The Nephites and the Gadianton robbers are prepared for war.
When it began, it was bad. Mormon describe as “the slaughter thereof, insomuch
that there never was known so great a slaughter among all the people of Lehi
since he left Jerusalem” (3 Nephi 4:11). Here is Mormon’s description of the
results of a war in the book of Alma.
And from the first year to the
fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it
has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.
And the bodies of many thousands
are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are moldering in
heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the
loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises
of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.
While many thousands of others
truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the
hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are
raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never–ending happiness
(Alma 28:10-12).
Giddianhi has promised to destroy the Nephites. Despite his
threats, the Nephites were able to force the robbers to retreat from their
army. Gidgiddoni, the Nephite commander, ordered the army to pursue the robbers
to the wilderness. He wanted no prisoners. The Nephites were successful in
their pursuit.
14 And it came to pass that Giddianhi, who had stood and
fought with boldness, was pursued as he fled; and being weary because of his
much fighting he was overtaken and slain. And thus was the end of Giddianhi the
robber.
The great and powerful Giddianhi, who believed the Nephites
didn’t stand a chance against his army, was killed during the robbers’ retreat.
“And thus was the end of Giddianhi the robber” (3 Nephi 4:14).
The Nephites retreated to their place of safety. They lived
in peace for the next two years.
After the death of “Giddianhi, the robber,” there was a new
leader, Zemnarihah. He decided to lay siege, surrounding the Nephites. He
believed cutting the Nephites off from their lands would cause them to
surrender.
The Nephites had planned for a seven year siege.[1]
They were in very good shape. The robbers, on the other hand, were in poor
shape.
The robbers’ only source of food was the game in the area.
Yet, they overhunted and the game was scarce. They were starving. “People in
today's world who are concerned for the environment and our dwindling natural
resource base should note that this problem was shared by those whose history
was recorded in the Book of Mormon. Among the wicked who had no concern for the
future nor for the well-being of their neighbors, natural resources were
exploited. They soon exhausted the supply of wild game which was their chief means
of support. It was recorded that wild game became scarce in the wilderness
insomuch that the robbers were about to perish with hunger (3 Nephi 4:20).”[2]
The Nephites were able to continue to attack the robbers,
successfully cutting off their armies. The troops let it be known they wanted
to withdraw because of the destruction the Nephites were causing. Zemnarihah agreed and ended the siege. They
moved to the land northward.
[1] Therefore,
there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were
to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one
body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves
provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might
subsist for the space of seven years, in the which time they did hope to
destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year
did pass away (3 Nephi 4:4).
No comments:
Post a Comment