11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all
that we could do, (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all
our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take
them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently
before God that he would take away our stain—
12 Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken
away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our
swords no more with the blood of our brethren.
13 Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our
swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if
we should stain our swords again they can no more be washed bright through the
blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our
sins.
14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made
these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these
things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he
loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels,
that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future
generations.
15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as
we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made
bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to
our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before
him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our
brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.
16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to
destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them
deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have
never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we
shall ago to our God and shall be saved.
17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made
an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took
their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's
blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth.
18 And this they did, it being in their view a
testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for
the shedding of man's blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with
God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their
own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him;
and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with
their hands.
19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were
brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even
unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their
weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.
Alma 24:11-30
King Anti-Nephi-Lehi
continues preaching to his people.
He refers to himself and his
people “as the most lot of all mankind” (Alma 24:11). Repentance was not easy because of the number
of murders they had committed. He
eventually took away their sins.[1]
“Given the harsh reality of their past, and given the difficulty of receiving
forgiveness for such sins (‘it was all we could do to repent sufficiently
before God that he would take away our stain,’ Alma 24:11), it is not
surprising that they felt the need to maintain this forgiveness by repudiating
not only murder, but also anything even resembling it.”[2]
An
interesting incident in the Book of Mormon involves the staining of swords with
blood (see Alma 24:12-15, ca. 90 B.C.). The Lamanites who had been converted by
Ammon refused to take up arms, giving the following argument: "Since God
hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us
stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren" (Alma 24:12; cf.
Alma 24:13, 15). Two separate metaphors are used here: first, that the swords
had been stained with blood, and second, that they had been made bright again
by God.[3]
God has taken the stain off
their swords. He told them we must no
longer stain the swords with the blood of their brethren.[4]
The king showed he understood
the nature of his people. Should they
take up arms again, they may become the people they were and the stain[5]
“can be no more washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God”
(Alma 24:13). “Symbolically, the blood
of Christ has removed the blood from their swords, thus cleansing the repentant
Lamanites. By fully accepting Christ's shedding his blood for them, they no
longer will shed the blood of their brethren. The token of that pledge, the
king proposes, is to bury their swords deep in the earth as a testimony at the
last day that they have never used them.”[6]
The covenant they made was so
binding, the Nephites honored it.
The
only Book of Mormon group given an exemption from military service were the
famous converts of Ammon. In repenting of their previous shedding of blood,
they swore an oath that they would never again take up arms (see Alma
24:11–13). After arriving in Zarahemla, they were granted an extraordinary
exemption from active military duty if they would help to sustain the Nephite
armies with provisions (see Alma 27:23–24). Surprisingly, this grant of
exceptional privilege was consistent with ancient Israelite law.[7]
God has granted them His
mercy. He has made His gospel known that
they will not perish and because he loves their souls and their children. Angel have visited them teaching the plan of
salvation.
The Savior emphasized the
importance of a soul. “What man of you,
having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”
(Luke 15:4).[8] “Likewise,
I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).
The king calls upon his
people to hide their weapons[9] as a
testimony to God they are converted and never again stained the swords with the
blood of their brethren. This action
would later be tested. Even when their
lives were on the line thy refused to violate their covenants and sacrificed
their lives for their covenant.[10]
The king ended his
sermon. They people got together and took
their swords and weapons of war and buried them deep in the Earth. Samuel the Lamanite would refer to the
Ammonites. “And ye know also that they
have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any
means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they
will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies,
and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in
Christ” (Helaman 15:9).
They did this as a testimony
to God and man they would never take up arms again. Rather than kill, they were willing to
sacrifice their lives. They refused to
be an idle people. They covenanted they
would labor with their hands for their own support. As we will read, there was a time they
considered breaking their oath to help defend the Nephites. “And because of their oath they had been kept
from taking up arms against their brethren; for they had taken an oath that
they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have
perished; yea, they would have suffered themselves to have fallen into the
hands of their brethren, had it not been for the pity and the exceeding love
which Ammon and his brethren had had for them. And for this cause they were
brought down into the land of Zarahemla; and they ever had been protected by
the Nephites” (Alma 53:11-12).[11]
Mormon breaks into his
narration to remind us when the Ammonites accepted the truth, they were firm in
their faith. As we will see, they will
die rather than dig up their weapons.
They remained true to their covenants.
[1] “Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).
[2]Were
the Ammonites Pacifists?, Duane Boyce, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 18,
2015.
[3] Warfare
in the Book of Mormon – Swords in the Book of Mormon, William J. Hamblin
and A. Brent Merrill, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 18, 2015.
[4]
Archeology has shown the swords use in Mesoamerica were made of wood and
sharpened stone (macuahuitl). Wooden
swords would explain why the king referred to their swords stained with
blood. We do not thing of steel swords
as something that will be stained with blood. (See Swords
and "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon, Mattew Roper).
[5] “And
from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5).
[6] "Know
the Covenants of the Lord" – Sermons, Maxwell Institute, accessed June
18, 2015.
[7] Echoes
and Evidences of the Book of Mormon – A Steady Stream of Significant
Recognitions, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 18, 2015.
[8] “What
man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the
ninety and nine and go into the wilderness, and go after that which is lost,
until he find it?” (JST Luke 15:4).
[9] “And
they did also bury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and
they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord,
and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes” (Alma 25:14).
[10] “For
behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of
their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth,
because of their love towards their brethren” (Alma 26:32).
[11]
This will lead to powerful example of the 2,000 stripling warriors.
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