Alma 44

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 8/20 Green 5/21 yellow green 5/21 8/22 Brown 10/23)

CHAPTER 44

Moroni commands the Lamanites to make a covenant of peace or be destroyed—Zerahemnah rejects the offer, and the battle resumes—Moroni’s armies defeat the Lamanites. About 74–73 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. social distancing..lol And Moroni said unto ^aZerahemnah: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do ^bnot desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you. Clarify your intentions
  2 Behold, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the ^ayoke of bondage. But this is the ^bvery cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion. Clarify your understanding of their intentions
  3 But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; This is SO important to state! and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. humility and gratitude always And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us ^abecause of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith. I love that at this decisive moment Moroni gets right to the heart of the matter. The very reason you want to destroy us is the very reason we are protected. You can take a life but you cannot destroy their faith. All the glory and credit goes to God! Is he using "faith" as a synonym for "religion" or as a verb? "You cannot destroy our active faith." I think it's the latter, because he says right before this, "you cannot destroy our religion and our faith", making a distinction between the two.
  4 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are ^afaithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith. As you have... Oh how my heart aches at the thought that this should have been our collective response to this pandemic. Why oh why, did we not go into faith? Is it because this was seen as a naturally occurring event and not the doing of evil? Why have our eyes been closed? Have we, in essence, denied our faith? Was the invitation to fast twice and a solemn assembly our collective test as a people? If so, we must have come up very very short that God did not come forward to end the pandemic. Did we in some measure "deny our faith"? Is our faith in the medical establishment and not God? Do we use God as the "back up" plan when man fails? 
  5 And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, ^aby our faith, by our religion, and by our ^brites of worship, ordinances? and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our ^cwives and our children, by that ^dliberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us— look at this list!

He commands in the name of "all-powerful God"
He says they have been strengthened by their:
Faith
Religion
Rites of worship
Church
the sacred support they owe their wives, and children
that liberty which binds them to their lands and country
the maintenance of the sacred word of God - to which they owe all their happiness
all that is most dear 

  6 Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, Is this the only thing on their list? that ye ^adeliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will ^bspare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us. Moroni is clearly steadfast and immovable. Such trust and mercy for a sworn enemy. Just give me your word and your weapon and go your way..
  7 And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and ^ainflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.
  8 And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his ^asword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an ^boath unto you, which we know that we shall break, I suppose there was some kind of "honor" at work still...Interesting that they have already witnessed the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's submit to death rather than break their oath. But Zerahemnah has no such allegiance to his word. If he took an oath, he would break it. and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer.
  9 Behold, we are ^anot of your faith; we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your ^bbreastplates and your shields that have preserved you.
 10 And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words, Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict.
 11 Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken, therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart except ye depart with an oath that ye will not return again against us to war. Now as ye are in our hands we will spill your blood upon the ground, or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.
 12 And now when Moroni had said these words, Zerahemnah retained his sword, and he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni’s soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers. How is it that the soldier didn't just kill Zerahemnah? Was it because he was attacking from behind? Notice the chief slinks off instead of fighting to the death. Although I don't know how you do anything after being scalped...
 13 And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice:
 14 Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace. This was additional proof that God was indeed with the Nephites. Their leader was at their mercy, to kill or to scalp. He had no power to overcome...and he had run away
 15 Now there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a ^acovenant of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to ^bdepart into the wilderness. God does all things "by covenant". Do we understand, really, what we are doing/saying when we make covenants with God? Their covenant was binding and they would not break it or they would not make it. Are we more casual in our covenants? "I'll just repent if I break it?" Are we not really even "in" covenant if we are that casual?
 16 Now it came to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites. Why did he still have so much power over the others when he had just been scalped? How has he not fainted?
 17 And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites; therefore he commanded his people that they should fall upon them and slay them. And it came to pass that they began to slay them; yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might.
 18 But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; yea, behold they were pierced and smitten, yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites; and they began to be swept down, even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied. "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy". I'm trying to understand what that statement means, but this example of Moroni's seems to show it. He began by declaring his testimony of Jesus and ended with a prophecy.
 19 Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they never would come to war again against them. Can you trust this? He already said they would break this oath if they made it. Makes me think when Moroni first said this, there was still a prideful belief that they might be able to overpower them if they fought. Now he knows that isn't true and that death really is their only other option.
 20 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should ^acease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a ^bcovenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.
 21 Now the number of their dead was not numbered because of the greatness of the number; yea, the number of their dead was exceedingly great, both on the Nephites and on the Lamanites. Why did any Nephites die? Wasn't their faith that God would protect them? Was the promise they would be preserved a collective one and not an individual one? Sigh. I just want the righteous to be preserved all the time...
 22 And it came to pass that they did cast their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the ^asea.
 23 And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands.
 24 And thus ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the record of Alma, which was written upon the plates of Nephi.