Alma
43
You don’t have to
worry about Corianton.
We know he repented
and went to preach again.
Though Alma was
older, he found he couldn’t rest
So he joined his sons
in their missionary quest.
Next we learn how the
leader of the Lamanites
Made sure his chief
captains were all former Nephites.
Zarahemnah knew that
they were more murderous
In their disposition
than each Lamanite was.
Zarahemnah hoped that
their hatred and their spite
Would help him gain
power and enslave the Nephites.
Since the people of
Ammon promised not to fight,
All the battles would
have to be fought by Nephites.
Their leader, Moroni,
was both faithful and bold
And he was quite
young—only 25 years old.
Captain Moroni made
sure every single man
Was equipped with
armor, with shields and with weapons.
Zerahemnah’s men
weren’t prepared with anything.
They were nearly
naked, with only swords and slings.
Though they far
outnumbered the Nephites they were scared.
So, they ran away. Moroni would soon know where.
He sent spies to
watch them and messengers to see
If the Lord would
tell Alma where they all would be.
“They’ll attack
Manti” was the answer to his prayer,
So, when the
Lamanites attacked, they were prepared.
First Zerahemnah’s
men were attacked from behind
By a detachment led
by the daring Lehi.
The Lamanites had no
chance since they were so exposed
They were being
destroyed at almost every stroke.
So they ran away and
crossed the river Sidon,
Which is where Moroni
was hidden with his men.
Once again the
Lamanites were losing, so they ran.
Moroni had a
detachment waiting for them.
Desperate, all the
Lamanites fought just like dragons.
They fought so
fiercely that it scared Moroni’s men.
He could sense their
fear, so he reminded them of
Who they were
defending: the people that they loved.
When they heard his
message, Moroni’s army turned
And cried out to God
for the things for which they yearned.
After
praying for help they fought with so much power
That
the Lamanites ran away in that same hour.
They
did not get far, for they found Moroni’s men
Had
them all surrounded in the River Sidon.
Wading
through the water, they were struck with terror
Moroni
stopped his men when he saw how scared they were.
Alma
44
Moroni told his foe,
“Zerahemnah, now you see,
“God supports His
children. He wants us to be free.
“You are angry with
us due to our faith in Christ
“But this very faith
is the reason we’re alive.
“Give us all your
weapons. Swear you’ll never fight again
“If you don’t my
troops will kill each and every man.”
Their leader gave his
weapons but wouldn’t take an oath.
“Don’t make us
promise to do something that we won’t.
“We don’t think your
faith saved you. We think it’s because
“Of your armor and
the movements that your army does.”
Moroni gave back all
his weapons and he said,
“We will end the
conflict. You all will soon be dead.”
Angry, Zerahemnah
rushed toward him with his sword.
One of Moroni’s men
knocked his scalp to the floor.
He lifted it up using
the tip of his sword
Saying, “You’ll fall
like this scalp if you don’t give your word.
“Deliver your weapons
and a promise of peace.”
Many listened to him
and they were all set free.
The rest were too
stubborn. They fought powerfully
But they died quickly. Zerahemnah sued for peace.
He and his men left;
they had met every demand.
The Nephites returned
to their houses and their lands.
Alma
45
All the Nephites gave
thanks, they fasted and they prayed
To the Lord because
they knew that they had been saved.
In the 19th
year, Alma went to Helaman
Asking, “Do you
believe all of my words, my son?”
Helaman said, “Yes,
in the records and in Christ
“I believe it
all. Both are precious beyond price.
“I will keep your
commandments with all of my heart.”
Alma said, “I’m so glad,
knowing how blessed you are.”
Then Alma prophesied
of how the Nephites would
Forget all of
Christ’s teachings and everything’s that good.
400 years after
Christ would appear to them
There’d be
pestilences, wars, bloodshed and famines.
It’s because of sin
that to such depths they would sink.
All Nephites and
disciples would become extinct.
