[Seizing Territory without a successful end
Long Wars With an Uncertain End]
[Civilization Dies at the Top]
[Bar Kochba Letters & the Book of Mormon]
178 Alma 57:28,32. Everything is winding down now, and they are going to get fooled. This is the interesting thing. Every sign is that the war is ending up. Moroni is going to get it all over with and have a wipe-up operation. It doesn’t work at all. The whole thing collapses, and Moroni is fit to be tied because his whole great plan has fallen through. He isn’t as great a general as he thinks he is, or something. “We did inquire of Gid concerning the prisoners whom they had started to go down to the land of Zarahemla with. Now Gid was the chief captain over the band who was appointed to guard them [this huge amount of prisoners] down to the land.” As they were taking them toward the city of Gumeni (a very good ancient word which belongs to the Mediterranean), they got news that a huge Lamanite army was already attacking Cumeni. The guards were obviously disturbed. The prisoners noticed there was tension among them, so this was their chance to break out. Remember, they were not guarding them with automatic weapons—they just had swords. Verse 32: “Our prisoners did hear their cries, which caused them to take courage; and they did rise up in rebellion against us.” This was when they realized that the Nephites were in distress. This was a blessing, actually. They ran in a body on [the Nephites’] swords, and the remainder broke loose and escaped. But that’s what they wanted; they didn’t have to have them anymore. They rushed on to Cumeni, which they couldn’t have done otherwise and arrived there just in time to rescue the town. So that was a good thing—you never know.
178,179 Alma 58:1 Then the next object was Manti, which was the big objective. What could they do? None of their tricks worked. Alma 58:1: “They remembered that which we had hitherto done [so we couldn’t pull any fast ones like that]; therefore we could not decoy them away from their strongholds.” So now they settle down to a long wait. They say the war should be over by now. What’s wrong? Now this long and painful wait starts, and it’s the biggest trial of all. They waited for provisions from Zarahemla, but they were just a little trickle. They weren’t getting any at all. The Lamanites were receiving great strength from day to day on their part. This is beginning to look bad. What about ending this war? The Lamanites began sallying forth against them, taking courage and giving them a bad time. They waited and waited many months. They were just stuck in this particular place for many months. Remember what Clausewtiz said? The longer a war drags on, the greater the losses and the greater the uncertainty of what’s going to happen. It’s a terrible thing, and wars have that habit of dragging on whether you like them to or not. This inaction became terrible. He said, we received two thousand men [and food], but that’s all we got. This is all the assistance we received. The same thing happened just before the Bulge when Patton ran out of gas. His whole charge just ground to a halt. Why? For political reasons. As we learn here, it was politics.
179 Alma 58:9-15 . Why don’t they send more strength to us? We don’t know what’s going on here. At least we don’t want to be in the dark. What kind of information? ‘Therefore we were grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land.” Perhaps we are not going to win after all, [they said]. They resorted to prayer, and they waited. That was a great consolation. “He did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith.” This is the real test, these long waits you have to go through. Then they had a new plan that I mentioned last time. They went forth against the city of Manti with everything they had. “And we did pitch our tents by the wilderness side, which was near to the city.” This was a provocation; it was right near the city. On the morrow [the Lamanites] sent their spies to see what was happening. They were afraid that if we were to settle down there, we would cut them off from their support. They were receiving more support, and [the Nephites] were camped practically under the gates. They had to do something to stop this. So now they were forcing them to come out. It tells us in verse 15 that they thought it would be an easy operation: “They could easily destroy us with their numerous hosts.” There would be nothing to it. So that’s the way they were able to draw them out. Gid on one side and Teomner on the other had on either side a path through which they were to go. Naturally, when they come out, the army camp there is going to retreat, drawing them out again—the usual thing.
179 Alma 58:16-18 “I caused that Gid, with a small number of men, should secrete himself in the wilderness [it was a high willow underbrush typical of that part of France, and there were a lot of vineyards nearby. Anything to slow down the attack; it worked very well too], and also that Teomner and a small number of men should secrete themselves also in the wilderness.” They were on the other side, so [the Lamanites] would go between them. But that isn’t the main point. Verse 17: “Now Gid and his men were on the right and the other on the left. ... I remained with the remainder of my army, in that same place where we had first pitched our tents.” They were still taunting them and trying to get them to come out. The others were all in place; now they were ready for their squeeze-play here. “I caused that my men ... should retreat into the wilderness.” Of course, now they follow.
