They Did Not Repent of Their Evil Doings

I wish at this point of time that I could skip over the last years of Nephite history and say, "And they all lived happily ever after."  But they didn't live happily ever after and that makes me sad.  The Book of Mormon is, among other things, a cautionary tale for us.  As I read Mormon's account, I see my own country treading the same path.  And that makes me sad, too.

 

When Mormon was not quite 16, the Nephites recruited him to lead their armies.  In his own words he explained this as :. . . notwithstanding I being young, was large in stature; therefore the people of Nephi appointed me that I should be their leader, or the leader of their armies. Therefore it came to pass that in my sixteenth year I did go forth at the head of an army of the Nephites, against the Lamanites; therefore three hundred and twenty and six years had passed away. (Mormon 2: 1-2)

 

In addition to the threat from the Lamanite armies, the Gadianton cartel was actively engaged in their own brand of evil and violence against everyone.  Mormon wrote:

 

But behold, the land was filled with robbers and with Lamanites; and notwithstanding the great destruction which hung over my people, they did not repent of their evil doings; therefore there was blood and carnage spread throughout all the face of the land, both on the part of the Nephites and also on the part of the Lamanites; and it was one complete revolution throughout all the face of the land. (Mormon 2:8)

 

Sorenson describes on such campaign of blood and carnage.  He references and quotes the work of archaeologist Agrinier on the Mirador site in Chiapas during the Jiquipilas or Early Classic Mayan stage which lasted from about 250 to 350 A.D., which coincides with the 326 A. D. mentioned by Mormon.  Sorensen wrote:

 

 The Jiquipilas phase "was ended by an intense fire that totally destroyed" the structure of the largest sacred building at Mirador [the temple].  "It seems that the temple had been thoroughly cleaned of its contents prior to its burning." This suggests either a scorched earth policy on the part of the retreating inhabitants or looting by the invader, or both.  Tombs at the site were sacked at the same time.

 

The city lay abandoned for about a year and when it was settled again it was by a new people.  The buildings suggest "shoddier construction" by "a transitory elite . . . more  concerned with quickly-secured grandeur than with long-range durability." [1]

 

Ruins at Mirador from a Great Mayan Battle in the Early Classic Period

 

Despite my sorrow, I will shoulder on to the end in the hopes that we can learn from their mistakes.  What mistakes?  In Mormon's words: notwithstanding the great destruction which hung over my people, they did not repent of their evil doings.  That is what makes me sad.  9-11 brought America to her knees for a short while, but it didn't last long.  From a president who stated his first day in office just a little over a year later that "America is no longer a Christian nation;" to ordinary people whose motto is "do it to you brother before he gets a chance to do it to you;" to the liberties of our Constitution and Bill of Rights being raped and stolen more and more every year; this nation is in serious trouble.  Are we repenting?  Some are.  But will it be enough to keep God's protective hand over this country?  This is why the final years of the Nephites make for sad reading.

 

[1] Agrinier quoted in Sorenson An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon p. 340.

 

Text copyright January 2014, Gebara Education

 

Pictures:

Warriors from www.lds.org

Scorched Earth Policy from www.ww.2incolor.com

Ruins at Mirador from www.ancient-tides.blogspot.com