Day 241 Moroni's Moral Line: Battle, Not Bloodshed

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. Welcome to day 241 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

This has been an amazing journey and we are getting close to the tail end here of the war chapters. Maybe we're in the middle of them, but we're certainly, it seems like on the downside. Today, you're going to hear from me about the war chapters.

We're going to be reading Alma chapter 55, verses 1 through 26. And inside of this chapter, you're going to have Moroni frustrated, and he's going to decide not to trade for prisoners as we've had the last couple of episodes here with the letters back and forth. And instead, he's going to come up with his own plan.

Now, inside this plan, Moroni has a Lamanite that offers some strong drink to the Lamanites. He got a former—a descendant of Laman, as it says in here. And then we're going to see that they get drunken and they pass out, and they're in a deep sleep as Moroni unfolds his plan here to get his prisoners back and back in their lives.

And then we get an interesting insight here. You know, Captain Moroni is seen as such a clear black and white figure, right? He very much a line: this line over here is life, this line over here is death.

He seems very rigid. He is a battle general. It seems like attack is kind of his only button, right?

Attack, although he does build his defenses. So maybe there's in defense of that. He also has that as well, but he just seems like he's kind of this battle-hardened general.

And yet, the verse for today, we see an interesting... All of these are very important points that we need to take into consideration when we're talking about the character of the Lord. And that's where I want to go today in Alma 55, verse 19.

It says: So, in all of this battle area that we read around these chapters, Moroni seems to always be looking for the upper hand, right? And he is always doing everything that he can through strategy, through defense, through the building up of his cities. And yet we get an interesting insight here: that at a moment when he could have easily killed all of the guards that had drunken themselves to sleep, he did not choose to do so because he did not delight in murder or bloodshed.

Now, that sounds so opposite to the battle general that we see, who is such a fierce warrior. But we see with his character. What he sees inside of his defense for his people—he does not want to do this because he does not want to bring upon him injustice.

He knows that as he is battling in defense of his people, he is justified to do so. But the second that he begins the murder or the bloodshed, he loses that justification, and he does not want to cross that line. What an interesting insight!

I see today, maybe in a much, much less—it's not 'maybe,' it is in a much, much less—example, but it got me thinking about times at the local community centers where my daughters play different sports and whatnot. And it's certainly not to the level of—well, it's not to the level of death. It is interesting to watch.

Some of it is to the level of violence. As I watch some parents teach their kids, 'Hey, if they foul you, you foul them back harder.' If they swat at you, you swat back. It has been interesting to watch from just a third perspective.

No judgment to them, but it is a win mentality. It is: if someone gives you a little push, you make sure you push them back harder. I'm your host, Allen.

Thanks for joining us. I'll see you next time on the show. Bye-bye.

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That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.