Ancient Prophecy Inspires Freedom

It’s that time again. Alma, the high priest of the land has died and change is in the air. Politically, the Nephites have just won a big war against the Lamanites in which Zarahemnah, inspired by Zoramite dissenters, has capitulated. (Alma 43:44, 44:19) The war isn’t a decisive victory because the hatred of ethnic rivalry still lurks in the Lamanite capital. The Nephite civilization is struggling to explain the huge loss of life and find a reason all this has happened. Helaman says, “Because of their wars with the Lamanites and the many little dissensions and disturbances which had been among the people, it became expedient that the word of God should be declared among them, yea, and that a regulation should be made throughout the church.” (Alma 45:21) The religious leaders are trying to regain the hearts and minds of a disillusioned people.

Immediately, the Nephite Amalickiah, in collaboration with “the greater part of…the lower judges of the land,” demand a new form of government. (Alma 45:4) They want a monarchy to replace the Religious democracy. (See Wikipedia: Religious democracy) Internal dissent like this is described as “exceedingly precarious and dangerous” because Amalickiah wants to “destroy the church of God and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God has granted unto them.” (Alma 45:7, 10) If the Nephite civilization gives up their freedom or loses it in battle, they will never regain it because they simply don’t have the numbers to retake it, once lost. Only a civilization with freedom has the right to debate amongst themselves what form of government they will have going forward.

Captain Moroni, the head of an exhausted and disillusioned military force, sees the threat of Amalickiah and his cohort of "wanna-be" aristocrats. His only option is to assert the value of freedom and get the common people to rise up and enforce that right. In a democracy, the power of the common people is the hardest to raise because the common people are not particularly expert in diplomacy and they prefer to rely on others who specialize in running the government. However, we see that the experts were all in favor of Amalickiah’s plan.

Moroni’s argument to inspire the common man lies in an ancient prophecy by the Jewish patriarch Jacob. The prophecy concerns the fate of Joseph’s descendents. Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brothers. His coat was torn as proof that he had “died” when in fact he was not dead. Jacob, before his death, “saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not decayed. And he said—Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as this garment.” (Alma 46:24) The application of this prophecy is the genius of Moroni. He says, “Who knoweth but what the remnant of the seed of Joseph which shall perish as his garment, are those who have dissented from us? Yea, and even it shall be ourselves if we do not stand fast in the faith of Christ.” (Alma 46:27) So Moroni uses this ancient prophecy to inspire the common man to rely on the promise of preservation in the face of overwhelming odds.

To increase the strength of his imagery, Moroni tears his own garment and ties it to a pole calling it the Title of Liberty. His men tear their garments also. (Alma 46:21) Moroni goes throughout the land “gather[ing] together all the people who where desireous to maintain their liberty, to stand against Amalickiah and those who had dissented.” (Alma 46:28)

I like how Moroni uses his people’s origin story to inspire them. I marvel that the common people were able to have faith in the words of their great ancestor Jacob. Maybe their recent military victory had been a close call and they remembered how badly they wanted God to preserve them. Even with their doubts about the purpose of life in the face of so much death and destruction, they hoped that there was a higher power whose intent was to help and preserve their civilization. If your civilization has never been on the brink of destruction, you might not empathize with the urgency that Moroni felt and conveyed to the common people. I think Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews, should have felt some similar urgency but he chose to believe the false prophet Hananiah who said that he and his people would return to Jerusalem after only a few years in Babylon. (Jer 28:3) Hananiah turned out to be wrong but by the time anyone knew, it was too late.

Two groups of people anchored to ancient prophets, one survived because of their faith, one was destroyed for their lack of faith. Both left records showing God’s dealings with men of faith. God hasn’t changed. The scriptures show us that God will help and preserve those who trust him and obey his commandments. God’s promise to gather Israel from it’s long dispersion is now being fulfilled as individuals return to the faith and believe in Him.