The Lamanite army, seeing how prepared the Nephite army was,
realized their nakedness (see Alma 43:20) left them vulnerable. It was decided to conduct a strategic
retreat. They believed they would be able to withdraw without the Nephites discovering
where they were going. They were wrong.
Moroni sent spies to watch and follow them as they retreated. He also sent men to Alma, asking him to ask
the Lord where he should take the army to defend themselves against the Lamanites. This is not the first time a chief captain
had asked Alma to inquire of the Lord about where to place the army.
“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).
The Lord told Alma to send the army to the land of Manti. “We
believe that men should appeal to the civil law for redress of all wrongs and
grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted or the right of property or
character infringed, where such laws exist as will protect the same; but we
believe that all men are justified in defending themselves, their friends, and
property, and the government, from the unlawful assaults and encroachments of
all persons in times of exigency, where immediate appeal cannot be made to the
laws, and relief afforded” (D&C 134:11).
The Lord will guide us in all things if we turn to Him. “As
birds flying [IE hovering over their young], so will the LORD of hosts defend
Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it;
and passing over he will preserve it”
(Isaiah 31:5).
“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do
I wait all the day” (Psalms 25:5).
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”
(Proverbs 3:6).
The messengers returned and passed on the information to
Moroni. He took most of his army to
Manti. He left a part of his army in
Jershon should the Lamanites attempt to take the city.
He had the people gather together to be ready to fight the
Lamanites should they come.
Moroni placed his army in a valley near the river
Sidon. He also sent spies to watch the
Lamanites and let him know when they were moving.
Moroni understood the Lamanites and what they intended. He knew “they supposed that they should
easily overpower and subject their brethren to the yoke of bondage, or slay and
massacre them according to their pleasure” (Alma 49:7).
“When the norms and institutions of Nephite democracy are
considered, several indicators demonstrate a tendency to avert war insofar as
it was possible. Prefacing the long series of chapters on war, Mormon describes
at length how Captain Moroni and the Nephites did not desire to fight, engaging
in bloodshed only with extreme compunction.”[1]
We again see Mormon’s emphasis on justification for
war. It can be summed up by the Title of Liberty – “And it came to pass that
he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of
our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our
children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole” (Alma 46:12).
Scriptures repeatedly emphasize this point. “And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the
name of that all–powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have
gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of
worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives
and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country;
yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all
our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us” (Alma 44:5).
“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 48:10).
[D]emocracies should prevail
because they have both greater resources to draw upon and greater political
will to do so, for a long time if necessary … In contemporary theory the
additional benefits granted by democracy create an incentive for democratic
citizens to express a willingness to invest a great deal of blood and treasure
into state preservation. Conversely, citizens of nondemocracies lack this
incentive and may even prefer regime change since the possibility for
improvement is greater in less desirable political states. The wars of Captain
Moroni ideally exhibit this phenomenon. Moroni knows that, in contrast to the
Lamanite desire for conquest, the Nephites will fight to preserve their “lands,
and their liberty, and their church” (Alma 43:30). It would be difficult to
express the benefits of the archetypal procedural democracy more clearly than
with the three ideals of democracy Moroni recognizes—individually owned
property, political freedom, private rather than official religiosity.[2]
[1] For
the Peace of the People: War and Democracy in the Book of Mormon, Ryan W.
Davis, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16/1 (2007): 46.
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