Alma 53-63

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This is another one of those large blocks of scripture that you just have to pick and choose what you’re going to teach. The centerpiece story this week though, is of course, the miraculous account of the stripling warriors. So I’m going to dig deep into that story this week and then show you an activity that I feel can summarize many of the other wonderful principles you can find in these final war chapters of the Book of Mormon.

LESSON #1 NOT ONE SOUL OF THEM DID PERISH (ALMA 53-58)

OBJECT

For an object this week, I would pull out an object that I’ve suggested before. Since these are the war chapters we’re talking about, I would display a sword at the front of the classroom. I have a real sword that I purchased some time ago and it always makes quite an impression. Especially with the boys for some reason. If you’re interested in purchasing a sword of your own, I’ll provide you with a link to one you could purchase from Amazon.

Sword: https://amzn.to/3AtCu9o

ICEBREAKER

As an icebreaker, I like to begin with the following activity. I display a few pictures that artists have rendered over the years of the stripling warriors. I’m sure most of you are familiar with them. I’ll usually show the famous Arnold Frieberg picture, and some others. I also once saw a shirt with a picture of the stripling warriors with the caption “Momma’s Boys” written under it and I'll sometimes show that as well. If you just google “Stripling Warriors” then click on images, you’ll see a large sampling of what I’m talking about. Because of copyright issues, I can’t display them here, but you could look them up and add them to a PowerPoint or just show them online. But now, through the power of AI, I was able to generate a picture similar to the ones I’m talking about. Here’s an example of what many of these depictions of the stripling warriors tend to look like. After displaying these kinds of pictures I like to ask, “What is wrong with the following pictures?” Because I really do feel that many artists have made a fundamental error in portraying the Stripling Warriors, and I don’t feel it's inconsequential. With all due respect to the artists who I don’t think are intentionally misleading anyone. But I think they miss the mark here. What do you think it could be? If they can’t figure it out, I like to provide them with the following scripture references as hints.

Alma 56:30 and Alma 56:46

How do those verses help us? In 56:30, Helaman refers to them as his little sons. Do these guys look little in those pictures? He’d probably refer to them as his burly sons or colossal sons, but certainly not little. I’d be afraid to call these guys little sons. And then we find in 56:46 that all of them were very young. Now I know that is a relative term, but I think we can safely assume that they were at the very most teenagers. On top of that, the very term “stripling” itself means young, boyish, or adolescent. These were not seasoned warriors or John Cena look-alikes.  The scriptures tell us that they had never fought in battle before. On top of that, just think of who their fathers were. I highly doubt that they raised their boys to be men of war. There wouldn’t be swords or weapons lying around these Anti-Nephi-Lehite homes.  I can’t envision their father’s play fighting with them or sitting around the table taking about their former murders and war exploits. I highly doubt they looked like bodybuilders. Now you might say that I’m splitting hairs here or “so what, why is it such a big deal how they’re portrayed in art? I think it is. And here’s why. I think that takes away from the miracle of their victory and their preservation. Nobody would be surprised if these guys walked away from the battlefield without any casualties. You’d say, well of course. But if these guys do, there is only one explanation for it. The explanation that Helaman gives in Alma 57:26

26 And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.

Not their own power, but God’s.

VIDEO

Now I’m very pleased with the Church’s depiction of this story in the new Book of Mormon videos that was recently released. They get it right. The boys in the video are very young and do not look like seasoned or burly soldiers. You may consider showing a portion of that video to your class this week, although I probably wouldn’t show the entire thing because you don’t want that to take away from the opportunity you have to talk about how their story applies to us.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

And that’s what we’re going to do today. We’re going to Liken the Scriptures unto ourselves. What can these 2060 young men (sometimes we forget the other 60 that joined them later) teach us? Well, there is a study technique that I often use that helps me to liken the scriptures. And that is to reduce the storyline down to just a simple outline of one or two sentences  and then see if I can substitute relevant modern counterparts to those details. Let me show you what I mean.

How might we summarize the story of the stripling warriors in one simple sentence? I’d ask my class that question, and they’re going to know it. I think most are going to know the basic premise.

But here’s how I would display it.

2060 young men fight physical battles with Lamanites, and (the result) none of them died. That’s basically the story right?

Now let’s try to bridge the gap between then and now. What substitutions could we formulate to make this story relevant to us?

