mosiah corresponds in a way to missionary work in the early Restoration - which included missions to the latter-day Lamanites, and then in these war chapters we see that the Civil War and the wars poured out upon all nations correspond in a way with the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites, then we begin to catch a glimpse of some ways in which the Book of Mormon is a preparation manual for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In other words, the events that unfolded in America with the Nephites foreshadow events that have unfolded, are now unfolding, and will yet unfold for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.

The parallels aren’t perfect, but I imagine that Mormon, on his prophetic perch and with eternal perspective, foresaw how the rise and fall of his own nation would foreshadow the rise and fall of the United States of America in the last days. Furthermore, Mormon’s son Moroni (and perhaps other prophet before him who were familiar with the Jaredite record) may have obtained special revelation on how the rise and fall of the Jaredites also foreshadowed the rise and fall of the Lehites as well as the rise and fall of the United States of America. In this reading, however, in which the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites (just over 60 years before the birth of Christ) correspond to the Civil War, that would mean that the Savior’s return at His Second Coming would have occurred around the 1950s or 1960s. (Civil War dates April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865 + 60 + years + 33 years). The principle, however, is that the events in the Book of Mormon that lead up to the coming of Christ among the Nephites at the Temple in Bountiful have something to teach us about preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Moroni, Lehi, and Teancum, along with their soldiers, labored to rescue the Nephite cities that had been captured by the Lamanites while continuing to prepare and to fortify other Nephite cities. Meanwhile, Amalickiah’s brother Ammoron, along with his soldiers, harassed the Nephites on the borders of the land in both the East and the West. Moroni came to the aid of Teancum as soon it was possible. Thus, like Greek gods or heroes in council, the mighty Nephite warriors gathered:

And in the commencement of the twenty and eighth year, Moroni and Teancum and many of the chief ^acaptains held a council of war—what they should do to cause the Lamanites to come out against them to battle; or that they might by some means flatter them out of their strongholds, that they might gain advantage over them and take again the city of Mulek. (Alma 52:19)

The Nephites hoped to meet Jacob and his Lamanites in the plains, in a fair battle. But when Moroni knew that Jacob refused a battle on fair grounds, he resolved upon a plan that he might ^adecoy the Lamanites out of their strongholds. In a brilliant military strategy, the brave Teancum was chosen to lure the Lamanites away with a small number of men while Moroni and his armies marched by night through the wilderness. When the Lamanites began to pursue Teancum and his men, Moroni sent part of his army to recapture the city of Mulek while he and the rest of his army marched to the aid of Teancum. Meanwhile, Teancum had marched with his men toward the city of Bountiful where Lehi and a small Nephite army were stationed. The Lamanites especially feared Lehi, and thus they began to flee in confusion. But Moroni and his men came upon the Lamanites from the rear, once again surrounding the confused and travel weary Lamanites.

A furious battle ensued in which mighty Moroni was injured and the fierce, unconquerable Jacob was slain. As soon as it was possible, Moroni commanded a halt to the shedding of blood, and many of the Lamanites surrendered, while the rest were taken prisoner. Again, Mormon notes Moroni’s efforts to preserve life even in a fierce battle:

And now the number of prisoners who were taken exceeded more than the number of those who had been slain, yea, more than those who had been slain on both sides. (Alma 52:40)

I am led to ask, therefore, in a book whose main purpose is to testify of Christ and lead souls unto repentance and salvation, why does Mormon continue to trudge his audience through page after page of war, battles, military strategies, death, and destruction? As far as I can tell, there is not one single and direct mention of Deity in this entire chapter… something rare in a book in which some form of the Lord’s name is mentioned an average of ever 1.7 verses. Why?

The first thought that comes immediately to mind is that Mormon is revealing to us the fulfillment of the prophecies of all of the prophets who preceded this catastrophic war. Furthermore, Mormon himself was learning from his abridgment of these records of warfare, and this military knowledge was immediately and urgently relevant to his own life and the life of his son Moroni. But as I’ve mentioned repeatedly, Mormon was writing for a future audience, and his aim was to communicate to a future audience the things that they would need to understand about life in the last days, one of the main characteristics of which is war.

There are certainly myriad other reasons why Mormon labored so diligently to abridge and to record so many details about Chief Captain Moroni, Lehi, Teancum, and these wars. Whenever we read Mormon’s patented “Thus we see” or “thus” statements, that is at least a clue to the kind of lessons that Mormon desired for his future audience to learn. I count five “thus” statements in this chapter alone, but there must be hundreds of them scattered throughout Mormon’s abridgment of the large plates of Nephi.