The gathering of the Lamanite
army concerned the Nephites. Should the
Lamanites prevail, the Nephites knew those who worshipped God would be
destroyed.
The Nephites followed the
admonition of the scriptures when they worshipped the Lord. “All the earth shall worship thee, and shall
sing unto thee; they shall sing to
thy name” (Psalms 66:4).”
“All nations whom thou hast
made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name”
(Psalms 86:9).
“And again, when he bringeth
in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God
worship him” (Hebrews 1:6).
“And now behold, I say unto
you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is
the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him
with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this
ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29).
“And gave unto them
commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God,
and that he should be the only being whom they should worship”
(D&C 20:19).
They also desired to worship
Him in spirit and truth. The Savior
commanded His disciples to do this. “But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in
truth” (John 4:23-24).[1]
They were also concerned
about the Ammonites. They knew they
refused to take up arms to defend themselves.
This mean they would be slaughtered.
They were given a land for their inheritance, in part, as a place where
they could be protected by the Nephites.
The Ammonites gave a large
portion of the substance to support the Nephite armies. The armies were in a position where they
would have to withstand the Lamanite attacks.
The Lamanite army consisted of the Lamanites, Amalakites, Zoramites, and
the descendants of Noah’s wicked priests.
The population of the
Ammonites had grown to the point it was roughly the same size as the Nephite
population. They Nephites were required
to contend with the armies.
The Lamanites had gathered
together, and the Nephites were prepared to face them in the land of Jershon.[2]
We learn twenty-five year old
Moroni had been appointed the chief captain, taking command of all the Nephite
armies. Being appointed at such a young age speaks well of his talents and
abilities. “Now, Moroni being a man who
was appointed by the chief judges and the voice of the people, therefore he had
power according to his will with the armies of the Nephites, to establish and
to exercise authority over them” (Alma 46:34).
The Nephite army was armed
with swords, cimeters and other weapons of war.
The troops wore breastplates and arm shields and wore thick clothing as
additional protection.
The Nephite uniform
contrasted with the Lamanites. They had
swords, cimeters, bows and arrow, stones and slings. They only wore a loincloth as their uniform;
otherwise they were naked. The Zoramites
and the Amalekites did have their own uniforms.
Seeing the Nephite armies and
their protection, the Lamanites were afraid.
This is in spite of the Lamanites superior numbers.
The Lamanite armies
retreated, not wanting to confront the Nephite army. They went into the land of Manti, believing
Moroni had not way of knowing to where they were retreating.
[1] “For
unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth” (JST John
4:24).
[2] “And
it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon,
and took possession of the land of Jershon; and they were called by the
Nephites the people of Ammon; therefore they were distinguished by that name
ever after” (Alma 27:26).
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