Mosiah 10:8-22
Oh my goodness, am I really going to have more time tonight? It’s a Christmas miracle! I was going to just breeze over the rest of this chapter last night, but there are a couple of different points that I thought were important to cover in verses 8-22.
10:8-10 – Zeniff again shows his military prowess, listing the weaponry of the Lamanites and us knowing that Zeniff had himself prepared his people for war with similar weapons. He says that the Lamanites were “naked; and they were girded with a leathern girdle about their loins.” I wonder if his mentioning this indicated that he had his people wear some type of body armor, and with his obvious military experience, I would say that that’s possible. But then we come how he arranges his people. He says that he “caused that the women and children of my people should be hid in the wilderness,” this was obviously an advantage that he had because of his guards and spies being able to warn him and the people beforehand. So when the Lamanites came this time, they were much better prepared, the men had more peace of mind going into the battle knowing that their families were safe in the wilderness, and this undoubtedly allowed them more focus, because on the battlefield, distractions are a death sentence. I also find it interesting that Zeniff “caused that all my old men that could bear arms, and also all my young men that were able to bear arms, should gather themselves together to go to battle against the Lamanites; and I did place them in their ranks, every man according to his age… and I, even I, in my old age, did go up to battle against the Lamanites.” There is a very well established pattern set forth so far in the Book of Mormon, of everyone who is able to fight in defense of their country. We’ve seen Nephi, the many kings and leaders as stated I Jarom 1:7, Omni, Abinadom, King Benjamin, and now Zeniff, have explicitly physically fought in the wars which were brought to the doors of their people, and we will see more examples later of leaders who armed themselves and fought alongside their soldiers. This is in contrast to, not only modern day warfare, but also the strategy of keeping the “brass” far away from the action to protect them. I can see why that would be important both ways, and I’m wondering if the advanced technology that we have today supports that, but I do know that when the directors of the war are far away from the action, much is lost in terms of red tape, communication and decisions are made that compromise lives. By this we can see that these men truly lived lives that were cognizant of their effect on others, and valued the lives of those around them as much as their own. And they went “up in the strength of the Lord to battle,” and to be clear, even with their probable weaponry and training, and planning and man power, they were still greatly outnumbered, and unless you can call in an airstrike, being greatly outnumbered is almost always a losing battle. So we’ve seen them win when in the strength of the Lord, they went up against the Lamanites with their pitch forks, and now we see them as a much more advanced fighting force, but still statistically no reasonable way that they can win. One city of people verses an entire nation of “wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people,” it’s not reasonable.
10:11-18 – Zeniff gives his people a motivational speech to his people, trying to pump them up for battle and goes through the reasons why the Lamanites hate them. Here we get to examine the differences in beliefs between the Nephites and the Lamanites, so let’s go into this discussion assuming a few things. First, let’s assume that both forces are equally equipped as far as weaponry and training go, and second let’s assume that the only difference as far as two opposing fighting forces go is that the Lamanites are far superior in numbers. The Nephites believed that God would deliver them if they are righteous, the Lamanites “knew nothing concerning the Lord, not the strength of the Lord… believing in the tradition of their fathers.” So basically, one group believes in God, one group believes in themselves. The Lamanites hatred for the Nephites goes back to the perceived wrongs done to Laman and Lemuel some 300-400 years ago, that’s a long time to hold a grudge. And the traditions of their fathers are recited by Zeniff as being:
1. They were driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of the iniquities of their fathers. Laman and Lemuel had the opportunity many times to return to the land of Jerusalem, as we’ve discussed before. Also if they were to return alone, they probably would have been richer and had more “freedom” because they would have all the possessions to themselves without Lehi around to govern the uses of it. So basically, they choose to stay in the wilderness because they were convinced by the words of Lehi and Nephi that if they returned to Jerusalem, they would be destroyed. They only could be angry at themselves for making that choice, but it’s easier to hate Nephi because of it.