Depending on who you’re teaching you could substitute 2060 young men with “Latter-day youth of the Church of Jesus Christ” or if you’re teaching adults you could simply say “Latter-day members of the Church of Jesus Christ”, but this lesson translates really powerfully to the youth since they can relate to the age of these young men. These are Book of Mormon teenagers. Now they don’t fight physical battles, but what do they fight? Spiritual battles! Not with Lamanites. But with Satan, or Sin, or the World, and what is our result here? Oh I wish that I could finish that statement in the same way, that I could say that none of them perish spiritually. That none walk away from their faith. That none are deceived and lured away by the seductive pull of the world. But they do. If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to finish that statement with many die spiritually, or at the very least, some die spiritually. What we’d like to be able to do is finish that statement in the same way as we did with the stripling warriors. SO, to make this story more relevant, we need to examine what it was that THESE young men did that led to THAT result. If we want the same results that the stripling warriors got, we need to do what they did! If we follow their example, it stands to reason that we could receive the same outcome. I believe that’s true. In a spiritual sense, we too can win our spiritual battles. So let’s add one more section to our sentence here. Let’s add “by” and study all the things that they did. That should give us a clear picture of the things that we must do in order to stand firm on the latter-day battlefield.

SEARCH-HANDOUT

So here we go. Let’s call this activity, "What makes a Stripling Warrior?” I’m going to give you the verses and invite you to pause and study them, and write down everything you learn about the Stripling Warriors that you feel contributed to their miraculous preservation by God and then we’ll go through and examine them one by one. You could approach this as a handout and have your students work individually or in pairs, or in groups as they study these verses from the story. And those verses are

53:16

53:17

53:19

53:20

53:21

56:47-48

57:19-20

57:21

57:26

57:27

58:40

We’ll take a look at each one here.

53:16

There’s one word seems to stand out to me more than any other in this verse. Now do you recall the situation? The Nephites are facing a grave military threat from the Lamanites. They’ve already lost many people and cities in this war. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies, who have made a covenant that they would never fight again after burying their weapons of war deep in the earth, watching the great sacrifices being made on their behalf, to protect them. And they’re so distressed by this desire to help that the scriptures say they're about to break that oath, but Helaman persuades them not to. So you can see the direness of this situation. So I picture the young sons of these people listening to this discussion and dilemma.  And what word in the verse stands out to me? Themselves. It says they assembled THEMSELVES together at this time and they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites. So whose idea was it? Helaman’s? The other Nephite people? Their fathers? Did their dad’s and mom’s walk over and say, “You know boys, you didn’t make that same oath. You were too young at the time. Maybe you ought to consider fighting for us?” No. That didn’t happen. It was their idea. They assembled themselves together. You can just see this young group of boys walking over to Helaman and saying. We’ll do it. We’ll fight. In fact, we’ve already made a covenant with God to do so. One quality of stripling warriors is that they are self-motivated to do good, to be righteous. They don’t have to be coerced, bribed, shamed, or dragged kicking and screaming to do the right things. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the youth of your ward got together, on their own, and decided that they were going to take an oath that they were going to live the standards in the For Strength of Youth, to be honest, and chaste, and to marry in the temple. That would be amazing. That kind of self-drive and initiative gives you power over the adversary and makes you a more effective soldier in the cause of righteousness. For example, the missionary who serves because they truly desire to be there and to preach God’s gospel and serve others is always going to be a more effective warrior for God than the one who is there out of a sense of social pressure. The seminary student who decides for themselves that they are going to attend and participate, and study will always get more out of the experience than the one who’s there because Mom and Dad are requiring or forcing them to be there.

53:17

Stripling warriors make and keep covenants. I’m sure they learned the power of this idea by watching the example of their fathers. They would have grown up hearing the story of how their fathers buried their weapons deep in the earth and covenanted that they would never take them up again.  Latter-day stripling warriors take their baptismal and sacramental and temple covenants seriously. It’s not just something they do because well, that’s just what members of the church do when they turn eight or attend sacrament meeting. Their covenants mean something to them, and they stay true to them.

