Helaman 1:14-34
1:14-21 - I'm at home tonight, on vacation, for the first time in 3 years, so it's going to be a little bit different. We now have Pacumeni as the governor and chief judge after both of his brothers died either executed for treason or murdered, so I would say that Pacumeni is in a pretty precarious situation when he assumed the judgment seat. And so it was that "in the forty and first year of the reign of the judges, that the Lamanites had gathered together an innumerable army of men, and armed them with swords... and with all manner of shields of every kind." Despite their massive losses just a few years ago, the Lamanites still have enough man power to command an innumerable army. In contrast the Nephites have also suffered losses and a lot of their population have left to go live other places, not that I blame them. As usual, the man who is leading them to battle against the Nephites is... wait for it... "a man whose name was Coriantumr; and he was a descendant of Zarahemla; and he was a dissenter from among the Nephites." I know that we've read Joseph Smith's teachings about leaving neutral ground, and that is so very evident here, but I think that another point that we might learn from the example of Coriantumr and all Nephite dissenters is that we must be oh so very careful to maintain our spiritual strength and protection because once we start slipping away from the Lord it's very difficult for us to find our way back, mostly because I think it's difficult to see that we are wrong, that we have moved to the dark side. That recognition is not there, we are more inclined to believe that we are right, or that we are the only one that sees the truth, or whatever other rationalization that we use to justify our actions. Then once we've crossed that line into apostasy, we are not only not on neutral ground nor positive ground but we are on Satan's ground, so that's why its vitally important to stay close to the Iron Rod and not stray. Another point that I think we can take from this is a little bit more abstract, and that is that while Coriantumr was in the process of apostasy, he had to have talked to his Nephite friends about his newly found and contradictory beliefs. Likewise, when we are talking about the gospel, even with those who we believe are rock solid, we need to be very careful about what we say and what we support in terms of issues and ideas. I guess it's sensitive to me because I just had a conversation this weekend with someone who is very special to me, who I thought was rock solid is the gospel and as we were discussing a gospel issue, his arguments were very aggressive and "the church is wrong on this issue, just like they were wrong on this issue." It really hurt my heart because I've lived on both sides of the fence and he hasn't, this will be his first trip into the grasps of Satan, and I know what it's like to live both places and I don't want that for him or for anyone else that he influences. Anyway, Coriantumr is given authority to attack the Nephites by none other than Ammoron's son, Tubaloth, and Coriantumr marched his army right into the heart of the Nephite lands "to attack that great city Zarahemla," and because of all the problems that the Nephites in Zarahemla were having with the appointment of the different chief judges and the murder of Pahoran and then this evil "secret combination" wreaking havoc all over the city, this left them exceptionally vulnerable. That said, that strategy to go straight for the heart of Zarahemla was a gutsy one, it was not as heavily fortified because "they had supposed that the Lamanites durst not come into the heart of their lands to attach that great city Zarahemla." So it was easily overtaken, and as the people and Pacumeni were fleeing, Coriantumr personally "did smite him against the wall, insomuch that he died. And thus ended the days of Pacumeni." Three of the sons of Pahoran were killed within the space of several months, and not because they all got sick or had some sort of freak accidents, they were all killed in violent ways, and that's pretty hard for a family to deal with, I wonder if their mother was still alive at this point.