179,180 Alma 58:20-31 The Lamanites did follow with great speed, and we did pass right between Gid and Teomner and went right on that way. So they closed the way behind them. “Gid and Teomner did rise up from their secret places, and did cut off the spies of the Lamanites that they should not return to the city.” They ran to the city and took possession of it. Then what? We took our course towards the land of Zarahemla. When the pursuing army saw they were going toward Zarahemla, which was the big one, they wouldn’t dare follow. They feared a trap then. This must be something—this has been too easy. “They were exceedingly afraid, lest there was a plan laid to lead them on to destruction [what were they going to do?]; therefore they began to retreat into the wilderness again.” It had been a strenuous effort, so they slept that night. While they were sleeping, the Nephite army they had been chasing went around behind them and back to the city which was ready to receive them. So the city of Manti was in their possession when they came back. Verse 26: “I caused that my men should not sleep, but that they should march forward by another way towards the land of Manti. And because of this our march in the night-time ... we did arrive before them at the city of Manti [we out-marched them].... By this stratagem we did take possession of the city of Manti without the shedding of blood.” When the armies of the Lamanites arrived near the city and saw what had happened, they were filled with great fear. All they had to do was the usual thing—take off to the wilderness and be gone. Now the war seems to be over, this ranging around and wanton destruction. Verse 31: “Our fathers and our women and our children are returning to their homes.” Notice, everybody is going back home again now. They know the game is over. Everybody knows who’s going to win, so they are starting to relax. But that’s a very dangerous thing to do.
180 Alma 58:34-40 “Now we do not know the cause that the government does not grant us more strength; neither do those men who came up unto us know why we have not received greater strength.” What’s going on there? Is it inside political fighting? “We do not desire to murmur,” he says, but “we fear that there is some faction in the government, that they do not send more men to our assistance”— which is exactly what it was. In fact, they had taken over the government. Notwithstanding the weakness of our armies, we believe that the Lord will deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, [he said]. The Lamanites have fled back home to the land of Nephi. Remember, the land of Nephi was a Lamanite land. “But behold, they have received many wounds.” It’s not a happy situation. They have been there a long time, but it’s slowing down.
180 Alma 58:41 : “... that ye may have success in obtaining the possession of all that which the Lamanites have taken from us.” That’s what the issue is, to get back that which the Lamanites had taken away from them. This was not a war of aggression, but just to take back the territories. That’s the way [fighters in] ancient wars did; they seized territories. The object of ancient wars and the wars of the Middles Ages was not to have battle, but to avoid battle. [This] long war ended up in what? Organized crime—as we go into the book of Helaman from this. Without a break we go into the organized crime of the book of Helaman. So this is the issue.
180,181 Alma 58:4,5 After Moroni had read this letter of Helaman’s, he rejoiced greatly that they had been holding their own. And he announced it to the land round about. He immediately sent an epistle to Pahoran to strengthen Helaman. He said, why don’t you give more forces to Helaman? This was the first letter he sent to Pahoran. Then the war is virtually over, so he has a master plan to wind it up. That’s what he is going to do. He’s going to roll up the whole front and end it all. Notice it tells us that was what it was [verse 4]: “He began again to lay a plan that he might obtain the remainder of those possessions and cities which the Lamanites had taken from them.” There were a lot of these cities, so he was going to roll up the front and take them one after another. The key city was Nephihah. He wanted to make a clean sweep. From there he intended to go to the city of Moroni and the city of Lehi and the city of Morianton, which had been attacked by the Lamanites. They had driven a lot of Lamanites out of cities so far. What did [the Lamanites] do? They went over and joined the Lamanite army and made it stronger. They didn’t all go home; some of them did. We’ll see more of them start going home. They had come over and joined the Lamanites in this part of the land, so they were having a buildup. It catches the great Moroni by surprise.
181 Alma 59:7,8 “By the command of Ammoron [there’s that rascal again] they came forth against the people of Nephihah, and they did begin to slay them with an exceedingly great slaughter.” All of a sudden it was a massive breakthrough that caught them completely by surprise and rolled over one city after another. The people would flee from one city to the next, and they’d all gang together and flee from that one. It was a brilliant success for Ammoron. “The people of Nephihah were obliged to flee before them; and they came even and joined the army of Moroni.” They were building up on each side.
181 Alma 59:9 : “He supposed that they would easily maintain that city.” He had not left Nephihah sufficiently defended. He thought it would be strong enough to hold its own. The Lamanites were weakened; they had lost their morale. Things were running down. We can relax [they thought]. Notice that Moroni was fooled. He supposed that he would easily maintain the city, because you want to believe that.