53:19

Stripling warriors choose prophets as their leaders. Again, Helaman doesn’t walk over and say that he’ll take control. They decide that they want Helaman to lead them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the youth of the church rose up and said, we want Russell M. Nelson to be our leader. We will look to him for counsel and guidance. Not celebrities, political figures, athletes, or their own friends, but a prophet. I love what Helaman calls his band of 2060 young men. Look at 56:10, he calls them his sons. And in 56:46 what do they call him? Father. What a wonderful, close relationship between the prophet and these boys. I’m sure that our current prophet looks at the youth of the church with the same love and trust and expectation as a father has for their own children. Wouldn’t it be great if we all looked to President Nelson as a father? Those who make a prophet their leader, that look to him like a Father, will certainly be more likely to be victorious on the battlefield of life.

53:20

Such great descriptive words in this verse. They are valiant for courage, known for their strength and activity, and they were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. I think they had the type of valiance and courage that Captain Moroni did as he waved his Title of Liberty. They were strong and active. Active is a word we’re familiar with in the church. Latter-day stripling warriors are strong and active in the gospel. They attend their meetings, they participate enthusiastically in church, seminary, the youth program, and their community. They have the courage to go against the grain, to be different, to not care what the world may think of them. And they are true at all times to what has been entrusted to them, not just when it’s convenient or expected, but at ALL times. And what have they been entrusted with? The gospel, their virtue, their integrity, their example, their destiny, their spiritual gifts, the future of the church. They stand true to all of it.

53:21

They are followers of truth and soberness. I like the word soberness. What does that mean? The opposite of sober is drunk. When you are drunk, you are out of control, and I’ve seen drunk people before. They often have no clue as to what’s going on around them. They do strange and sometimes even dangerous things. Latter-day stripling warriors are in control, in control of their appetites, their passions, their tempers, their thoughts, words, and deeds. They are free from addictions, and they understand and believe that freedom comes from obedience. They keep the commandments and walk uprightly before God.

56:47-48

Stripling warriors are adherents to the 5th commandment. They honor their mothers and their fathers. These stripling warrior parents must have been amazing people. These were parents that were able to pass faith on to the next generation. Their mothers are made mention of in particular. They did not doubt that their mothers knew it. Perhaps this is a lesson to us parents. Do your children know that you know it? Have they heard you bear your testimony? Do they see you live your faith conspicuously and graciously? The foundation for the faith of most children begins with the faith of their parents and then, as they grow older, they begin to develop their own testimonies. But it often starts there with Mom and Dad. Latter-day stripling warriors look to the faith and heritage of their fathers and mothers for strength. They are true to the faith that our parents have cherished.

57:19-20

Stripling warriors are firm and undaunted in the face of opposition. Certainly there will be challenges that arise in this fight. It’s not going to be easy, but they don’t turn tail and run as soon as the going gets tough; as soon as the persecution or mocking comes, or when sacrifices have to be made. Latter-day stripling warriors can handle it. They face it with stoic firmness and undaunted courage.

57:21

I love this one. Stripling warriors obey every word of command with exactness. They aren’t looking for the loopholes, the gray areas, or try to push the boundaries as far as they can. They strive to follow the standards and counsels of the prophets with unwavering rigor. I love something that my Dad used to tell me when I was a teenager. He’d say, “don’t lick grass”. Now what on earth does that mean? When he worked on a ranch in his youth, one of the most despised jobs for him was fixing fence. He’d have to walk down miles and miles of barbed wire fence to fix the areas that had been stretched and loosened. This would happen because cows would often think that the best grass to eat was always on the other side of the fence, instead of what's right in front of them. So they would stick their heads through the barbed wire and eat all the grass just on the other side of the fence. But when that was gone, they would push against the fence further out, and stretch out their necks, and lean their large bodies against the barbed wire to get more mouthfuls of that grass on the other side. Eventually, when they couldn’t push any further,  sometimes they would stick out their long tongues and try to lick the distant grass into their mouths. That’s the image, that’s licking grass. So whenever we, as children,  started to push the boundaries of our standards or think that the best things in life lay on the other side of God’s commandments and counsels, Dad would remind us not to be like those cows. To not push against those fences placed there for our safety. There’s enough of that which is good, and wholesome, and nourishing on this side of the fence. Latter-day stripling warriors don’t compromise even a little with the counsels of the prophets. When the prophets say “In your choices about what you do, look at, read, listen to, think about, post, or text, avoid anything that purposely arouses lustful emotions in others or yourself” they follow that counsel with exactness. When the prophets say, “For your emotional and spiritual development and safety, one-on-one activities should be postponed until you are mature—age 16 is a good guideline. Counsel with your parents and leaders. Save exclusive relationships for when you are older. Spend time with those who help you keep your commitments to Jesus Christ”. Stripling warriors follow this counsel with exactness and don’t push boundaries. When the prophets say to pay their tithing, they pay 10% . They don’t cheat or lie or swear even just a little. They strive to obey every word of command with exactness.

