Wield the Sword of Laban

One of the interesting items in the Book of Mormon is the sword of Laban.  We are first introduced to the sword of Laban when Nephi found Laban on the ground and used the sword to end Laban’s life (1 Nephi 4:18).  Nephi described the sword this way: “The hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel” (1 Nephi 4:9).  He took the high quality sword with him and we don’t hear of it again until they were in the promised land.  Apparently Nephi carried it all those years across the desert and on the ship as they traveled the thousands of miles from Jerusalem to the Americas.  The sword is mentioned after Nephi and the righteous left Laman and Lemuel and ventured out on their own.  Nephi told us, “And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords” (2 Nephi 5:14).  After this Jacob mentioned the sword as he described how much the people loved Nephi: “He having been a great protector for them, having wielded the sword of Laban in their defence, and having labored in all his days for their welfare” (Jacob 1:10).  Wielding the sword for the people was apparently a symbol of the great protector that Nephi was for his people. 

                That symbolism of the sword seemed to have stuck in future generations.  We read this about King Benjamin: “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; and he did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban” (Words of Mormon 1:13).  King Benjamin was a king like Nephi who loved his people, fought for them, protected them, and taught them the truths of the gospel.  The sword was something passed on to subsequent leaders, for King Benjamin gave his son Mosiah charge over the sword when he gave him responsibility for the plates of brass.  Likely the sword was given to whoever received charge over the plates and record of Nephi.  The sword is never mentioned again in the Book of Mormon, but the Lord did promise the three witnesses that they could see it along with the plates, so it clearly was preserved for the full 1000 year history of the Nephites: “You must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim,… and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness” (D&C 17:1).  According to the three witnesses this was fulfilled when they were showed the plates and sword of Laban (see here).   

                Perhaps the idea of the sword of Laban can be a symbol for us today as we each try to metaphorically “wield the sword of Laban.”  As we seek to protect our children from the wickedness of the world around us we must stand in the front lines of the spiritual battle for our children with our sword in hand.  As the hymn Let Us All Press On states, “In the fight for right let us wield a sword,

The mighty sword of truth.”  We have to stand up to the evils around us to protect our testimonies of the truths of the gospel.  The sword can perhaps also represent the great love that we should have for the scriptures, for it was the need to preserve and protect and pass on the scriptures that the sword was taken by Nephi in the first place.  As the sword was passed along with the scriptures in Nephite times, so too should we have the symbolic “sword of the spirit” to protect and defend those scriptures (see Ephesians 6:17).  We can all each in our own way wield the sword of Laban to defend the truths of the gospel and protect our families from the principalities and powers and “rulers of the darkness of this world” that continually threaten us (Ephesians 6:12).