Author: Will

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Book of Mormon

Alma 52

  • Without Amalickiah, the Lamanite army is scared of Teancum and his army. They retreat to the city of Mulek.
  • Ammoron, Amalickiah’s brother, become king of the Lamanites.
  • Teancum decoys the Lamanites. Moroni takes the city of Mulek without much effort. The Lamanites run into Lehi at Bountfiul and turn back. Soon the Lamanites are surrounded by Nephites.
  • Lots of people are killed on both sides. Eventually, the Lamanites give up and become prisoners of war that are marched to Bountiful.
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Book of Mormon

Alma 51 – King-men

  • There were some in the land that wanted some laws to be changed. The Chief Judge, Pahoran, was not in favor of the changes. Those people didn’t want Pahoran to be their leaders; they wanted a king.
  • Those that opposed the King-men were called Freemen.
  • There was a vote to settle the dispute and the voice of the people fell in favor of the Freemen.
  • At the same time, Amalickiah was preparing the Lamanites to come to war against the Nephites again.
  • “13 And it came to pass that when the men who were called king-men had heard that the Lamanites were coming down to battle against them, they were glad in their hearts; and they refused to take up arms, for they were so wroth with the chief judge, and also with the people of liberty, that they would not take up arms to defend their country.”
    • It’s very interesting that the disagreement had grown to hatred such that the King-men would rather their people, including themselves, die than help the cause of freedom. Is this a mental illness? That seems crazy.
  • Moroni received permission from the Governor with the support of the people to compel the King-men to defend the people or kill them.
    • 4,000 dissenters were killed because they wouldn’t defend the people. Unbelievable that they were willing to die in their pride and hatred towards their brothren.
  • Amalickiah and his Lamanite army overtake many cities until they run into Teancum.
    • Teancum’s army was superior and stopped the Lamanite progress.
    • Teancum killed Amalickiah in the middle of the night.
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Book of Mormon

Alma 50 –

  • Moroni continually made preparations for war.
    • What preparations do we need to keep making?
      • Preparing food.
      • It will be a cold winter.
  • Where did Moroni’s innovative city preparations come from? I bet he asked for and received revelation from the Lord. That’s why he was always a step ahead of the Lamanites if the people were righteous.
  • Moroni’s significant efforts brought “assurance of protection.”
  • “Thus Moroni, with his armies… did seek to cut off the strength and the power of the Lamanites from off the lands of their possessions, that they should have no power upon the land of their possession.”
    • How can we “cut off the strength and the power” of Satan in our lives?
      • Take time to be holy everyday: pray, study, think of Christ.
  • “20 Blessed art thou and they children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.”
    • “21 And we see that these promises have been verified to the people of Nephi; for it has been their quarreling and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plundering, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations, which were among themselves, which brought upon them their wars and their destructions.”
      • Our actions most definitely have consequences.
      • Today, I believe more that our thoughts, words, and deeds allow the Lord to protect us or don’t allow Him to protect us. In the past I’ve believed that the Lord punishes us directly; I believe more now that punishment comes as a result of His protection being removed.
    • “22 And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, whilst thousands of their wicked brethren have been consigned to bondage, or to perish by the sword, or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites.”
      • The Lord delivers those who are faithful in keeping His commandments.
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Book of Mormon

Alma 49 –

  • The Lamanites come to battle against the Nephites. The Lamanites thing they have leveled the battle field by preparing themselves with shields, breastplates, and thick garments.
  • The Lamanites are surprised to find that the Nephites have prepared the city of Amonnihah with ridge of earth that encircled the city; a ridge so high that the Lamanites couldn’t throw their stones and arrows over it and it force the Lamanites to only enter by the main entrance.
  • The Lamanites thought they’d be able to stroll in and easily overtake Ammonihah due to their numbers and enslave he Nephites. They were wrong and the unprecedented Nephite preparations caused the Lamanites to change their plans.
  • The Lamanites go to the land of Noah.
  • The Nephites had prepared Noah to be stronger than Ammonihah. Historically, Noah had been the weakest part of the land. Now Lehi was the chief captain at Noah. The Lamanites were scared of Lehi.
  • The Nephites were prepared for battle. The ridge around the city force the Lamanites to enter through the main entrance where the Nephites had an advantage. The Lamanites “were slain with an immense slaughter.”
    • The Lamanites fought until their chief captains were killed. At that point more than 1000 Lamanites had been killed when none of the Nephites had perished (50 were wounded).
    • The Lamanites retreated into the wilderness.
  • One Amalickiah, King of the Lamanites, learned of the loss, he was furious.
  • The Nephites gave thanks to the Lord because He had delivered them from their enemies.
    • 30 Yea, and there was continual peace among them, and exceedingly great prosperity in the church because of their heed and diligence which they gave unto the word of God, which was declared unto them by Helaman, and Shiblon, and Corianton, and Ammon and his brethren, yea, and by all those who had been ordained by the holy order of God, being baptized unto repentance, and sent forth to preach among the people.
    • The Nephites were blessed because they listened to righteous leaders over a period of time.
    • Those leaders were inspired to enact good laws that helped the people be righteous.
    • The people were also taught to rely on the Lord, and the Lord helped them defend themselves and adequately prepare for war.
    • It appears the leaders were inspired by the Lord how to prepare the cities and people to defend themselves.
    • The people were faithful enough to listen and obey their leaders.
    • The people were faithful enough that the Lord strengthened them when they had to defend themselves during battle.
Categories
Book of Mormon