57:26

Stripling warriors have exceeding faith. We learned from Jesus that even with faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains. What do you think you can accomplish with exceeding faith then? Well, probably a miracle much like these young men experienced. To go along with Alma’s metaphor from chapter 32, Stripling warriors have planted the seed in their hearts, they perform the experiment, and they nourish and care for the tree of the word of God that they have diligently and faithfully planted.

57:27

In a similar vein, verse 27. Their minds are firm and they put their trust in God continually

58:40

And then verse 40, They are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day. They do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually. I’m intrigued by the use of the word strict here, especially when we're talking about teenagers. That’s a word most teens don’t seem to like very much. They don’t want strict parents, or strict teachers, or strict rules. I remember when I returned home from my mission and spoke in my ward that one of the first things I said was how grateful I was for my strict parents. I may not have felt that way during all of my teenage years, but in hindsight, I realized during my mission just how beautiful a word “strict” was; that strictness isn’t really a bad thing. All these words suggest a similar idea. Valiant, firm, undaunted, strict, exactness. Wouldn’t it be great if all of us could have those same words used to describe our commitment to our faith and righteousness?

Now, do you get a better sense of why the stripling warriors experienced the outcome they did? Do you think we might experience the same kind of blessing on a spiritual level if those phrases described us? 

TRUTH

The truth that they have just taught is:

If I do what the stripling warriors did, then I will experience the same results. I too will be preserved by God from the spiritual attacks of my adversaries.

Now can’t you just picture those hardened, full-grown, and skilled Lamanite warriors watching with disbelief at what was unfolding around them in those battles. Staring with incredulity and saying, “They’re just boys, though. How is this happening?” Hopefully the people of the world look at the amazing things that our young men and young women accomplish and their character and say the same kinds of thing. “How do they do it?” When they see the growth that occurs at the hands of our young missionaries, when they consider the accomplishments and the goodness of the members of the church, I hope they share that same sense of awe and wonder. It is miraculous. They are miraculous. May the youth and indeed the general membership of the church follow the magnificent example of these courageous young men.

TAKING IT TO HEART

I’d like you to stop and ponder the following question.

Which description of the stripling warriors most inspires you? Why?

And before we conclude, I’d like to insert an additional quick principle here. I can imagine that one could become a little overwhelmed by this list. Is it a bit idealistic to expect people to live like this at all times? Yes. It probably is. I imagine that not even the stripling warriors themselves fit that description all of the time. And that’s why I find Alma 57:25 interesting. Yes, it was true that none of them died, but there is another quality that all of them shared. What is it? They all received many wounds. I imagine that this will be true of all of us as well in our spiritual battles. We are not going to escape this battle of life without some wounds. I’m sure that Satan is going to get a few good hits in on every one of us. We’re all going to experience some setbacks, make some mistakes, and suffer loss because of them. But not getting wounded isn’t what matters most. What matters most is that we don’t die. Wounds can heal. Repentance is possible. Sins can be forgiven, and we will live to fight another day. But if we remain true and undaunted and firm, we will not be slain.

THE TAKEAWAY

There is a word that comes to mind when I think of the stripling warriors. Invincible. They could not be killed. They could not be stopped. When we do the things they did, I believe we become spiritually invincible. I think one of the most amazing moments in this story must have been when they lined up these young men to be counted. I wonder who got to do that. What must that have been like? To count one by one, to reach 1,000, then 1,500, then imagine your surprise and gratitude when you actually reached 2,000 and there were still more to count, 2010, 2020, 30, 40, 50. And at that moment it would probably start to dawn on you that what you were witnessing was not luck, or chance, or circumstance, but something divine. 2055, 56, 57, 58, 59, 2060. The higher you counted, the more your gratitude would change to awe. I hope to have a similar experience when it comes to my own children. I don’t want to lose even one. When it comes to the youth of my ward, to my students. I too hope that I could count them off one by one and find that none had perished. I do believe this is possible, but only if we can somehow seek to match the courage, the exceeding faith, the firmness, and the commitment that these phenomenal 2060 young men demonstrated.

