3 Nephi 3:15-21

¹⁵ Yea, [Lachoneus] said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in no wise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers. ¹⁶ And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus.

¹⁷ And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them. ¹⁸ Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great commander of all the armies of the Nephites was appointed, and his name was Gidgiddoni.

3 Nephi 3:15 – 18 (Emphasis mine)

Lachoneus preached to the people, calling on them to repent and “cry unto the Lord.”  Failure to do this means they will not be delivered from the Gadianton Robbers.  The people took his words to heart and they did what Lachoneus told them the Lord required of them.

Lachoneus also appointed chief captains over the armies.  He also appointed Gidgiddoni as the commander of all the armies.

John Welch discusses this process.

Since the Nephites had no standing army (see Alma 3:1; 44:23), they probably had a chief captain only during times of severe hostilities. Apparently, they had no chief captain when the leader of the Gadianton robbers made threats against Lachoneus and the Nephites because Lachoneus, as chief judge, had to appoint "chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them" (3 Nephi 3:17)…

At first, the chief captain was appointed "by the chief judges and the voice of the people" (Alma 46:34). The position of chief captain, therefore, carried a certain democratic mantle with it, authorizing the chief captain to take "all the command, and the government of [Nephite] wars" (Alma 43:17). (A century later, Lachoneus seems to have acted alone in appointing Gidgiddoni chief captain — either the practice had changed by that time, or he acted expediently in urgent circumstances, or perhaps the record simply omits details about Gidgiddoni s appointment. See 3 Nephi 3:17-19.)[1]

¹⁹ Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge.

²⁰ Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands. ²¹ But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.

3 Nephi 3:19 – 21 (Emphasis mine)

Gigiddoni was a man of God.  During time of Nephite righteousness, Mormon tells us “it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them”  (v. 19)

The people asked Gidgidoni to ask the Lord to let them to and destroy the Robbers in their own land.  It was not unusual for the chief judge to inquire of the Lord or ask the prophet for guidance.  We see this in at least two occasions.

Therefore, he that had been appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites, (and his name was Zoram, and he had two sons, Lehi and Aha)—now Zoram and his two sons, knowing that Alma was high priest over the church, and having heard that he had the spirit of prophecy, therefore they went unto him and desired of him to know whither the Lord would that they should go into the wilderness in search of their brethren, who had been taken captive by the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that Alma inquired of the Lord concerning the matter.  And Alma returned and said unto them: Behold, the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti.  And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that Zoram and his sons crossed over the river Sidon, with their armies, and marched away beyond the borders of Manti into the south wilderness, which was on the east side of the river Sidon.

And they came upon the armies of the Lamanites, and the Lamanites were scattered and driven into the wilderness; and they took their brethren who had been taken captive by the Lamanites, and there was not one soul of them had been lost that were taken captive.  And they were brought by their brethren to possess their own lands.

Alma 16:5 - 8

But it came to pass, as soon as they had departed into the wilderness Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp; and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men unto him, desiring him that he should inquire of the Lord whither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that the word of the Lord came unto Alma, and Alma informed the messengers of Moroni, that the armies of the Lamanites were marching round about in the wilderness, that they might come over into the land of Manti, that they might commence an attack upon the weaker part of the people.  And those messengers went and delivered the message unto Moroni.

Alma 43:23 - 24

He refused the request.  He warned the people that if they went on the offensive in such a manner, “the Lord would deliver us into their hands” (v. 21).   Instead he told them, “we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands” (v. 21).

The Lord has made his rules of warfare clear.

Now the Nephites were taught to defend themselves against their enemies, even to the shedding of blood if it were necessary; yea, and they were also taught never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives.

And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger;

And also, that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies, and by so doing, the Lord would deliver them; and this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; not in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity.

Alma 48:14 - 16

And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: Inasmuch as ye are not guilty of the first offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.

And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed.  Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.

Alma 43:46 - 47

A. Brent Merrill explains:

Even in situations where the Nephites may have faced an enemy of more equal numbers, they were counseled not to strike first. An opportunity of this type arose in about A.D. 17 when the Nephites considered initiating a preventive war against the Gadianton robbers, but the chief captain and "great commander of all the armies of the Nephites" directed his people not to attack (3 Nephi 3:17-21). When the Nephites violated this principle, they usually suffered defeat (see Mormon 4:4).[2]

Daniel C. Peterson writes:

In rejecting the calls of his people for a preemptive strike against the guerrillas' mountain bases, Gidgiddoni was in harmony with the rules of war revealed by the Lord to his prophets in both ancient and modern times (see D&C 98:23-48, especially verses 32-33). God, he declared, would not uphold the Nephites if they violated those rules. However, Gidgiddoni also showed that he had learned from earlier disastrous attempts to dislodge the Gadiantons from their wilderness redoubts. The war was now to be fought on Nephite terms, and not on terms dictated by their enemies.[3]

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[1] Law and War in the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 15, 2012

[2] Nephite Captains and Armies, A. Brent Merrill, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 15, 2012.

[3] The Gadianton Robbers as Guerrilla Warriors, Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 15, 2012.