Over-Zealous to Inherit the Land

I was struck by this verse written by Zeniff who described the battle that his people had with the Lamanites: “And it came to pass that I caused that the women and children of my people should be hid in the wilderness; and I also caused that all my old men that could bear arms, and also all my young men that were able to bear arms, should gather themselves together to go to battle against the Lamanites; and I did place them in their ranks, every man according to his age” (Mosiah 10:9). I imagine terribly frightened little children hiding in the trees, mothers with babies worried for their husband’s safety, and teenage boys much too young to be fighting holding swords and worried for their lives as they went out to face the menacing Lamanites. What is so tragic about the scene, in my mind, is that it didn’t have to happen. The Lord had led the Nephites safely to the land of Zarahemla, and that’s where the main body of their people were. But because Zeniff, and presumably others, were “over-zealous” to go back to the land that originally had been theirs, the lives of all these people were in danger. Clearly the land of Nephi must have been more desirable than that of Zarahemla, but was it worth the terrible cost of people dying to keep it? It reminds me of the decision that Brigham Young made when he took the Saints west—he could have gone all the way to California where the land was green and the climate was temperate and gold was purported to be found everywhere. But instead he chose to go to a land that nobody else wanted so that the Saints could live there in relative peace. He put worshipping God above seeking the comforts and riches of the world, and the Saints who stayed there were blessed for it. So, in this story the land of Nephi for those in Zarahemla must have had the same kind of allure as California did to some of those in Brigham Young’s Utah (like Samuel Brannan).

               I think then that the story of Zeniff has an important lesson for us about seeking the things of the world. If they become more important to us than the things of God, we put ourselves in great danger. Zeniff admitted, “I being over-zealous to inherit the land of our fathers, collected as many as were desirous to go up to possess the land, and started again on our journey into the wilderness to go up to the land” (Mosiah 9:3). He knew that he was too zealous to obtain this land, and yet he did it anyway. Two generations after him, when his grandson Limhi was the king, Limhi described Zeniff in similar terms: “Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers” (Mosiah 7:21). He remembered his grandfather largely by this desire he had to inherit the goodly land of his father. That begs the question: what will our children and grandchildren remember us for? Will it be that we relentlessly worked and pursued the best things in life, or will it be that we sought to serve others and build up the kingdom of God. Zeniff clearly was a man of faith who trusted in the Lord and relied on the Savior for help. But the “deceitfulness of riches” caused a great stumbling block to his happiness and the well-being of his people (Matthew 13:22). He did indeed inherit the land of his fathers and obtain what he sought for, but it came at the cost of thousands of his people dying at the hand of the Lamanites. What a price to pay! We would all do well to consider carefully these words of the Savior: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)