LESSON #2 PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE PART II (ALMA 53-63)

SEARCH-RELAY

For the second part of this week’s lesson we’re going to continue with a theme that I introduced last week. You may recall that we did an activity covering principles of spiritual warfare. That’s one of the best ways to find meaning in the war chapters. Compare their physical battles to our spiritual ones. So what I’d like to do with you is give you another activity that will help train your students to make those kinds of connections when they study these chapters. The activity I’d like to suggest this week is a relay style activity.  

Divide your class up into teams of three or four and provide each one with the following relay sheet. And what you’ll do is cut the sheet at the dotted lines so that students can tear off the strips as they go through the relay race. Each strip has a principle on it. Up on the board or on your classroom walls you will hang a set of the following scripture reference cards for each team from this week’s war chapters.

1.     53:2 It’s easier to fight life’s spiritual battles when you can do it with a trusted and righteous friend.

2.     53:8-9 Whenever we give in to contention and iniquity, we lose ground in our war against Satan.

3.     55:1-24 People do foolish things when they are drunk. Obey the Word of Wisdom!

4.     56:10-11 Those that die for a righteous cause are received into a state of happiness.

5.     58:9-11 When we feel outnumbered and weak, if we pour out our souls in prayer to God, he will give us assurances, peace, great faith, and hope.

6.     59:13 It’s easy to get frustrated with government.

7.     60:8-10 We have a responsibility to diligently support and strengthen those around us.

8.     60:16 and 62:6 Unity = Strength

9.     61:9 When somebody offers you offense, don’t take it. You can choose not to be offended.

10.  62:41 Our trials can either soften or harden our hearts—drive us to God, or away from him. We decide which.

When you say go, the teams will begin looking up the various references together and deciding which principle is the best match for that reference. Once they feel they have found a match, they will tear that principle off of the sheet and send one member of their team up to the front or to the wall to tape the principle on to their selected reference.  A different person must be selected each time to be the runner, and every member of the team must paste a principle at least once during the activity. Be sure to space your teams at even distances to their references board so that no team has a distinct advantage over the other. When a team has taped all of their principles to their scriptures, the teacher will check their answers to see if they have matched them correctly. If not, the teacher will indicate which principles are not correct and hand them back to that team. They can then try again to correctly match them. The first team that can correctly match all the principles in the fastest amount of time, wins.

A little helpful hint that I encourage you to give your students before the relay begins is that if they are finding themselves confused by the verses that they’re reading, or they feel that the scripture references are too long, that they are always welcome to read the chapter headings to get their bearings and to understand the context and background of those references better.

When the activity is complete, ask each team to share which principle they liked the most and why. You as the teacher may also decide to choose a principle or two that you would like to focus on a little more deeply and do a short mini lesson on that principle.

So that you’ll know the correct answers and understand the stories behind them, let’s go through each one together now.  

53:2

2 And Moroni went to the city of Mulek with Lehi, and took command of the city and gave it unto Lehi. Now behold, this Lehi was a man who had been with Moroni in the more part of all his battles; and he was a man like unto Moroni, and they rejoiced in each other's safety; yea, they were beloved by each other, and also beloved by all the people of Nephi.

PRINCIPLE: It’s easier to fight life’s spiritual battles when you can do it with a trusted and righteous friend.

53:8-9

8 And now it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites, on the west sea, south, while in the absence of Moroni on account of some intrigue amongst the Nephites, which caused dissensions amongst them, had gained some ground over the Nephites, yea, insomuch that they had obtained possession of a number of their cities in that part of the land.

9 And thus because of iniquity amongst themselves, yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among themselves they were placed in the most dangerous circumstances.

PRINCIPLE: Whenever we give in to contention and iniquity, we lose ground in our war against Satan.

55:7-24

I’m just going to summarize these verses for you. A number of the people of the Nephites have been taken prisoner in the City of Gid. And so Moroni devises a plan to liberate them. And so what he does is he finds a Lamanite dissenter who is fighting with the Nephites to bring some wine to the Lamanites guards over the city.  And he tells them that he has stolen it from the Nephites. And they ask to drink it. And I love this, this Lamanite dissenter says, “Let us keep of our wine till we go against the Nephites to battle.” You know, let’s wait. But it’s reverse psychology, because the next verses tell us: But this saying only made them more desirous to drink of the wine;

11 For, said they: We are weary, therefore let us take of the wine, and by and by we shall receive wine for our rations, which will strengthen us to go against the Nephites.