181,182 Alma 59:11; 60:1-5 “And now, when Moroni saw that the city of Nephihah was lost he was exceedingly sorrowful [his pet project], and began to doubt, because of the wickedness of the people.” You have to blame someone. As Clausewitz says, you always have to blame somebody in a war, and it’s always possible to find somebody. He blamed the wickedness of the people, and his chief captains stood around nodding agreement. “They doubted and marveled also because of the wickedness of the people.” The staff agreed. But then he took the next step and blamed the government. “And it came to pass that Moroni was angry with the government.” He didn’t know who the government was. They had been completely replaced by a lot of rascals. Then he wrote again to the governor who was Pahoran. If you think his letter on the exchange of prisoners to Ammoron was tactless, this one breaks all the rules for lack of tact. But it isn’t. There’s a point to this letter, you’ll see. It makes pretty good sense, after all. He wrote to Pahoran “who [was] the chief judge and the governor over the land, and also to all those who have been chosen by this people to govern and manage the affairs of this war.” He said, you have been chosen to manage the national defense, and you are not doing it. As a matter of fact they weren’t. Verse 2: “For behold, I have somewhat to say unto them by the way of condemnation. ... Ye have been appointed to gather together men, and arm them with swords [and protect the country] ... against the Lamanites, in whatsoever parts they should come into our land.” But you are not giving us any support, he said. Our men have suffered exceedingly. “Great has been the slaughter among our people ... while it might have otherwise been if ye had rendered unto our armies sufficient strength and succor for them [you could have stopped all this]. Yea, great has been your neglect towards us.”
182 Alma 60:6-11 He has a picture of people quite prosperous back home, as he describes them later on. What’s wrong here? Verse 6: “We desire to know the cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of your thoughtless state.” Then he says he knows the cause already—because you are sluggish, reluctant, incompetent, and everything else. He jumps to a conclusion. This is a marvelous passage, isn’t it? “Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor [Moroni gets some good digs in; this is humorous], while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren—Yea, even they who have looked up to you for protection [what are you giving them?]. ... But behold . .. ye have withheld your provisions from them [well, had they withheld them?]... And now, my beloved brethren—for ye ought to be beloved; yea, and ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people; but behold, ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance. ... Could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you?”
182 Alma 60:12,13 “Do ye suppose that, because so many of your brethren have been killed it is because of their wickedness?” It’s their own fault if they are poor. We say things like that. It’s their own fault if they have bad luck. It’s their own fault if they get beat. No, it is your condemnation. Then he says an interesting thing. This seems to be a settlement that makes everybody unhappy: “For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked.” He lets the wicked go ahead and be wicked so that he can punish them, but the righteous take a beating in the meantime. “What kind of justice is that?” you say, Well, that’s the way the world goes. This is the point he makes: They are not lost because they are slain; you think they are. “But behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God”—as we saw from the case of Alma and [Amulek] viewing the burning of the women and children. That looked like such a terrible thing, but Alma said, “Don’t stop it.” It’s not as bad as you think. For the righteous it isn’t bad at all.
182,183 Alma 60:14 : “And now behold,... I fear exceedingly that the judgments of God will come upon this people, because of their exceeding slothfulness.” That’s a crime. Not to do anything can be sinful. As I said, the first rule of the Generalstab to any officer is, “Do something. It’s better to do the worst possible thing than to do nothing.” That’s a very strong thing to say, but that’s the slogan because you must do something. And slothfulness. Are we exceedingly slothful today? Well, in what regard are we exceedingly slothful? What are we supposed to be finding out? “... yea, even the slothfulness of our government, and their exceedingly great neglect towards their brethren.” Well, we are certainly neglecting our brethren. This is a self-centered, me generation.
183 Alma 60:15 : “For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstood our enemies.” Again, you notice that civilization always dies at the top. [We have the attitude] I’m doing all right, me first. Can we be true and faithful if it’s the “me first” generation? So civilization always dies at the top. You can’t say it dies at the bottom. You can’t say the great unwashed, the rabble, are responsible for the overthrowing of anything. They are always there. The Lord said, the poor you have always with you. If you want to practice your charity, you are free to do it, as he said to Judas. But if there is failing at the top, then a civilization will decline. The bottom is dead level. You don’t have to worry about them; they are always there. You always have the riff-raff, inner cities, and things like that. But when the people at the top lose their integrity [there’s trouble]—”the wickedness which first commenced at our head.” That’s where it begins.