Alma 48 – Preparation Contrast

  • Amalickiah inspires the Lamanites to fight against the Nephites.
    • It is recorded that “he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites.
    • Maybe all it takes is hearing the same message, whether true or not, to convince someone of it.
  • Amalickiah’s goal was to “reign over all the land,” Lamanites as well as Nephites.
  • “7 Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.”
    • See the contrast: fraud/deceit vs. faithfulness
  • What did Moroni do?
    • Strengthened the armies of the Nephites
    • Erected small forts or place of resort
    • Threw up banks of earth
    • Built walls of stone around people, cities, and lands
    • Place more men in weaker places
    • Made sure the people were focused on supporting their liberty, lands, wives & children, peace, and freedom to worship.
      • 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.
  • What was Moroni like?
    • Strong and mighty
    • Of perfect understanding
    • Didn’t delight in bloodshed
    • One who joyed in liberty and freedom of his country and fellow men
    • Grateful to God for his privileges and blessings
    • Hard worker for the welfare and safety of his people
    • Firm in his faith of Jesus Christ
    • Covenanted to protect his people, rights, country, and religion even if it meant losing his life.
  • How the Nephites were taught
    • 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.
      • Defend yourself, even with lethal force if necessary
      • Don’t offend
      • Only defend against and enemy to preserve life
    • 15 And this was their faith, 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 that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger;
      • God would prosper them
      • Warn them to flee
      • Warn them to prepare for war
    • 16 And also, that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies, 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.
      • Know when it was right to defend themselves
      • Deliver them
  • The Nephites didn’t like to fight against the Lamanites because they didn’t like to kill people and “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.”
Categories
Book of Mormon

Alma 47 – Great Deception

  • Amalickiah flees into the wilderness and joins the Lamanites.
  • He tricks the Lamanite King into making him a military leader and persuades the King to go to battle against he Nephites.
  • Many of the Lamanites don’t want to go to war and they flee.
  • Amalickiah leads the King’s army to go compel those that fled and are led by Lahonti.
  • Amalickiah colludes with Lahonti to give up the army if Amalickiah is appointed 2nd in command. Lahonti agrees.
  • Amalickiah has Lahonti killed by poison and is then made leader of the army due to tradition.
  • Amalickiah leads the army back to the King’s city.
  • The king is killed by Amalickiah’s servants, but a false narrative is spread throughout the land the the servants of the King killed him.
  • Amalickiah convinces the King’s wife of the lie and takes her to wife.
  • In the end, Amalickiah has taken the King’s army, kingdom, and wife.
Categories
Book of Mormon

Alma 46 –

  • Amalickiah arises as the leader of a group that is so opposed to Helaman that they want to kill them.
  • Amalickiah wants to be king; the lower judges want that too as they seek for power.
  • The situation is described as “precarious” (uncertain) and “dangerous”
  • We need to beware of danger from without (represented by the Lamanites) and within (represented by deserters).
  • Human beings have a natural tendency to forget the Lord and follow Satan.
    • “8 Thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one.”
  • Note the negative affect one man can have.
  • Moroni gets really bothered by what is going on and produces the Title of Liberty
    • “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children”
  • Moroni invites everyone that believes in liberty to participate in maintaining it
    • “20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.”
  • Many came “running” to covenant
    • It’s interesting how they came; running implies quickly exerting significant effort
    • “the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.”
    • “We covenant with our God, that we shall be destroyed, even as our brethren in the land northward, if we shall fall into transgression; yea, he may cast us at the feet of our enemies, even as we have cast our garments at thy feet to be trodden under foot, if we shall fall into transgression.”
  • The Title of Liberty became a unifying thing that brought peace:
    • “37 And they began to have peace again in the land; and thus they did maintain peace in the land until nearly the end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges. 38 And Helaman and the high priests did also maintain order in the church; yea, even for the space of four years did they have much peace and rejoicing in the church.”
  • When Amalickiah saw that those against him were greater than those with him and that his people were starting to doubt their cause, he took those that would follow him into the land of Nephi.
  • Moroni cut off Amalickiah’s group in the wilderness. A few escaped with Amalickiah; the rest were taken back to Zarahemla. Back in Zarahemla, those dissenters that would not covenanted to the “cause of freedom” were killed, “and there were but few who denied the covenant of freedom.”
  • Moroni “planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites”.
    • It’s interesting that the the people would need to be reminded of this standard. Goes to show how quickly we can degrade and abandon good principles.
    • I suppose “The Family” is a similar standard that needed to be erected. Who would have guessed our society would have degraded so significantly to where it is today when the proclamation was made in 1995.
Categories
Ideas

Live Stats

I woke up this morning with the idea that I should create some kind of live stats app from Runnercard.com data.

Update: 19 SEP 2022. Spoke with Molly last night and learned Athletic.net is a site the provides aggregate stats for athletes.
What is the new value I’d need to provide? Maybe a focus on the live stats?! I’ll keep thinking about it.

Categories
Book of Mormon

Alma 45 – Farewell

  • The Nephites recognize that the Lord has delivered them.
    • As a result, the give thanks.
    • The also, “did fast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy.”
  • Alma prophesies of the Nephites destruction 400 years after the coming of Christ.
  • Alma disappears.
  • Helaman and his brothers establish churches throughout the land and call priests and teachers.
  • A dimension arises among the people due to wealth.
Categories
Book of Mormon

Alma 44 – The Lord will care for Us

  • Moroni testifies that the Lord is with his army and that He has delivered the Lamanites into their hands
    • “ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands.”
    • “Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.”