2. Wronged by their brethren while in the wilderness and while crossing the sea. I’m not exactly sure that this “wrong” was about. I’m confident that L&L didn’t suffer any more than anyone else while in the wilderness, in fact their complaining and bad attitudes probably made it so that everyone who had to listen to them suffered way more than they did. And if I remember correctly Nephi was the one who was tied to with hands and feet swollen in the freezing, drowning storm for 4 days, while their parents almost died and everyone else feared for their safety because of the actions of L&L, so I’m not exactly sure that this holds any water.
3. Wronged while in the land of their first inheritance, after they had crossed the sea, and according to verse 15, this wrong was because Nephi “had taken the ruling of the people out of their hands.” But to be fair, when Nephi left, they were the leaders of their own people, so they still had that position appointed to them, not to include being the leaders of their own families. It’s interesting to me that even though they were the rulers of the Lamanites, that wasn’t enough for them, they wanted to be the rulers over all the people. If I was a Lamanite, this would be a little offensive to me because “you’re saying that I’m not good enough to be your subject?”
4. Nephi “stole” the brass plates when he left into the wilderness. As I remember it, Nephi was the one who ultimately risked his life to secure the plates, he was the one who cherished them, and he was the one who cared if he accomplished the commandment of God to get them from Laban. So to me, this is the most absurd reason of all. I think that it’s clear that toward the end L&L were not in any way, shape, or form reasonable, so really all these reasons are just as valid as if they were to say “but he said I was ugly and that I can’t read good.”
They are just excuses to get angry with their brother, but because they had warped the truth so much they were able to teach their children “that they should hate (the Nephites) and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi.” In an October 1999 general Conference talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell entitled “Lessons from Laman and Lemuel” he teaches “early on, Laman rejected the role he should have played, and, instead, wanted to be ‘top dog in the manger,’ resenting all the while Nephi’s spiritual leadership. Lemuel was not only Laman’s dutiful satellite, but he was also his enabler by allowing himself to be ‘stirred up’ by Laman. If, instead, Laman had been fully isolated, certain outcomes could have been very different. We have enablers in our society too. They allow themselves to be stirred up against that which is good. They are not entitled to a free pass any more than Lemuel. Like him, their comparative visibility is low, but their hypocrisy is high.” This was an interesting point for me because I am the type of person that can easily be stirred up, so this was a warning for me to go ahead and knock that off before I become just as guilty as Lemuel for contributing to negativity in my life. Elder Maxwell teaches us here that L&L were given the opportunity to be the leaders like they wanted but because they wanted to do it their own ways, which would have left their subjects neglected and abused, the Lord declined and instead chose Nephi to care for the people properly. In an October 1986 general conference talk entitled “God Will Yet Reveal” Elder Maxwell teaches us why it’s so very important to raise your children in the gospel, while speaking of the scriptures that we have “without this precious, spiritual perspective, the human family is seldom more than one generation away from deep doubt and even disbelief. Laman and Lemuel doubted and murmured because, wrote Nephi, ‘they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them;’ they were provincial, just like forgetful Israel: ‘ and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, not yet the works which he had done for Israel.’” And finally in another October 1996 general conference Elder Maxwell again teaches in a talk entitled “According to the Desire of (Our) Hearts,” “unquestionably, parents have such a profound role in assisting in the educating of our desires, especially when parents combine explanation and exemplification!” So Elder Maxwell shows us very clearly why it’s not surprising that over 300 years later, the descendants of L&L were full of hatred of the Nephites because of what they had been taught by their parents. And finally in verse 18 Zeniff recognizes publically that the Lamanite king had “deceived” him and that because of this, even though despite one major war in 22 years, that the people had “suffered these many years in the land.”
10:19-22 – Zeniff doesn’t say how many people he lost, I wonder why that is since he was so very specific in the last battle, but he did say that the Lamanites had lost so many that “we did not number them.” Again another amazing example of a small group winning a war in the strength of the Lord against a far more numerous enemy. This is a beautiful and comforting story. After they won, they went back to their work, no taking time off or self-destruction, back home and back to work. And Zeniff “did confer the kingdom upon one of my sons,” the infamous King Noah.