1:22-34 - Coriantumr has taken Zarahemla and he doesn't waste anytime celebrating his victories, but where he messed up was that he failed to do the necessary recon and gather the intel needed to make a proper battle plan because he thought "that (the Nephites) greatest strength was in the center of the land," when in fact the reason that Zarahemla fell so easily was because almost all their forces were diverted to the outer portions of the land, and some simple recon would have given him that information. But because he failed to prepare, he set himself up for some serious problems in the near future. Coriantumr thought that he had beaten the strongest portion of the Nephite army "and that he had obtained the possession of the strongest hold in all the land, his heart took courage insomuch that he was about to go forth against all the land... for it was his determination to go forth and cut his way through with the sword, that he might obtain the north parts of the land." That's pretty serious, he sounds much like Amalickiah, taking a do whatever it takes to accomplish what I want, even if it means killing every single one of our troops stance. He doesn't seem particularly concerned with the lives of his men, and was particularly vicious and bloodthirsty in his desire for Nephite destruction, for when his army came upon the small Nephite groups assembled "they did fall upon them and cut them down to the earth." Fortunately for the Nephites, there must have still been many righteous among them because Moronihah was able to gain a major advantage over the Lamanites because of the gutsy move by Coriantumr, for "behold, this march of Corinatumr through the center of the land gave Moronihah great advantage over them," and basically all Moronihah had to do was send "forth Lehi with an army round about to head them before they should come to the land of Bountiful," and they were surrounded. Just as a side note, it's nice to have Lehi here still. Being cut off from the city of Bountiful by Lehi, the Lamanites "began to retreat back towards the land of Zarahemla," and the army of Moronihah came against them in the front "insomuch that it became an exceedingly bloody battle," and Coriantumr was slain. Given that "the Lamanites could not retreat either way... for they were surrounded on every hand by the Nephites... and the Lamanites did yield themselves into the hands of the Nephites." It was a bold move to take the city of Zarahemla, but ultimately it backfired and it cost many many lives. Just like his father, Moronihah "caused that the Lamanites who had been taken prisoners should depart out of the land in peace." There is almost a guarantee that those same Lamanites will come to battle against the Nephites again, but by allowing them the chance to live, Moronihah was demonstrating to the Lord his value of human life, no matter who's life it is, and he's also demonstrating his faith that if they remain righteous, God will protect the Nephites when those same Lamanites come again.
1:22-34 - Coriantumr has taken Zarahemla and he doesn't waste anytime celebrating his victories, but where he messed up was that he failed to do the necessary recon and gather the intel needed to make a proper battle plan because he thought "that (the Nephites) greatest strength was in the center of the land," when in fact the reason that Zarahemla fell so easily was because almost all their forces were diverted to the outer portions of the land, and some simple recon would have given him that information. But because he failed to prepare, he set himself up for some serious problems in the near future. Coriantumr thought that he had beaten the strongest portion of the Nephite army "and that he had obtained the possession of the strongest hold in all the land, his heart took courage insomuch that he was about to go forth against all the land... for it was his determination to go forth and cut his way through with the sword, that he might obtain the north parts of the land." That's pretty serious, he sounds much like Amalickiah, taking a do whatever it takes to accomplish what I want, even if it means killing every single one of our troops stance. He doesn't seem particularly concerned with the lives of his men, and was particularly vicious and bloodthirsty in his desire for Nephite destruction, for when his army came upon the small Nephite groups assembled "they did fall upon them and cut them down to the earth." Fortunately for the Nephites, there must have still been many righteous among them because Moronihah was able to gain a major advantage over the Lamanites because of the gutsy move by Coriantumr, for "behold, this march of Corinatumr through the center of the land gave Moronihah great advantage over them," and basically all Moronihah had to do was send "forth Lehi with an army round about to head them before they should come to the land of Bountiful," and they were surrounded. Just as a side note, it's nice to have Lehi here still. Being cut off from the city of Bountiful by Lehi, the Lamanites "began to retreat back towards the land of Zarahemla," and the army of Moronihah came against them in the front "insomuch that it became an exceedingly bloody battle," and Coriantumr was slain. Given that "the Lamanites could not retreat either way... for they were surrounded on every hand by the Nephites... and the Lamanites did yield themselves into the hands of the Nephites." It was a bold move to take the city of Zarahemla, but ultimately it backfired and it cost many many lives. Just like his father, Moronihah "caused that the Lamanites who had been taken prisoners should depart out of the land in peace." There is almost a guarantee that those same Lamanites will come to battle against the Nephites again, but by allowing them the chance to live, Moronihah was demonstrating to the Lord his value of human life, no matter who's life it is, and he's also demonstrating his faith that if they remain righteous, God will protect the Nephites when those same Lamanites come again.
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