Alma 48
48:1-10 - The last chapter was kind of all over the place, but we ended up with Amalickiah plotting and becoming king of the Lamanites and marrying the Lamanite queen (who is a total martyr here.) But now being king of the Lamanites is not enough, because "he should also to reign over all the land, yea, and all the people who were in the land, the Nephites as well as the Lamanites." How is he going to become king? He has to fight, to physically remove freedom from the Nephites and enslave them, but the Lamanite army is quite reluctant to go back into battle, so Amalickiah is at a cross roads, how does he get an army to fight against an enemy of whom they are so terrified, they defied their own king and ran away? Propaganda of course, "yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites... Therefore he had accomplished his design, for he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous hose to go to battle against the Nephites." It's interesting to contrast the differing methods and levels of effectiveness between the former Lamanite king and Amalickiah. The former king compelled and commanded his men into service, whereas Amalickiah persuaded and "motivated" them, and sure enough while the king's army ran away, Amalickiah's seemed to be an all volunteer force and began to move forward with their plans for war. Amalickiah "had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit," murder, conspiracy, and evil, while CM on the other hand "had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God," because he knew that it didn't matter how well prepared they were physically, the Lord would not protect them if they were wicked, and conversely, it wouldn't matter how outnumbered they were, the Lord would strengthen them if they remained righteous. So while, yes, the strategic plans were important, nothing really mattered if the people were not righteous and kept the commandments of God, this is the first and foremost focus for the protection of his people. But he didn't stop there, he didn't just throw all the responsibility onto the Lord and sit back drinking lemonade, and really, that's not what we're commanded to do. I heard a saying once that was something like, "don't pray for rain if you don't have a hoe in your hand," and another one, "work like it's all up to you and pray like it's all up to the Lord," this is that principle. CM knew that the Nephites would be victorious if they were righteous, but he wanted to give the Lord all that he could as a mean of self reliance. He started "strengthening the armies of the Nephites," which I assume would include extensive training, weapons manufacturing, armor, etc. He also took to preparing the land "and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land." He started with physical defenses, then moved his armies into strategically advantageous positions, and he did all these things as "he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God," This was his method of preparation and defense, compared to modern military warfare, this is quite different, focusing heavy attention on the spiritual preparedness of the people, as well as strong defenses, there isn't much in the way of offense, because that's not really the Lord's way.
48:11-25 - Here we have an amazing ode to CM, and I'd like to go really deep into it, but I'm not sure I'm capable of doing that, mentally, right now. CM is "a strong and mighty man... of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery." This phrase "of a perfect understanding," has me puzzled, I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'm going to guess and say that it means that he knows who he is, he understands his relationship with God, he understands the plan of salvation and because of that, he has an eternal perspective. We can see that he understands the worth of souls to our Heavenly Father, because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, and he wants everyone to have the opportunity for freedom and safety. He was prayerful to God and full of gratitude "for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people," he worked hard, like King Benjamin did, he knew God and his country and his fellow men. He understood the rules of engagement as given by the Lord, and he saw that all his people were taught the same principles "and they were also taught never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives." He loved peace and understood how to engage in warfare while maintaining his salvation. Verse 15 is interesting, "if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger." This is an interesting concept to me because it indicates that not all possible conflicts are to be handled in the same way. For instance, we think back to Alma and his people when they were put into bondage to Amulon and the Lamanites, now that I think about it, I think I remember learning that Alma and his people were put into bondage as a result of not listening to Abinadi when he came around crying repentance in the first place, the same with Limhi and his people, they were basically enslaved, even after they repented, but again they also didn't listen when Abinadi came around the first time. I'm trying to think of a time when the Lord had allowed his righteous people to become enslaved without first having the possibility preached to them by a prophet. Hmmm.... I'm going to have to think about that. CM understood where happiness came from, he understood that peace and joy could never come from "the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity." His heart was not in gore and blood and battle, but in righteousness and freedom and repentance. Mormon finally gives the ultimate nod to CM when he says "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be like unto Moroni, behold the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." There are a few hidden messages here, the first is that the power of evil is subject to righteousness, if all men were righteous like CM, then hell would be shaken, thus indicating that evil can only thrive in an environment devoid of righteousness, so which is more powerful? Clearly righteousness, as it dispels evil with it's very presence. The next message is of the power of choice. The saying "the devil made me do it," or the idea that we are helpless to overcome our weaknesses or that in some way Satan is more powerful than we are, especially when it comes to making decisions, is completely nullified by the implication that CM's righteousness renders the devil powerless over him, and surely if a righteous man is more powerful than the devil and a wicked man is enslaved by him, then clearly, righteous choices are the stepping stone out of Satan's grasp and towards spiritual freedom. Satan wants us to think he's more powerful and that we have no choices, but ultimately, he is the one with no choices, and he hates us for it. And finally, we have how this pertains to us. In an October 2011 general conference address entitled "Love Her Mother", Elaine S. Dalton urged men to be righteous like Moroni and asked "So how do you raise a girl? Love her mother. Lead your family to the temple, be guardians of virtue, and magnify your priesthood. Fathers, you have been entrusted with our Heavenly Father's royal daughters They are virtuous and elect. It is my prayer that you will watch over them, strengthen them, model virtuous behavior, and teach them to follow in the Savior's every footstep." We don't need to be a great military leader or have a prestigious calling in the church, we don't need to have 17 kids to raise or be the Relief Society president to emulate the level of righteousness exampled here by CM, we can do it, and be really effective in our own ways, small and subtle ways, because it's not the grandness of the gesture or the far reaching effects of our efforts that matter, it is that we do it, and that we strive to grow closer to the Savior every single day and that we give our whole heart into the effort, that's what matters, that's how we can live these principles today.
