Two Keys to Military Success

The Book of Mormon seems to teach that two important keys to successful warfare are revelation and righteous leaders.  For example, Jarom attributed the success of the Nephites against the Lamanites in his day to the righteousness of the Nephite leaders: “But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands” (Jarom 1:7). 

Likewise, Mormon showed how King Benjamin’s righteousness was a key factor of the Nephites in Zarahemla being able to protect themselves from the Lamanites.  “And it came to pass also that the armies of the Lamanites came down out of the land of Nephi, to battle against his people. But behold, king Benjamin gathered together his armies, and he did stand against them” (Words of Mormon 1:13, 17).  Mormon described King Benjamin as “a holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness” and labored with “the faculty of his whole soul” in order to “establish peace in the land” (Words of Mormon 1:17-18).  It was the righteousness and faith of King Benjamin that held the Nephites together through the strength of the Lord.  The account of the Nephite chief captain Zoram shows the importance of revelation in military victories.  His mission was to recover the Nephites that were taken prisoner by the Lamanites after the fall of Ammonihah.  We read that Zoram “knowing that Alma was high priest over the church, and having heard that he had the spirit of prophecy, therefore they went unto him and desired of him to know whither the Lord would that they should go into the wilderness in search of their brethren” (Alma 16:5).  Because Alma received the revelation from the Lord with very specific directions and Zoram then acted on them, they were able to get back the Nephite prisoners and “not one soul of them had been lost that were taken captive” (Alma 16:8).  In the terrible conflict with the Gadianton robbers in 3 Nephi we see another example showing the importance of revelation in military matters.  Gidgiddoni was the military leader of the Nephites and was “a great prophet among them” (3 Nephi 3:19).  When the people petitioned him to go into the mountains to fight the Gadianton robbers, it was clearly revelation that informed his response: “The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands” (3 Nephi 3:21).  The people followed his directions and because of that and the righteous leadership of Lachoneus they ultimately succeeded in stopping the Gadianton robbers’ aggression.  There are many other examples that could be cited showing the power of the righteousness and revelation of Nephite leaders in bringing victory and protection: Moroni, Teancum, Lehi, Pahoran, Helaman, and Moronihah were all men of God who followed the direction of the Lord in order to defend their people against their enemies.  It’s interesting that even when the Nephites were very wicked, they still had enough sense to choose Mormon, a righteous man, to lead them.  (Of course, as the Nephites found out, as important as it was to be led by a righteous leader, he could not preserve the freedom of the people if they would not repent.)  In summary, Mormon wrote this of Nephite tradition: “It was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy” (3 Nephi 3:19).  This should be the pattern we follow in our own country’s choice of leaders—it is far more important than any other tactical military decision.