Alma 48:7-13

⁷ Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.  ⁸ Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, 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.

⁹ And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites. ¹⁰ And thus 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, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians.

Alma 48:7-10 (Emphasis mine)

Amalickiah wasn’t the only one preparing for war.  Moroni(1) was “preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.”  He was “strengthening the armies of the Nephites.”  He built small forts, threw up “banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and built “walls of stone to encircle them about” (this is the only time we read of stone being used to build something in the Book of Mormon).

Moroni(1)’s preparations were unusual.  When the war actually beings, we will read that “to [the Laminates’] uttermost astonishment, they were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi.  Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni” (Alma 49:8).

William Hamblin expands on the Nephite preparations.

“The Nephites expanded this system of fortifications to protect their cities from Lamanite incursions (see Alma 48:8; 49:13-20; 50:1-6, 10). lf the Lamanites attempted to assault a city, the Nephites planned to ‘destroy all such as should attempt to climb up to enter the fort by any other way, by casting over stones and arrows at them (Alma 49:19). Such fortifications, ‘which never had been known among the children of Lehi’ (Alma 49:8), confounded the Lamanite strategy, forcing them to retreat into the wilderness (see Alma 49:12).”[1]

The purposes of war were different.  Amalickiah’s preparations were for an offensive war of conquest.  He was searching for power.  Moroni(1)’s “military preparations are strictly defensive, and he is careful to do nothing that will seem to threaten the Lamanites; all of his battles are fought on Nephite soil (see Alma 48:8–10).”[2]  Matthew Hilton and Neil Flinders explain: “[t]he marked difference between Amalickiah's preparation of armed forces and that of Moroni seems to have been obvious to Mormon … The Nephite forces under Moroni's command had a different motivation than simple obedience to governmental edicts. The loyalty of the forces rose beyond defense of liberty and families. In the final analysis, it was premised on their faith in the fulfillment of divine promises.”[3]

¹¹ And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; ¹² Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

¹³ Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

Alma 48:11-13 (Emphasis mine)

Mormon introduced us to Amalickiah.  He wanted us to know what type of a man he was, what motivated him, what he wanted.  He now tells us more about Moroni(1).

He is a powerful man “whose soul did joy in the liberty and freedom of his country.”  Unlike his counterpart in the upcoming war, he “did not delight in bloodshed.”  “He was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ.” 

R. Douglas Phillips explains why Mormon wanted us to know and understand Moroni(1).

“Inevitably, Mormon should have been attracted to Moroni — the brilliant, energetic, selfless, patriotic, and God-fearing hero who had been instrumental in preserving the Nephite nation. So great was Mormon's admiration for him that he named his son after him. In Mormon's eyes, the peaceful days under Moroni were a golden age in Nephite history (see Alma 50:23). But the military exploits of Moroni seem to have interested Mormon particularly. With great care, he recounted Moroni s courage and patriotism in the desperate military and political state of affairs arising from Lamanite invasion from without and sedition from within, his efforts in mobilization and defense, his own and his lieutenants' brilliant tactics, their sharply fought battles with frightful losses, and their miraculous victories. But throughout his account, we perceive the hand of God making use of devout and just military leaders and statesmen to preserve the righteous and punish the wicked (see Alma 48:11-13, Mormon's eulogy of Moroni).

“If, in his account of Moroni, Mormon saw war as a means of divine deliverance for the Nephites, he shows us that the final war fulfilled prophecies of destruction of the nation. With terrifying clarity, we witness with Mormon the tragedy of a people who had passed the point of no return spiritually, who were bent irreversibly on their own destruction.”[4]  (Emphasis mine)

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[1] The Bow and Arrow in the Book of Mormon, William J. Hamblin, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2012.

[2] Scriptural Perspectives on How to Survive the Calamities of the Last Days, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2012.

[3] The Impact of Shifting Cultural Assumptions on the Military Policies Directing Armed Conflict Reported in the Book of Alma, Matthew M. F. Hilton, and Neil J. Flinders,
Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2012.

[4] Why Is So Much of the Book of Mormon Given Over to Military Accounts? R. Douglas Phillips, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2012.