Moroni(1) gives Zerahemnah his terms of surrender.
2 Behold, 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.
3 But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.
4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.
5 And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all–powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—
6 Yea, and this is not all; I command you 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.
7 And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and inflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.
Alma 44:2-7 (Emphasis mine)
Moroni(1)’s terms for surrender are this. Give us your weapons, go back home, and don’t go to war against us again.
He also wants to make sure he understands the consequences of rejecting his terms. He tells them there is no way they can win. They are doomed to defeat. The Lord is with us. We have been delivered because of our faith in Christ. As long as we are faithful, he will support and preserve our faith and us.
Just in case he didn’t get it the first time, in verse 5, Moroni(1) once again reminds him of the consequences of turning down his terms. God has strengthened us and we have defeated you. We are fighting for our faith, religion, church, wives, children, and liberty. We are going to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves.
He was very clear that he wanted no more bloodshed. The Nephites are not a bloodthirsty people.
Then he adds that, if you don’t accept these terms, we will battle and fight you until “ye may become extinct.” Then we’ll see where the true power lies. That is our faith in Christ.
Moroni(1) had a way with words. He couldn’t have been clearer of the consequences of rejecting this peace proposal. If they don’t, they will become extinct. Not defeated. Not beaten. Not destroyed. They will become extinct.
Richard Rust observes:
“The war chapters in the book of Alma show the incursions of apostate-led Lamanites as a consequence of the conversion of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. These chapters give selective accounts of the inspired activities of the threatened Nephites. At stake is the lust for power over man, best exemplified by Zerahemnah, Amalickiah, and Ammaron, in opposition to reliance on God's power, demonstrated by Moroni and Helaman. Moroni's courageous assertion, ‘Ye cannot destroy this our faith’ (Alma 44:3), shows his confidence in the Book of Mormon promise regarding the rewards of keeping God's commandments.” [1] (Emphasis mine)
Zerahemnah’s response was short and to the point.
8 And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his sword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them 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.
9 Behold, we are not of your faith; we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your breastplates and your shields that have preserved you.
10 And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words, Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict.
11 Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken, therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart except ye depart with an oath that ye will not return again against us to war. Now as ye are in our hands we will spill your blood upon the ground, or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.
Alma 44:8-11 (Emphasis mine)
We have to give Zerahemnah credit for his honesty. He refused to accept Moroni(1)’s terms because he knew they would break them. He said either let us give you our weapons knowing we’ll fight again or let us keep them and the fight will continue.
Then he rejected Moroni(1)’s word about God. It was simply the Nephite cunning, breastplates, and shields that have preserved them. He honestly believed they could still win the battle.
Moroni(1) promptly returned the sword and other weapons he had received. He refused to take back his terms. He said that the conflict would now be ended.
After all this, he still gave Zerahemnah one last opportunity to back down. He could still surrender by accepting Moroni(1)’s terms.
Hugh Nibley observes:
“Zerahemnah handed over his sword to Moroni, but his hatred of Nephites was only heightened by his humiliating defeat, and he cynically and realistically observed in so doing that there was no point in taking an oath ‘which we know that we shall break’ (Alma 44:8). He reciprocated Moroni's gallantry and humanity by accusing him of not playing fair (Alma 44:9), and flatly refused the original terms (Alma 44:8). Instead of ordering his insulting and threatening adversary cut down on the spot, Moroni handed him back his sword, with an invitation to ‘end the conflict’ (Alma 44:10), but at the same time indicating his reluctance to do so: he is forced into this position, he says—‘I cannot recall the words which I have spoken,’ but he again points out to the Lamanites their hopeless position and again invites them to accept his easy conditions (Alma 44:11).” [2] (Emphasis mine)
[1] "At the Judgment-Seat of Christ" - Larger Perspectives, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 18. 2011.
[2] A Rigorous Test: Military History, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed December 18, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment