A hero was need and one stepped up to fight for freedom.
11 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was
the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these
dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah. 12 And it came to pass
that he
rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our
God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and
he fastened it upon the end of a pole.
13 And he fastened on his head–plate, and his breastplate,
and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole,
which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of
liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God
for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should
a band of Christians remain to possess the land—14 For thus
were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God,
called by those who did not belong to the church.
15 And those who did belong to the church were faithful;
yea, all
those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of
Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ
who should come. 16
And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the
Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored.
Alma 46:11-16 (Emphasis mine)
Moroni(1) heard about the dissensions, and he became angry
over the situation. Hugh Nibley tells us
his response “was that of a man caught off guard by acts of such vicious and
deceitful nature that his own guileless spirit was slow to anticipate what it
was loathe to attribute to any fellow creature…”[1] He tore off a piece of his coat and wrote on
it “[i]n memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our
wives, and our children.” “This vividly
recalls the inscriptions that the ancient Jews would put on their banners and
trumpets before going out to war,”[2]
Moroni(1) had used this language before. When commanding Zerahemnah to surrender, he
told him “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—“ (Alma 44:5) (Emphasis mine).
“Portions of clothes also figure interestingly in the Book
of Mormon. Captain Moroni rallies the people to the cause of liberty by tearing
a piece from his coat and writing upon it, ‘In memory of our God, our religion,
and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children’ (Alma 46:12). He
fastens it upon the end of a pole and then goes forth among the people,”[3]
He put on his uniform of war, took the pole and the Title of
Liberty, and “prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest
upon his brethren for so long as there should be a band of Christians remain to
possess the land.”
“No one saw more clearly than Moroni where this was leading—all
that he had achieved with great toil and danger was going to be thrown away if
he did not act quickly. ‘Angry with Amalickiah,’ (Alma 46:11), he
reacted with that speed and decision which is the mark of the great leader in
the field. Raising his ‘Title of Liberty’ according to the ancient
custom and as the type of the torn garment of the outcast Joseph, and the
symbol of the poor and outcast of Israel, he announced to the people, ‘Surely
God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name
of Christ, shall be trodden down … until we bring it upon [ourselves]’ (Alma
46:18).”[4]
(Emphasis mine)
17 And it came to pass that when he had poured out
his soul to God, he named all the land which was south of the land Desolation, yea, and
in fine, all the land, both on the north and on the south—A chosen land, and
the land of liberty. 18
And he said: Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take
upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring
it upon us by our own transgressions.
Alma 46:17-18 (Emphasis mine)
Moroni(1) named the land south of Desolation, “all the land,
both on the north and on the south-A chosen land, and the land of liberty.” Desolation is a land “being so far northward
that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones
we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the
place of their first landing (Alma 22:30).
He had faith that God “shall not suffer that we, who are
despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and
destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions” (verse
18). He had faith that they only way the
Nephites would be destroyed only because “we bring it on us by our own
transgression.”
[1] Freemen
and King-men in the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute, accessed March 27, 2012.
[3] "Not
Cast Off Forever" – Imagery, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 27, 2012.
[4] A
Rigorous Test: Military History, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed March 27, 2012.
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