Pahoran responds to Moroni1.
Chapter 61
Pahoran tells Moroni
of the insurrection and rebellion against the government—The king–men take
Zarahemla and are in league with the Lamanites—Pahoran asks for military aid
against the rebels. About 62 B.C.
1 BEHOLD, now it came to pass that soon after Moroni
had sent his epistle unto the chief governor, he received an epistle from Pahoran,
the chief governor. And these are the
words which he received:
2 I, Pahoran, who am the chief governor of this
land, do send these words unto Moroni, the chief captain over the army. Behold, I say unto you, Moroni, that I do
not joy in your great afflictions, yea, it grieves my soul. 3
But behold, there are those who do joy in your afflictions, yea, insomuch that they
have risen up in rebellion against me, and also those of my people who
are freemen, yea, and those who have risen up are exceedingly numerous. 4
And it
is those who have sought to take away the judgment–seat from me that have been
the cause of this great iniquity; for they have used great flattery, and they
have led away the hearts of many people, which will be the cause of
sore affliction among us; they have withheld our provisions, and have daunted
our freemen that they have not come unto you.
Alma 61:1-4 (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley describes the situation. “Moroni has no idea what is happening to
Pahoran, who is home with a rebellion on his hands, which could break
everything up. When Pahoran writes back to Moroni and explains the situation,
Moroni realizes he's had it all wrong from the beginning, yet he was as well
informed as anyone (see Alma 61:1—62:1).”[1]
Pahoran begins by telling Moroni1, “I do not joy
is your great afflictions, yea, it grieves my soul.” However, “there are those who do joy in your
afflictions.”
The major part of the army is fighting the Lamanites. Zarahemla is left in a somewhat weakened
defensive position. The rebel faction,
the king-men, rear their ugly head. “[T]hey
have risen up in rebellion” against Pahoran and the government. They are a serious threat because “those who have
risen up are exceedingly numerous.”
They want the judgment seat.
Once in power, they will be able make one of their own the king and take
over the government.
How did they get so many of the people to support them? It’s one of the Nephite “diseases” –
flattery. They are susceptible to
flattery. “[T]hey have used great
flattery, and they have led away the hearts of many people.” A few well-chosen words by the king-men and
many in Nephite society turn and follow wicked men. David wrote, “there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with
their tongue” (Psalms 5:9); “hey did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied
unto him with their tongues” (Psalms 78:36); “[t]hey speak vanity every one
with his neighbour: with flattering
lips and with a double heart[2]
do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things” (Psalms 2-3).
“Moroni's epistle prompts Pahoran to write a noble and
patriotic reply, conciliatory and lovely in spirit (Alma 61:2—21). Pahoran
points out that he has great troubles of his own; large numbers of Nephite
dissenters have attempted to wrest the judgment seat from him and have
prevented the sending of supplies to the Nephite armies in the field. Pahoran
and the freemen supporting him are at their wits' end to prevent the overthrow
of the government.”[3]
(Emphasis mine)
5 And behold, they have driven me out before them,
and I have fled to the land of Gideon, with as many men as it were possible
that I could get. 6 And behold, I have sent a proclamation throughout this
part of the land; and behold, they are flocking to us daily, to their
arms, in the defence of their country and their freedom, and to avenge our wrongs.
7 And they have come unto us, insomuch that those
who have risen up in rebellion against us are set at defiance, yea, insomuch
that they do fear us and durst not come out against us to battle. 8
They have got possession of the land, or the city, of Zarahemla; they
have appointed a king over them, and he hath written unto the king of the
Lamanites, in the which he hath joined an alliance with him; in the
which alliance he hath agreed to maintain the city of Zarahemla, which
maintenance he supposeth will enable the Lamanites to conquer the remainder of
the land, and he shall be placed king over this people when they shall be conquered under
the Lamanites.
Alma 61:5-8 (Emphasis mine)
Pahoran has been forced to flee Zarahemla. He, along with “as many men as it were
possible I could get” fled to the land of Gideon.
Once in Gideon, Pahoran issued a proclamation. “Later, upon recognizing Pahoran's government
in exile to be on the brink of collapse, the people "flock" to his
call to arms to defend the same set of rights (Alma 61:6). The Nephite people
do seem to recognize, often at least, the worth of Mosiah's gift (or rather,
the Lord's gift through Mosiah[4]).”[5]
The king-men set up a new government and had “appointed a
king over them.” One of the king’s first
acts was to form an alliance with the Lamanites. The Lamanites could keep the lands they had
conquered and he would be able to remain king over the land and city of Zarahemla.
One reason an alliance was made was that the people
responded in great number to Pahoran’s proclamation. He was able to form an army large and strong
enough that “those who have risen up in rebellion against us are set at
defiance, yea, insomuch that they do fear us and durst not come out against us
to battle.”
““[The king-men] had forced the president, Pahoran, to leave
town, but in doing so he had energetically rallied as many supporters as he
could (Alma 61:5), and was sure that the masses of the people, who
had always followed Moroni, were still behind him, and that the ruling clique
did not dare risk a test of strength in the field (Alma 61:7).
“Who the new government were becomes apparent when we learn
that upon seizing the capital they had abolished democratic government and set
up a monarchy, and, as might be expected, immediately entered into negotiations
with the king of the Lamanites. It was the old royalist crowd that Moroni
knew so well (Alma 61:8).”[6]
[1] Warfare
and the Book of Mormon, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed May 25, 2012.
[2]
James warns us “[a] double minded man is
unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).
[3] Types
of Literature in the Book of Mormon: Epistles, Psalms, Lamentations, Sidney
B. Sperry, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 25, 2012.
[4] See
Mosiah 29:25-27
[5] For
the Peace of the People: War and Democracy in the Book of Mormon, Ryan W.
Davis, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 25, 2012.
[6] A
Rigorous Test: Military History, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed May 25, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment