Alma 44
44:1-9 - There's not a lot on this chapter, in fact the IM doesn't have anything, but I bet we can still find some stuff that's profitable. The Lamanites are surrounded and CM sees that they are terrified so "they did stop and withdrew a pace from them." If we think about it strategically, this is the perfect time to either a.) slaughter all the remaining soldiers, ensuring a weakened Lamanite nation or b.) take them as prisoners of war and enslave them, forcing them to do who knows what, ensuring free labor as well as a weakened Lamanite nation. Either way, this is their chance to keep these specific individuals from coming back to war against them. But CM declares to their leader Zerahemnah "we do not desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you." CM goes a completely different route, he desires peace with them, he wants the Lamanites to keep their blood in their own bodies and to just be cool. He points out that the Nephites are not the aggressors, "we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the yoke of bondage. But this is the very cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion." First off, ironically, CM points out to them that they are in the very position of vulnerability with possible death and enslavement, that was the whole purpose of them coming to war against the Nephites, kind of like the hunter becomes the hunted. Secondly, the Nephites' religion does not effect the Lamanites in any way, in fact it probably saves many of their lives because theirs is a religion of peace, so instead of hunting their enemies and trying to drink their blood, they don't bother them and try to live in peace. So for CM to recognize that the Nephite religion was a sticking point shows the importance that Satan places on destroying it. It's like beating someone to death because they like the smell of strawberries, it doesn't make any sense. But CM continues, basically saying, "you hate our religion, but it is our religion that has given us strength to be in the advantageous position," saying " and ye are angry with us because of our religion. But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us, and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands." The ultimate irony. CM commands Zerahemnah "in the name of that all-powerful God... (and) by all the desires which ye have for life that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us." A couple of points here, first, it's pretty unheard of for a superior fighting force to release their enemy on the simple promise that they won't fight again, that is strategically not logical at all. However, what else is uncommon is the Lord to give military guidance, so I guess we can see that unorthodox practices are part of being a successful military and spiritual leader. Another point is that CM has to go into this treaty knowing full well that those he is releasing will not be able to keep their promise and will return to fight them again another time, either because of their own personal vendetta, or because they will be compelled to do so by their government. So this offer is simply for the sake of not having to slaughter all of them right now, and giving them the chance to see what true discipleship of Jesus Christ truly means, and there has to be no pretense about future conflicts. And lastly, this is something I never understood, given the generous offer to simply walk away, Zerahemnah answered "we will deliver (our weapons) up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an oath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer." Ok, first off, if I was truly going by military strategy here, I would say "sure, take our weapons and we won't ever come back," because I have no loyalty to the Nephites, surely my opportunity to live, regroup, and fight again would trump any need for me to feel to fulfill my promise to them. Secondly, if Zerahemnah is so wicked that he's willing to slaughter and enslave other people simply because they have different beliefs than he does, surely he's not so righteous as to have the idea of lying to CM give him cause for guilt. This was always such a conundrum for me, and I never understood it, he's being stubborn, hard hearted, and flippant with the lives of his men. He literally wants to die before he recognizes that CM's God has bested him, that is not the way of a military leader, that's the behavior of a person so crazed by evil and hate that they will do anything, including sacrificing their own lives to maintain their allegiance to Satan. And this insane display of reckless abandon is Satan's indirect way to show the power, influence and importance that God has.
44:10-15 - CM is not interested in Zerahemnah's answer, it seems almost like Zerahemnah is trying to goad CM into doing something that would damage him spiritually, like massacre a bunch of Lamanites who are being stubborn. Hmmm... that's interesting. But CM doesn't take the bait, and he "returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict." Epic. He doesn't want a slaughter, he doesn't want an unfair advantage, but he will oblige them if they wish to die for their cause. But Zerahemnah doesn't have those same feelings of fair play or justice because "he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni's soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers." Pretty observant soldier, he should be promoted. But this individual soldier's amazingness doesn't end there because he "took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice: Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace." Maybe seeing that their leader wasn't as concerned with their safety as they were, and maybe seeing that their mighty leader had just literally had his hat handed to him, "there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a covenant of peace. And as man as entered into a covenant they suffered to depart into the wilderness." I'm going to assume that these were the ones who had any sense at all and were able to see this situation for what it was. Kind of like when the Lord sifts out those who are more willing to believe than others, my guess is that these were those who were not so hardened in their hearts that they were able to let go of the vendetta and value their own lives. I always wondered if those who first covenanted were touched by the way that CM had valued their lives more than their own commander did. I always wondered if that was a turning point in their lives for them, because I would think that it would be for me. To have certain death stare me in the face, only to have my freedom and path home granted to me by my enemy, to know that my enemies wanted me to live more than my own commander did, especially if I knew anything about any of the previous teachings by the Nephites concerning God. I always wondered if I would go home, and search out the God of my enemies who clearly loved me personally. And I always wanted to know how they felt when they were no doubt compelled to fight again next time, did they feel guilt for betraying the man who granted them their lives when he really shouldn't have? Did they actively try to get out of fighting again, citing the covenant with Moroni?
