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CHAPTER 60Moroni complains to Pahoran of the government's neglect of the armies—The Lord suffers the righteous to be slain—The Nephites must use all of their power and means to deliver themselves from their enemies—Moroni threatens to fight against the government unless help is supplied to his armies. [About 62 B.C.] |
Moroni's honest confontation towards Pahoran and/or the government's
neglect of the armies—The Lord suffers the righteous to be slain that
justice and judgment may come upon the wicked—The Nephites must use all
of their power and means to deliver themselves from their enemies— Moroni threatens to fight against the government unless help is supplied to his armies. [About 62 B.C.] |
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1 AND it came to pass that he wrote
aagain to the governor of the land, who was Pahoran, and
these are the words which he wrote, saying: Behold, I direct mine epistle to
Pahoran, in the city of Zarahemla, who is the chief judge and the
bgovernor over the land, and also to all those who have
been chosen by this people to govern and manage the affairs of this war.
2 For behold, I have somewhat to say unto them by the way of acondemnation; for behold, ye yourselves know that ye have been appointed to gather together men, and arm them with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of weapons of war of every kind, and send forth against the Lamanites, in whatsoever parts they should come into our land.
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1a
Alma 59:3 b Alma 50:39 2a TG Reproof
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3 And now behold, I say unto you that myself, and also my men, and
also Helaman and his men, have suffered exceedingly great
asufferings; yea, even hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and all
manner of afflictions of every kind.
4 But behold, were this all we had suffered we would not murmur nor complain. 5 But behold, great has been the slaughter among our people; yea, thousands have fallen by the sword, while it might have otherwise been if ye had rendered unto our armies sufficient strength and succor for them. Yea, great has been your neglect towards us.
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3a
Alma 61:2
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6 And now behold, we desire to know the cause of this
exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of
your thoughtless state.
7 Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless astupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren— 8 Yea, even they who have looked up to you for protection, yea, have placed you in a situation that ye might have succored them, yea, ye might have sent armies unto them, to have strengthened them, and have saved thousands of them from falling by the sword.
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7a
TG
Apathy
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9 But behold, this is not all—ye have withheld your provisions
from them, insomuch that many have fought and bled out their lives because of
their great desires which they had for the welfare of this people; yea, and
this they have done when they were about to aperish with
hunger, because of your exceedingly great neglect towards them.
10 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; yea, for aknown unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings— 11 Behold, 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? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain.
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9a
Alma 58:7-9 10a Ex. 3:9; Ps. 9:12
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12 Do ye asuppose that, because so many of your
brethren have been killed it is because of their wickedness? I say unto you,
if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain; for I say unto you, there
are many who have fallen by the sword; and behold it is to your condemnation;
13 For the Lord suffereth the arighteous to be slain that his justice and bjudgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God.
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12a
Luke 13:2 (1-2) 13a Lam. 4:13; D&C 42:46 b Alma 14:11 (10-11); D&C 103:3
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14 And now behold, I say unto you, I fear exceedingly that the
judgments of God will come upon this people, because of their exceeding
aslothfulness, yea, even the slothfulness of our
government, and their exceedingly great neglect towards their brethren, yea,
towards those who have been slain.
15 For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we acould have withstood our enemies that they could have gained no power over us. 16 Yea, had it not been for the war which broke out aamong ourselves; yea, were it not for these bking-men, 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; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us; had they been true to the cause of our freedom, and united with us, and gone forth against our enemies, instead of taking up their swords against us, which was the cause of so much bloodshed among ourselves; 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 cfulfilling of his word.
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14a
TG
Laziness 15a Alma 59:9 16a Alma 51:19 (5-7, 13-27) b Alma 62:9 c Alma 38:1
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17 But behold, now the Lamanites are coming upon us, taking
apossession of our lands, and they are murdering our people
with the sword, yea, our women and our children, and also carrying them away
captive, causing them that they should suffer all manner of afflictions, and
this because of the great wickedness of those who are seeking for power and
authority, yea, even those king-men.
18 But why should I say much concerning this matter? For we know not but what ye yourselves are seeking for authority. We know not but what ye are also atraitors to your country. 19 Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are asurrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies?
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17a
Alma 59:8 (5-8) 18a Alma 62:1 19a TG Apathy
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20 Have ye forgotten the commandments of the Lord your God?
Yea, have ye forgotten the captivity of our fathers? Have ye
forgotten the many times we have been delivered out of the hands
of our enemies?
21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord awill still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?
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21a
1 Ne. 17:23-35
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22 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, while there are thousands round about in the borders
of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and
bleeding?
23 Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the ainward vessel shall be bcleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also.
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23a
Matt. 23:26 (25-26) b TG Purification
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24 And now, except ye do repent of that which ye have done, and
begin to be up and doing, and send forth food and men unto us,
and also unto Helaman, that he may support those parts of our
country which he has regained, and that we may also recover the
remainder of our possessions in these parts, behold 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.
25 And except ye grant mine epistle, and come out and show unto me a true aspirit of freedom, and strive to strengthen and fortify our armies, and grant unto them food for their support, behold I will leave a part of my freemen to maintain this part of our land, and I will leave the strength and the blessings of God upon them, that none other power can operate against them— 26 And this because of their exceeding faith, and their patience in their atribulations—
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25a
Alma 51:6-7;
Alma 61:15 26a TG Tribulation
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27 And I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that
has a desire for freedom, yea, if there be even a spark of
freedom remaining, behold I will stir up insurrections among you,
even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority
shall become extinct.
28 Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my aGod whom I fear; and it is according to his commandments that I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss.
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28a
Acts 5:29 (26-29)
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29 Behold it is time, yea, the time is now at hand, that except ye do
bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little ones, the
asword of justice doth hang over you; yea, and it shall
fall upon you and visit you even to your utter destruction.
30 Behold, I wait for assistance from you; and, except ye do administer unto our relief, behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword, insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our freedom. 31 For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people.
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29a
Isa. 1:20 (19-20);
Hel. 13:5;
3 Ne. 2:19
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32 Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you and come out
in judgment against the Lamanites, when it is the
atradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred,
yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us, while
your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory and the vain things of
the world?
33 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 mea: If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and ainiquities, ye shall bgo up to battle against them.
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33a the Lord saith unto me Every man has the right under heaven to receive revelation pertaining to that which he doth righteous govern or is give a stewardship concerning, with in the scope of his personal endeavors. Thus Moroni, given the stewardship of the army had the right to receive direct revelation from God. And thus God speaks unto Moroni just as he speak to any prophet or leader in their own capacity, even unto the head of the Church. |
32a
Alma 17:15 33a Alma 61:18 b Alma 61:20
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34 And now behold, I, Moroni, am constrained, according to the
covenant which I have made to keep the commandments of my God;
therefore I would that ye should adhere to the word of God, and
send speedily unto me of your provisions and of your men, and
also to Helaman.
35 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; therefore he will give unto us of your food, even if it must be by the sword. Now see that ye fulfil the word of God. 36 Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I aseek not for power, but to pull it down. I bseek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country. And thus I close mine epistle.
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36a
Alma 61:9;
D&C 121:39 b TG Motivations
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