In his letter to Ammoron during the
war, Moroni wrote this: “Except you withdraw your purposes, behold, ye will
pull down the wrath of that God whom you have rejected upon you, even to your
utter destruction. But, as the Lord liveth, our armies shall come upon you
except ye withdraw, and ye shall soon be visited with death, for we will retain
our cities and our lands; yea, and we will maintain our religion and the cause
of our God” (Alma 54:9-10). Reading this in English I would assume that the “ye”
he spoke of was the Lamanite army in general that Ammoron was leading, and so I
was interested to find that the translation to French uses the singular familiar
form (tu) which would imply that Moroni was talking to Ammoron
personally: “Nos armées viendront sur toi, à moins que tu ne te retires, et tu
seras bientôt puni de mort.” So Moroni was suggesting that Ammoron was going to
die if he did not withdraw his army from trying to conquer the Nephites. This
was written in the 29th year of the reign of the judges, and the
threat upon Ammoron’s life personally—if we interpret it that way—was fulfilled
as promised two years later in the 31st year: “And it came to pass
that Teancum in his anger did go forth into the camp of the Lamanites, and did
let himself down over the walls of the city. And he went forth with a cord,
from place to place, insomuch that he did find the king; and he did cast a
javelin at him, which did pierce him near the heart. But behold, the king did
awaken his servants before he died, insomuch that they did pursue Teancum, and
slew him” (Alma 62:36). Thus Teancum gave his life fulfilling a prophecy of Moroni
and in essence brought about the end of the war with that action. Moroni’s
promise that they would indeed retain their cities and lands and maintain their
religion and faith was fulfilled as the Lamanites were finally driven out and
sent back to the land of Nephi.
One
of the lessons that we can learn from Moroni is the need to be absolutely committed
to the Lord, our freedoms, and our families. While Ammoron sought only for
power and control over the Nephites, Moroni fought for the cause of his God and
was unwavering in his commitment to his people and the Lord. His standard of liberty
said this: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our
wives, and our children.” He used this to rally the people behind him, telling
them this as he waved the title in the air: “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” (Alma 46:12, 20). Moroni was committed to
maintaining the freedom of his people and preserving the cause of the Christians.
We certainly could use more of his devotion to God, family, and country that drove
him to extreme sacrifices to save his people. So I was intrigued to find that Robert
P. George from Princeton is trying to encourage that kind of commitment amongst
us this month. He recently wrote:
“I have declared June to be ‘Fidelity Month’ — a month dedicated to the
importance of fidelity to God, spouses and families, our country, and our
communities.” That sounds quite a bit like the language of Captain Moroni! Professor
George continued, “Fidelity Month proposes a positive vision: we stand for
fidelity to God, to spouses and families, and to our county and communities.
Our aim is to renew our own commitment, and encourage our fellow citizens to
renew their commitment, to the values that have historically been among our
society’s main sources of strength and unity, despite our many differences.” I hope
that we can indeed as a country become more committed to God, family, and
country just as Captain Moroni showed us how to do and as this professor now
encourages us. I love these words of that great Nephite leader to Zerahemnah (inviting
him to deliver up their weapons of war): “In the name of that all-powerful God,
who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith,
by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the
sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty
which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance
of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that
is most dear unto us” (Alma 44:5). Those are still the causes today to which we
should give all our fidelity.
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