A Few Who Shall Be Called Disciples

Some of the final words we have from Alma, son of Alma, in the Book of Mormon were about the destruction of the Nephites that he prophesied would come 400 years after the Savior was among them. He said this to his son Helaman: “And when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon cometh that those who are now, or the seed of those who are now numbered among the people of Nephi, shall no more be numbered among the people of Nephi. But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled” (Alma 45:13-14). It struck me today as I read this that Alma was talking about both Mormon and Moroni here with the phrase “a few who shall be called he disciples of the Lord.” These were those who survived the mass destruction of the people at first and were disciples, but who would eventually be killed by the Lamanites. It makes me wonder what Mormon thought as he abridged this. We know that is exactly what happened to him. Mormon did survive Cumorah and finished out his record in Mormon 6-7. But then Moron took over the writing after that and informed us, “And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed. And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know not” (Mormon 8:2-3). Sometime between about 385 and 400 A.D., Mormon was killed by the Lamanites just as Alma had prophesied. We don’t know how Moroni escaped, but he did and continued alone as he tried to avoid being killed by the Lamanites.

                It appears, though, that Moroni reached the same fate as his father and likewise fulfilled the prophecy of Alma. We know that he lived until at least “more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ” when he wrote the last chapter of the book (Moroni 10:1). What happened to him after that? We do actually have some information. One account relates this about the site for the Manti temple: “At a conference held in Ephraim, Sanpete County, June 25th, 1875, nearly all the speakers expressed their feelings to have a temple built in Sanpete County… At 4 p.m. that day President Brigham Young said: ‘The Temple should be build on Manti stone quarry.’ Early on the morning of April 25, 1877, President Brigham Young asked Brother Warren S. Snow to go with him to the Temple hill.” This Brother Snow related, “We two were alone: President Young took me to the spot where the Temple was to stand; we went to the southeast corner, and President Young said: ‘Here is the spot where the prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot.’” So, it would appear that Moroni traveled a long distance from the land of the Nephites and was at some point crossing through the area of Manti.

The same article also quotes this about the death of Moroni, an account from Charles Evans published in 1897: “At a meeting at Spanish Fork, Utah Co., in the winter of 1896, Brother Higginson stated in my presence that Thomas B. Marsh told him that the Prophet Joseph Smith told him (Thomas B. Marsh, he being then President of the Twelve), that he became very anxious to know something of the fate of Moroni, and in answer to prayer the Lord gave Joseph a vision, in which appeared a wild country and on the scene was Moroni after whom were six Indians in pursuit; he stopped and one of the Indians stepped forward and measured swords with him. Moroni smote him and he fell dead; another Indian advanced and contended with him; this Indian also fell by his sword; a third Indian then stepped forth and met the same fate; a fourth afterwards contended with him, but in the struggle with the fourth, Moroni, being exhausted, was killed. Thus ended the life of Moroni.” So, if this is indeed true, Moroni would have met the fate that Alma prophesied, dying at the hands of the Lamanites.

            Whether or not these accounts about Moroni are true, the core of Alma’s prophecy about the destruction of the Nephites because of their wickedness certainly is. Their story is a reminder of what Alma then said (his very last verse): “Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (Alma 45:16).