Wednesday, December 19, 2007

3 Nephi 3:1 - 4

1 AND now it came to pass that in the *sixteenth year from the coming of Christ, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received an epistle from the leader and the governor of this band of robbers; and these were the words which were written, saying:
2 Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be your right and liberty; yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by the hand of a god, in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so.
3 And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them.
4 And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction.

(Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 3:1 - 4)

The governor of the Nephites receives a threatening letter from the leader of the robbers, rehashing the supposed wrongs and injustices inflicted on the robbers by the Nephites. In my own life, I have unfortunately witnessed several instances where wicked people have accused others with the very things that they themselves are guilty of.
The robbers state that if they wanted to, and that most of them do, they could easily slaughter the Nephites.
This letter reminds me somewhat of the threats of violence made by terrorists against America and her allies. According to the experts, they feel a need to warn the U.S. that unless it changes its policies and acts the way that they want us to, that they will have no choice but to inflict harm on us.
As a society, we need to prepare the way that they Nephites did, and as an individual, the fight against sin is always raging, and needs to be fought through inner spirituality.

No comments:

Post a Comment