And so ends the story of Zeniff, I feel that it’s one of an ambitious, “over-zealous” man with good intentions, who inevitably humbles himself and turns to God and becomes a great man, and I relate to that story and I hope that it ends up being my story one day too.
10:8-10 – Zeniff again shows his military prowess, listing the weaponry of the Lamanites and us knowing that Zeniff had himself prepared his people for war with similar weapons. He says that the Lamanites were “naked; and they were girded with a leathern girdle about their loins.” I wonder if his mentioning this indicated that he had his people wear some type of body armor, and with his obvious military experience, I would say that that’s possible. But then we come how he arranges his people. He says that he “caused that the women and children of my people should be hid in the wilderness,” this was obviously an advantage that he had because of his guards and spies being able to warn him and the people beforehand. So when the Lamanites came this time, they were much better prepared, the men had more peace of mind going into the battle knowing that their families were safe in the wilderness, and this undoubtedly allowed them more focus, because on the battlefield, distractions are a death sentence. I also find it interesting that Zeniff “caused that all my old men that could bear arms, and also all my young men that were able to bear arms, should gather themselves together to go to battle against the Lamanites; and I did place them in their ranks, every man according to his age… and I, even I, in my old age, did go up to battle against the Lamanites.” There is a very well established pattern set forth so far in the Book of Mormon, of everyone who is able to fight in defense of their country. We’ve seen Nephi, the many kings and leaders as stated I Jarom 1:7, Omni, Abinadom, King Benjamin, and now Zeniff, have explicitly physically fought in the wars which were brought to the doors of their people, and we will see more examples later of leaders who armed themselves and fought alongside their soldiers. This is in contrast to, not only modern day warfare, but also the strategy of keeping the “brass” far away from the action to protect them. I can see why that would be important both ways, and I’m wondering if the advanced technology that we have today supports that, but I do know that when the directors of the war are far away from the action, much is lost in terms of red tape, communication and decisions are made that compromise lives. By this we can see that these men truly lived lives that were cognizant of their effect on others, and valued the lives of those around them as much as their own. And they went “up in the strength of the Lord to battle,” and to be clear, even with their probable weaponry and training, and planning and man power, they were still greatly outnumbered, and unless you can call in an airstrike, being greatly outnumbered is almost always a losing battle. So we’ve seen them win when in the strength of the Lord, they went up against the Lamanites with their pitch forks, and now we see them as a much more advanced fighting force, but still statistically no reasonable way that they can win. One city of people verses an entire nation of “wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people,” it’s not reasonable.
10:11-18 – Zeniff gives his people a motivational speech to his people, trying to pump them up for battle and goes through the reasons why the Lamanites hate them. Here we get to examine the differences in beliefs between the Nephites and the Lamanites, so let’s go into this discussion assuming a few things. First, let’s assume that both forces are equally equipped as far as weaponry and training go, and second let’s assume that the only difference as far as two opposing fighting forces go is that the Lamanites are far superior in numbers. The Nephites believed that God would deliver them if they are righteous, the Lamanites “knew nothing concerning the Lord, not the strength of the Lord… believing in the tradition of their fathers.” So basically, one group believes in God, one group believes in themselves. The Lamanites hatred for the Nephites goes back to the perceived wrongs done to Laman and Lemuel some 300-400 years ago, that’s a long time to hold a grudge. And the traditions of their fathers are recited by Zeniff as being:
1. They were driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of the iniquities of their fathers. Laman and Lemuel had the opportunity many times to return to the land of Jerusalem, as we’ve discussed before. Also if they were to return alone, they probably would have been richer and had more “freedom” because they would have all the possessions to themselves without Lehi around to govern the uses of it. So basically, they choose to stay in the wilderness because they were convinced by the words of Lehi and Nephi that if they returned to Jerusalem, they would be destroyed. They only could be angry at themselves for making that choice, but it’s easier to hate Nephi because of it.
2. Wronged by their brethren while in the wilderness and while crossing the sea. I’m not exactly sure that this “wrong” was about. I’m confident that L&L didn’t suffer any more than anyone else while in the wilderness, in fact their complaining and bad attitudes probably made it so that everyone who had to listen to them suffered way more than they did. And if I remember correctly Nephi was the one who was tied to with hands and feet swollen in the freezing, drowning storm for 4 days, while their parents almost died and everyone else feared for their safety because of the actions of L&L, so I’m not exactly sure that this holds any water.
