This is one of a series of posts about what is referred to as the war chapters in the Book of Mormon (chapters 45 through 62). The Kingdom of Light, the Lord of Light (Christ), the church of Christ, and the doctrine of Christ stand completely opposed to the Kingdom of darkness, the lord of darkness, the church of the devil, and the doctrine of the devil. The modern war chapters are being written as we speak. See with new eyes how the parallels in these specific chapters fulfill one of the three purposes of the Book of Mormon and it is a divine witness and a warning for each soul today.

Previously: Chapter 47

CHAPTER 48 (About 72 B.C.)

1 And now it came to pass that, as soon as Amalickiah had obtained the kingdom he began to inspire the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi; yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites. [The modern equivalent of selling propaganda through media]

2 And thus he did inspire their hearts against the Nephites [successful propaganda], insomuch that in the latter end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges, he having accomplished his designs thus far, yea, having been made king over the Lamanites, he sought also to reign over all the land, yea, and all the people who were in the land, the Nephites as well as the Lamanites [the modern equivalent of ruling over one world order].

3 Therefore he had accomplished his design, for he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds [got them to buy into how great life would be under his elite reign], and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous host to go to battle against the Nephites [stirring up the people against the conservative values in favor of large scale inclusivity, tolerance, progressive propaganda].

4 For he was determined, because of the greatness of the number of his people, to overpower the Nephites and to bring them into bondage [To make them subjects of the limited elite and their new world order. This is the ultimate objective of today’s church of the devil.].

5 And thus he did appoint chief captains of the Zoramites, they being the most acquainted with the strength of the Nephites, and their places of resort, and the weakest parts of their cities; therefore he appointed them to be chief captains over his armies.

6 And it came to pass that they took their camp, and moved forth toward the land of Zarahemla in the wilderness.

7 Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah [the limited elite of the church of the devil] had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit [the same thing happening today], Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God [The contrast is stark. Amalichiah asking the people to be faithful to him and his agenda while Moroni was asking them to be faithful to the Lord on an individual soul level. Moroni was not even asking them to be faithful to the church they had established among them.]

8 Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land. [You’ll see in next chapter that these tactics were inspired by the Lord to protect the individual freedoms of the people and their families.]

9 And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

10 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. [Freedom. It’s that simple. Contrast that with the efforts of the church of devil.]

11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery [How common is that today among secular leaders? In contrast, today’s secular leaders are promoting conformity, compliance, and obedience to their own social rules.];

12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

14 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. [Defenders of liberty, not on the offensive]

15 And this was their faith [their actions, their doings that result from hope in the divine nature of God] , 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 [adhering to personal revelation, guidance, and direction from the Lord.] that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war [examples of the Lord’s potential revelation, guidance, direction], according to their danger;

16 And also, that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies [another example], 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 [Iniquity includes many things but in it’s simplest form it is in-equality of the value of each soul while maintaining equal opportunity of outcome. Here it is resisting the desire to preside over another person or to take liberty or freedom from others].

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. [This is not counsel to be like Moroni as if he is the ultimate hero per se. Instead, this is saying that we should be seeking for a relationship with the Lord and then seek the Lord’s counsel to guide us and direct us and exercise great faith to obey the Lord’s direction, commands. If we each did that, we can be entitled to the same miracle otucomes.]

18 Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God [Disciples of the Lord because they each had a personal relationship with the Lord.].

19 Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less serviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God [Teaching the doctrine of Christ that enables each soul equal opportunity of outcome], and they did baptize unto repentance [water baptism] all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.

20 And thus they went forth, and the people did humble themselves [The contrast to iniquity (in-equality)… broken heart and contrite spirit that puts everyone on the same level of spiritual growth opportunity in the sight of the Lord.] because of their words, insomuch that they were highly favored of the Lord, and thus they were free from wars and contentions among themselves [War on the offensive is iniquity in the sense that it seeks to place one people above another. The exception is when you go to war in defense of personal liberties, freedoms which enables all to have equal opportunity of outcome either secularly or spiritually. There are forces and efforts that operate in the dark to stir up global economies, social constructs, overthrow leaders not willing to comply with the church of the devil, and more.], yea, even for the space of four years.

21 But, as I have said, in the latter end of the nineteenth year, yea, notwithstanding their peace amongst themselves, they were compelled reluctantly to contend [in defense] with their brethren, the Lamanites.

22 Yea, and in fine, their wars never did cease for the space of many years with the Lamanites, notwithstanding their much reluctance.

23 Now, they were sorry to take up arms against the Lamanites, because they did not delight in the shedding of blood; yea, and this was not all—they were sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God.

24 Nevertheless, they could not suffer to lay down their lives, that their wives and their children should be massacred by the barbarous cruelty of those who were once their brethren, yea, and had dissented from their church [stopped being followers of Christ], and had left them and had gone to destroy them by joining the Lamanites.

25 Yea, they could not bear that their brethren should rejoice over the blood of the Nephites, so long as there were any who should keep the commandments of God, for the promise of the Lord was, if they should keep his commandments they should prosper in the land.

Next: The Modern War Chapters: Alma 49

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