44:16- - With the more level headed Lamanites gone, it just devolved into a total mess because "Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites. And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites," and the war commenced again with the Lamanites suffering a most intense slaughter because of their unprotected bodies, and them being surrounded. "Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they never would come to war again against them." Did CM really believe that this was the last time he would face these men on the battle field? I doubt it. Do I think that Zerahemnah finally decided that the lives of the remainder of his men were important and decided to spare them the consequences of his stubbornness? Not for one second, I think that in the end, when he realized that he was actually going to die, he got scared for his life and his life only, and that's why did finally conceded defeat. True to his word "Moroni caused that the work of death should cease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness." Crazy what Satan is willing to sacrifice for a little bit of show, quite the example of how little he cares for any of us, and how much he hates God. On the other hand, what a spectacular display of true discipleship of Christ when even their Nephite enemies valued their lives more than their own commander.
44:10-15 - CM is not interested in Zerahemnah's answer, it seems almost like Zerahemnah is trying to goad CM into doing something that would damage him spiritually, like massacre a bunch of Lamanites who are being stubborn. Hmmm... that's interesting. But CM doesn't take the bait, and he "returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict." Epic. He doesn't want a slaughter, he doesn't want an unfair advantage, but he will oblige them if they wish to die for their cause. But Zerahemnah doesn't have those same feelings of fair play or justice because "he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni's soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers." Pretty observant soldier, he should be promoted. But this individual soldier's amazingness doesn't end there because he "took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice: Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace." Maybe seeing that their leader wasn't as concerned with their safety as they were, and maybe seeing that their mighty leader had just literally had his hat handed to him, "there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a covenant of peace. And as man as entered into a covenant they suffered to depart into the wilderness." I'm going to assume that these were the ones who had any sense at all and were able to see this situation for what it was. Kind of like when the Lord sifts out those who are more willing to believe than others, my guess is that these were those who were not so hardened in their hearts that they were able to let go of the vendetta and value their own lives. I always wondered if those who first covenanted were touched by the way that CM had valued their lives more than their own commander did. I always wondered if that was a turning point in their lives for them, because I would think that it would be for me. To have certain death stare me in the face, only to have my freedom and path home granted to me by my enemy, to know that my enemies wanted me to live more than my own commander did, especially if I knew anything about any of the previous teachings by the Nephites concerning God. I always wondered if I would go home, and search out the God of my enemies who clearly loved me personally. And I always wanted to know how they felt when they were no doubt compelled to fight again next time, did they feel guilt for betraying the man who granted them their lives when he really shouldn't have? Did they actively try to get out of fighting again, citing the covenant with Moroni?
44:16- - With the more level headed Lamanites gone, it just devolved into a total mess because "Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites. And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites," and the war commenced again with the Lamanites suffering a most intense slaughter because of their unprotected bodies, and them being surrounded. "Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they never would come to war again against them." Did CM really believe that this was the last time he would face these men on the battle field? I doubt it. Do I think that Zerahemnah finally decided that the lives of the remainder of his men were important and decided to spare them the consequences of his stubbornness? Not for one second, I think that in the end, when he realized that he was actually going to die, he got scared for his life and his life only, and that's why did finally conceded defeat. True to his word "Moroni caused that the work of death should cease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness." Crazy what Satan is willing to sacrifice for a little bit of show, quite the example of how little he cares for any of us, and how much he hates God. On the other hand, what a spectacular display of true discipleship of Christ when even their Nephite enemies valued their lives more than their own commander.
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