183,184 Alma 60:16 “Yea, had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves; Yea, were it not for these king-men [this politics business] who caused so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, at the time we were contending among ourselves, if we had united our strength as we hitherto have done [this never would have happened. It’s the personal factor again]; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us . ..” It’s the desire of certain individuals for power, office, and authority. Without that we’d have had no trouble at all. “Yea, if we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, we should have dispersed our enemies, for it would have been done, according to the fulfilling of his word.” The word is not always fulfilled? No, he said [God’s] word is always conditional. If you had kept the commandments, we would have had no trouble at all. We would have dispersed our enemies without trouble.
184 Alma 60:17 : “But behold, now the Lamanites are coming upon us, taking possession of our lands [all of a sudden] ... and this because of the great wickedness of those who are seeking for power and authority, yea, even those king-men. ... For we know not but what ye yourselves are seeking for authority.” This is written to Pahoran and the government. Well, he doesn’t know. He admits he doesn’t know, but now he assumes he does and talks to him like a Dutch uncle. This is just a suggestion though. He knows something is very wrong, and this is what it naturally is. Remember, he’d had a lot of experience already with these king-men. He knew how they operated. He knew what the situation was, and he knew their strength and their appeal. “We know not but what ye are also traitors to your country. ... Is it that ye have neglected us because ... ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies. Have ye forgotten the commandments of the Lord your God? [he starts lecturing them like this]. ... Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?” He changed the person there [to we]. You notice, the Lord is not going to come and rescue you while .you sit on your throne. He has provided you with the means. I’m reminding you that you have the means, and what we want is that.
184 Alma 60:22,23 “Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands who do also sit in idleness.” Everybody wasn’t out at war at all. It wasn’t the Nephites versus the Lamanites. This was a relatively small army going out and doing this thing. Four thousand men was as much as they got—two thousand was quite a host, when they could get them. Tens of thousands stayed at home. “While there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding?” He makes it as dramatic as possible. It’s a rhetorical question, of course. “Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? [inactivity can be a crime here]. ... The inward vessel shall be cleansed first.” I’m talking about you, he says. This was a well-known proverb of the time. What we call cosmetic improvements should wait—the dress standards, the campus. Mormon tells us that it’s the inner part of the vessel that comes first. We don’t care much about that, but we are great on the outer part of the vessel here. The covenants that we have made come first. We like to say, “It’s the little things that count.”
185 Alma 60:24,25 “... begin to be up and doing; ... it will be expedient that we contend no more with the Lamanites until we have first cleansed our inward vessel, yea, even the great head of our government.” Now he brings accusations. I noted in Alma 49:11 that Moroni himself, before he launched out on these great enterprises, had altered the management of affairs among the Nephites. It was a big political shakeup to put things in order before he started out for his big defense project. Now he wants to do it again. We have to clean house again, he said, “the inward vessel, even the great head of government.” He had been authorized to do it before. He had been given plenary powers, and he did it. Now he is going to use those powers and reorganize the government if he has to. It’s not as crazy as you think. “I will leave the strength and the blessings of God upon them, that none other power can operate against them.” So he’s going to leave his men under the strength and blessings of God, and he’s going to go to town.
185,186 Alma 60:27-32 “And I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that has a desire for freedom,... even a spark of freedom remaining [he gets caustic here], behold I will stir up insurrections among you [that’s a fine way for the general to talk, isn’t it?], even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct.” Notice he doesn’t specify. Whoever it is is what he’s saying here. They are the ones he is after. He says, I’m going to put them out of operation. “Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority [he has a lot of certainty here], ... and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss.” Whose iniquity? He is not charging anyone in particular here, but whoever it is who has caused this—you who have desires to usurp authority. “The time is now at hand, that except ye do bestir yourselves in the defense of your country and your little ones, the sword of justice doth hang over you; yea, and it shall fall upon you and visit you even to your utter destruction. ... Except ye do administer unto our relief, behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword [this is open rebellion he is promising], insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our freedom. For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people,” He is hotter than a firecracker here. “Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you and come out in judgment against the Lamanites [now he makes a case for the Lamanites; they are not the bad ones, after all], when it is the tradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred, yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us [they have gone over and joined the Lamanites], while your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory and the vain things of the world?” [The Lamanites] thought they were fighting for a cause of some sort. They are less reprehensible, but you are just ambitious. You want to be big shots [he said]. That will do it.
186 Alma 60:33-36 : “Ye know that ye do transgress the laws of God, and ye do know that ye do trample them under your feet. 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 [the guilty parties]. ... And behold, if ye will not do this I come unto you speedily; for behold, God will not suffer that we should perish with hunger [this is a desperate situation; they are perishing with hunger]; therefore he will give unto us of your food, even if it must be by the sword [we’ll come and take the food if we have to have it]. Now see that ye fulfil the word of God. ... I seek not for power, but to pull it down.” We find out a little later that he retires at the age of 39. He could have become the dictator of the country. He was the national hero. He never raised a sword again. He died at the early age of 47, apparently from wounds because he went through a lot of things. He just lived eight years after he retired. Soon after Moroni had sent this epistle to the chief governor, he received the answer from Pahoran.