12 And Laman said unto them: You may do according to your desires.

13 And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely; and it was pleasant to their taste, therefore they took of it more freely; and it was strong, having been prepared in its strength.

14 And it came to pass they did drink and were merry, and by and by they were all drunken.

After the guards are drunk, Moroni has weapons snuck into the city to all the prisoners, and then he surrounds the guards with his own men, and the next morning, the guards see that all the prisoners are armed, and they’re surrounded by Moroni’s men and they decide to surrender and all the prisoners are set free.

PRINCIPLE: People do foolish things when they are drunk. Obey the Word of Wisdom!

56:10-11

10 And I did join my two thousand sons, (for they are worthy to be called sons) to the army of Antipus, in which strength Antipus did rejoice exceedingly; for behold, his army had been reduced by the Lamanites because their forces had slain a vast number of our men, for which cause we have to mourn.

11 Nevertheless, we may console ourselves in this point, that they have died in the cause of their country and of their God, yea, and they are happy.

PRINCIPLE: Those that die for a righteous cause are received into a state of happiness.

58:9-11

9 And now the cause of these our embarrassments, or the cause why they did not send more strength unto us, we knew not; therefore we were grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction.

10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.

11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

PRINCIPLE: When we feel outnumbered and weak, if we pour out our souls in prayer to God, he will give us assurances, peace, great faith, and hope.

59:13

13 And it came to pass that Moroni was angry with the government, because of their indifference concerning the freedom of their country.

PRINCIPLE: It’s easy to get frustrated with government. Isn’t that the truth.

And a little bit of background can help us on this one. Moroni sends a letter back to Zarahemla requesting supplies and reinforcements to maintain the lands that they have liberated in the war. But they get no response. No help arrives. And so Moroni surmises that the reason that they’re not getting any help is because of their indifference or neglect. That they don’t really care about the sacrifices that are being made to keep their country free. And so in the next chapter, chapter 60, Moroni writes this really scathing letter to Pahoran, the chief judge.  And he really lays into him. He goes so far as to call the government traitors, and idle, and wicked, and prideful, and he even personally threatens to take Pahoran’s life if he doesn’t start sending them help.

And so our next reference comes from that letter.

60:8-10

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.

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 perish 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 known unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings—

PRINCIPLE: We have a responsibility to diligently support and strengthen those around us.

Another principle from that letter combined with a later verse that teaches a similar principle:

60:16 and 62:6

16 Yea, had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves; yea, were it not for these king-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 fulfilling of his word.

62:6

6 And thus, when Moroni had gathered together whatsoever men he could in all his march, he came to the land of Gideon; and uniting his forces with those of Pahoran they became exceedingly strong, even stronger than the men of Pachus, who was the king of those dissenters who had driven the freemen out of the land of Zarahemla and had taken possession of the land.

PRINCIPLE: Unity=Strength

Now chapter 61 contains a letter written by Pahoran back to Moroni. And what he relates is that the reason they haven’t sent supplies and reinforcements is because there has been a rebellion amongst the people back in Zarahemla. A group of people calling themselves king-men have overtaken the city and kicked Pahoran out of the judgment seat. Now you can see how easy it would have been for Pahoran to be offended by Moroni’s strong letter. He could have gotten angry himself and said, “Hey, Moroni, I’ve got problems of my own here. How dare you censure me and threaten my life.” But no, that’s not how Pahoran responds. Instead, he says what he does in our next reference. . .

61:9

9 And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.

PRINCIPLE: When somebody offers you offense, don’t take it. You can choose not to be offended.

62:41

41 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.

PRINCIPLE: Our trials can either soften or harden our hearts—drive us to God, or away from him. We decide which.

I really do love that principle. What that teaches me is that what happens to us is not nearly as significant as how we choose to respond to what happens to us. We can allow our trials to either strengthen our faith, or weaken it.

Well, we can conclude there. So many great principles of spiritual warfare in these chapters, and really, we just scratched the surface. There are others in there that I had to exclude for time’s sake. But with the practice you have in identifying relevant principles, I encourage you to go back in and find others of your own. You won’t be disappointed if you do.