48:11-25 - Here we have an amazing ode to CM, and I'd like to go really deep into it, but I'm not sure I'm capable of doing that, mentally, right now. CM is "a strong and mighty man... of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery." This phrase "of a perfect understanding," has me puzzled, I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'm going to guess and say that it means that he knows who he is, he understands his relationship with God, he understands the plan of salvation and because of that, he has an eternal perspective. We can see that he understands the worth of souls to our Heavenly Father, because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, and he wants everyone to have the opportunity for freedom and safety. He was prayerful to God and full of gratitude "for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people," he worked hard, like King Benjamin did, he knew God and his country and his fellow men. He understood the rules of engagement as given by the Lord, and he saw that all his people were taught the same principles "and they were also taught never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives." He loved peace and understood how to engage in warfare while maintaining his salvation. Verse 15 is interesting, "if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger." This is an interesting concept to me because it indicates that not all possible conflicts are to be handled in the same way. For instance, we think back to Alma and his people when they were put into bondage to Amulon and the Lamanites, now that I think about it, I think I remember learning that Alma and his people were put into bondage as a result of not listening to Abinadi when he came around crying repentance in the first place, the same with Limhi and his people, they were basically enslaved, even after they repented, but again they also didn't listen when Abinadi came around the first time. I'm trying to think of a time when the Lord had allowed his righteous people to become enslaved without first having the possibility preached to them by a prophet. Hmmm.... I'm going to have to think about that. CM understood where happiness came from, he understood that peace and joy could never come from "the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity." His heart was not in gore and blood and battle, but in righteousness and freedom and repentance. Mormon finally gives the ultimate nod to CM when he says "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be like unto Moroni, behold the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." There are a few hidden messages here, the first is that the power of evil is subject to righteousness, if all men were righteous like CM, then hell would be shaken, thus indicating that evil can only thrive in an environment devoid of righteousness, so which is more powerful? Clearly righteousness, as it dispels evil with it's very presence. The next message is of the power of choice. The saying "the devil made me do it," or the idea that we are helpless to overcome our weaknesses or that in some way Satan is more powerful than we are, especially when it comes to making decisions, is completely nullified by the implication that CM's righteousness renders the devil powerless over him, and surely if a righteous man is more powerful than the devil and a wicked man is enslaved by him, then clearly, righteous choices are the stepping stone out of Satan's grasp and towards spiritual freedom. Satan wants us to think he's more powerful and that we have no choices, but ultimately, he is the one with no choices, and he hates us for it. And finally, we have how this pertains to us. In an October 2011 general conference address entitled "Love Her Mother", Elaine S. Dalton urged men to be righteous like Moroni and asked "So how do you raise a girl? Love her mother. Lead your family to the temple, be guardians of virtue, and magnify your priesthood. Fathers, you have been entrusted with our Heavenly Father's royal daughters They are virtuous and elect. It is my prayer that you will watch over them, strengthen them, model virtuous behavior, and teach them to follow in the Savior's every footstep." We don't need to be a great military leader or have a prestigious calling in the church, we don't need to have 17 kids to raise or be the Relief Society president to emulate the level of righteousness exampled here by CM, we can do it, and be really effective in our own ways, small and subtle ways, because it's not the grandness of the gesture or the far reaching effects of our efforts that matter, it is that we do it, and that we strive to grow closer to the Savior every single day and that we give our whole heart into the effort, that's what matters, that's how we can live these principles today.
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