186 Now I’m going to talk about the Bar Kochba Letters, a very interesting thing. In [1961] they found the Bar Kochba Letters. Bar Kochba was the great hero who was going to deliver the Jews from the Romans in A.D. 130. That’s where these letters come from. (It is sometimes spelled with ch and sometimes with k.) This is the way Yadin spells it in his book on the Bar Kochba Letters. In the Cave of Letters in [1961] they found documents from farms. In the extreme end of the Cave of Letters on the north side of the Nahal Hever [that’s the very deep gorge, very much like Rock Canyon; I’ve been up it] between 3:00 and 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon of 15 March 1961, Professor Yadin put his hand into a crevice in the floor of the cave and lifted out a goatskin bag containing a woman’s materials for mending her family’s clothes on their sad and forced vacation [they were hiding out there not too far from Jerusalem]. Stuffed away under the stuff at the very bottom of the bag was a bundle of papyrus rolls in a cloth. Among those was the deed to a farm at En-gedi, etc. Bar Kochba is the great hero of the Jews. Is he a real historical figure? Yes, he’s real because we have letters actually signed by his hand that were found in that cave.
186,187 This is what he tells us. This is the situation. They weren’t getting any help from the Jews at headquarters up north at En-gedi. Why weren’t they getting any help? Bar Kochba’s war, like Moroni’s, was a holy war. A “Messianic war” it is called, with fanatical concern for the temple. In the struggle for liberation the hero found his hands full, dealing with all kinds of people and problems [these are the letters of Bar Kochba]. For one thing he found that “some of the wealthier citizens” of the city were “evaders of national duties” [we’re right back in Moroni’s position] in his day, as their ancestors had been in the days of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:5]. Specifically, they were “disregarding the mobilization orders of Bar Kochba” [they weren’t joining up at all], who became exceedingly angry and issued dire threats against them, including the death penalty.” (Compare this with Moroni in a like situation; I quote some of these things we’ve just been talking about here. Bar Kochba had to deal with just such characters, and he did it in the same way Moroni did.) To the “brothers” (he calls them his brethren, just as Moroni does all to whom he writes) in the city of En-gedi he personally wrote a letter in Hebrew that survives to this day: “To Masabala and to Yehonathan; BAR BECAYAN, peace. In comfort you sit eating and drinking [doesn’t that have a familiar ring?] from the property of the House of Israel and care nothing for your brothers.” You don’t give any care at all.
187 Alma 60:7 If this had been discovered before Joseph Smith’s day, you would say, “What obvious plagiarism. That’s so gross—it’s just too apparent for words.” But wars are very much alike, I’m afraid. They use the same expressions here. “You care nothing for your brothers” is Yadin’s translation of the Hebrew letter. It’s clear Hebrew to read. Moroni says, “Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor ... while they are murdering thousands of your brethren.”
176 This is the difference between them [Bar Kochba].. The secret of Moroni’s success was his essential gentleness. He brought the Lamanites around actually as soon as the king was dead. Remember SHAKH is the shah and mat is the word for dead in all Semetic languages. The Germans call it SCHACH we call it chess. The Russians call it shakh mat. They give it the whole name: ‘The king is dead.” Once the king or the shah is gone, you have all his men. So your object is not to wipe out as many pieces as you can on the board but to save as many pieces as you can. That’s where your skill is, because that army is going to be yours when you win. This is the Asiatic policy of shakh mat which becomes the great game. The secret of Moroni’s success was his essential gentleness. He always called a halt to the fighting the instant the enemy, whom he called his “brethren,” showed the least inclination to parley. But Bar Kochba carried through with his threats, and that was his undoing. He could have won if he hadn’t done that. He didn’t follow the policy that Moroni did, who became immediately softened when he read the letter of Pahoran. He immediately understood what was going on then. But here we have this on Bar Kochba: It has often been said that Bar Kochba’s undoing was lack of such a redeeming quality. [Quoting Yadin:] “His brutality, according to some sources, was manifested in the way he killed the revered Rabbi Eleazar of Median ... who Bar Kochba suspected of betraying the secrets of Bethar (a city under attack) to the Romans.” Remember, they were attacking cities and besieging cities. He suspected that a certain rabbi had betrayed him in a city, so he put the rabbi to death. The rabbi hadn’t