Why War Chapters?

Book of Mormon Notes - Sunday, October 22, 2023, Alma 46 and 47

It occurred to me this morning that Moroni’s act of rending his coat was more than symbolic of the events in the life of his great ancestor Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Both Joseph’s coat and Moroni’s coat point us to Jesus Christ, and the prophesies that He fulfilled by His crucifixion. The Psalmist prophesied:

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. (Psalm 22:18)

And the Apostle John recorded:

¶ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my ^araiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. (John 19:23-24)

Moroni was a type of Christ, just like Joseph and so many other Old Testament prophets were types of Christ.

I was wondering if Jacob’s (Israel’s) prophesy concerning a remnant of Joseph applies to the Nephites whom Christ received at the temple in Bountiful or some other group of the seed of Lehi. This may be part of the fulfillment, but it seems to me that Jacob’s prophecy concerning the remnant of Joseph that would be taken up by God applies to something yet in the future, namely, the seed of Joseph in the New Jerusalem. This is Moroni’s speech concerning Jacob’s prophecy, probably drawn from the Brass Plates:

Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a ^aremnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw that a ^bpart of the ^cremnant of the coat of Joseph was ^dpreserved and had not decayed. And he said—Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a ^eremnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment.

Now behold, this giveth my soul sorrow; nevertheless, my soul hath joy in my son, because of that part of his seed which shall be taken unto God.

Now behold, this was the language of Jacob. (Alma 46:24-26)

It seems reasonable to me that the remainder of the seed of Joseph that perished was the Nephites about 400 years after the coming of Christ among them. The remnant preserved by the hand of God, and taken unto Himself… I don’t know. The Three Nephites were a remnant, I suppose. Moroni, son of Mormon, was a remnant also, I suppose. But it seems to me that the remnant spoken of in the Book of Mormon often pertains to a group of Lehites that the Lord preserved and who will play a major role in the last days. It seems to me that the Lamanites who were victorious over the Nephites, who were subsequently smitten and scattered by the Gentiles in the Promised Land, must be among the remnant of which Jacob prophesied, and the remnant so often mentioned throughout the Book of Mormon. But I also suppose that anyone who belongs to the tribes of Ephraim or Manasseh, and the seed of Joseph, and the seed of Lehi, may constitute this remnant.

Moroni considered that the perishing remnant were the dissenters from the Nephites, but he also warned that they themselves would be part of the perishing remnant if they did not stand fast in the faith of Christ. Moroni’s warning was a prophesy because we discover later in the Book of Mormon that the Nephites failed to stand fast in the faith of Christ and were destroyed. They were cast at the feet of the Lamanites, just as Moroni’s men had cast their garments at his feet.

Amalickiah’s cunning and treachery were the perfect foil for Moroni’s courage and wisdom. Moroni’s greatness and strength of character emerged and stood out to a greater degree because of the opposition and the conflict that Amalickiah stirred up. Amalickiah knew that his cause was unjust, but he was determined to seize power in whatever way that he could. Moroni tried to cut him off and execute him, but Amalickiah escaped. Amalickiah’s escape proved disastrous for both the Lamanites and the Nephites. Even though Moroni was able to rally his people around the Title of Liberty and begin the process of defending their faith and their freedom, Amalickiah simply renewed his strategy to rule the Nephites by first conquering the Lamanites.

(Just as a side note, I’ve always loved that at the end of Alma 46 Mormon notes that God had prepared many ^aplants and roots with excellent qualities to remove the cause of ^bdiseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate. God didn’t prepare drugs, vaccines, or invasive medical practices that mask the causes and exacerbate the symptoms of disease. He prepared plants and roots to remove the cause of ^bdiseases. See also Doctrine and Covenants 59:17–20, Doctrine and Covenants 89:10, and Ezekiel 47:12.)

In a nutshell, Amalickiah was so cunning and treacherous that he deceived the entire Lamanite nation and became their king. Amalickiah deceived the king of the Lamanites, stirring them up to anger against the Nephites, organizing an army, opposing the army of the Lamanites that refused to obey the orders of the king, deceiving and murdering the new king of those rebel Lamanites, Lehonti, then deceiving and murdering the main king of the Lamanites, deceiving and marrying the wife of the murdered king, and becoming king over all of the Lamanites. Mormon’s masterful abridgment is replete with fascinating details that not even the greatest writers could have imagined or invented.

This portion of the Book of Mormon contains much of Mormon’s abridging work. There seem to be fewer insertions of direct quotations of sermons and primary sources in this portion of the Book of Mormon. But as always, Mormon draws many lessons from Nephite history for the benefit of his latter-day audience. For example, after describing Amalickiah’s cunning and treachery in detail, Mormon presents us with this perennial insight:

Now these ^adissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the Nephites, yea, having been instructed in the same ^bknowledge of the Lord, nevertheless, it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more hardened and ^cimpenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the Lamanites—drinking in with the ^dtraditions of the Lamanites; giving way to ^eindolence, and all manner of lasciviousness; yea, entirely forgetting the Lord their God. (Alma 47:36)

All of these things take place only 72 years before the coming of Christ. As I ponder why Mormon includes this lengthy account of the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites, moving from the earlier foundational chapters that contain much more doctrine and many more sermons, it seems to me that Mormon is reminding us that even the most solid of foundations (such as that established by the Lord through Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, King Benjamin, Abinadi, etc.) must be strengthened and maintained.

Certainly Mormon foresaw the solid foundation that was laid for our faith and our freedom through the Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and Joseph Smith and the early Saints. And certainly Mormon knew that there would be severe opposition to and attacks against those foundations, including the tragedies of war and the cunning and treachery of tyrants. Mormon foresaw the totalitarianism of the 20th century, the new tyrannies of the 21st century, and the events that lead up to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

With his prophetic perspective - with Nephite history behind him and American history before him - Mormon gave us Chief Captain Moroni - the perfect model of courage, faith, and righteous patriotism - to bolster us in an age of cowardice, doubt, wickedness, and idolatry. We cannot pass over the “war chapters” lightly, especially because they apply to us now. The Prophet Joseph Smith prophesied:

Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the ^awars that will ^bshortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of ^cSouth Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls;

And the ^atime will come that ^bwar will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place.

For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then ^awar shall be poured out upon all nations. (D&C 87:1-3)

Besides Jesus Christ Himself, what better friend in war time do we have than Chief Captain Moroni?