3. Wronged while in the land of their first inheritance, after they had crossed the sea, and according to verse 15, this wrong was because Nephi “had taken the ruling of the people out of their hands.” But to be fair, when Nephi left, they were the leaders of their own people, so they still had that position appointed to them, not to include being the leaders of their own families. It’s interesting to me that even though they were the rulers of the Lamanites, that wasn’t enough for them, they wanted to be the rulers over all the people. If I was a Lamanite, this would be a little offensive to me because “you’re saying that I’m not good enough to be your subject?”
4. Nephi “stole” the brass plates when he left into the wilderness. As I remember it, Nephi was the one who ultimately risked his life to secure the plates, he was the one who cherished them, and he was the one who cared if he accomplished the commandment of God to get them from Laban. So to me, this is the most absurd reason of all. I think that it’s clear that toward the end L&L were not in any way, shape, or form reasonable, so really all these reasons are just as valid as if they were to say “but he said I was ugly and that I can’t read good.”
They are just excuses to get angry with their brother, but because they had warped the truth so much they were able to teach their children “that they should hate (the Nephites) and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi.” In an October 1999 general Conference talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell entitled “Lessons from Laman and Lemuel” he teaches “early on, Laman rejected the role he should have played, and, instead, wanted to be ‘top dog in the manger,’ resenting all the while Nephi’s spiritual leadership. Lemuel was not only Laman’s dutiful satellite, but he was also his enabler by allowing himself to be ‘stirred up’ by Laman. If, instead, Laman had been fully isolated, certain outcomes could have been very different. We have enablers in our society too. They allow themselves to be stirred up against that which is good. They are not entitled to a free pass any more than Lemuel. Like him, their comparative visibility is low, but their hypocrisy is high.” This was an interesting point for me because I am the type of person that can easily be stirred up, so this was a warning for me to go ahead and knock that off before I become just as guilty as Lemuel for contributing to negativity in my life. Elder Maxwell teaches us here that L&L were given the opportunity to be the leaders like they wanted but because they wanted to do it their own ways, which would have left their subjects neglected and abused, the Lord declined and instead chose Nephi to care for the people properly. In an October 1986 general conference talk entitled “God Will Yet Reveal” Elder Maxwell teaches us why it’s so very important to raise your children in the gospel, while speaking of the scriptures that we have “without this precious, spiritual perspective, the human family is seldom more than one generation away from deep doubt and even disbelief. Laman and Lemuel doubted and murmured because, wrote Nephi, ‘they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them;’ they were provincial, just like forgetful Israel: ‘ and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, not yet the works which he had done for Israel.’” And finally in another October 1996 general conference Elder Maxwell again teaches in a talk entitled “According to the Desire of (Our) Hearts,” “unquestionably, parents have such a profound role in assisting in the educating of our desires, especially when parents combine explanation and exemplification!” So Elder Maxwell shows us very clearly why it’s not surprising that over 300 years later, the descendants of L&L were full of hatred of the Nephites because of what they had been taught by their parents. And finally in verse 18 Zeniff recognizes publically that the Lamanite king had “deceived” him and that because of this, even though despite one major war in 22 years, that the people had “suffered these many years in the land.”
10:19-22 – Zeniff doesn’t say how many people he lost, I wonder why that is since he was so very specific in the last battle, but he did say that the Lamanites had lost so many that “we did not number them.” Again another amazing example of a small group winning a war in the strength of the Lord against a far more numerous enemy. This is a beautiful and comforting story. After they won, they went back to their work, no taking time off or self-destruction, back home and back to work. And Zeniff “did confer the kingdom upon one of my sons,” the infamous King Noah.
And so ends the story of Zeniff, I feel that it’s one of an ambitious, “over-zealous” man with good intentions, who inevitably humbles himself and turns to God and becomes a great man, and I relate to that story and I hope that it ends up being my story one day too.
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