After blessing his
sons he departed from that land
And he disappeared,
he was never seen again.
Helaman then went
forth with his brethren to preach.
Church members were
struggling that they hoped they could reach.
Though they did their
best to bring order to the church,
Many had grown proud
and refused to heed their words.
Alma 46
Helaman and his
brethren were told they were wrong
By Amalikiah, who was
both big and strong.
He convinced his
followers that he should be king,
Promising, “I’ll make
you rulers if you support me.”
They worked hard to
lead away others and it worked.
Sadly this included
many members of the church.
How could this
be? They had just been giving thanks
To the Lord and now
the church was losing its ranks.
It’s a good reminder
of how fast we can fall.
If we forget the Lord
then we can lose it all.
Like Amalickiah, a
wicked man can lead
People to destroy the
source of their liberty.
Moroni was angry so
he tore up his coat,
Wrote a message on it
and hung it on a pole.
It read, “In mem’ry
of God and our religion,
“Our freedom and our
peace, our wives and our children.”
He was calling others
to fight for his great cause
And to fight any who would
overthrow their laws.
He put on his armor
and prayed with all his might
That the true
believers would help him win this fight.
He went forth with
this, the Title of Liberty,
Waving it and calling
Christians, “Come and stand with me.”
True Christians came
running, their armor fastened on,
Promising that they
would not forsake the Lord their God.
They sent forth this
message in all parts of the land
Calling men to fight
Amalickiah and his band.
When Amalickiah saw
he was outnumbered,
He departed from the
land with his followers.
Captain Moroni chased
them down with his army
But Amalickiah and a
few still slipped away.
All those who were
captured had to make a promise
To support freedom or
they would be put to death.
All the Nephites
placed the title of liberty
At the top of every
tower so it would be seen.
Alma 47
Now, this man
Amalickiah soon set his sights
On becoming king over
all the Lamanites.
He convinced their
king they should go to war again
But many Lamanites
were scared and so they ran.
They had just lost a
battle against Moroni
And believed if they
fought the Nephites they would die.
Trusting that
Amalickiah could bring them back
The
Lamanite king sent him but it was a trap.
First,
Amalickiah convinced those who’d rebelled
That he’d
give them his army. It went over well.
Then he
slowly poisoned their leader Lehonti
And became
their leader after Lehonti died.
Then
Amalickiah led them back as a group
And the
king met them, not knowing it was a coup.
The king
was stabbed by one of Amalickiah’s men
And when the
guards ran Amalickiah blamed them.
All the
guards kept running until they left the land
And decided
they’d join the people of Ammon.
Since
Amalickiah had his men chase the guards,
His
deception worked and he gained the people’s hearts.
Finally,
this man married the Lamanite queen
And his
plan was complete. He had become the
king.
Though
his men were raised with the gospel as Nephites
They were
even more wicked than the Lamanites.
Alma 48
Now that he
was king over all the Lamanites,
Amalickiah
sought to rule over the Nephites.
He had men
on towers give speeches to convince
His people
that they must fight the Nephites and they’d win.
While
Amalickiah had gotten power through lies,
Captain
Moroni prepared his people’s hearts and minds.
He had them
build barriers around their cities
And
strengthened their fortifications that once were weak.
Captain
Moroni was a strong and mighty man.
Though he
didn’t care for blood he’d fight for freedom.
He had
sworn an oath to defend the things he loved.
He had
faith in Christ; he knew they’d get help from God.
If all men
had been and would ever be like him
The powers
of hell would be forever shaken.
He was like
Alma and all of Mosiah’s sons.
Their
hearts changed and they were men of God, every one.
Alma 49
First, the
Lamanites advanced toward Ammonihah,
Thinking
it was weak since they had destroyed it once.
They were
disappointed. The Nephites dug a wall
That was
impenetrable because it was so tall.
The
Lamanites had armor and clothing—they weren’t bare—
But, again,
the Nephites were even more prepared.
