United in Revelation

After Moroni wrote his epistle to the leaders of the Nephite government, rebuking them, the chief judge Pahoran replied. Elder Bednar commented on Pahoran’s reply this way: “During a perilous period of war described in the Book of Mormon, an exchange of epistles occurred between Moroni, the captain of the Nephite armies, and Pahoran, the chief judge and governor of the land. Moroni, whose army was suffering because of inadequate support from the government, wrote to Pahoran ‘by the way of condemnation’ and accused him and his fellow leaders of thoughtlessness, slothfulness, neglect, and even being traitors. Pahoran easily might have resented Moroni and his inaccurate allegations, but he did not. He responded compassionately and described a rebellion against the government about which Moroni was not aware. Pahoran declared: ‘Behold, I say unto you, Moroni, that I do not joy in your great afflictions, yea, it grieves my soul.… In your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart.’” Indeed Pahoran showed great humility in choosing not to be offended by the letter from Moroni, and the love he expressed for Moroni led to their joining together to finally put an end to the rebellions and war. From this story Elder Bednar suggested that we need to likewise show “perspective and strong self-restraint” in our lives, choosing to be meek like Pahoran instead of easily offended and contentious. When others do things which might offend us, we too can say, “I am not angry, but do rejoice in our friendship and connections which bind us together.”

               Elder Bednar’s application of this story is surely the most common one from the epistle of Pahoran. I think there is another one equally instructive for us: we need be united in hearing and heeding revelation from the Lord. While Moroni’s accusations were not specifically true for Pahoran, they were true of others in the government. As Pahoran explained, “Behold, there are those who do joy in your afflictions, yea, insomuch that they have risen up in rebellion against me.” He also described the effect Moroni’s letter had on him: “And now, Moroni, I do joy in receiving your epistle, for I was somewhat worried concerning what we should do, whether it should be just in us to go against our brethren. But ye have said, except they repent the Lord hath commanded you that ye should go against them” (Alma 61:3, 19-20). I imagine that Pahoran, an exile from Zarahemla harbouring in Gideon, prayed many long and fervent prayers to the Lord to know what to do about the dissension in the government. He struggled to know if it was right to fight against his own people, and surely he pled with the Lord for help to know what to do. For some reason, the Lord chose to give the answer to Moroni instead of him. Moroni wrote to Pahoran: “Behold, the Lord saith unto me: If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them” (Alma 60:33). That was precisely the answer to the question that Pahoran was seeking an answer to. And because Pahoran was humble enough to receive the letter without offense, the revelation was clearly confirmed to him as he read Moroni’s epistle and he knew exactly what he was to do. Pahoran had the information about the problem, Moroni received the information about the solution without understanding exactly what the problem was, and together they became united as an unstoppable force to finally end the terrible war. Their unity in revelation is a powerful example to how we should unite in our families and in our service in His kingdom as we also seek solutions to the difficulties that we face.