Eight Days

After his own people had been destroyed, Moroni abridged the record of Ether and described for us the destruction of the Jaredites. At the end of his account, Moroni said this: “And the Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him: Go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record; (and the hundredth part I have not written) and he hid them in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them” (Ether 15:33). He highlighted that he could not write “the hundredeth part” of the record from Ether, which if we take it literally would mean that Ether’s writings would be over 3000 pages for us in English today. This supports the idea that the “twenty-four plates” found by the people of Limhi were really twenty-four sets of plates (Mosiah 8:9). As I thought about Moroni’s statement, I wondered then why he included what he did in the final chapter. Though much of the book is very high-level with few details (often one king passing to the next in a verse or two), the final struggle between the people of Shiz and Coriantumr is described in much detail. What did Moroni want us to understand in this final chapter?

               After millions of people had already been killed, Moroni described how the remaining Jaredites gathered together for four years to the same location that the Nephites would later be destroyed (Ramah for the Jaredites/Cumorah for the Nephites). After this great gathering and arming of the people with weapons, “they did march forth one against another to battle; and they fought all that day, and conquered not” (v15). That was the first day. Then after their mourning that night, “on the morrow they did go again to battle, and great and terrible was that day; nevertheless, they conquered not, and when the night came again they did rend the air with their cries” (v17). That was the description of the second day. The third day was similar: “They went again to battle. And it came to pass that they fought all that day, and when the night came they slept upon their swords” (v19-20). For the fourth day we just have this description: “And on the morrow they fought even until the night came” (v21). They were filled with anger that Moroni likened it to being drunken with wine, and the fifth day they fought again: “And on the morrow they fought again; and when the night came they had all fallen by the sword save it were fifty and two of the people of Coriantumr, and sixty and nine of the people of Shiz” (v23). We don’t know how many they started with, but after five days of fighting they had nearly all been destroyed. One the sixth day they were reduced even further: “on the morrow they fought again, and they contended in their might with their swords and with their shields, all that day. And when the night came there were thirty and two of the people of Shiz, and twenty and seven of the people of Coriantumr” (v24-25). The seventh day they didn’t last very long: “And it came to pass that they fought for the space of three hours, and they fainted with the loss of blood” (v27). Moroni didn’t record how many were left at that point, but the men of Coriantumr tried to flee for their lives. But Shiz and his army pursued them, and on the eight day the end finally came: “On the morrow he did overtake them; and they fought again with the sword. And it came to pass that when they had all fallen by the sword, save it were Coriantumr and Shiz, behold Shiz had fainted with the loss of blood. And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz” (v29-30). After eight days of fighting, all had died except for Coriantumr (and Ether who was watching and recording what happened). If nothing else, the drawn out description here by Moroni shows the futility of life when God and His Spirit is rejected and the people choose Satan. He commented, “But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed” (v19). To follow Satan ultimately leads to sorrow and destruction.

               I wonder if Moroni also wanted us to see symbolism in the fact that they fought for eight days. The number eight in the Bible can represent a new beginning. For example, there were eight souls on the ark of Noah. Peter highlighted this fact when he wrote, “While the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20-21). Christ rose on the first day of the week, which of course is the eighth day after the start of the previous week when He began that final week of the most important events. Children were circumcised on the eighth day, signaling the beginning of their new mortal life (see Luke 2:21). After Peter received keys and bore his witness of the divinity of Christ, Luke highlighted how “eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray” (Luke 9:28). This was the mount of transfiguration where they received heavenly visitations and it was surely a new beginning for them spiritually. In carefully describing how they fought for eight days before their extinction, perhaps Moroni wanted us to see that there would be a new beginning for this people the Jaredites. They would enter the next phase of their spiritual progression by going to the spirit world. Their story would be preserved and resurrected, in a sense, later to inspire the Nephites and us. Their land would also be discovered by the Nephites who also would give it a new beginning by eventually inhabiting it in their place. The story is surely a depressing one to think of how many people were killed, but perhaps Moroni wanted us to see a silver lining in that though the people were destroyed, there would still be a new beginning to follow as their story and land survived them.