Seeing how
they’d followed Moroni’s instructions
Amalickiah’s
captains didn’t dare to fight them.
They
retreated and marched toward the land of Noah
They were
shocked. It was stronger than Ammonihah.
Once the
city was the weakest part of the land
But they’d
been prepared so that they could make a stand.
They were
led by Lehi. The Lamanites feared him,
Thanks to
his courage at the battle of Sidon.
Still,
their men attacked! They were hit from
every side.
But they didn’t
retreat ‘til their Chief Captains died.
Though
they lost a thousand, their foes did not lose one.
When he
heard the news Amalickiah was undone.
Meanwhile,
Nephites offered the Lord their praise and laud
And
prospered since they were heeding the word of God.
Alma 50
Moroni
didn’t waste time after this victory.
He made
sure the Nephites strengthened all their cities.
First they dug up
ridges of dirt around them all,
Then they would place
timbers on the top of this wall.
Above that were
pickets that were both strong and tall,
Nearby, men on towers
caused assailants to fall.
Every day Captain
Moroni’s armies increased,
Thanks to the faith
that men had in his strategy.
The Nephites
prospered—they were rich and good and kind.
And some said there
never was a happier time.
That was in the 21st
year of the judges.
In three years contention
came all of a sudden.
Nephites in two cities
fought over a land dispute.
One of their leaders
was a man of ill-repute.
Named Morianton, he
knew he was in the wrong.
He wanted to flee and
have his men come along.
His plan might have
worked but, thanks to his bad temper,
Word got out when he cruelly
beat his servant girl.
She told Moroni of
their plans and so he sent
Teancum to stop
them—one of his toughest men.
Those who were
brought back after they suffered defeat
Could go to their
homes if they’d take an oath of peace.
That same year, Chief
Judge Nephihah died, so his son
Became the next chief
judge. His name was Pahoran.
Alma 51
When there was
contention over points of the law
Pahoran stayed
strong. He would not change it at all.
Those
who wanted changes wanted to have a king
They
were called king-men and wanted to be ruling
Freemen,
by contrast, wished to preserve liberty
When
the people voted more wanted to stay free.
This
was horrible timing for such contentions—
Their
foes were preparing for war with diligence.
In
the 25th year the Lamanites came down
The
king-men were all glad and refused to take up arms.
Moroni
was irate. He sent a petition
Asking
for the pow’r to kill dissenters, every one.
His
request was granted. He marched his army
forth
And
those who resisted were hewn down by the sword.
All
the rest gave in and promised that they would fight
And
defend their country against the Lamanites.
Due
to this distraction, Amalickiah’s men
Could
enter several cities and take possession.
They
wanted to take Bountiful but they were shocked
When
Teancum’s warriors met them and they were stopped.
All
his men exceeded their foes in skill and strength
And
were beating them but the day was getting late.
So
they pitched their tents and late that night in the dark
Teancum
put a javelin in their king’s heart.
This
all happened, causing the Lamanites to fear
On
the very last day of the 25th year.
Alma 52
When
the Lamanites found Amalickiah dead
They
retreated quickly, for they were filled with dread.
With
their king and leader, Amalickiah, gone
They
replaced him with his kid brother Ammoron.
Ammoron
had armies scattered throughout the land,
So
Moroni held a council with all his captains.
When
he found they couldn’t convince the Lamanites
To
come out with their armies and have a fair fight,
Captain
Moroni knew he’d need to have a plan.
So
he sent Teancum with a small group of men.
Since
their group was small it was meant to lure them out
While
men took back Mulek. It worked! It was a rout.
Those
who followed Teancum soon felt terrified
When
met with an army that was led by Lehi.
They
were running with all their might back to Mulek
When
their wearied troops met Captain Moroni’s men.
Though
exhausted, the Lamanites fought with great strength
But
they were surrounded and surrendered at length.
© 2020 by N. Noelle Maes
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