Fight Against God
In
speaking of the Lamanites who were converted by Ammon and his brethren, Mormon gave
the following description: “They did lay down the weapons of their rebellion,
that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their
brethren” (Alma 23:7). I believe the
mention of rebelling against their brethren is referring to the wars they have
waged against the Nephites (and possibly amongst themselves), but what does it
mean that they no longer did “fight against God?”
This was a people who really didn’t believe in God, so how did they “fight” against him? I think in some sense we can consider that if they fought against the righteous Nephites then they were fighting against God because they were His people, but I don’t think that’s what this is referring to because the verse mentions fighting against their brethren as something separate. The same phrase about fighting against God is used in Nephi’s description of what happened in Jesus’s day: “Behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again; for wo unto them that fight against God and the people of his church” (2 Nephi 25:14). Similarly a curse was pronounced in Enoch’s day such that “there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God” (Moses 7:15). Again here there seems to be a distinction between physically fighting against the righteous and actually fighting against God. In modern revelation the Lord referred to how the person who does not exercise his priesthood in the proper manner “is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God” (D&C 121:38). So what does it really mean to fight against God? Perhaps we get a clue in the description of how Satan fought against God in the premortal world. The Doctrine and Covenants tells us that he “rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ” (D&C 76:28). The Savior further described this saying, “Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3). So Satan’s rebellion against Heavenly Father was the first instance of someone “fighting against God”, and perhaps we can rephrase that by saying that he rejected and worked against God’s plan that was presented. In our own lives, then, we also fight against God when we reject his plan or will for us in favor of our own desires. The converted Lamanites had lived a life that went completely contrary to the will of the Lord, and so even if they did not know that they were “fighting against God,” they were still in a state of rebellion. How much worse off are we, then, if we knowingly reject God and His commandments. As King Benjamin put it, “But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 3:12). Ultimately we all put ourselves in states of rebellion because of some aspect of our life that we don’t want to change. Our hope then comes through continual repentance and faith in Christ to help us as we strive to replace our will with God’s.
This was a people who really didn’t believe in God, so how did they “fight” against him? I think in some sense we can consider that if they fought against the righteous Nephites then they were fighting against God because they were His people, but I don’t think that’s what this is referring to because the verse mentions fighting against their brethren as something separate. The same phrase about fighting against God is used in Nephi’s description of what happened in Jesus’s day: “Behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again; for wo unto them that fight against God and the people of his church” (2 Nephi 25:14). Similarly a curse was pronounced in Enoch’s day such that “there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God” (Moses 7:15). Again here there seems to be a distinction between physically fighting against the righteous and actually fighting against God. In modern revelation the Lord referred to how the person who does not exercise his priesthood in the proper manner “is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God” (D&C 121:38). So what does it really mean to fight against God? Perhaps we get a clue in the description of how Satan fought against God in the premortal world. The Doctrine and Covenants tells us that he “rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ” (D&C 76:28). The Savior further described this saying, “Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3). So Satan’s rebellion against Heavenly Father was the first instance of someone “fighting against God”, and perhaps we can rephrase that by saying that he rejected and worked against God’s plan that was presented. In our own lives, then, we also fight against God when we reject his plan or will for us in favor of our own desires. The converted Lamanites had lived a life that went completely contrary to the will of the Lord, and so even if they did not know that they were “fighting against God,” they were still in a state of rebellion. How much worse off are we, then, if we knowingly reject God and His commandments. As King Benjamin put it, “But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 3:12). Ultimately we all put ourselves in states of rebellion because of some aspect of our life that we don’t want to change. Our hope then comes through continual repentance and faith in Christ to help us as we strive to replace our will with God’s.
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