To Our Great Sorrow

When Zeniff first went up to the land of Nephi with a group of Nephites to possess it, he didn’t want to hurt the Lamanites: “When I saw that which was good among them I was desirous that they should not be destroyed.” Ironically, this led to bloodshed among the Nephites: “Therefore, I contended with my brethren in the wilderness, for I would that our ruler should make a treaty with them; but he being an austere and a blood-thirsty man commanded that I should be slain; but I was rescued by the shedding of much blood; for father fought against father, and brother against brother, until the greater number of our army was destroyed in the wilderness.” Somehow after all that contention Zeniff still had a burning desire to possess that land, and so he went back again with another group. Eventually, though, he found he had to do the very thing that he had at first wished not to: battle the Lamanites. We read, “yea, we did go forth against the Lamanites, and in one day and a night we did slay three thousand and forty-three; we did slay them even until we had driven them out of our land” (Mosiah 9:1-2, 18). What a tragedy it turned out to be!

In a recent podcast Hank Smith made this comment about this story, “This is fascinating to me because way back in the beginning of the chapter, he does not want to hurt Lamanites. He's a good guy, but now he's fighting Lamanites like in the strength of the Lord. Oh, how it's turned. The poor guy, I really feel for Zeniff, he didn't want to kill the Lamanites. He was a little overexcited, missed some red flags, and now he's in serious trouble. He's living his life in bloodshed.” Looking at a little more context of the story he continued, “If you go all the way back to Omni… the Lord warned [Mosiah] that he should flee out of the land of Nephi, and as many as would hearken unto his voice. You've got to get out of the land of Nephi. They get up and they find the people of Zarahemla. We've talked about that, and then you have Zeniff, who wants to go back to the very place that the Lord had told Mosiah to get out of, and I can't tell you how much this frustrates me because this decision that he makes…. He is a believer. He is a good guy, but this decision to leave the prophet is one, going to cause him and his people to miss King Benjamin entirely when they could be in Zarahemla having this miraculous experience with Benjamin. They're not, they're down here fighting Lamanites, not because Zeniff is a bad guy. He's not a bad guy, but because he just didn't think this through.” His focus on obtaining the things of the world caused bloodshed and hardship for his people when he could have been at peace in the land of Zarahemla.

                Zeniff recorded after this first major battle with the Lamanites, “And I, myself, with mine own hands, did help to bury their dead. And behold, to our great sorrow and lamentation, two hundred and seventy-nine of our brethren were slain” (Mosiah 9:19). I wonder what his thoughts were at that moment as he buried the dead and mourned the premature and violent deaths of 279 of his people. Perhaps he pondered then the terrible effect that his great desire to obtain land had caused. It may be that when he left Zarahemla he thought that it was his choice to risk the dangers of living in the land of the Lamanites and that he would only hurt himself by so doing. But nothing we do is in a vacuum, especially as it relates to our families. Many of our choices, whether good or bad, will have a lasting impact on our children and grandchildren and perhaps even for generations after that. So, with important decisions we must ask ourselves what really matters and not get blinded by our desires for worldly things so much that we fail to see the wrong roads we are taking. These words from the Lord to David Whitmer could have perhaps been given to Zeniff too: “But your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker, and the ministry whereunto you have been called; and you have not given heed unto my Spirit, and to those who were set over you, but have been persuaded by those whom I have not commanded” (Doctrine and Covenants 30:2). Zeniff indeed, at least for a time, desired the things of the earth more than the things of God, causing him to leave the physical and spiritual safety of the prophet to go after land. That caused a chain of events that ultimately got out of control. And so, as we consider our choices and the effect they will have upon ourselves and our families, we must ask this question from President Oaks: “Where will this lead?” If we don’t, we too may find that “to our great sorrow” we have taken the wrong road.